Page 26 of Ten Mountain Men

Mother…

On the other hand, I have no way to get in touch with her to let her know what’s going on, and if she and Clive are truly over, she’s going to—

“No,” Grumpy Luke says. He gets up. I hadn’t even noticed him sit back down. “I’m sorry, Goldielocks, but when we were in the mud, you did say you managed to find a nest of Sasquatches…”

Should I just come clean? I decide no. They’re not going to believe my intentions are pure if I admit to the truth.

“And I’d just been knocked silly.” I point at the lump still growing on my head. “Is it really that hard to believe I’d be spouting nonsense? And as for spouting nonsense about Sasquatches, well, you are big and hairy and my vision was blurry from being knocked silly!”

“Really can’t fault her for that, Luke,” Hunter says.

“Well, she can claim she’s innocent all she wants, but I’m not just going to take your word for it and—” He shakes his head with a huff as his brothers start to stand up, one by one. “Never mind. I know I’m outnumbered. But I’m warning all of you. She may be one hell of a pretty stranger, but she is a stranger.”

“It’s just one night, Luke,” Nash says. “You’ll stay with us one night, won’t you, darlin’?”

“Don’t trust her,” Luke says before I can answer.

Is he crazy? It’s them you shouldn’t trust!Mother’s voice shrieks.

But the voice in my gut begs to differ.

“Yeah, I’ll stay with you one night,” I say.

Chapter 8

Rusty

Luke was right about Rose-Gold Locke being pretty. Damn if she’s not the prettiest woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on, even with that big ol’ goose egg on her noggin. Not that I’ve seen a shit ton of women or anything. Just the ones from the village, mainly. We keep to ourselves. That’s why I was pissed as hell when I realized my brothers brought her home without asking what I thought. We make decisions together.

I will admit—even though I’m still not happy with them, well, it’s hard to be pissed at her, even though I’m naturally inclined to follow Luke’s lead.

We finish lunch and everyone lingers around indoors. Clearly no one wants to be the first to leave. Most of our chores are outside, and Rose-Gold Locke is not.

I’m on dish duty so Luke pulls me aside. Tells me the work on the roof can wait ’til tomorrow. Asks me to hang around inside the cabin and keep an eye on Rose-Gold Locke.

“Don’t let her out of your sight. Not even for a second, alright? Except for when she’s gotta piss, one of us needs to be with her at all times. I don’t want her rummaging around.”

“No problem,” I tell him. To anyone who doesn’t know him, Luke would probably come across as paranoid as hell, but he’s just trying to protect us. We’re all grown, but he takes his role as the oldest real serious. He more or less raised me up, and I trust he knows best. I owe him that trust. We all do. He’s earned it.

Besides, I don’t mind sticking by Rose-Gold Locke’s side like glue. I’ve had far worse jobs.

I leave the sink. It’s overflowing with dishes that spill out onto the countertop. But I want to get to my new assignment immediately, even though Lynx is with her now. We’re almost out of washing-up liquid, anyway.

She’s lying on the couch, propped up by a pile of pillows, and I sit in one of the end chairs, trying to mind my posture. When you hit six feet by the time you’re ten, it becomes kind of second nature to hunch over. But something about her makes me want to keep my shoulders back, to sit up, stand up straight.

Half an hour has passed since Buck and Ranger went to her campsite to fetch her belongings. She was damn cute, volunteering to draw them a map.

“If you can just find a pencil and a piece of scrap paper,” she said, looking around like one of those items might magically appear hovering in the air within arm’s reach.

“Goldie,” Buck had told her. “With all due respect, we know every tree on this mountain by name. We know just the spot you’re talking about and will have no trouble getting there.”

But now I’m wondering if they did run into trouble because they should’ve been there and back in twenty minutes, tops.

Lynx is sitting at the very end of the couch, with Rose-Gold Locke’s feet propped up in his lap. He’s been taking his sweet time and I think by now we can call her ankle thoroughly examined. Can’t blame him. I’d be touching her as much as I could too, if I had a reason for it and permission. She’s so damn pretty, and I bet her skin is soft as all hell.

“It’s probably just a bad sprain,” he pronounces, at last. “I’m going to wrap it up, but I think it’s a good idea to stay off it as much as possible for a couple days. Better safe than sorry. Hope that won’t foil your plans too much. Most medical professionals would tell you to ice it, but we’ve got a poultice that’ll work wonders. Let me grab that.”

He gets up and heads to get his first aid bag.

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