Page 20 of My Three Mountain Men

I burst out laughing and reached for the butter, but hesitated. Before I could ask her if she wanted any, she went on. “God didn’t venture to our part of the state much, so there wasn’t even the possibility of becoming a convert.”

My head turned curiously, the pain in her tone haunting.

“But that’s generally the first question everyone asks when I tell them I’m from Utah,” Simone went on, the lilt returning. “You can put butter on that toast. I’m not going to explode from the calories.”

I grinned and turned back to the plate, finishing the task and pouring a cup of coffee into a huge ceramic mug before rejoining her at the table.

“Thank you, Brooks.”

“I can make you an omelet or something,” I offered. “I’m more or less the resident chef because—well, between you and me—the other two really suck at cooking.”

She set the coffee cup down and extended her hand toward me.

“No, I mean… thanks for everything. Not just this. Although I do appreciate the food.”

“Oh.” I sat back, the friction of her fingertips against my arm sending an unexpected wave through me that extended to my core. My crotch pulsed with heat, and I had to step back before my cock reacted even further. “Anyone would have done the same.”

“That’s not what your cousins made it sound like,” she muttered.

I shook my head. “They were just caught off guard yesterday, Simone. We haven’t ever had a guest stay here before. We’ve always maintained that we would never let anyone know where we lived.”

Blinking, she sat back.

“Why not?”

“Because… because that’s the way we want it.”

“But… why?” She was rightfully flabbergasted. “I mean—no judgment. People can live any way they want, but you guys were kids. Don’t teenage boys just want to meet girls and smoke pot?”

“I wouldn’t really know,” I replied gruffly, not liking where this conversation was going.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” Simone said quickly. “I’m just… I’ve just never known anyone who preferred to live secluded.”

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t understand,” I teased. “Especially when you live your whole life online. The allure of seclusion never appealed to you, probably.”

She stared at me, something indiscernible gleaming behind her blue eyes, her chin quivering slightly.

“No,” she answered quietly. “That wasn’t always true. There was a time that I could have done without eyes on me. In fact, I was a teenager, too, when I wanted nothing more than to run off and hide away forever.”

Her revelation astonished me, but I didn’t think she was lying. For the second time in as many days, I caught that sadness in her voice, as if she were reliving a part of her past that she wished she’d left behind.

Slowly, I sat, facing her encouragingly. “Why? What happened to you?”

Simone hesitated, and for a moment, I thought she might backpedal on her confession, but she took another sip of her coffee and sank back in her chair.

“My parents had problems,” she admitted, her voice so low, I had to strain to hear her. “To this day, I’m not sure which one started with the drug addiction, or if they both met one another in the middle of it, or if he dragged her into it, or vice versa.”

My chest tightened, and suddenly, I wished I hadn’t asked.

“We lived in this crap trailer park called Shady Forest, but everyone called it Shady Freaks because that’s who lived there—a bunch of junkie freaks and criminals. Even the cops didn’t go out there. It was a pretty lawless place.”

“That sounds like an awful place to grow up.”

Simone offered me a mirthless grin. “The upside is that youdoget to grow up pretty quick under those circumstances.”

The smile immediately fell away as if remembering what that maturity entailed.

“Deep down, I think my mom loved me,” Simone confessed, her voice catching. “But she was trapped by her addiction. It’s a horrible disease…” She eyed me warily, as if waiting for me to scoff and make a rude comment, but I didn’t. I had no firsthand experience on the matter, but there was one thing that the remoteness of the cabin allowed for, and that was reading. I devoured everything I could in current events, and I was well aware of how the opiate epidemic was tearing the country apart.

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