Page 16 of S'more Mountain Man

"Mine neither. He had a heart attack. Mom says his cholesterol was too high. Do you eat a lot of bacon?"

I blinked at the non-sequitur. "Moderate amounts."

She nodded sagely. "That's probably smart. You're really muscular. Do you work out, or is it just from chopping wood and stuff?"

"Both."

"Cool." She accepted the stick I handed her. "Thanks. I'm going to roast this marshmallow perfectly to impress you."

Before I could respond to that, she was gone, marching determinedly toward the fire. I glanced over to find Skye watching us, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Making friends?" she asked, approaching with two mugs.

"More like being interrogated."

She laughed, handing me one of the mugs. "Hot chocolate. With a little something extra for the adults." She winked, and I caught the faint scent of whiskey mixed with the chocolate.

"Resourceful."

"I have my moments." She settled beside me on a log, close enough that our shoulders almost touched. "Thank you for today. Seriously. I couldn't have done this without you."

"Yes, you could have."

"Okay, maybe, but it would have been a disaster. A flat tire and no backup plan? I would have let all these kids down." She gestured to where the children were now engaged in serious s'more construction, faces sticky with marshmallow and chocolate. "Look how happy they are."

I followed her gaze, taking in the scene. The kids were laughing, comparing their creations, exaggerating thedeliciousness with dramatic gestures. The parents sat nearby, some helping the younger ones, others talking quietly among themselves. The fire cast a warm glow over everything, creating a bubble of light and warmth in the vast darkness.

It was... nice. A word I hadn't associated with groups of people in a very long time.

"You did this," I said. "Not me."

Skye shook her head. "You made it possible. My hero with a tire patch and a Jeep."

"Don't call me that."

"What, a hero? Too cheesy?" She grinned, nudging me with her elbow. "How about 'my knight in shining flannel'?"

Despite myself, I laughed. An actual laugh, rusty from disuse. "That's worse."

"My wilderness rescuer?"

"Getting warmer."

"My mountain man?"

I looked at her then, really looked at her. The firelight played across her features, highlighting the curve of her cheek, the spark in her eyes, the small smile that seemed to hold secrets I suddenly wanted to know.

"Better," I said, my voice lower than I'd intended.

Something changed in her expression, a softening, a question. Before she could speak, Tyler's voice cut through the moment.

"MISS SKYE! Genevieve is trying to roast her WHOLE chocolate bar and it's making a mess!"

Skye laughed, breaking the tension. "Duty calls. Hold that thought."

I watched her hurry over to avert the chocolate disaster, easily redirecting the kids' energy into a ghost story competition. She was chaos in human form—bright, unpredictable, drawing everyone into her orbit. The complete opposite of the ordered solitude I'd built for myself.

And yet, I couldn't look away.

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