Page 6 of Montana Rain

She was here.

I wanted to be close to her, just to see if there was any chance of giving the chemistry that was clearly between us a shot. If, at the end of my time here, she still hated my guts, then I’d learn to live with it. There was something about the woman I just couldn’t shake.

Hell, if she weren’t here, I didn’t think I would have genuinely entertained staying in a cabin in the mountains for four months. Maybe I would have just gone to a beach house or an unfamiliar city. Not one of the most sparsely populated states in the US.

Leaning forward, I dropped my head into my hands. I was here, and that wasn’t changing, so I needed to get used to things and get myself into a routine. First things first, I needed food. For all of Jimmy’s bluster—his name was Jimmy, not Jim or James—the cabin wasn’t exactly prepped for the end of the world.

The stash he’d warned me off was a decent size. Wood-burning generator, a satellite phone, some maps and cans of water, rope, and plenty of nonperishable food I wasn’t permitted to touch. Not as extreme as I’d expected and not exactly a typical prepper, but I wasn’t going to complain. The amount of money I paid to rent this place for four months wouldn’t even cover the rent of an apartment for one month in Chicago or Seattle.

Might as well familiarize myself with the town and the stores. I knew my way roughly around from the last time, but it had been a while.

I laughed as I drove down the mountain. Time for me to brush up on my cooking skills too. Not like there was a lot of delivery out here, and I wasn’t too proud to admit I had been more interested in my career than avoiding delivery fees for the last few years.

At least the cabin had a good fridge and freezer.

The September air had a bite to it. Not exactly cold, but the tingle of winter was in the air, hovering just out of reach. Like it was taunting everyone with how quickly it could make their lives miserable if it got the chance.

The main grocery store was great. I bought more food than I probably needed, with ambitions of teaching myself recipes that I’d wanted to learn for a long time. What else was I going to do?

I needed to get a library card. Check out some books. Get some practice filling the time.

“Phillips?”

The voice came from over my shoulder, and I turned from loading my groceries into the truck to find Jude and Liam from Resting Warrior standing there. “Hey.”

“Daniel told us you’d gotten into town.”

“Hunt me down to settle the score?” My tone was light, but I still wasn’t on perfect terms with these guys, and I wanted to see how much I needed to worry.

Jude laughed. “No. We’re all past that.”

“Doesn’t mean we won’t give you shit,” Liam said. “Because we absolutely will.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

Jude leaned against the back of the truck. “Getting settled in okay? That cabin is pretty far out.”

The words didn’t immediately come to mind. “It’s…not what I’m used to. But in the end, it’s probably a good thing.”

“Things not going well back in Seattle?” Liam crossed his arms.

I shoved my hands into my pockets. When I’d come to get supplies I hadn’t anticipated baring my soul, but I wasn’t going to hide why I was here. Part of all of this had taught me I needed to own up to my shit. “They moved me to Chicago and sat me behind a desk.” I shook my head. “No one trusts me enough to be my partner. They don’t want me in the field, and the ‘investigation’ into everything that happened is taking so long, I’m wondering if they’re trying to run out the clock on me. So I volunteered for administrative leave. I’ll be bored as fuck, but at least I’ll be bored without an audience.”

Jude nodded once. “I understand that. Hard to get ahold of your own mind when you’re aware of everyone else trying to get ahold of it for you.”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” Liam said, “if you are that bored and have the time, come by the ranch. Maybe day after tomorrow? We’ve got a new building going up and can show you around more than we did last time.”

The three of us chuckled. It was true; the farthest I’d been onto the ranch was the lodge, both last time and when I’d picked up the truck. “Sure. I’d like that.”

“And,” Jude said, “Lena will kick my ass if I don’t invite you to family dinner that night.”

I went stiff. Hanging out with the guys was one thing. We could find ways to relate to one another. All of them had been SEALs too. But their wives and girlfriends? To them, I was probably still the man who put Daniel in danger, just like Rayne thought. The man who unreasonably risked Emma Derine’s life for the sake of his mission. “That might be too soon?”

Liam waved a hand. “Nah. Daniel and Emma have both forgiven you, and the rest of us followed. Putting something off doesn’t make it less awkward.”

Damn. He had a point there, but I felt called out.

---