Her Mountain Sanctuary

“You know that we’re going to run into each other from time to time. I might...” he casually shrugged his heavy shoulders “...drive off the mountain or something.”

She didn’t crack a smile at the unexpected joke, even though a small part of her wanted to. “I hope that time will make things better,” she said stiffly.

“One can hope.”

She started to ease her foot off the brake, needing very much to get out of there. To escape not only the situation, but the odd feeling that she’d just found someone who understood.

“I’m sorry I make you nervous, Faith.”

“Yeah.” Her voice was little more than a throaty whisper, because she hadn’t expected empathy and didn’t know how to deal with it. “Me, too.”

With that, she stepped on the gas, swung the truck in a wide arc, then started back down the rutted road to the Lightning Creek Ranch and safety.

CHAPTER FOUR (#u64e075b2-40f4-51e7-8c6e-03bb3caa0371)

DREW FOLLOWED THROUGH on his promise to Faith and drove to Eagle Valley Community College where he would confess to his sister that he’d rolled his rig off the mountain, thus freeing Faith from her dark secret. He wouldn’t have told Deb at all if Faith hadn’t been involved.

Deb left him cooling his heels in her outer office with her long-suffering associate, Penny, as she finished a phone call and made another. Finally, she welcomed him into her personal space, which was decorated in the same minimalist, yet expensive-looking style as her house. Lots of leather and glass. Single orchids. That kind of stuff. Drew was more of an overstuffed-chair, coffee-table-you-could-put-your-feet-on guy, so he’d never felt comfortable in his sister’s sphere.

“How are you feeling?”

Drew managed to keep a straight face, despite her solicitous tone. “I’m sore.”

“Have you intensified your workouts?”

“No. I rolled the Jeep night before last and got banged up.”

The gold pen Deb had been holding fell out of her hand and rolled across the desk. “Were you drinking?”

Drew scowled at her. “What the hell kind of question is that?”

“A reasonable one,” she defended. “People with your affliction tend to self-medicate.”

“Deb...stop with the affliction talk, okay? And I’m not self-medicating.” He was afraid to. He was afraid of disappearing down a rathole if he started depending on substances to help him through the long days and longer nights. He hoped like hell that he wouldn’t be driven back to the nightmare drugs that had made him feel like the walking dead. “I swerved to miss a deer and over-corrected. It was rainy and slick.”

She studied him for a long moment, as if trying to make him squirm like one of her employees. He wondered if Deb could make Faith squirm. She had backbone, but she was new on the job, and probably on probation. She was also the reason he was there, having yet another uncomfortable meeting with his sister. “Are you all right?” she finally asked.

“Yeah. Faith Hartman heard the wreck and came to my assistance.”

Deb’s eyes widened. “She didn’t say a thing.”

“I asked her not to.”

“Why?”

Drew cocked an eyebrow. “Because I didn’t want you peppering her with questions that should be directed at me...like whether I was drinking.” Deb flushed. “I told her I’d tell you in my own time.”

“She did ask to speak with me yesterday,” Debra said with a thoughtful frown.

He got to his feet. “Let’s leave Faith out of this. She’s my neighbor, your employee. Period. She shouldn’t be in the middle of family matters.”

And he didn’t want to add more stress to her life. She’d remained in his thoughts the night before, long after she’d confessed her past, and he’d woke up thinking about her. He told himself it was because his protective instinct was kicking in. He had an idea of what she was going through and he felt for her. That was all.

When Deb remained silent, he assumed she accepted his logic and decided to make good his escape. “See you around.”

“I heard there was a lumber delivery at the cabin.”

Drew stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned back. “How?”

“That’s not important. What on earth are you doing up there?”

None of your business.

Except it was half her business. She and Drew had inherited equal interest of their grandfather’s mountain hideaway years ago, and he now leased her half of the property.

“Do you really care?”

“I’m interested.”

“I’m not building a bunker or anything.”

“That’s not funny.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.” He let out a breath that made his shoulders sag. “I’m going ahead with the renovations that Lissa mapped out.”

Deb’s eyebrows came together. “Is that a good idea?”

Drew pretended to consider for a moment before saying, “Yes. I think it is. It’s something Maddie and I can work on together over the summer.”

Deb gave a brittle laugh. “Oh, I’m certain she’ll love that.”

Deb knew next to nothing about Maddie. She was the most hands-off aunt he knew of. Maddie was acknowledged on her birthday and at Christmas, and Drew was certain that was only because it was expected.

“She will. And so will I.”

“Drew...you need to think about this. If Maddie comes to stay with you full-time, is she really going to want to live in a mountain cabin? Even if it is renovated?” Deb cleared her throat. “Wouldn’t it be fairer to her to move to one of those nice neighborhoods they’re building on the west end of town?”

Drew gave his sister a long, hard look, wondering what her objective was. Did she honestly care about what was best for Maddie? Or was she just trying to make him fit the mold so he wouldn’t embarrass her?

“I don’t know. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, and in the meantime, I’m renovating the cabin.” He let himself out of the office before she could say anything else to add to his already bad mood.

The door clicked shut behind him and after giving Penny what he hoped was a pleasant nod, he headed down the hallway toward the exit. Nobody raised his blood pressure like his sibling. He gave a small snort as he unlocked the truck. She probably thought the same about him.

Drew parked next to his brother-in-law’s shop a few minutes before Maddie’s school bus was due to arrive at three thirty. Pete, who was elbow-deep in a trash pump repair, gave him a grunt of greeting.

Earlier that morning, as soon as Maddie had caught the bus to school and Cara had taken off for work, they’d winched the Jeep up the side of the mountain and towed it to the shop, where it now sat, listing sadly on its axles.

Drew was going to have to explain to his daughter about the accident and he wasn’t looking forward to it. Maddie was a resilient kid, but she’d lost her mother, had nearly lost her father, and she didn’t need to hear that she’d almost lost him again. He wouldn’t exactly lie, but he was going to gloss over a few things. Pretty much, he’d almost hit a deer and had a little accident. Then he’d come up with a way to distract her.