AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Running my hand through my shoulder-length dark hair, I groan. “Dammit! I thought I caught all the damn tourists up here and got them the hell off the mountain before the snow hit.”
“She’s not a tourist. She’s from town. Maybe you know her. Treaty Tucker.”
My heart skips a beat. I do know the tiny goddess. She sells jewelry at the farmer’s market on Saturday and has a little plot of land just outside of town.
“Why the hell is she up here?”
“I don’t know,” he snaps. “Remember when I said I didn’t get to talk to her? So I don’t really know why she’s up there. Maybe she’s looking for rocks!”
I stand and start to quickly gather up everything I think I’ll need. I can’t bear to think about the poor woman out here wandering around. I need to find her and warm her up. Skin on skin is best, right? I need to touch her. Hold her in my arms.
My dick jerks in my thick pants that I haven’t bothered to take off since I got done working.
All good though. That just means less time getting ready.
“When we got the call, we checked her house out and saw that her car was gone. So we checked the little lot at the base of the Princess trail.”
Of course she would have to be on the trail that’s the wildest and least developed. Halfway up the mountain, that trail changes quickly from moderately steep with brush thinned out and a clearly marked trail to follow. Instead, it’s marked every half mile or so and it’s so steep that it’s like you can kiss your own damn knees.
“Tell me that’s not where her car is!”
“I wish I could tell you that, but I can’t. That’s where she is. At least going by nobody being at home at her house and her car being there. I think it’s a safe assumption.”
“Alright, I’ll head out. I’ll let you know if I find her by daylight.” I don’t bother waiting for his answer. Just hang up and finish gathering up my stuff.
Slipping on my coat, I take a few deep breaths, struggling not to become frantic. I need to get her. Need to make sure that she’s safe.
I’ve been laser-focused on that woman since I first saw her. She moved here after her grandparents died which happened to coincide luckily with when her divorce was finalized.
Not that it’s lucky when someone you love dies, but it was something that happened to work out for her. I get the feeling that very little has actually worked out for her over the years. Every time I see her at the farmer’s market, her pale blue eyes are tired with dark shadows under them. Her curly red hair is bundled up into a knot on top of her head like she’s afraid to let it loose, she needs to control things around her even if it’s just her damn gorgeous strawberry-blond hair. Which is a damn shame because I bet that when it’s down around her shoulders it’s a sight to see.
I jerk myself out of my thoughts and slam the door shut behind me, using a flashlight to light my way. If I need to, I’ve got a portable, chargeable lantern that I can switch to but I’m saving that for emergency use. When it gets a little darker.
My mind scrambles to try and latch on to where I think she might be. The sheriff’s office got a quick GPS signal that’s about a mile from my cabin when her call tried to connect. But it dropped so fast that there wasn’t really enough time to be more exact.
I head out the way they said and after two hours of what feels like running in circles, my temper starts to flare.
“Where the hell is that damn woman!” Just as quickly, I pull back in. She’s not a damn woman. She’s a sweet, quiet, shy woman who had every right to come up on the mountain for whatever reason. I just wish I’d seen her earlier and sent her back down before the damn storm hit.
I trudge forward, my steps dragging. It was already a long day before I headed out this evening. Now… it’s just one big, tired blur of cold, wind and darkness.
I can’t imagine how she’s doing in this crap. I would be terrified. Hell, I’m terrified for her! For me. Because if I can’t find her, I won’t be able to handle that.
She’s the only woman that has had any impact on me since my mom died from cancer when I was thirteen years old. My dad kinda faded into the woodwork at that point and although it took another five years, I fully believe that he died from a broken heart from her loss. The men in my family have a long history of loving hard and remaining faithful to that love no matter what.
My grandparents loved each other so much that when she died, he just walked away into the mountains and wasn’t found until the following year, frozen, when the spring thaw revealed where he passed away.
No one has ever doubted their love. And that’s why I have been very particular about who I spend my time with. I’ve never been with any woman because I know that I’ll know when I find my soulmate. No other woman will do.
That’s why it was such a shock when I went to the farmer’s market for the first time after she started selling her wares and saw the petite woman. My heart lurched in my chest and my breathing went haywire. I felt lightheaded and reeling for the first time in my life.
But I haven’t been able to work up the nerve to talk to the quiet woman in a year. She’s so shy that when I walk up to her stand, she can’t even look me in the eye.
I don’t want to push her but now I’m regretting that. What if something happens to her? How will I know if she’s my one? Will I just never feel anything again?
I stagger when a pain like no other hits me. Throwing out my hand, I smack it into one of the pine trees up here and take a deep breath, closing my eyes.
When I open them, I narrow my gaze on the tree trunk. Is that blood?
