Page 1 of The Mountain Man's Accidental Bride
1
Payton
No matter how long I glare at my car’s flattened tire, it refuses to reinflate magically.
Twenty hours of white-knuckled driving, three questionable gas station coffees, and one near-miss with a deer later, I’ve finally made it to Willowbrook Ridge—only for my grand escape to sputter to a halt two miles up the mountain.
Talk about bad luck.
The universe has a sick sense of humor. After packing my entire life into a few suitcases and convincing myself this wasn’t a catastrophically bad idea, my future now hinges on a piece of rubber and my utter lack of mechanical skills.
I have a spare. I have the tools. What I don’t have is the faintest clue what to do with them.
Is it really my fault? Growing up, I never needed to learn how to change a tire. There was always someone else to call—until now.
I fumble for my phone, but the screen mocks me with a single, unforgiving bar. No service. Just the silent, towering pines and the creeping realization that I’m stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no white knight—or future husband—in sight.
I exhale hard, as if I could blow my problems away with one desperate breath. The flat tire remains, and when I drag my gaze upward, the sky delivers its own cruel punchline.
Thick, bruise-purple clouds churn overhead, devouring the last slivers of sunlight. A jagged fork of lightning splits the horizon, followed by a thunderclap that rattles my bones.
“Breathe, Payton.” My voice is barely a whisper, trembling only slightly. “Walter will notice you’re late. He’ll come.”
Huh. Not even a hopeful lie is enough to calm the race of my heart.
Even if he cared enough to track my arrival time—which he doesn’t, because this is a business transaction, not some fairytale rescue—no one in their right mind would brave a mountain storm for a stranger.
Especially not for a woman who is desperate enough to leave her city life, using the excuse of an arranged marriage to do so.
I scan the dense woods, my pulse thudding in my throat. No cabins as far as I can see. Just the creak of pines and the gathering wind.
There has to be someone. I know I’ve passed a couple of cabins on the way up here. I can backtrack a little.
All I need is twenty minutes and a pair of competent hands. Then I’ll be back on the road, rolling up to Walter’s estate like this never happened—like I’m not the kind of woman who falls apart at the first obstacle between her and an engagement.
With the worry of the future, and my tendency to rely on my impulsive thinking, I decide the best thing I can do is abandonmy car and start walking back down the mountain in hopes of coming across one of the cabins that were a blur.
If this were a normal day, and I was taking a nature hike, this wouldn’t be too bad. All the greenery is beautiful. Something someone can fall in love with at first sight.
I hope that’ll be what it’s like with Walter. Perhaps he’ll be a handsome man with a charming smile. Beggars can’t be choosers, but a woman can hope.
Cupid’s Bloom Co. guarantees successful pairings, making claims of fate and such. With their high success rate, I’m expecting to come across the perfect man. Right now, it’s all I have to keep my feet moving, to keep my hope alive.
I really want to believe I can meet the man of my dreams. I don’t want to be a part of the three percent whose relationships don’t work out. Rather, Ican’t.
I didn’t just leave the city—I fled it.
Traded the ceaseless scream of traffic for the whisper of wind through the pines. Swapped neon-lit chaos for the slow, golden bleed of sunset over the mountains.
Anyone would do the same if the opportunity came their way.
When the absence of sirens, shouting, and the relentless pulse of a thousand strangers makes my chest ache in a way I won’t name.
There’s no drama or stress. Just the singing birds and the soft sway of trees.
Sure, there’s an angry-looking storm approaching, too, but that’s only momentary. After the mess passes, I’ll be throwing myself into the arms of peace I’ve never experienced before in my life.
Thankfully, since my sneakers aren’t anywhere close to new, they barely dig into my feet as I follow the dirt path with quick steps, hoping not to have to race against time. Unfortunately,even if I broke out in a full sprint, there is no avoiding what is to come.
