Page 12 of Shared By the Mountain Men

But that wasn’t what this trip was about. I had set out to hike the Colorado Trail because I needed,desperatelyneeded, to feel like I was in control of my life again. I was supposed to set out and attempt a difficult feat all on my own, reminding myself that I was a capable person who was going to be fine without my ex-boyfriend.

Jumping through hoops for a place to stay was a very large step backwards. A step I stubbornly wasn’t willing to take. Not tonight.

“Fuck off,” I muttered, and turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” he called after me.

“I’ll figure it out.”

There was a note of surprise in his voice. “You’re seriously turning down a free cabin because you can’t say please?”

“I’m doing great all on my own,” I shouted over my shoulder. “All I need is a clearing to pop my tent.”

“Not on my property, you won’t,” he growled while following. “Everything from here to the main road is my land.”

“Then I’ll hike to the property line,” I replied, even though my ankle was pounding in protest.

I heard a loud sigh, and then footsteps as he jogged to catch up to me. “Just take the cabin.”

“No.”

“Take the cabin!”

“Pass.”

Jack let out an angry growl. “Why are you so fucking stubborn?”

“Why areyouso insistent on this after you said you were done helping me?” I shot back.

“Because I feel responsible for you,” he replied. “I’m the one who dragged you down that mountain and brought you here.”

“Your big tattooed friend is the one who carried me down the mountain.” I whirled toward him. “Tell you what. You’re absolved of all responsibility. You already got me free healthcare. I can take it from here.”

I started to walk away.

“There’s a bed.”

I stopped.

“Big comfy mattresses,” Jack continued. “Like sleeping on a cloud. If you want the key to the cabin, I’ll be in the office for another half hour. But after that, you’re stuck with your tent. So you’d better decide quickly.”

Damnit. My willpower was strong until the mention of a bed. My back ached in three different places, and the most sleep I’d gotten in the past week was in the back of Jack’s Jeep on the way into town. I felt all of my walls crumbling.

“I will take the cabin if you’re offering it,” I said carefully. “That’s very kind of you.”

The ghost of a smile played on his lips.

“I’mnotsaying please,” I insisted.

Now he grinned in earnest. “Close enough.”

I grumbled to myself while following him back to the cabins.

7

Melissa

Jack retrieved the key from the office, then led me up a gravel path to the Indigo Cabin. The cabin on the left—the Blue Cabin, based on the color—was occupied; an old woman was smoking a joint on the porch, and she raised a hand in greeting as we passed.

---