Page 14 of My Three Mountain Men

Throwing open the walk-in closet, I flipped on the track lighting and pulled open the built-in shelves to rummage through years’ worth of clothing. There wasn’t a lot to choose from, unfortunately. Unlike my cousins, I often went through my closets to make donations, but for the most part, we used what we had to extinction.

Of us three, I was the smallest by an inch, at six-feet-one-inch, but I still lumbered over Simone’s slight five-foot… four? Three? Frame. Anything I found was going to drown her.

Still, it was better than the dirty, wet items clinging to her tiny form.

I gathered together a pair of thick wool socks, a sweatshirt, and heavy cotton sweatpants with an elastic waistband. I figured she could roll them up at the hips and ankles. Sweatshirts were sweatshirts, meant to be oversized and comfortable by design.

My arms filled with my find, I retreated to my bedroom and looked around for anything else I could bring her that might put her more at ease.

Dropping the clothes on the king bed, I ambled toward the massive entertainment unit and opened the glass doors, peering inside at the DVD collection. An array of comedies and quirky fantasy movie titles stared back at me.

Simone’s room was equipped with a mounted television and DVD player, too, but there were no movies or series in the guest room. Why would there be? We never had guests.

Why did we even have a guest room? Why had Ryder bothered including it in the plans when he had the cabin built? Moreover, why had I never really noticed the extra room there collecting dust until right now?

Why did I care?

Shaking my head, I brushed off all the irrelevant questions and plucked out a few of my favorite feel-good classics before returning to scoop up the clothes from the bed and heading back toward Simone.

It wasn’t until I was halfway down the long hall that I realized that she wasn’t alone in the room as I had left her. I slowed down, my senses on high alert as Simone’s voice rose a pitch.

“—not hungry!” she barked. “It’s bad enough that I’m trapped in here. I don’t need a nanny watching over my every move on top of that.”

“Then stop acting like a child, and no one will treat you like one,” Ryder replied in his even, stoic way. Cautiously, I edged close to the doorway, careful not to touch the squeaky boards along the hall that I knew by rote.

“I’m not acting like a child!” Simone screeched.

“No. You sound perfectly reasonable,” Ryder agreed sarcastically. “Refusing to eat, pouting, and rejecting offers of help. You’re not acting like a three-year-old at all.”

I peeked around the corner and watched Simone’s mouth drop, her cheeks staining crimson with humiliation.

“Wow,” she sputtered. “You have a real bedside manner about you, don’t you?”

“I think you’ve confused me for your personal physician as well as your nanny, Superstar,” Ryder retorted. “I’m neither. My only concern is that come the spring, the authorities don’t find your pretty little corpse rotting away on my land.”

The blood drained out of Simone’s face, and I cringed at Ryder’s wording, but before I could insert myself and diffuse the situation, Ryder thrust the sandwich I’d made toward her. “Just eat it, and then you can go back to caterwauling about your existence in the mirror. Pretend your reflection is all those thirteen-year-olds from Topeka who’ll develop eating disorders because of you.”

All the fight appeared to circle and drain out of Simone’s expression, a dead look overtaking her eyes as I watched.

Oh, Ryder. Why are you such an asshole?

I had grown so accustomed to his brusque mannerisms over the years, I’d almost forgotten how devastating he could be. But to my utter amazement, his cruel tactic had an effect on Simone, and she dully reached for the bread, silently taking a bite as she turned away from him to chew.

“Was that so hard?” he asked, standing. “Try not to get crumbs everywhere. Critters are looking for food anywhere during these temperatures.”

He pivoted and marched out of the room, directly past me, without offering me a second glance as I marveled at his powers. It probably was a blessing we would never leave this mountain to spread our seed out there in the world. I would pity any child fathered by Ryder.

By any of the Millan men, for that matter. We were all cursed in our own way.

CHAPTER7

Ryder

To my utter shock, I found myself shaking slightly as I retreated to my bedroom following my encounter with Simone. I pressed my hands together and willed myself not to fall into the sensation that threatened to overcome me.

Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t come face to face with a woman in literal years, a situation I had committed to by design. Loganville was the next town over, a little town that boasted nothing more than a general store, gas station, bar, and one thrift shop, all of which opened only from late March to November. The population was two hundred and three, consisting only of the mountain-dwelling folk of the region, a close-knit community who kept their noses clean and their mouths closed.

Brooks handled all our interactions in town for good reason; Knox and I hated it, and he managed much better than either of us. Even though no one bothered us, they knew who we were, and that was enough for me. I didn’t like the knowing look in their eyes when they stared at me.

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