Page 3 of My Knotty Mountain Men

Thankfully, there hasn’t been a big snowstorm here yet. The roads have been plowed, so the drive isn’t too bad, weather-wise.

I don’t relax until I pull onto the cabin’s long driveway.

The closer I get, the more my stomach churns. I haven’t been here in years, way before my parents passed away.

The moment the cabin comes into view, I lose it. My foot slams on the brakes as a sob breaks free.

The walls inside of me that have held every emotion regarding the tragic accident at bay come crashing down.

A part of me hates that I’m an Omega. Because if I didn’t present, my parents would still be alive. I’m the reason they died.

My parents were here, celebrating their twenty-year wedding anniversary, when they got the call from me. I was sobbing, afraid, and confused. I woke up covered in slick with a bad fever.

We didn’t expect me to be an Omega because both my parents were Betas, and their parents, too. We hadn’t had an Omega in our family for a very long time.

None of us were fully prepared. I stupidly didn’t pay much attention to anything that wasn’t Beta related in high school because I was so damn sure that’s what I was going to be.

But, boy, was I wrong.

Mom did her best to calm me down and called my grandma. Grandma came to stay with me to make sure I wasn’t alone, but Mom didn’t like the idea of not being there when her daughter was in need.

So she convinced my dad to cut their trip short even though they had been hit with a pretty bad storm earlier that morning. We didn’t hear from them, thinking they were on their way back to us, but then we got a call from the Snow Valley Police. They told us they found my parents’ car in a ditch. A year-round resident was passing by and found them.

My whole world came crashing down. I lived with the guilt of their death for years. No matter what help my grandma got me, I never stopped thinking they were dead because of me.

With my forehead on the steering wheel, I cry until I have no more tears left in me. Once I stop, I take a few deep breaths and wipe my eyes with the sleeves of my coat.

They left me the cabin and a very large inheritance in their will. They once loved this place, and I did too. We would come here every summer when I was little. I have so many memories here. So, I’ve been paying people to keep this cabin in good shape.

I grab my purse and dig inside for the keys. Fisting them in my hand, I open the Jeep’s door and step out.

The snow crunches under my boots as I close the door.

Time to take a step into the past and face it. I can’t live in fear forever, can I?

Chapter 2

Violet

As soon as I step inside the cabin, I shiver. Maybe because it’s cold in here, or maybe because it feels like the spirits of my parents are watching over me. Tears fill my eyes again, but this time, I squeeze them shut and close the door behind me.

Dropping my bags by the door, I slowly step further inside while looking around. It’s just as I remember it. A little kitchen to the left with a wood-burning stove, a small fridge beside a sink, and a table big enough to fit four people off to the side.

On the right is the living room, with two chairs and a couch huddled in front of the fireplace. I smile as I run my hand along the blanket my grandma knitted. My eyes flick up, and I’m smacked with a ball of emotions as I find a family photo sitting on the mantle. My mom and dad with big, bright smiles on their faces, and me standing in front of them. But what hurts the most is that I’m looking at the camera while the two of them are looking down at me with so much love.

Coming here was a bad idea.I thought, with it being just over ten years ago, I’d be okay, that I had time to heal. But in reality, I’ve just been making myself busy enough so that I don’t think about them.

My phone rings, snapping me out of my sorrowful thoughts. “Hey, Jenny.” I force a smile as I wipe my tears.

“Aww, babe, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I laugh. “It’s just a lot being back here, you know? A lot of happy memories.”

“I wish I could have come when you did,” she grumbles.

“It’s fine. You’re going to be here in two days. I’ll survive until then.” I chuckle. “I’ll just read.”

“We should all be in tomorrow night. We got a notification that our flights have been moved up because of a snowstorm heading your way.”

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