Page 35 of Shared By the Mountain Men

When the purple-haired girl didn’t come back for a third time, I grabbed a bag of cat food and went outside to refill the bowls on the front porch. The sound of dry kibble being poured was like ringing a dinner bell; cats emerged from underneath cars and behind trees, all heading straight for me like they did every morning.

I glanced toward the cabins. I hadn’t seen Melissa all morning. She was usually up by now—not that I stalked her or anything, but as the owner of this place I unconsciously kept track of all my guests’ habits. I’d stayed up drinking on the porch late last night, and she never came home. Maybe her date with Noah went so well that they stayed out after dinner.

Or maybe it went so well that they…

I shook my head. I wasn’t going to go down that line of thinking. Not with a fucking stranger, which was what she was to me.

Busying myself with all the chores and tasks around the campgrounds helped take my mind off her. There was always something to do, a list that remained endless no matter how many items I crossed off. Ah, the joys of self-employment.

I was restocking the firewood outside the office when Noah’s car drove up. Melissa was in the passenger seat. I tried to act like I didn’t notice, but I repositioned myself to the side of the wood pile to give myself a viewing angle.

Melissa had a towel wrapped around her waist, and the only thing covering her upper half was a blue bikini top. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she laughed at something Noah said, genuine joy plastered all over her beautiful face. I knew she was attractive from the moment I had stumbled upon her on the Colorado Trail, but it was a totally different experience seeing her half-naked. Her slender waist, the perky breasts that bounced enticingly as she hopped out of the car and closed the door. Hair dark with moisture, hanging down her bare back…

Stop it. Get a fucking hold of yourself.

I turned away from them and busied myself with the pile of firewood. But I was still within earshot.

“Thanks for the wonderful date,” she told him. “Even though you pushed me in the water.”

“I did no such thing!” Noah replied. “You fell in all on your own.”

“You told me to stand up in the kayak before jumping out!”

“It was implied that you should do it carefully! I didn’t realize you’d immediately fall over.”

They laughed together, and then abruptly went silent. I stole a glance in their direction.

His arms were around her, and they were kissing.

The flood of jealousy I felt shocked me. It was a physical thing, like acid flowing through my veins. Abandoning the rest of the firewood, I went inside the office.

Noah came through the door soon after that. He was by himself. “Jackie! Busy day today?”

“No busier than usual,” I said casually.

Noah hesitated in the doorway, then came around the side of the desk and sat in the guest chair. “I know you saw us.”

“Tough not to, with your hands all over each other in the middle of camp.”

Noah ran a hand through his blond hair and sighed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“About how you ignored my advice and took that girl out on a date, which apparently went well? No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Seems like you do.”

“I don’t think you know what I want.”

“I don’t thinkyouknow what you want,” Noah insisted. He was forceful, but not rude. “You’ve been floating around like a ghost since Sam left. Pouring yourself into the work here at the campsite and insisting that you’re fine.”

“Iamfine,” I tried to interrupt, but Noah kept talking over me.

“If you like that girl, you should say something. You had plenty of opportunities to do so, and instead, you tried to convincemethat it’s a bad idea.”

“Because itisa fucking bad idea!” I snapped. “She’s here for a week and then she’s resuming her hike. And when that’s done, she’s going back to Toledo-fucking-Ohio. There’s no point getting involved with a girl like that.”

“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“And it sounds likeyouhaven’t.”

---