Page 64 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
CHAPTER 22
Mitch
It’s an unusually quiet night.
I can’t hear so much as a cricket chirping, yet I can't sleep. I feel restless. Probably because I’ve been sitting at my desk for hours already going through a marketing proposal that the agency sent me. Their given budget has way too many zeroes at the end for my liking but at the end of the day, I know I'll probably have to spend money to make money as they say. We’ve been doing okay so far, but word of mouth can only get you so far. We need to reach more customers out of state to finally blossom onto the next stage of our shining success story.
And then after that...
I turn in bed and consider the full moon outside my window.And then what?
Truthfully I haven’t considered that question all too much. I haven’t thought beyond what would happen after our business thrives. I suppose not much would change for me. I'll continue to work on the land and even with hired help, I doubt I’ll slow down much. Not just because I enjoy what Ido, but also because there really isn’t anything to slow down for.
I don't know what to do with myself if I'm not working. My life is dreadfully bare without work, it’s always been that way.
Before I left for the military, I worked multiple jobs and also helped dad with the logging. I took that dogged focus on work into the Marines with me, and spent most of my time training and readying myself for what was to come, never letting loose like some of the other cadets did. And then on tour, no matter how quiet and peaceful it got sometimes, I never lost sight that we were in enemy territory and absolutely anything could happen at any point.
And it did. Once we were at a campfire shooting the shit and the next second all hell was breaking fucking loose.
I close my eyes, holding back the memories. It doesn't do any good to go back there. It will only trigger another fucking nightmare, which is the last thing I need. I also don’t need to sit here feeling sorry for myself when I’m one of the lucky ones who made it out. Plus, I had a home to come back to, and a family of sorts. I had work that was giving me a steady income. I am a lot fucking luckier than most and it’s enough.
So what if I don’t have a wife or any prospects of finding one out here in the middle of a timber forest, halfway up a mountain in the depths of Montana? I doubted something like marriage would fit into my life anyway. In my experience, women typically don't like it when you ignore them because you’re hard at work. I learned that from every relationship I’ve ever had. Sure, at first they were fascinated or excited by the idea of dating someone like me. A man who had his shit together. A man who never cheated, didn’t go out and party, and didn’t know or care about who the latest celebrity was. It was a novelty to some of them.
Until the reality hit. Having my shit together meant that I rarely had time for anything other than my work. And eventually, that became a bigger and bigger problem until it was a deal breaker.
My mom loved my dad, but I saw how his workaholic nature strained their relationship, how many arguments they had. He would forget birthdays, and anniversaries or miss special moments because his entire being was consumed by work. I’m probably going to be the same way. So there’s no point in putting some poor woman through that.
Let my brothers be the ones to get married and have kids. Let them carry on the family name.
Besides, Patty and her daughters are here, and they might not like another woman sniffing around.
I pause on that thought.
It's not a thought I should have. Patty is just a guest here, one who won't be here long. Even if she hadn't assured me that this arrangement would be short-term I knew she would leave eventually. The woman had 'city girl' written all over her, and while living in this rural outpost might seem romantic in the short term, once the novelty wore off, she would head back to the city where she came from. Where she belonged.
So then why did I keep thinking of her as a permanent member of the family? Why did I accept a dog into my home simply because I thought it would make her and the girls happy?
I'm getting way too attached to those little girls. So much so that I agreed to take in that mangy animal for their sake.
Heck, when I picked them up from the grocery store today and saw the swing set in the daycare across the fence, I actually considered buying one for the kids. And then that led to thoughts of building a fence around the property so thatthey would be safer from coyotes and other wild animals, and maybe even expanding the main house to create more space for them. And perhaps constructing a treehouse for them to play in. And making them a sandpit of course, and what about a swimming pool?
If that didn’t tell that I was probably going off the deep end here, then I didn’t know what would. I knew women tended to experience maternal instincts when they reached a certain age, but could the same thing happen to men with paternal instincts unexpectedly kicking in?
I get out of bed and decide to take a walk outside. Maybe some fresh air will clear my head. The air's nice and cool, the night silent.
The hallway is dark, but the kitchen is still lit up, with a rag resting in the sink and a towel on the table. Did Patty forget to turn the light off before she left?
It was surprising that one of my brothers hadn’t noticed and switched the light off.
But as I pass by Wes’ room, a feminine moan stops me in my tracks.
What the fuck?
I listen for it again, hearing the unmistakable sound of bodies moving on the fabric along with a bitten-out masculine curse. Anger brims under the surface.
It’s been less than an hour since dinner. When did he have time to go out and pick someone up? Did he get her off the street or something? And did Patty see him bring her in? Was she upset? It's only normal for a woman to be upset when the man she hooked up with casually brings another woman around?
I'm going to kick his ass for this.
