Page 26 of Challenged By the Mountain Man

"That's not an answer."

"Yeah, I broke in. You weren't answering."

"Because I was asleep!"

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"Most people assume when someone doesn't answer the door at six in the morning, they're asleep!"

"There was no smoke from your chimney."

She blinks. "What?"

"Your chimney. There was no smoke. I thought—" I stop, not wanting to finish that sentence. Not wanting to admit that I spent the last twenty minutes imagining worst-case scenarios like some kind of paranoid asshole.

Her expression softens slightly. "You thought something was wrong."

"Yeah."

"So, you broke into my cabin."

"Yeah."

"To make sure I was okay."

"Yeah."

We stare at each other, and I'm suddenly aware of how close I'm crouching to her bed, how small the cabin is, how this probably looks completely insane from her perspective.

"I'm rebuilding your fire," I say, standing abruptly. "Stay in bed if you want. But I'm not leaving until this place is warm enough that you're not going to lose fingers."

I don't wait for her to argue. I just turn and head for the wood stove, grabbing kindling from the box beside it. Bear has already made himself comfortable on the rug in front of the stove, because of course he has.

Behind me, I hear Hannah sigh and the rustle of blankets as she sits up. "You're insane."

"Probably."

"Normal neighbors don't break into each other's cabins."

"Normal neighbors don't rent cabins with no power in October."

"Touché."

I rebuild the fire the same way I did last night. The kindling catches fast, and I add fuel wood until I've got a solid blaze going. Heat starts radiating out almost immediately, and I can feel the cabin beginning to thaw.

"Why didn't you keep it going?" I ask, not looking at her.

"I did. I fed it before I went to bed."

"When?"

"I don't know. Eleven? Midnight?"

"That was six hours ago, Hannah. You need to feed it every few hours or it dies."

"You didn't tell me that."

I turn to look at her. She's sitting on the edge of the bed now, quilts wrapped around her shoulders, and she looks exhausted.