Page 3 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
"Jordan, our cook is sick, so no hot dogs, unfortunately. You have your pick of other snacks to choose from."
"Aw." They whine.
"You can get Ho Hos, or Twinkies. They're kinda like hotdogs if you close your eyes and imagine real hard that, instead of sausages, hot dogs have a sweet icing filling."
"Hot dogs have sausages?" Maddie's eyes widen in surprise. Katie rolls hers.
"Yes, dumb-dumb. What did you think was in them? Actual dogs?"
"Oh." She frowns. "I hate sausages." Maddie turns andstarts down the aisle. Katie gives me a very adult look of exasperation and follows her.
I smile at the clerk as my kids run off to grab whatever takes their fancy.
“Thank you for that,” I say, picking up some cashews for myself from a display rack next to the counter.
“Yeah. No problem. To be honest the hot dogs here are not the best. They’re probably better off without them.” She says. “Where are you from?”
"Indianapolis." I lie automatically.
Did I answer too quickly? Her eyes shrewdly analyze me, and I don't know if she detects my lie or not.
"You’re a long way from home."
"Yeah, I know. We’re just doing a bit of a cross-country trip. You know – trying to see all the sights. It's our family vacation."
That has to be the worst lie ever. One look at my eyebags and my general exhaustion should tell her that there's no way this is a vacation.
But if she notices, she doesn't mention it.
"Do you know of anywhere we can stay for the night? We’ve been driving for more than a few hours already and we’re pretty tuckered out."
"Sure. There’s a hotel about thirty minutes in the direction you just came from, off the highway. It’s about a hundred bucks a night for a room."
"Oh?" A hundred bucks while not unreasonable is more than I can afford to spend. "Anything cheaper than that?"
She thinks about it. "Well, if you go a little further down, there's Motel 819. But I wouldn't stay there, especially not with kids. There's a reason it's nicknamed Motel 911."
"I can imagine," I sigh. "Anything else?"
She scratches her chin. "Hmm. If you're really in a pinch, there's the Norris property."
"The Norris property?"
"Yeah. The Norris brothers live about a half an hour further down the highway, then ten to fifteen minutes up the mountain...” she hesitates, glancing out the window at my battered old ‘93 Ford Taurus sedan that has definitely seen better days. Better decades to be honest. Given a wash and a new set of tires it might be worth five hundred bucks, assuming it passed its emissions test. “Err, maybe twenty minutes. Anyway, you'll know you're there when you see a bunch of junk cars lying around and motorcycles. They used to have full time employees back when the old man ran the place, but not anymore, so they have a couple of spare worker’s lodges where people can stay for a reasonable price."
I nod but my doubt must show on my face.
"They're good guys," the clerk says. "A little scary looking, but they got decent hearts. I've sent a few people that way and never had any complaints."
"Right." Staying with a bunch of unknown men, scary-looking or not, halfway up a remote mountain in the middle of Nowheresville, Montana isn't my ideal scenario, but on the other hand, beggars can't be choosers. At the very least I should check the place out.
"Alright thanks," I say right as my daughters return with armfuls of unhealthy snacks. We do a little negotiating on the stuff they want, and I grab a loaf of sliced bread off the shelf, a jar of peanut butter, and a two-pint carton of milk from the fridge. Then I pay for everything and we bag it and start heading back to the door. It’s not exactly going to make a gourmet supper for the three of us, but heck, it’ll keep body and soul together for tonight, and perhaps tomorrow we canfind a nearby café for breakfast, or a supermarket with some fresh fruit and vegetables or something.
The door swings open right as I'm going out and my body brushes unexpectedly against whoever’s just come in.
I glance up.
And for one moment I completely forget myself because I'm suddenly transfixed. I am staring into a pair of beautiful, moss-green eyes, with golden flecks that glitter in the sun. They're attached to almost feminine lashes, and they bore into me like they can see right through into my very soul.
