Page 48 of Hiding in Montana

His face morphed from anger to concern. “Paulina, that’s awful. You must have been terrified.”

That was a distinct memory. Even now she was still processing the heart-pounding memory of lying helpless, grateful they hadn’t tried to get down the vertical hill face and finish her off.

His eyes locked on hers. “You never said who found you.”

The intensity of his stare stopped her from speaking for a moment. When she found her voice, she said, “I was lucky. A group of hikers discovered me and they called for help. Once the rescue team arrived, they took me to the hospital.”

He moved to kneel in front of her, taking her chilled hands in his. “Why didn’t you say before that you had been under strain, all this time withholding that scary detail from your story?”

“I didn’t remember it until recently. But it doesn’t make any difference. I don’t have any idea who they were.”

“Do you think you’d recognize either of them if you saw them again?”

Thinking back to their faces, they were fuzzy, like a picture not quite in focus. “No, I don’t think so.” She blinked hard so she wouldn’t have to remember the men but instead remain intent on the immediate issue. “We need to talk about what happened before our divorce. And you have to be honest with me.”

Matthew rocked back on his heels and got up to sit back on the sofa. He stretched his arm across the low back, and for a man who had taken money that wasn’t his, he was pretty casual about the whole thing.

He lifted his hands, palms up. “There’s not much to tell. Other than some people think you have money that belongs to them. Sad for you, but they believed me.”

“Who. Who are these people?” She heard the tone in her voice get more forceful and Matthew’s eyes widened, which meant he noticed too.

“Loan sharks.”

Now they were getting somewhere. “How much did you owe them?”

“Six years ago, it was seventy-five k, but now with interest compounding it’s a bit more.”

“I know, maybe even a million now.” Disgust wasn’t even a strong enough word for how she felt. “Back then, that amount was a lot, but not unreasonable. Why didn’t you just pay it? Or at least work something out?” Her cheeks burned, which was not a good sign as her temper was rising each time he said something stupid. “You’d buy a car for that kind of money.”

He shrugged. “At the time, I didn’t think it was a big deal. But you’re right, I should have.”

“Instead, you packed me off for a quick divorce and I changed my name, to give me what, anonymity?”

He slammed his fist against the seat cushion. “Protection, Paulina. I was trying to protect you!”

She wasn’t afraid of his temper—not anymore. She continued. “If you were trying to protect me, why on earth did you tell them I took the money?”

“I never dreamed they’d come after you.” He clasped and unclasped his hands together, anguish on his face. “You have to believe me. I would never have deliberately put you in danger. You were my wife.”

She could hear the pleading sound in his voice, and she relented a little. Although their marriage had been far from perfect, she was sure he’d never deliberately want her harmed. “We need to talk to them. You’ve stalled long enough. Do you know how to reach them?”

“No. I haven’t done business with them in a long time. Trying to cut my losses and move on. If you get my meaning.”

“Now you’ve decided to borrow money the legal way. Nice.” She looked away, disgusted they were having this conversation, as if she was bargaining for her life.

“Polly, that’s not fair.”

Her head snapped in his direction. “You don’t have the right to call me Polly. You’ve never met this woman. She was born that day at the bottom of the ravine when I was left for dead.”

“That was not my fault. I didn’t know where you were and if I had, I would have tried to do something to stop anyone from hurting you.”

She softened as she saw the pain well up in his eyes. “Can you just respect the boundaries of my life? I’m trying to keep the old and new separate.”

He gave her a long, appraising look. “I can tell you're different. It’s as if you belong in the Podunk town, working in the dirt and driving around in an old pickup truck, wearing jeans, tee shirts, and work boots.” He looked her up and down. “It’s a far cry from the silk and Italian leather you used to wear.”

She gave him a small smile. Matthew would never understand why she was happy here or that she found love, the real thing this time, with Clint. “Does it bother you? That I’ve finally come into my own?”

“No. I thought it might when I decided to come out here to see what I could do to help things along.”

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