Page 5 of Aim High Mountain Man
“We would have been a double team, which would have sucked for you. But I have no doubt that you could have gone into the principal’s office and batted those long lashes to get us out of trouble.”
“Yeah, sorry, no. You make it seem like I have some kind of magic power.”
He snorted at that, and I lifted a brow, my arms crossing over my chest.
“What was that for?”
“Looking like you do, and you couldn’t flirt your way out of trouble? Please.”
I felt my cheeks heat up at that but didn’t want to dive too much into it. Again, twenty years ago, sure. But I’m sure he only viewed me as a mother, an older woman, not someone to ogle at. Not that I needed that and that is certainly not what I came here for.
“So, if I may ask, how did you come by this stuff from Johnnie?”
“It’s stuff I had. When….uh….it all happened, I was in a hospital and then discharged back home. So, they boxed up everything and shipped it back to me. My sister is coming for a visit, and I need to clean the guest room out.”
“It’s interesting.”
“What is?”
“You, Chance. You’re a hermit, a grump at that, and yet you have a guest room. You’re literally having someone come over, into your space, and you’re allowing it. Actually, two some ones because I’m here too.”
He just stared at me, as if he was shocked by that, but there should be no reason for it. He knew what he was, what he had become, but it was interesting to see that he also had gotten a cabin with a spare bedroom. Most people didn’t do that when they wanted to be alone.
There also wasn’t a reason he could give me that he had it. Which, to me, meant that deep down, he knew he wouldn’t always be alone. That he wanted someone else here, once in a while.
He grunted at that before slamming his hand on the box, obviously annoyed, to which I could only lift a brow and smirk, because there was no denying it.
“Do you want to see what’s inside the damn box or not?”
***** Chance *****
I didn’t mean to get feisty with her, but hell, she was pushing buttons that she had no right to be pushing. She also had insight that she didn’t need to have. And lastly, she was hitting far too close to home.
And I didn’t like it.
Not one single bit.
So, yes, the grump came back out. He had every right. She was invading my space and even though I had asked her to come, my intention was just going to be to hand her the box and let her leave.
I had no plan to look at it with her.
But even though she was pushing me, I didn’t want her to leave. At least, not without looking.
Because for the first time, I didn’t feel like breaking down over the fact that one of the best men I ever knew had passed away. I didn’t feel like clawing my heart out so that I could join him. Even worse, I didn’t feel like picking up the bottle just to drown out all the pain, screams, and cries I could hear.
I wanted to look at this with someone here who understood him just as much as I did, if not better.
I wanted to be with someone I could share a memory with and have insight about.
I knew this would be painful, but oddly enough, the fact that this was his mom settled something within me, and I have no doubt that Johnnie would want me to do this with her, and only with her.
What a thought.
With that, I finally opened the box, peeking at the items for the first time.
“We shared a room,” I told her, having to clear my throat twice before I could finish, “I looked at this stuff all the time, but I haven’t glanced at this since I got it. I can’t even remember what was there.”
“I know it’s hard to hear, Chance, but Johnnie wouldn’t want this for you. He’d want you to live for him. That’s how he viewed the world.”
