Page 35 of Trick or Treat with the Mountain Man
“I’m fine.”
“Oh.That’s a danger word. What’s wrong? What happened? What did Abby say?”
A quiet sigh escaped past my lips. “Tyler, I’m fine, really. I just need a minute. Can we pull over at that rest area?” I said as I motioned to a sign on the side of the road.
I was holding back tears at this point. I didn’t want to cry in front of him.
It had been foolish of me to fall for him. Especially so fast.
What did I even know about Tyler? He couldn’t even tell me the truth about how he got injured. And I thought I was just going to traipse into his life and get my happily ever after?
I’d fallen too hard, too fast. And it was embarrassing.
He pulled into a parking space, and before the engine was even shut off, I had my door open and one foot on the ground.
But he grabbed my hand at the last second, holding me in place. “Where are you going?”
“I just need a minute. Can I have a minute,please?!”My voice rose to a high shriek by the end of the sentence.
“Ava. You get back in this truck right this minute and tell me what’s going on. Then tell me where you’re going, and I’ll wait patiently for you. But you can’t run off without telling me what’s wrong or where you’re fleeing to.”
“I’m not fleeing. I just… I just…” and then the tears came. I couldn’t hold them back any longer. “I thought we were something special. Which is stupid, because it’s only been a few weeks. Why didn’t you tell me you’re not staying on the mountain?”
He tilted my chin up until my eyes met his. “What are you talking about? I’m not leaving Red Oak Mountain.”
“Abby said you’re moving. That you told Silas you want to sell him your property. When were you going to tell me? I deserved to know.”
His lips parted, a warm and gentle look crossing his face. “Ava. I only asked him that because I was thinking of the future. You know,ourfuture, if things work out between us.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean?”
“The real estate agent told me there was another interested buyer when I bought the property. Evidently, the seller got pissed at them because they low-balled their first offer, which is why the seller chose me instead of them. She said if I ever wanted to sell, she knew someone who would snatch the place up before it ever hit the market. After what you said about Silas having money, I wondered if it might be him. So I asked him. And he said it was. He wants to turn it into some kind of art house or something.”
I let out an exasperated breath. “Well, where wouldyougo?”
He chuckled, “Don’t think I’m crazy, but I was thinking all this would happen when orifyou and I ever decided to take the next step.”
“The next step?” I sniffled, wiping my tears.
“Yeah. You know. Moving in together. If you could see yourself saddled with an old man for the long-term.”
“You’re not an old man,” I responded. Then added, “How old are you?”
“Thirty-seven.”
I’d known he was older, but I hadn’t known by how much. I was in my late twenties. There were nine years between us. I’d been curious to know how old he was for a while. “I’m twenty-eight. Is that a problem for you?”
Tyler laughed and squeezed my hand. “No, Ava. Definitely not a problem forme.”
“What do I mean to you? I need to know,” I asked, the words bursting out of my mouth.
The softness in his eyes told me everything. “I’m crazy about you, Ava. I thought I was making that pretty obvious. Do you need me to spell it out?”
I nodded.
“Okay. You women are like that sometimes. I fell for you the first night we met. It’s only gotten worse since then. I was going to sit in that cabin and wait to die, even if it took years. And then you came along and brought me back to life.”
My heart, which had been sitting in a puddle down by my toes, popped back up, fluttering hopefully.
