Page 11 of One Night with the Mountain Man

I pulled back and stared up at the ceiling. No matter how much I wanted to, no matter how much my heart begged me to, I couldn’t let myself fall for Adelaide Frost. Couldn’t let her ease the burden I was meant to carry around with me for the rest of my life.”

11

ADELAIDE

Hearing the pain in his voice broke my heart. He’d turned his back to me though I wrapped my arm over his big shoulder and snuggled against him until the sun started to rise, wishing I had the words to erase the hurt and make him feel whole again. The man who’d gently wrapped ice around my ankle, who’d whispered sweet words in my ear while he made love to me, had disappeared. Only a shell remained.

Even though we’d had less than twenty-four hours together, he’d imprinted on my heart. I believed everything happened for a reason, which meant he was supposed to find me in the woods. During the short time we’d spent together, a deep knowing had bloomed inside me. I was supposed to bring this gentle giant back to life. But how?

A loud crackling noise came from the living room, then Lucky let out a few loud barks.

Samuel got up. “I’m going to check it out. Stay here?”

I pulled the covers up to my nose. “Okay.”

He opened the door, and the sound of static came through. The radio. I’d left it on since I’d talked to the sheriff’s office.

Wrapping the blanket around my shoulders, I got up and followed him into the other room.

“Miss Frost? Are you there? This is Deputy Michaels.”

Samuel flipped on a lamp and held the mic to his mouth. “Hey Vic. This is Samuel Allen. I’ve got Adelaide Frost at my place.”

“Hey, Samuel. As soon as it’s light enough, I’ll send a chopper up the mountain to check on the water levels. I figured we could touch down at your place on the way back down to pick up Miss Frost so she can get back to the resort. Is that a possibility?”

My heart lurched. I had to get back for the wedding, but I didn’t want to leave things with Samuel like this.

He didn’t look over at me before he answered. “That would be great.”

“Give me about an hour?” Deputy Michaels asked.

“You got it.” Samuel set down the mic and scrubbed his hand over his chin. He kept his back toward me. Even when Lucky whimpered, and he reached down to run his palm over the dog’s thick fur.

The divide between us widened. I could feel the separation grow even though neither one of us had moved.

“Come with me to the wedding.” I took a step toward him.

He turned, the defeat in his eyes heavy enough to crush any hope I might have of getting him to come with me. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” The blanket dipped low on my shoulders as I rushed to his side. “You’ve got to stop punishing yourself. What happened over there could have happened to any of you.”

“But it didn’t. It happened to me.” His hands cradled his temple. “And there’s no way I’m going to stand in front of my brothers and the woman who raised me as her own and have them try to convince me I still deserve to be here.”

Realization crept over me. “Samuel Allen. You’re Tyson’s brother. The one he asked to be his best man.”

The way his jaw clenched confirmed it.

“He said he hadn’t heard from you, but you know about the wedding. How?”

He reached out to settle the blanket around my shoulders again. Whatever heat there had been between us overnight was still there, but it had cooled.

“The invitation caught up to me. I should have known he’d come back here someday. That’s what he used to talk about while we sat around in the desert waiting for something to happen.”

A faint smile curved the edges of his lips. I didn’t want to say anything to distract him so I waited, hoping he’d continue.

“Ty’s grandpa grew up in Virginia and used to take him to the resort in the summers. He always said he hoped to move back here someday. That not even the big Texas sky could compare to the view of the stars from these mountains.” Samuel took in a deep breath and turned toward me. “I guess that’s what brought me all the way out here. When I got out of the service, I couldn’t go back home to Texas, so I figured I’d come out here and see if he was right.”

“How long has it been since you’ve seen your family?” I’d only met Tyson one other time before I got to the resort earlier in the week. I knew he’d been raised by his granddad then lived with a foster family before he joined the Army, but Jules hadn’t given me a ton of details about him. Knowing she was head over heels for the man and that he treated her like a princess had erased any concerns I had about the two of them getting married.

---