Page 37 of Saved By the Mountain Man

I forced myself to stand. The cold had seeped into my bones, but I barely felt it. I needed to clear my head, to find some way to make sense of the mess I was in.

I started walking, the forest quiet and judging, as if it knew what I’d done and it disagreed, too.

I didn’t know where I was going, but it didn’t matter. I needed to move, to put distance between myself and the cabin, myself and Rae, myself and the past.

The trees closed in around me, their branches whispering in the wind, but I didn’t pay attention to them. My thoughts were a hurricane, and I was caught in the eye of the storm.

Eventually, I found myself at the edge of the Silver Ridge River. The water flowed silently. I stared at the river, the coldbiting into my skin. The world felt distant, like I was watching it from behind a pane of glass.

And that was the way it would stay. I would be forever on the outside, looking in.

I would always look at Rae and know I could never truly reach her.

This was the life I had chosen.

The only life I deserved.

This was my punishment for taking those lives—I’d lost the right to live my own.

11

RAE

Returning to my own cabin felt strangely hollow. The time spent at Tanner’s cabin had felt like a bubble. I’d been removed from reality and somehow taken back into the past. It had brought so many emotions, and now I was back here, away from him, the emptiness echoed all around me.

My ankle was better, but now I had a broken heart all over again.

Damn it, I’d arrived with one injury and left with another. It was all backward.

I glanced around the cabin that had become my home in the last couple of weeks in Silver Ridge. The familiar surroundings that I’d started to love now felt cold and unwelcoming.

It irritated me that I was going through this all over again. Hadn’t I beaten this, moved on, learned how to live without him?

Hank and Laken welcomed me back to work with open arms. I’d been worried about still having my job, but Hank had told Tanner he would keep my job open, and he’d been true to his word.

“We’re just glad you’re safe and sound and back with us, Rae,” Hank said with a grin, putting large hands on my shoulders. “You take it easy if you need, you hear?”

I nodded. “I’ll be fine. Thank you so much for understanding.”

“Of course,” Hank said. “Life happens, right?”

“Right.” He had no idea.

I threw myself into work. I hoped it would drown out the thoughts of Tanner with the mundane tasks of restocking shelves and ringing up customers. But it wasn’t that simple. His face, his touch, the way he looked at me with those intense eyes—it was all I could think about.

“Hey, Rae.” Laken’s cheerful voice broke through my thoughts as she walked up to the counter. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile. “Better.

“I’m so glad.” Laken reached over and squeezed my hand. “When Hank told me you were hurt, I wanted to bring you some food… only to learn you weren’t staying at your place.”

“Yeah.” I blushed. I looked down at the counter, looking for something I might focus my attention on, pretend to be busy. “I was caught in the storm on the mountain, and I ended up in Tanner’s cabin. I hurt my ankle so badly I had to wait it out. He was kind enough to help.”

Laken raised an eyebrow, her curiosity clearly getting the better of her. She glanced over her shoulder, probably to see if Hank was within earshot.

He wasn’t.

“Just a place to recover, huh?” She leaned on the counter, resting her hand on her chin. “So, just a case of you recovering and nothing else?”

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