Page 9 of The Mountain Man's Christmas Bride
“Great. And blankets? It’s getting colder, so we need to make sure it’s warm. Oh, I should have taken some from the clinic. I’m sorry?—”
“Sage,” he cuts in, turning back to me. “It’s okay. I have plenty of blankets and old towels. Hell, there might even be a box of t-shirts that haven’t been worn in over five years. There’s enough here.”
I can’t bring myself to reply, so I nod. When we finally make our way up to the front door, I hear a thump on the other side, then a low groan. He said he had a pet, hadn’t he? I grit my teeth as the door opens, and I hold the crate to the side just incase. I’ve been tackled one too many times by dogs, and with the precious cargo in my hands, I’m not risking it.
But instead of a loud, rough dog, a slow, docile lab comes walking out. Dark fur glints in the dim light, but there’s nothing hyperactive about this pooch.
She gives her owner a sniff before turning to me. I’d changed out of my scrubs at home, so now I’m in something that shouldn’t upset her too much. The old lab looks me over before inspecting me with a sniff, and I give her my hand for good measure. She’s well behaved, doesn’t run off, and even sniffs the crate. But she doesn’t react.
Instead, she turns and trots back into the cabin. “She hasn’t had her dinner yet,” Rhett explains. “And she won’t harm them.”
He guides me into the cabin with a hand on my lower back. His touch is...electrifying. I stopped feeling anything with Scott years ago. But now, it’s like every brush of skin is enough to reawaken something in me.
The lights flicker on as Rhett closes and locks the cabin door behind us. But he keeps his hand on my back, like he enjoys the contact, too.
Am I wrong for feeling like this? It should feel wrong—out of place even. But it doesn’t.
“I’ll take you to the laundry. We can set the crate up in the corner, make sure they can’t get under anything with blankets. They’ll be safe in there,” he says, turning so we’re facing one another.
What would the new Sage do in a situation like this? The Sage who is finally living for herself, finally out from the dark shadow of Scott.
The new Sage would do what her heart wanted her to do.
I lower the crate to the floor before stepping into Rhett. “Thank you. For all of this. You have no idea how much thismeans to me,” I whisper, pressing my hands against his chest. He sucks in a deep breath through his nose, but he doesn’t move.
Rising on my toes, I press a soft kiss to his cheek. He shudders as soon as my lips leave his skin, but maybe to my surprise, he doesn’t do more.
When our eyes meet, I can tell he wants to say something, but after a moment, he shakes his head. “In the morning, we should discuss our plan.”
“Our plan?” I ask, dropping to the ground, forcing myself to take a step back as he nods.
“The license, what you want to do about him,” he replies, clearing his throat. “Whatever you want to do—I’ll do it.”
FIVE
RHETT
Sage has no idea how truly wonderful she is. And I hate the man who made her think she was worthless.
We spent the morning coming up with at least the basis of a plan. We knew we’d need to leave town for the license, which stressed Sage out initially, but she seems more at ease now that we have the paperwork and we’re on our way to the courthouse.
All night, I couldn’t help but feel selfish for even posing the idea of really getting married, but this morning she woke up and was ready for it—at least physically.
Emotionally, I can’t get a read on her. Not as she strolls beside me in her heavy winter coat, cheeks and nose pink from the icy winter air, staring at main street and the mountains beyond with awe.
I can’t remember the last time I slowed down to enjoy Willow Ridge. It’s charming, especially with the outline of the mountains looming ahead of us, already capped with the snow coming for the town and the older styled buildings making up our main thoroughfare.
“I thought that would be harder,” Sage admits without looking at me. “So many years begging Scott to get married, andit took us a couple of hours to go out, file the paperwork, and get the go ahead.”
My jaw clenches as I shake my head, somehow still surprised by the jackass that he is. “You should never have to beg for anything, Sage. Especially not from that asshole of a man.”
Sage snorts, the first real sign that she’s not still in shock by all of this. “I’m embarrassed to admit I did a lot of that with him.” She looks at me then, a twinkle in her shining eyes. “I don’t think I’ll ever do that again.”
“Good,” I murmur, taking her by the elbow and guiding her across the street, remaining vigilant.
I have a feeling he’s still here in town, and I keep waiting for him to appear.
“I saw a picture of this place in a newspaper,” Sage admits as we walk through the park in the town centre. “It was an article about the lodge burning down. There were two photos: one of the lodge, or what remained of it anyway. And the second was of the main street with the mountains. And I thought: this would be the kind of place I’d want to raise my kids.” She slows, and I can’t help it; I take her hand and interlace our fingers.
