Page 12 of Fierce Mountain Man

“And that’s why you’re going to be a big success,” he said. “In everything you do. You had to go through some hard times. Lots of hard times. That’s what makes you stronger and more likely to succeed than people who always had it made.”

Sure. But it wouldn’t hurt to have some parents who could hand me over some money to start my business. Or offer to co-sign. That was exactly what Tobias had offered to do, though, and the idea had me saying no.

“I want to do it on my own,” I said. “I mean, I know I was trying to get a bank loan, and that isn’t completely on my own. And the money I won puts me ahead of people who don’t enter a competition like that. But it will just mean so much more if I do all of this without any help from anyone.”

“Everyone needs help,” he said. “Even if it’s just support from friends and family.”

Yeah, I knew that. And it was something I had to work on. Accepting that some people wanted to support me and get to know me with no ulterior motive was not going to be easy.

But now that I’d met Tobias, something had shifted in me. I wanted to be normal. I wanted to go beyond the hurts of my past so that I could achieve all my dreams.

And that wasn’t just owning a bakery. It was having a family. The family I’d never had. I wasn’t sure I could be a good mother, but I was damn sure I was going to give it one hundred ten percent—maybe even two hundred percent. I wasn’t going to let the mistakes of my parents define me.

No, I was better than them, and I was determined to prove it…if only to myself.

6

TOBIAS

“Is it ready yet?”

Emmy looked over at me, and her expression told me everything I needed to know. “Not yet.”

“What happens if we cut into it early?”

“It’ll be a gooey mess.”

“Maybe we should do something while we wait,” I said.

Wewerekind of doing something. We were sitting on the couch, watching a stand-up comedy special, a cushion between us. There was something very domestic about it. Something I liked.

“Do you have any board games?” she asked.

I frowned and looked around. What about my lifestyle made it seem like I would have board games laying around? I lived alone and rarely had company.

But she wouldn’t know any of that. She might guess it, but she wouldn’t know for sure.

“I think I have a deck of cards somewhere around here,” I said. “Poker or something?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know how to play poker. What about Old Maid?”

I made a face. “What’s that?”

“The mom of one of my foster parents used to play it with us. I guess it’s something she enjoyed as a kid.”

“Is it like War?” I asked.

“Sort of. I actually like War better. Do you know how to play that?”

I nodded. “It was how we killed time during deployment.”

I’d spent many nights playing that damn card game just to pass the time. In any other circumstance, I’d steer clear of it due to the not-so-good memories it brought back. But I could also look at it as good memories I’d made with fellow servicemen.

“We could bet something,” she said. “Maybe whoever wins gets the biggest slice of cheesecake.”

“It’s a whole cheesecake,” I pointed out. “We could pretty much each have half.”

“You’d get the bigger half.”

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