Page 6 of Longing for the Mountain Man

TRACE

It was the worst week possible to have a family emergency, but there were some things I couldn’t control. One of those things was having to leave town to help my older sister when her fourteen-year-old son was missing.

But the three-day break from Rosewood Ridge had made one thing clear. This thing with Presley wasn’t going away. If anything, my feelings for her had gotten stronger since the last time I saw her.

And that was why I was seated at a folding table in the main courtroom at the courthouse, waiting for her to show up. I could probably get in trouble for turning off the lights and lighting a candle, but I figured nobody would ever find out.

My buddy Walker was picking up my to-go order from the Rosewood Ridge Steakhouse. I would have picked it up myself, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take Presley to get over here. As it turned out, that was a smart move since Rob had told me she was delayed by thirty minutes.

“Hello?”

I heard the female voice as I stared down at my phone, waiting for a return text from Walker about the food. I leaped up from my chair, scooting it backward with a crude scraping sound that made me wince.

Way to play it cool.

But now that I was on my feet, I wasn’t sure what to do exactly. Maybe I should have bought flowers so I could at least have something to do with my hands.

“In here,” I said, my heart going a mile a minute.

When she appeared in the doorway, I nearly fell back into my chair at what I saw. She wore a purple sundress that looked amazing on her, and her dark hair framed her face perfectly. In each hand was a plastic bag.

“Some guy stopped me in the parking lot.” She held up both bags. “He said you ordered this.”

“Walker.” I nodded. “He was doing me a solid. We look out for each other, the guys up here.”

Why was I telling her that? I hadn’t seen her for four days and my first move was to try to talk up our town?

If I talked it up, she might want to move here. That’s what my deal was. I could try to fight it, but it was becoming all too clear that I had to be with this woman.

If I couldn’t convince her to move here, I’d go wherever she wanted me to. That was how drawn to her I was. Now that I’d found her, I couldn’t let her walk out of my life.

“I’ve noticed that about this place,” Presley said. “I’ve met so many great people, and the way everyone pitches in? It reminds me of the town where I grew up. Are we supposed to be here?”

The question came so suddenly, it took me a second to shift gears. I looked back over my shoulder and saw the scene I’d created. I’d set up a folding table with a white tablecloth and two folding chairs. On top of the table were two bottled waters and a candle, its flickering much more noticeable because it had gotten slightly darker in here since I first set all this up.

“I’m taking you on our first date,” I said.

As I turned back to face her, I stepped toward her and reached out to take the bags. I wanted to grab her and pull her close to me, but first things first.

When the bags shifted from her hands to mine, I noticed a smile forming on her face. “We had dinner together at the bar that first night, remember?” she asked. “That counts as a date. And then you disappeared on me.”

“Yeah, about that.”

I turned and headed over to the table, setting down the bags and starting to remove foam containers. I’d ordered steakburgers for both of us, mostly because I knew they’d send us flimsy plastic utensils—not ideal for eating most of the things the Rosewood Ridge Steakhouse served.

“My nephew was missing,” I said as I worked. “He snuck off to a neighbor’s house to play video games. My sister has her hands full with him. I stuck around to help. She’s on her own, and I felt bad leaving, but she knows the situation here.”

That was only partly true. My town needed me, but I also had to get back here to square things away with Presley. If she left town without me having any way to get in touch with her again, I’d never forgive myself for not taking that business card she tried to hand out the first day we met.

“I’m so sorry,” Presley said. “That sounds stressful. You must be an amazing uncle.”

I smiled at the compliment as I walked around the table and pulled out the chair. “I do the best I can. I wish she’d move back home, but her youngest daughter’s in one of the best schools in their area. I don’t know if she’d get the same education here in Rosewood Ridge.”

Not that there was anything wrong with our schools. They were perfectly fine, but my niece was in all kinds of extracurriculars that we didn’t have here.

As Presley took the seat, I inhaled her scent. She smelled fruity. I wondered if it was her shampoo or some sort of perfume. Whatever the case, the thought that she’d taken pains to get ready for this made my pride swell.

“We could have just met at the restaurant,” she said. “But this is the most romantic thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

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