Page 47 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men
Tanner’s face flushes, and he looks down at his hands. He’s silent for a moment, but then, he says quietly, “There’s no way that I can pay it back. I have no idea what to do.”
I rub a hand over the back of my neck and nod. I had expected that response. “I can help you pay it back, if you really have to do so, but we need to go to the police,” I tell him. He opens his mouth to protest, but I hold up a hand and shake my head. “No arguments. You should have gone to the police the moment they started threatening you. I don’t know how you’ve hidden from them for so long, to be honest. I wish you had told us about this before you put all of us in danger.”
Tanner looks devastated, and he looks down at the floor again. “Whatever you think is best, Brody,” he says in a small voice.
“That’s settled, then,” I say to the room at large.
I hear Lena’s and Sophie’s footsteps behind me as I walk them down the hall to the spare bedroom. It almost never gets used, but I can’t think of anyone better to enjoy it than these two ladies who have come into our lives. It’s getting harder and harder for me to imagine a daily reality without them in it. It seems totally natural that they should be staying with us now.
“Can you really help Tanner with his debts?” Lena asks me quietly as she follows me into the bedroom. She looks around the room approvingly and drags their suitcases into the corner.
I nod. “I have plenty of money. Haven’t had much to spend it on. But he will owe me interest, of course.” I wink at her, and she giggles.
“Momma, I’m hungry,” Sophie whines and tugs at her mother’s coat.
“Aiden should have food ready for you now,” Lena says to her child, who cheers and races to the kitchen. Left alone, Lena looks at me with a fond expression on her face.
“I can’t thank you all enough,” she says to me gratefully, sounding relieved. She presses the heels of her hands to her eyes and sighs loudly.
I cross the room to hug her, and she leans into my embrace.
“I hate that James bought Tanner’s debts, but I guess we only have one group of bad guys after all of us now,” she says, her voice muffled by my shirt.
I nod, knowing that she will feel the movement. “Yeah, it’s easier in a way.”
“What are you going to do with the men in the garage?” she asks me, a tinge of worry in her voice.
I sigh. “I’ll leave them tied them up so that they can’t bother us with any real action,” I tell her. “The snow is supposed to fall until tomorrow evening, but after that, I can run them down the hill with Tanner and we can go to the police.”
“I should go with you and report that James probably tried to attack me,” she says to me while leaning back to meet my gaze.
I smile at her gently. “I think that would be a very brave thing to do, and probably a good idea.”
“It’s a date,” she says with tears in her eyes. I know how scared she gets from the thought of dealing with her ex, so I know this is a big step for her.
“Sorry things have been so scary,” I tell her. Thumbing her cheeks, I press my palms to the soft skin of her face. “We will make everything better for you and Sophie if we can.”
“You have already done so much,” she says to me, leaning her face against my hand. “I…I spoke with Tanner about…all of us,” she says hesitantly. “He said he would talk to you and Aiden about…what comes next.”
I look at her, a frown turning down my lips a little. She’s quick to stretch up and press a kiss to my lips.
“Don’t look worried. I think it’s going to be great,” she says, and then, she dashes off to the kitchen, leaving me standing in the bedroom, confused, but with a rush of lust thrumming through my veins.
Chapter twenty-three
CHAPTER 23: Aiden
Ifinish cooking breakfast, and we all sit down to eat. Sophie is happily chattering about wanting to play games with us, and I marvel at her ability to move on from the scary things that have been happening all around her over the past few weeks. Children are so resilient. If only adults were so easy to help with trauma and stress.
I ponder where we’re all at with the men tied up in the garage and Tanner’s debts hanging over us. I’m angry at him for lying to us for so long, but I also feel concerned that we won’t be able to resolve his debts in a way that will keep Lena’s ex from chasing after us all the time. I want both of the threats to go away, and I think that Brody is right, that the police should have been involved long ago.
“What kind of games can we play today?” Sophie asks, bouncing in her seat and devouring her pancakes eagerly.
I glance at Tanner, who lifts a shoulder in a shrug. Brody won’t be any help. He doesn’t know how to have fun at all.
I grin as a thought occurs to me. “I have a story book that is full of fairy tales. It was mine as a kid. Do you want to pick a story or two, and we can read it together? Maybe we can act out the stories for you.”
“Yay! Yes, please!” Sophie crows, looking around at all of us eagerly. I see Brody roll his eyes. He hates things like charades and isn’t good at coming out of his shell for anyone. I figure it’ll be good for him. Besides, he can’t escape, what with the storm and his worries over the men in the garage.
