Page 2 of Wilderness Daddy

I’m so angry Grant rears back and raises his hands a moment in surrender. “Chill, dude, this is a party and leave me out of the business shit.” He chuckles. “I have no ideas and I don’t give a rat’s ass if they don’t respect me.” He looks around. “Tits and ass everywhere and no one’s thinking business but you, dude. Have some fun.” He shakes his head at my frown. “Or not.” He gives a passing woman his best smile. “Never mind, I’ll have enough for both of us.”

Grant doesn’t wait for a response from me but follows the woman. He reminds me of cartoon character float-following wavy scent lines of the woman’s expensive perfume.

I mull over Grant’s words as I watch the woman he’s following throw a coy look over her shoulder and wiggle her ample ass a little more.

Freedom.It’s a word I can practically taste. But my idea of freedom is much different than Grant’s. I grunt, hand my empty glass to a passing waiter, and head to the exit through the crowd.

I’m not supposed to leave but I need some air. My brother and I are forced to be a part of the family business, but as the oldest Steed son I actually need to be serious about it. It’s never been what I’ve wanted but my sense of loyalty and responsibility keep me in check. Family is everything.

The open air hits me, sweet with the aroma of spring, erasing some of my irritability. Pinehaven Lodge is a sprawling three hundred acre property on the outskirts of a small town near Yoho National Park with a purposefully rustic-looking, but well-appointed main lodge, complete with the ballroom we paid a fortune to use tonight, and cabins meant for corporate retreats—expensive corporate retreats.

The luxury of the lodge offsets the rusticity of the cabins. With the cabins, the extravagance comes in the form of the view. A mountain backdrop and beautiful, aqua-colored lake at your door. Those cabins are where a smaller group of us, mostly upper management, will stay for the week taking hikes and tours, and doing team-building exercises to get to know each other better. Although not my father or Takahashi. They’ll be working out details in the main lodge.

I walk the impeccably maintained grounds, which have been kept as natural-looking as the landscape architect would allow. It’s fresh outside, with the lingering end of a bitterly cold winter finally giving way to the crispness of spring, and the stars are bright in the cloudless night. I instantly relax, looking at the mountain backdrop. I’ve been cooped up too long with this impending merger. I’m in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and yet I want to leave. All the stunning natural wilderness that surrounds me right now is tainted by the people inside.

So close yet so unreachable.

I want to head to my mountain cabin, forget civilization for a while. Living there would make running the business a little more bearable, but my mother needs me. She’s had multiple sclerosis since I was ten, but only in the last five years has she needed more care.

I exhale hard thinking of her, the heart of our family, and all she’d done to care for us despite her pain and mobility issues during our childhood. She’d made sacrifices so we didn’t miss out and I would do the same for her. Including putting my life on hold, living in my childhood home to care for her.

Movement catches my eye and I watch someone running through the field toward the edge of the forest. As my eyes adjust I can tell it’s a woman or maybe even a child. Her hair is flying behind her. Is she in trouble? Looking around I see nothing out of place besides her but decide to follow.

I find her on the edge of the clearing near the woods that separates the lodge from the cabins. She doesn’t know I’m here yet. Her arm is wrapped around the trunk of a pine tree, her breath labored, but I’m not sure if it’s from running or if she’s crying.

“Hey, you all right?”

Her head whips around and although I can’t see well, I recognize her immediately. Maybe it’s her height or maybe it’s an awareness in my gut; I certainly can’t deny the pull I’ve been feeling all night.

It’s the little doll.

“Is someone chasing you?” I imagine her large eyes are wide and fearful since she stands frozen in place. “It’s okay,” I say, holding my hands up. “I saw you from the hotel. I was worried.”

She sniffs and brings her hand to her face. Now I know she’s been crying. “Just chased by my own demons,” she says, her voice soft and pleasing to the ear. I love her answer since my own demons have been haunting me as well tonight. I can’t see much detail in the dark, especially away from the hotel lights, but my gut says she’s even more beautiful up close.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask. I’m a sucker for tears, my biggest weakness according to Grant, so I’m fully invested.

She shakes her head and lowers her face. My heart constricts in my chest. She’s a stranger so I shouldn’t have so much empathy, but I do. Maybe because of my mood. Maybe because my sweet mother is on my mind.

She sucks in a breath audibly and I don’t know why but I take her arm, gently so I don’t frighten her, and pull her against me. She comes easily, fitting against me as if we were made for each other, which is odd since I am a mountain of a man and she is smaller than the average female. I doubt she’s even five feet.

She clings to me for maybe a minute, releasing hot sobs that are barely audible against my chest. The crickets chirp around us and the smell of evergreen is potent, but I’m still breathing in the scent of her hair—coconut and citrus.

I’m about to ask her what’s happened when she stiffens and starts shoving me. “Get your damn paws off me!”

First my eyes widen in surprise and then narrow on her. A flare of impatience burns in me. “I don’t know what’s upset you but there’s no need be rude.”

“I didn’t ask you to follow me! Or to console me!” She shoves me again. “Leave me alone!” Spinning away from me, she huffs and I clench my jaw.

“I was just offering comfort.”

“Just because a woman shows some vulnerability, it doesn’t mean she’s waiting for a man to soothe her, to paw her.”

Paw her? “Apparently consoling is the last thing you need right now.” There’s a growl to my voice and for a second I worry I’ll scare her, but then I think maybe she needs a little frightening to scare away her attitude.

“Really? Too bad you realized that too late. And no, the last thing I need right now is a man acting like he knows what I need. Dammit, get out of the stone ages, you archaic ass! Women are equals!”

I chuckle without humor looking down at her. “Oh, I definitely know what you need.”

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