Page 81 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
Charlie freezes and then hurries past his brother to me. As Wes helps me off the bike, I can’t help wincing and it causes all three men to react like they’ve been shot.
"Hurt where?" Charlie asks and I offer him a smile. ‘
"My head," I say, whispering it so as not to worsen the clamoring. "And my hip."
Charlie gently sweeps me off my feet, carrying me princess-style as Mitch asks Wes, "What the fuck happened? Don’t tell me you were riding carelessly and flung her off?"
"No," I say. "He rode carefully."
Wes isn’t defending himself though. He's still staring at me with that hang-dog look. And then his head ducks like he's ashamed of himself.
"It’s not Wes’ fault," I feel the need to clarify but then Wes adds, "It was Robbie's men."
The brothers freeze. Even Wiley stops scratching himself to turn to stare at Wes.
"They came up the mountain. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or if they saw me on the way there and followed. But they tried to start shit with me and…"
"And let me guess," Mitch’s voice is a furious sneer. "You got smart with them, didn't you? You didn’t even stop to think about the fact that Patty was there."
"I did," Wes continues in that subdued voice that is so at odds with his character. "I mouthed off to him, but I was trying to get rid of them as quickly as possible but then a fight broke out and one of them slipped past me to push her."
Mitch swears up and down. "This is the fucking reason you should never have taken her."
"I asked to go with him," I try but Mitch isn’t listening tome. Instead, he turns to Charlie and says, "Take her to my room and call Doc Newsome. Wes, you’re completing both our quotas today. Got it?"
Wes glances up, with his lips pressed together. To my surprise, he nods. I reach out to him but he simply touches my hand as Charlie takes me inside. Wiley tries to follow us, his paws pattering on the wooden floor.
I can feel the wrath bristling underneath Charlie's body even though he’s outwardly calm. His eyes meet mine and I see the storm inside them.
I cup his cheek. "I’m fine."
"No, you not," he says "And I’m going to kill them for touching you."
I giggle, because it’s hard to think of gentle giant Charlie so much as hurting a fly. But then I remembered that he was in the military and saw tons of combat, and probably killed lots of people too.
And right now he looks murderous. Because of me. He’s furious because I got hurt and yet he’s still so gentle with me as he carries me down the hallway.
"I really am fine," I tell him even though my insistence seems to be falling on deaf ears with the men. "And this isn’t Wes' fault."
"He never should have taken you there," Charlie says. "And when they showed up, he never should have even said more than two words to them. He should have gotten out of there."
"He tried to but they blocked the path."
"Then he should have done whatever it took to de-escalate the situation."
"They were not willing to let it go without a fight."
Charlie says nothing else as he shoulders Mitch's door open, walks me in, and places me on Mitch's bed. It smellslike him, like aftershave and Cedar. It reminds me of the time I walked in to find Mitch in the throes of a nightmare, and how badly I wanted to take the demons from his eyes. Wiley immediately pads over to my side. I rub his head, and he gives me a doggy smile, eyes half closed as his tongue licks my hand.
Charlie lays a hand on my forehead and says, "Is your head still hurting?"
I nod a little. "Do you have some Advil or something?"
Charlie shakes his head. "I barely get sick and Mitch doesn't really do pain meds. Not even when he had shoulder surgery."
"Why not?"
"Mitch has a thing about control," Charlie says and then we hear Mitch’s approaching footsteps turning in time to see him at the doorway.
