Page 22 of Saved By the Mountain Man

Laken rolled her eyes. “Hello? We work in the same store. Whenever he comes in, you can cut the tension with a knife. Anyone with eyes can see that you’re not strangers to each other.”

I didn’t know if I would put it that way. Tannerfeltlike a stranger in so many ways. But in a lot of ways, hedidn’t.

I glanced around. No one was listening in on our conversation. I was the only one feeling like I was having a meltdown.

“We do have a history,” I finally admitted. “We were together a long time ago, back in Seattle…” Was I saying too much?

“What happened?”

I shrugged like it didn’t matter. “He left without a word, and I never saw him again until I came here.”

“Oh, wow,” Laken said, and nodded slowly, her eyes thoughtful. She looked around the diner, but not like she was seeing anything. More like she was thinking.

“He’s been through a lot, you know. He doesn’t really spend much time in town, but I’ve heard bits and pieces. People around here know things.”

“So I’ve heard,” I said with a sigh. “No secrets in Silver Ridge.”

Laken smiled. “It’s not a bad thing to have some people on your side.”

That was Laken’s motto. I didn’t know what to say to that, so I just nodded.

“He left behind a tough life, just like you,” Laken added.

I looked at her, surprised. “How do you know all this?”

Laken smiled, a little sadly. “Silver Ridge is a smaller town than it looks. People talk, and I’ve been here long enough to hear a few stories. I’ve been hiding here, too, Rae. We all have our reasons.”

I felt a sudden surge of gratefulness for her. She understood more than I had given her credit for. I’d just thought she would be a lighthearted friend, someone fun to take my mind off things. Instead, she was offering support in a way I hadn’t expected. “Thank you, Laken,” I said quietly. “For not pushing too hard. For getting it.”

She reached across the table, squeezed my hand. “We all need someone to lean on, Rae. And sometimes, it helps to know you’re not alone.”

The sky had darkened considerably by the time I left Millie’s Diner. Laken had gone home, but I wasn’t ready for the small confines of the cabin again. Sometimes, when my thoughts tugged at me like this, the walls closed in and I couldn’t breathe.

Thick clouds rolled in, obscuring the sun and casting a shadow over Silver Ridge as I headed toward the trees. I hoped the fresh air would clear my mind. The conversation with Laken had made me wonder, made me feel strangely unstable, and like I was in the company of someone I could trust at the same time. I didn’t know what to make of her.

I just knew I could trust her.

Trust was a strange thing. So fragile, so easily broken. But so powerful, too.

As I walked through the forest, the wind began to pick up, rustling the leaves and sending a chill through the air. I tucked my hands into my pockets and weaved my way through the trees, not really watching where I was going. I let my feet pick out a path as my mind wandered.

Back to the past, toward the uncertainty of my future.

To Jethro and the fear that came with him.

And Laken and the warmth and safety that came with having a friend.

When the first drops of rain splattered against my face, they were cold and insistent and snapped me out of my thoughts.

I’d worked my way up the mountain, walking without considering my direction and when I looked toward town, it wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I was too far up the mountain. I quickened my pace, realizing too late that the weather had turned.

The storm hit suddenly, the sky opening up in a torrential downpour. The wind howled through the trees, bending them to its will so that they tugged and strained against their roots.

I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter around me, the cold seeping into my bones. The path ahead was quickly becoming a muddy mess, the rain making it almost impossible to see.

I needed to find shelter, and fast. The storm was getting worse, and I wouldn’t make it back to town in this weather. My mind raced, trying to remember the layout of the forest. I wasn’t sure where I was, but if I was where I thought I was… Tanner’s cabin wasn’t far from here.

Shit.

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