Page 1 of Rugged Mountain Man
Chapter one
Mika
Snow crunched beneath my sneakers as I traipsed along the empty mountain road. I hadn’t seen another car for hours, and my fingers had long since turned numb from the cold. I blew on my hands in a feeble attempt to warm them.
When I ran out the door this morning, I didn’t have time to grab my gloves. My only priority was to get the hell away from the house.
As soon as my ex-boyfriend left for work at the crack of dawn, I grabbed my meager savings, stuffed some clothes in my backpack, and took off. By the time he figured out I was gone, with no intention of coming back, I wanted to be miles away from him.
My teeth chattered as a gust of bitterly cold wind blasted me in the face. Living in rural Colorado should have been a dream come true. It was gorgeous, rich with wildlife, and so quiet, peaceful.
My ex was the problem. Especially when he became raging drunk.
So, I thumbed a ride from a passing trucker, on his way to a nearby logging company to pick up a load of timber. It took me in the opposite direction, away from town, away from civilization, deeper into the mountains.
But beggars can’t be choosers when you’re hitchhiking. What little cash I had on hand needed to be saved for necessities—motels, food, clothes. I couldn’t afford my own car, since I quit my job to move out here. And an Uber would cost a small fortune when I was this far into the Colorado countryside.
Unfortunately, I was now stuck in the middle of nowhere. If I didn’t find shelter before nightfall, there was a very good chance that I would freeze to death before I ever reached town.
And the cherry on top? I didn’t have a cell phone. I left it at my ex’s place, so he couldn’t track me with it.
My eyes burned. I blamed it on the cold and the wind, not the sting of tears.
“I’m not going to cry over that bastard,” I sternly told myself. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
I shivered and rubbed my arms to generate some heat. Houses were so few and far between at this altitude. That’s why people escaped to the mountains in the first place. They didn’t want unexpected visitors dropping in for a chat.
Swallowing my pride, I had stopped at a run-down trailer, with two massive dogs chained up in the front yard, snarling and barking until they were frothing at the mouth. I stayed on the road, and I didn’t dare get any closer.
“Is anyone home?” I called.
“Keep it movin’,” a man’s voice snapped from inside. “If you’re not gone in five seconds, I’ll start shooting.”
I hurried away, slipping and sliding on the snow.
With only an hour left until sunset, desperation gnawed at my stomach. Building a fire was out of the question. I didn’t have matches or a lighter. Would rubbing two sticks together actually work to get a spark? Or was that an old wives’ tale?
As I rounded a bend in the road, I spotted a winding, rutted driveway, leading into a stand of evergreen trees. No tire tracks. No mail box.
It might take me further off course. A wild goose chase that left me empty handed. That would waste precious time I didn’t have right now. By sticking to the main road, I had a better chance of being seen by a passing car.
On the other hand, maybe those trees would provide shelter from this wind…
Adjusting the straps of my backpack on my shoulders, I glanced around. A cherry-red cardinal trilled from the branches of a nearby tree. Wind howled off the mountain peaks, cutting through the layers of clothing I wore.
It felt…lonely. No one would find me here.
I turned onto the driveway, marching up the road. I held my breath, waiting for a clue that someone was here after all. Making my way into the trees, a small rustic log cabin came into view.
My steps slowed as I surveyed the area, taking note of everything I saw.
Firewood piled by the door.
Cobwebs shrouded the windows.
No cars, no snowmobiles, no vehicles or transportation of any kind.
No dogs, either.
