Page 110 of Mountain Wood

“You can’t be serious.”

“Do I look serious?”

She looks… adorably terrifying, but I’m not stupid enough to say that out loud. “You can’t kill him.”

“I’m not a murderer!” She sounds insulted. “I’m just going to torture him for a day or two. Maybe a week. Then I’ll let him crawl back home to his worthless life and keep his balls on our mantel as a souvenir.”

Jesus Christ. She means every word she’s saying.

“He came after you,” she growls, shoving a shaky finger at me. Her chin quivers. She’s trying so hard to hold her shit together and is starting to crumble. “I won’t let anyone take this place from you, Dean.”

I love her so much.

“Come here.” My hip slides along the edge of the table as I numbly make my way to her. As bad as I want to beat that motherfucker to a pulp for destroying my property, I want to kill him for ever even talking to Grace.

No other cabin had the footprints around the porch. He deliberately only looked intoherwindows.

I can’t imagine what he would have done had she been in there.

“You can’t show up with knives.” I say, calmly taking them from her.

“Then can I use your axe?”

That makes me chuckle.

“No, sugar.” I kiss the top of her head. “I call dibs on that one.”

Chapter 28

Grace

I should have known better. It was stupid to underestimate Bryson. But as much as I love Bear Creek Cabins, I’m a little shocked that motherfucker would stoop to this level of sabotage to get it.

“All this for a strip of cabins,” I mumble as we cross Dean’s bridge.

“It’s not just the cabins, Grace.” The truck slides a little when we curve to the right. “I own the whole mountain.”

I must be hallucinating. “I’m sorry.What?”

“I own the whole mountain,” he repeats. “It’s just over five hundred acres.”

Oh. My. God. No wonder Bryson wants it so badly. His family would turn this into the best ski resort in the state and put the one an hour away out of business in a blink. “Why didn’t you ever do that?”

“Do what?”

Oops, I forgot that convo was mostly in my head. “Why didn’t you ever turn Bear Creek Cabins into a big ski resort?”

“I’d have to clear so much of the woods to make the slopes. When you do that, animals and birds lose their homes.”

I’m so in love with this man, it’s not even funny.

“Besides, I can’t imagine the upkeep. Snow machines. Slope lights and lifts. That’s a hell of an operation to run.”

And he just wants a simple life. One that comes with spectacular views of the forest and stream and all the nature in between.

On the off chance that Bryson is still creeping around town, we’re on the hunt for him. Even if the asshole managed to slip on and off Dean’s land last night, the storm was already raging, and the airport would have canceled all flights. Not even a private jet or helicopter would’ve been an option. He’s got to be around here somewhere. Dean says the grocery store and bar never close, so we try those first.

Turns out, he’s at the bar across from the grocery store.

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