Page 2 of December's Ride with Scar

He hesitantly opens the computer and pulls up the website. Navigating to her profile seems to take forever, so Lightning fills the silence.

“Her name is Evelyn. She’s thirty-two, loves hiking and nature. All her life, she’s lived in a small Appalachian mountain town in Kentucky. She’s a teacher and wants kids…” Lightning keeps talking, but the moment Six turns the computer to me and I see her photo, my knees go weak, and I forget to breathe.

She is fucking stunning, and my cock stirs for the first time in an embarrassingly long time.

“You have two weeks to get to know each other, and you don’t have to get married if you don’t agree at the end,” Six says.

“When does she get in?” I ask as all the thoughts about her traveling alone and what could happen to her fill my head.

“The bus is scheduled to be here around one o’clock p.m.,” Bear says.

“Two weeks?” I want to make sure I heard them correctly.

“Yeah, so she will be here through many of the holiday parties, so you don’t have to go alone. If nothing else, you might get a friend out of it,” Lightning says with a hesitant smile.

Two weeks sounded like a lifetime a minute ago. Now I worry I will blink, and it will be gone. I only have a short time to make Evelyn fall in love with me, and with Mustang Mountain, because the only other option is tying her to the bed and never letting her go.

Funny, a few moments ago, I was perfectly okay with being alone for the rest of my life, but now the thought of not having Evelyn in my life isn't okay with me.

“What did you tell her?” I ask, my mind racing.

“Nothing much. Pretended to be you saying you were the last of our group not married and a friend suggested the website,” Viper says.

“Why is she on the website?” I want to know.

A pretty girl like her must have a bunch of options. Getting on a mail-order bride website isn't for someone unless they have nothing left.

“I don't know, man. She said she doesn't have any family in the area and needs to get out of town,” Vipers says.

Needs, not wants. “Let me see the messages.” I grab the computer.

I read through the very short exchange, which isn't more than what they already told me. Then I read her profile. Both parents are dead, and she’s in a small town in Kentucky, probably looking for a way out. My brain is trying to justify the whole thing.

There isn't a ton of information on her profile that the guys haven't told me. But there are a few other photos. One of her in a tree swing in what I guess is her backyard. Another of her behind a desk in a classroom, smiling at the camera with her hands tucked under her chin. Saving them all, I send them to myself. Eventually, we will get many photos together to fill our house. But this is a start.

“The bus is pulling in,” Thunder says, nodding toward the large windows at the front of the building.

I check my watch. It’s almost twenty minutes early. My nerves instantly explode and I'm on my feet, heading out front to meet her. There is only one other person here waiting on the bus. Judging by the bag with him, I think he's boarding and not waiting for someone.

As the bus pulls to a stop, my eyes roam the windows, hoping to catch a glance of her before the door opens. I can feel her eyes on me, and find her looking out the window toward the back of the bus. Our eyes lock for just a moment, and I wonder if she’s changed her mind because she doesn't move. Finally, the bus doors open and she stands, making her way toward the front of the bus.

Her way to me.

CHAPTER 2

EVELYN

For over two days now,I've been on one bus or another. If it wasn't for the guy at the bus station back home taking pity on me and giving me his employee discount, I don't think I could have afforded the bus ticket. I raided some snacks from the diner before I left, and that's all I've had to eat since right now I have a whole five dollars and thirty-four cents to my name.

I don't feel bad about taking food from the diner. The owner is an asshole, so I didn’t even tell him I was leaving. Until the day I had to catch my bus, I was working. Not like he could blow up my phone, as I had to cancel the service. Then, in order to purchase this bus ticket, I sold the phone.

The ride hasn't been too bad. We have stopped in some really nice towns, and they have all been done up for Christmas. Actually, it's been like taking a bus ride through one Hallmark town after another.

If Mustang Mountain is half as pretty as the towns I've seen so far, I know I'm going to fall in love with it. The big question is, will I even like Scar? Will he even want a chubbier girl like me? I've learned men, at least back in my hometown of Willow Grove, Kentucky, don't like bigger women.

So, now with my parents gone and their mountain-high medical bill debt to pay off, this seemed like the best solution. Though still providing me with an opportunity for marriage and to eventually have children. Being a mom is all I wanted growing up. I want to be the kind of parent to my kids that my mom and dad were to me.

After a drunk driver hit my parents on their way home from a Christmas party last year, they hung on to life as best they could. But Mom passed away over the summer, and Dad followed her a few months later. He always said he couldn't live without her, which proved to be true. I can't imagine the kind of broken heart he had losing her, yet leaving me with everything the way he had was pretty shitty. But I’m working through it.

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