Page 4 of Big Daddy Mountain Man

“That’s the problem these days. Men have no rights,” Rutlidge sneered.

Before Sawyer even realized it, a short burst of laughter escaped his throat.

“What the hell you laughing at?” Rutlidge demanded through clinched teeth. He didn’t wait for an answer, instead saying, “You should be backing me up, bro. A man can’t even flirt with a woman today without them going allMe Tooor whatever on us. I swear they have more rights than we do now.”

Despite telling himself to let it go, Sawyer spun around on his stool and leveled a hard gaze at the loudmouth. “You fell out the dumbass tree and hit every branch on your way down, huh?”

“What did you say?” Rutlidge demanded with an ever-reddening face.

This guy was too stupid to even argue with, so Sawyer just shook his head and replied, “Listen to the sheriff. Do as he says. No sense in making this worse on yourself.”

Rutlidge and his friend were both just staring dumbfounded, as if nothing was computing in their brains.

Par for the course, Sawyer figured.

“Ah, hell!” Rutlidge said as he reached behind him and came back around with a knife.

His friend read the cue and hopped off his chair, reaching for a utility knife in a sheath clipped to his belt.

Hell was breaking loose in the Thirsty Logger.

CHAPTER THREE

In Oklahoma City, Amber was terrified.

Donnie Wheeler was not a nice man, to say the least.

She hadn’t known that when she’d rented the apartment from him. It hadn’t taken much time, though, for her to see the kind of person he was. Now, she wanted as far away from him as possible. In fact, she hoped to never see him again. That’s why she was creeping quietly along the second-floor breezeway, hoping to slip in and out of her unit unnoticed.

Mr. Reyes was waiting in his car in the parking lot, and if things got dangerous, she could yell for him. But she didn’t want to involve him unless it was absolutely necessary. The last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt.

She sighed in relief as she made it into her apartment undetected. Taking a quick glance around didn’t reveal much… because she didn’t have much. In fact, all her belongings—consisting of a few outfits, underwear, and toiletries—were already packed up and waiting in a suitcase. There, on top of the suitcase, was her most prized possession.

Her stuffie, Honey.

The bear made her smile. She giggled as she picked it up, hugged it, and said, “Are you ready for our adventure, Honey?It’s going to be amazing! I bet we’ll make new friends.” She giggled again. “I bet the other Littles in Big Cedar have stuffies, too. You can play with them!” She squeezed the plush doll tighter. “But don’t worry. You’ll always be my best friend!”

The bear meant a lot to Amber. She hadn’t gotten to go on many field trips, but one time, back in foster care, right before she’d aged out of the system, the group home had taken a trip to the zoo. That excursion had included one animal for everyone from the gift shop. The stuffed brown bear had called out to her, and they’d been best friends ever since.

Amber took hold of her lone suitcase, kept Honey clinched safely in her other hand, and started toward the open door.

That’s when she saw Donnie standing there, leaning against the doorjamb, his mouth open to reveal his jagged teeth.

“Where are you going?”

“I t-told you,” she said, trying to inject as much confidence in her voice as possible. She wasn’t very successful, though, and she hated to show that man fear. “Remember? I gave you thirty days’ notice, just like my contract said I had to. I’m going to?—”

“You weren’t even going to give me a hug goodbye?” he sneered, opening up his arms.

Her eyes fell to his thin, spotted trademark sleeveless shirt he wore. She wasn’t sure if he preferred it because it showed off his arms or what, but he didn’t really have any muscles to speak of and it just sort of hung on his bony frame.

His small size was misleading, though.

Donnie was plenty dangerous.

And he clearly seemed to harbor fantasies of he and Amber being… together.

Yuck!

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