Page 25 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men
The scream fades into the night, but the creeping silence it leaves behind cannot be ignored.
“What was that?” Tanner asks as Aiden comes into the kitchen.
“You guys heard that, too?” he asks.
“It must be—” I begin to pause abruptly.It was a feminine scream.And Aiden just dropped Lena off.It couldn’t be, could it?
Before I can complete my sentence, I find myself outside of our house to peer at Lena’s cabin. Nothing seems out of place. The trees are still, there are no lights blinking on or off. Regardless, my sixth sense makes the hair on the nape of my neck stand up.
The boys call after me, but I set off at a brisk walk toward her place, my gut telling me that something is seriously wrong.
And it turns out that I’m right.
Lena, who goes to sleep after checking all the locks in her house at least twice, has left the front door open. The bolt isn’t even in its place, the door swinging open at the slightest push. That’s the moment I truly know that something is horribly wrong.
Instead of calling out her name, I shut the door behind me. With quiet steps, I make my way through the cabin, my mind working through the floorplan of the house. There is a backdoor in the kitchen, but my priority is making sure Lena is all right first. Checking that door comes second.
The windows are all closed, and the door to Lena’s bedroom is wide open.
On the floor, right in front of the bed, lies a supine Lena. Soft whimpers escape her, letting me know that she is at least conscious.
I rush over to her, cradling her head in my lap. That’s when I see a large gash on her forehead, clumps of her soft, blonde hair matted to the wound. The scratch extends from her hairline toher brow, and it’s swollen and red, but thankfully not bleeding profusely.
“Lena? Lena!” I shake her, and she opens her eyes, tears wetting her lash line.
“B-Brody…” she whispers.
“I got you. Shit,” I mutter, putting my hands under her knees and her back, lifting her bridal style. I place her on the bed, careful not to slip in the blood on the floor.
Opening her bedside drawers, I rifle through her stuff find a thick scarf, which I use to sop up some of the blood.
“Mommy?” Sophie’s quiet and scared voice breaks through the silence.
Fuck. I glance at the doorway to see Sophie’s little form standing there, wrapped in her pink pajamas, with her teddy bear hanging from one hand.
“Mommy’s fine, Soph,” Tanner’s voice comes from behind her, and Aiden follows after him. The two men get busy distracting Sophie, the little girl getting more and more anxious as she wakes up fully. She registers the blood on the ground, then looks at her mother on the bed. Lena is still making soft noises of pain.
“I want to see Mommy,” Sophie tries to say firmly, but her voice is wobbling. Aiden crouches in front of her to block her view of the room and takes her hands in his own.
“Mommy is a little hurt, Soph. She slipped and fell.”
“That’s right, Sophie,” Tanner adds, petting her head calmly.
“She fell?” Sophie cocks her head, trying to understand.
“Yeah. Things like that happen sometimes, even to adults.” Aiden grimaces slightly for added effect.
“She’ll be fine. She just hurt her head a little,” Tanner repeats, trying to get the girl to leave the hallway and head back to her room. “Let’s give Mommy some time.”
“Yes, darling,” I encourage her with a nod and manage to give her a tight smile. “Go on, we’ll be right there with you.”
Reluctantly, Sophie moves along. Right at that moment, Lena groans in my arms.
“Oh, my God…how could I have been sostupid…”
“Lena,” I breathe, embracing her to try and calm her panic. “Lena, what happened?”
“I was…getting ready to sleep…was gonna check on Sophie when this man—”
