Page 14 of Grumped By the Mountain Man

Chapter Five

Jaxon

“AYLA!” I scream in vain from the porch. There’s no way she can hear me over the hail, but I’m desperate.

I’ve called her phone fifty times, but I can’t get through. She left without so much as a goodbye, not that I could blame her. I was a jackass for the way I snapped at her. I just...I just don’t know how to explain myself to her or to anyone for that matter. I know the nursery is creepy. Heck, the whole house is creepy. It’s filled with things I have no use for. Things meant for kids and a wife. Things meant for a family that doesn’t exist outside of Mochi and me.

I was embarrassed and grumpy, and just plain rude. It’s my fault she ran away and I know she ran away because I called Willis’ number directly. He hired me to fix a hole in his roof last winter and I still had his contact info. He was clueless about the ride and it only took me a second to piece together what really happened.

I happened.

Jackass Jaxon.

Mochi’s whine beside my knee draws my attention to his worried eyes.

“She couldn’t have gotten far on foot.” I try to reassure him, but my heart’s thundering in my ears, louder than the hail falling. “Let’s get in the truck. She must be somewhere along the road. Maybe she took shelter under a tree.”

Mochi barks as if in agreement with my plan.

Hailstorms typically only last fifteen minutes, but there’s no way I can keep still that long. Not while Ayla’s missing and probably terrified.

I pull the truck up beneath the porch’s overhang so Mochi can jump in safely. He settles on the passenger seat as I pull onto the main road. His ears are erect, his head on a swivel as we both gaze uselessly out of the chilled windows. Even with the wipers on full speed, I can barely see a foot in front of me.

As we slowly cruise down the bend, I cut on my lights hoping they’ll get her attention if she’s nearby. But as the minutes tick on I still see no sign of her. Neither does Mochi, who’s running from the back seat to the front to look through all the windows.

My phone vibrates, and I pull over before fumbling with the tiny screen. Ayla?

My heart sinks at my sister’s name. “Cali?” I pick up the call.

“Hey big bro,” she says nervously. “How’s it going?”

“Terribly. I can’t find Ayla.”

“What?! What do you mean?”

“It’s hailing here and she’s missing. What about the lodge, is it storming there?”

She pauses for a moment, her footsteps pattering across the floor as if she’s going to check outside. “No, but if it’s happening over there, it’ll usually hit us a few minutes later. But I don’t understand, how did you lose her?”

“She left after I yelled at her for going into the...”

“Nursery?”

“It’s not a nursery,” I say in irritation. “Besides, she would’ve never seen it, if you hadn’t ambushed us both.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why did you send her over here unannounced? What were you thinking?”

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