Page 35 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

And just like that, I’m left with a fluttering heart, tingling lips, and excitement for what tonight is going to bring. How the hell am I ever going to move back into my place when I feel so at home here with them?

Half an hour later, I take the Ford and make my way up to the cabin. I could’ve walked, but I might as well get a few more things out of my old place while I’m there.

To my dismay, there isn’t a single worker’s truck outside nor are there any signs that any kind of renovation work is being done. “Well, shit,” I grumble disdainfully. “It’s just as I left it.”

Absolutely nothing has changed, no work has been done.

The cabin is practically derelict, with its shoddy door and broken windows. Mr. Ronald taped a thin tarp over the windows instead of boarding them up. I doubt it’ll do much against a heavy rain and we’re smack in the middle of fall. Spring and autumn rainsin the Rockies can be quite intense when they come through and seeing as we are almost at the end of October, heavy snowstorms aren’t far behind.

I can still smell cat pee everywhere.

“This is so not cool,” I say as I go up the porch steps, stopping cold in my tracks when I notice something that wasn’t there before.

I stare at the large glass vase sitting on my welcome mat, filled with a generous bouquet of white roses. They’re wrapped in golden paper and tied with a wide, delicate satin bow. There’s a note nestled in between two rose buds. With a trembling hand, I pull out the envelope, embossed with Shauna’s flower shop logo.

“A sea of roses for a rose,” I can hear the shakiness in my voice as I read the typed words out loud. My blood runs cold through my veins as chills take over.

“It can’t be,” I whisper.

Maybe it actually was Igor I saw outside the diner a while back.

No.

My mind rejects the premise altogether. It can’t be. I’ve stayed quiet, been keeping my head down. I picked the one place I knew would be so far removed from where he would look for me. I would expect him to search for me in a place that would better fit my style and my nature.

Definitely not Rustic, Colorado.

I shake my head as I toss the flowers into the trash bin, leaving them to rot. I check the perimeter of the cabin; nothing appears to be out of place. I go inside and do a quick walk-throughbefore packing a few more things in a suitcase. As I step outside, everything seems fine. I spot no evidence of anyone being around since I went in.

“I need to talk to Shauna,” I groan to myself as I get behind the wheel. It’s a conversation I really don’t want to have but I need to find out who ordered those roses. My stomach churns and my head spins as I nervously look around. I need a moment to recalibrate my own breath as I’m once again reminded of how quickly everything can turn upside down.

My hands are shaking as I search for my burner phone in my purse. I manage to put a new SIM card in, and I call my brother. After three rings, he picks up. “Hey.”

“Hey, Mikey. Everything okay there?”

“Yeah. I’m out shopping with Igor for the Halloween Bash. They invited the freshmen this year,” my brother says.

A knot forms in my throat. I swallow it back as I force myself to smile. “Igor took you out shopping, that’s nice.”

It’s not nice. I could vomit just from uttering his name.

“Yeah, I needed some new shoes,” he says. I can sense the tension in his voice.

For obvious reasons, we can’t talk. Not right now.

“I’ll catch you another time, then,” I reply. “You take care, okay?”

“Yeah.”

I hang up and throw the SIM out the window to the ground, where it will rot under a carpet of leaves. I stare at the shades of gold, brown, and ruby red and cry my heart out. Igor may still be in Chicago with Michael, but it doesn’t mean he hasn’t found me.It doesn’t mean I can sit back and relax.

Someone sent those flowers.

Someone who knows where I live.

14

Elise

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