Page 30 of Knot Her Mountain Men

“I always forage more than I can eat. I think half the fun is finding and picking stuff.”

“Saves us a lot of money to do it and the guests usually get a kick out of meals made from what we forage.” Maverick leaned back, watching me stir. “We turned a fair bit of the area around the lodge into a food forest. Kit and Bear planned it all. Everything is native to the region except what’s in the planter boxes. Big fan of planting stuff that doesn’t need to be babysat.”

“I said that all the time growing up. My mom had these fussy annuals that needed constant attention and the house was full of tropicals when I was little. I’m more of a mint-in-the-ground kind of girl.”

That got another laugh out of him. “Pretty sure that’s gardening hubris.”

“Oh, it is. She was pissed as hell, but I planted a whole bunch of other stuff that behaves the same way so they compete for space and keep each other under control.”

“Resourceful.”

“She passed years ago, and I had no idea how to care for her plants. They didn’t last a year when I was suddenly in charge of them at ten years old.”

“Shit. I’m so sorry. That’s rough.”

“It’s okay. The perennials we planted together are still going strong at least, and she wasn’tthatmad about the mint, so I know she’d be happy it’s still alive.”

The soup smelled like heaven and we hadn’t even added the fish or herbs yet. For some reason, food cooked over a fire always tasted ten times better than any other method.

I stabbed one of the potato chunks with a knife and, deciding it was close enough to done, fetched the fish chunks thawing on the kitchen counter. I added them and a healthy sprinkle of dill. Right before it was finished, I would add the cream and then it would be ready to serve.

“What’s your ideal day?” Maverick asked.

“Hard to say when I’ve never gotten to live it before. I think if I can squeeze in time outside, hiking or doing my photography, and pair it with food cooked over the fire, a hot bath, and a good book, then it would be difficult to be any happier than that.”

“Well, we could accommodate most of that besides the hot bath right now. We do have hot springs not too far away if I could tempt you into a short hike?”

“How short?”

“Maybe ten minutes? Shorter if we can navigate the snowmobiles down the trail to pack down the snow. A couple of them are clinging to life, and I wouldn’t be concerned taking them that far since we can walk back easily if they give up the ghost entirely.”

“If I don’t have to march through the forest soaking wet after being in the water, then I could definitely be persuaded.”

I was reasonably certain Ryder would make good on his threat if anything happened to me, so I wasn’t as worried about going into the woods with Maverick as I probably should’ve been. I could only hope fate wouldn’t make me comfortable around Maverick just so he could be in a better position to hurt me because I really wanted to see those hot springs.

He inspected the soup, giving it a quick taste. “Go ahead and add the cream. I’ll get the others back inside.”

Left alone with my thoughts, I surveyed the common area of the lodge. It was eerily similar to how I had always imagined decorating my own little cabin in the forest that only existed in my head. They didn’t have any animals on the wall, a small blessing since they’d always wigged me out a bit, but they did have an impressive collection of antlers and impressions of paws and hooves beneath gorgeous photos.

The wood was glossy and beautifully maintained, the stone making up the fireplace lovingly crafted. Had they built this place by themselves?

Pumpkin was the first to greet me, racing in and throwing her damp body against me to lick all over my face.

Kit scooped her wriggling form off me. “Sorry about that. She gets way too excited.”

“That’s okay. Where are the towels?”

“Bunk room closet. First door on the right.”

I collected a small one to wipe myself down, and tossed a much larger one over Pumpkin to scrub down her wet fur while Kit prevented her from sprinting away.

“She’s so well behaved on hunts, but you’d never know that with the way she behaves at home.”

“She’s on duty when she’s hunting,” I pointed out. “When she’s not out in the bush, she gets to be a little chaos goblin. Don’t you, beautiful girl?”

Pumpkin lunged at me to give me more kisses and I cupped her face, pressing my own kiss to her head.

Bear let out a sharp whistle and Pumpkin rocket launched away from us to park her butt in front of him. I watched as he took her through a series of commands with simple hand gestures: sit, shake, and spin. Once she had performed to his satisfaction, he pulled a treat out of the jar on the counter and gave it to her. Her tail wagged up a storm as she came to lie down by the fire with her bounty.

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