Page 16 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

Dave was never one to accept charity, and the thought of doing so makes a part of me want to rebel. But as soon as I slip back into the house, my gaze lands on the reason I have to put that aside.

I have to.

Davey sits on the floor with his blocks piled up around him, happily stacking them almost as tall as he is. Whatever he’s building topples, and he bursts into tears, looking up at me with so much distress that it renews my own.

“It’s okay, buddy. We can rebuild it.”

But as soon as I say the words, I have to swallow back my own sob because I can’t ever rebuild what I had here with Dave.

He’s gone.

So is the dream we once had of our life here together.

Free from all the bullshit life below the mountain contains.

All the anguish and turmoil.

The way the entire world seems to be burning.

Now, it’smyworld that seems to have been set aflame.

All of our plans gone in an instant.

The look on his face when I found him flashes through my head, and I bite down to stop another strangled sound from slipping through my lips.

He didn’t stand a chance, and there was no way I could have saved him, no matter how much I wanted to. I accepted that truth the very day he died, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

Two months later, I still wonder what would have happened if I had been out in the barn with him that morning…

I pull Davey onto my lap and hold him tightly, both of us allowing our tears to fall. His for his block creation; mine for his father and the lives we could have had.

“Is Daddy coming home soon?”

His question slices at my chest with the force of a driving axe.

He hasn’t been asking as often as he used to, but I don’t know if I should be happy about that or not.

I don’t want him to forget his father, but a part of me feels like if he understands he’s not coming back, it’ll be easier on him in the long run. “No baby, Daddy’s not coming back. Remember, Daddy went to Heaven?”

Blue eyes lift to me, with tears streaming down his puffy little cheeks. “Is that where Winny went?”

This time, my smile is genuine as I stare down at him and brush the hair back from his forehead. “Yes, that’s where she went.”

His tiny brow furrows. “Dalton helped her?”

It’s such a simple question based on what he pieced together from the very little portions of our interaction he was privy to today.

He’s so observant for his age.

In many ways, being raised on the mountain has made him grow up faster than he would have down in the city. And he knows enough to understand what Dalton did without even seeing it.

“Yes, Dalton helped her, and he’s going to help us, too.”

As much as I may want to fight it, we need it, or he’s right; we won’t survive the winter.

ChapterThree

DALTON

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