Page 1 of Wed By the Lumberjack

Chapter One

Heath

I never thought I’d see Dixie Rose Fox in Covet County again. She was my crush and best friend in middle school until she left town one summer night without so much as a peep.

Now here she is in my arms, with a bloody forehead and apparent memory loss.

She hit her head so hard on the steering wheel, that I think she may have a concussion.

“Dixie? Who’s that?” She asks groggily again as chaos ensues just behind her head.

She’d come barreling onto Jaxon’s property, and it was my truck at the edge of the driveway that stopped her from running directly into the cabin.

The Woods brothers and my cousins, the Foresters, are trying to put out the flames from her exploded engine now with fire extinguishers. The blaze seems invincible though, roaring back to life each time they think they’ve finally conquered it.

A safe distance away on the porch, the women, children, and Jaxon’s dog, Mochi, look worriedly from the blazing truck to the surrounding forest.

Finally, it’s Kai’s extinguisher that has the last word as the flames die down for good.

I look now at my sweet baby, Pearl, only two years old with her back end crushed in like a soda can. The wheels look okay though, so hopefully, that means I can still drive her to my buddy’s auto shop later.

But Pearl can wait, It’s Dixie I’m concerned about.

“You don’t know your own name, peanut?” I try to say lightly but my heart’s racing as I carry her towards Goldie, my cousin Cole’s unharmed pickup. He offered to drive Dixie to the emergency room himself while I sort out Pearl and Dixie’s still-smoking truck, but there’s no way I’m letting her out of my sight. Not when I’ve been waiting over a decade to see her beautiful face again.

“Peanut?”

I gaze down into her big brown eyes which are cloudy with confusion and fatigue. The way she asks, makes me think her brain is trying to make the connection to her old nickname but it just can’t.

Don’t they say people with potential concussions need to stay awake?

I’ve seen it a dozen times in movies, but that doesn’t mean it’s true. It probably isn’t, but keeping her awake until we make it to the nearest emergency room couldn’t hurt, right?

“That’s you,” I say, easing her onto the semi-reclined passenger seat. “Remember? You were so tiny in middle school that everyone thought you were in the wrong building.”

I look down at her curvy frame now and quickly realize that apart from her height, there isn’t anything tiny about Dixie anymore. She’s curvy. Painfully curvy with wide hips, heavy breasts, and the cutest little belly that peeks out from her disheveled graphic tee.

I tug the fabric down and strap her in. Now isn’t the time to observe how sexy she is. I move a lock of her dark hair that’s sticking to the bloody trail on her forehead and examine the purpling gash. It isn’t too deep, but she’ll probably need stitches.

“Tiny?” she snorts, her eyes fluttering closed and then open again as she stares up at me unfocused. “You’re a giant.”

A Forester family trait for the males. If she thinks I’m huge, she should see Ash.

“That I am,” I chuckle, not bothering to point out that it wasn’t me I was talking about.

I’m just about to close the passenger door when she whispers, “Are you a gentle giant?”

The worry in her voice sends ice running through my veins. Is she worried about her safety? “Of course I am. But I know you don’t remember...”

“Good. I’m so tired of running.”

“From who?”

“I can’t outrun a giant,” she slurs, turning her head away from me. “Not when I’ve already outrun a beast.”

“What beast Dixie?”

But her long dark eyelashes flutter close and her head lulls.

---