Page 12 of Mountain Man Crush
“I don’t have many bills. My cell is a prepaid plan so it may randomly shut off throughout the year. I pay for electricity. My water comes from a well, so no bill there. I have to maintain my truck and put gas and oil in it. I also buy gas for the four-wheeler and generator. No trash company comes up here, so I take it to town to dump it just like you.”
“Yeah, that took some getting used to,” she says.
“How come?”
“I was used to just setting it on the corner and having it taken away. For the first month I lived here, I couldn’t figure out why my trash wasn’t being picked up. It was always added to my utility bill before. Then I looked over my electric bill and realized.” She laughs and rolls her eyes. “I don’t know if I could live like that. All that hunting. I can garden, but I’ve never had one big enough that I can the produce.”
“Our first year it was just a small one, too. It wasn’t until our first winter we realized our mistake. So, from that year on, I’ve made sure I do what needs done to get through.”
“Yeah, when I first moved here, I was so used to just being able to run to town to grab supplies that I didn’t know what to do. I quickly learned to make lists and plan out my meals, so I only had to run into town once a month. It’s definitely a learning curve moving all the way up here.”
I laugh and pop the last of my taco into my mouth.
“How often do you go into town?”
“Not very. When I do it’s mostly for gas and to do some work. I don’t like leaving the mountain top. It’s a different world up here.”
“You can say that again. My sister comes to stay sometimes. She’s always excited about the peace and quiet, but by the end of the weekend, she’s nearly climbing the walls to get out.” She leans back in her chair as she picks up her drink. “I like it though. It’s peaceful, relaxing.”
“I feel the same way,” I agree, taking a sip of my drink and finishing it off.
“Want another?”
I shrug.
She gets up and pours us both another as we continue to snack on chips and salsa while we talk about books. Then she moves onto movies I haven’t seen. She tells me about work, and I talk more about my garden and hunting. We laugh and eat and drink and before I know it, I’m yawning. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this tired.
“It’s getting late. I should get some sleep.”
“I have a spare bedroom that my sister always uses. You’re welcome to crash in there if you want. It’s been so cold at night that I’ve been sleeping on the couch to stay warm.”
“I’m sure I’ll be okay. Thank you, and good night.”
“Good night,” she says, watching me exit the kitchen.
I stop in the bathroom and get cleaned up before finding my way to the spare bedroom and falling into bed. Within minutes, I’m out like a light.
Chapter Nine
BETHANY
Iwake in the morning with a smile on my face. After hanging out with Jack last night and getting to know one another a little better, I feel like today will be much easier and hopefully more entertaining. I really got to watch last night as he lowered the veil around himself. That tells me he’s beginning to trust me, at least a little bit. As a therapist, I’m used to having to take things slow, let friendship and trust develop so you don’t spook the other person. I think I’m the exact right person for Jack to have met at this point in his life. I understand now why he keeps himself so guarded.
Losing his wife must have been tough, and I’m not sure he’s ever dealt with the trauma of losing her. It seems that he’s been trying to just survive since she passed instead of trying to live. He’s letting every day pass him by, just doing what he must in order to make it another day. That’s no way to spend your life. That makes the time go by entirely too slow. No wonder he seems so miserable.
I open my eyes and see that the living room is still empty, so I guess he’s still in bed. I find that odd. I had figured he’d be an early morning riser, but I guess I could’ve been wrong. I toss a couple logs on the fire and go to the bathroom, but the door is locked. That confuses me for a moment. In all the years I’ve lived in this house, I’ve never had to wait in line for the bathroom.
The door opens and he’s standing on the other side, drying his hair with a towel. He’s only wearing a pair of jeans that are riding low on his hips. No shirt. No socks. He looks sexy as fuck with water rolling down his hard abs.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” he says, sliding past me to head to his bedroom.
“You didn’t,” I stammer, still in shock from seeing this sexy man standing in the doorway to my bathroom. I step into the bathroom and turn to shut the door, watching until the door to the bedroom closes with his retreat.
I let out a long breath and sit down to relieve my bladder. I run my hands through my hair, combing it back and thinking over the awkward meeting. Did I look stupid? Did he catch me checking him out? God, that’s embarrassing.
I decide on a quick shower to buy myself a little more time in the bathroom, so I brush my teeth and climb into the shower, washing my hair, shaving, and cleansing my body before climbing out and smearing lotion all over. The winter months are horrible on my skin and I use more lotion than a teenage boy hiding out in his bedroom.
It suddenly occurs to me that I didn’t bring any clean clothes into the bathroom with me. They’re all in my room. And in order to get to my room, I have to walk through the living room. I wrap my towel around myself and crack the door open, peeking out. The door to the spare bedroom is still closed and I pray that he’s still in there as I step out and round the corner to the living room, where I find him sitting in the same lounge chair as yesterday. He looks up and his eyes nearly bug out of his head.
