Her Mountain Sanctuary

“Doing okay?” Pete asked as he finished ratcheting a bolt into place.

Drew idly rubbed his left shoulder, testing for pain. The bumps and bruises from his deer encounter were nothing compared to the percussion injuries he’d suffered in Afghanistan. Injuries he’d ignored as he’d done what he could to help pull his buddies from the wreckage—it was only afterward that his body had shut down. The doctors had been amazed at what he’d managed to do despite a gaping head wound, broken ribs and a punctured lung. Sheer adrenaline had carried him through—then abandoned him. He’d gone into shock, waking up in the hospital to the news that he’d lost three friends.

He swallowed dryly. “I’m good. Not looking forward to explaining to Mads.”

“Understandable.” Pete put down the wrench and got to his feet, dusting off his hands on his jeans.

Maddie essentially had three parents now. Pete—Lissa’s brother—and his wife Cara had taken Maddie in after Lissa’s death, with the idea that she’d stay with them until Drew’s tour of duty ended. Then came the blast, the hospital stay, followed by five more months of duty. And the nightmares. He’d had to confess those to Pete and Cara when he’d arrived back in Eagle Valley four months ago, and he’d confessed about the one he’d had a few nights ago—which was why Maddie wouldn’t be staying with him as much as she hoped during the summer.

Pete jerked his head toward the line of lawn mowers near the bay door. “Those are all yours.”

“I’ll take a few with me today, pick the rest up tomorrow.”

The school bus rumbled up to the end of the driveway and the door opened with a hydraulic hiss. A few seconds later, Maddie came around the nose of the bus and headed for the shop, her expression brightening when she saw Drew step out of the bay door.

“Dad!”

His heart twisted, as it always did at the sight of his beautiful daughter. “Hey, tiger.” Before he’d left for his last tour of duty, he’d swung her up in the air when she got home from school and she’d thrown her head back and laughed. Now she was twelve, almost thirteen, and swinging in the air was no longer the thing to do. Instead they bumped fists and then she gave him a bear hug.

“Can I stay with you this weekend?” she asked, tilting her head back to look up at him. It was all Drew could do not to push her glasses a little farther up her nose. Lissa had had the same problem. Glasses simply hadn’t stayed in place.

Before he could answer, tell her that she wouldn’t be staying overnight, her eyes went wide. “What happened to the Jeep?”

Pete and Drew exchanged quick glances, then Drew said, “I swerved to hit a deer yesterday.”

“And wrecked the Jeep?”

Maddie sounded horrified, so he made an extra effort to sound casual. “It was rainy. It slid off the road.”

Maddie headed for the vehicle, her backpack bouncing on her back. She inspected the damage with a critical eye, making Drew glad that the Jeep was topless. As it was, she had no way of knowing it’d rolled. “Are you going to be able to fix it, Uncle Pete?”

“It’ll be better than it was when I get done with it.”

“Good.” She turned back to Drew. “Is the deer all right?”

He almost laughed. “Yeah, honey. I swerved, remember?”

“Good. Sorry about the Jeep, but glad about the deer.” She gave her father a sidelong look. “Does this mean I won’t be spending the night this weekend?”

Maddie knew about his nightmares, knew why he spent his nights alone. She was also convinced that if she moved in, then he wouldn’t have them anymore. “Because you’ll have me there,” she’d told him a few months ago, after his discharge.

“I just...think it would be best. But we can have pizza tonight, and I’ll get you first thing in the morning.”

Maddie didn’t argue. She didn’t look happy, but she didn’t argue. “Okay, but it really has to be first thing.”

“How does 6:00 a.m. sound?”

“Horrible,” Pete muttered.

“Ignore him,” Maddie said with a grin. “I’ll be waiting on the porch.”

* * *

THIRTY MINUTES TO quitting time. Faith pulled her attention back to the open folder in front of her. A big part of her job involved pulling old files and scanning the information into digital format so that alumni who’d graduated prior to the digital age could have easy access to their records.

Faith doubted that she would have liked the job before the assault. She’d enjoyed interacting with people, but now she preferred being alone, having minimal contact with her fellow employees. Working her way through the archives while listening to music. Essentially hiding from the world. The job made her feel safe, but the hours did seem to drag on.

“Faith?”

Her head jerked up at the sound of her boss’s voice, and her heart did a guilty double beat—which wasn’t fair. It sucked being caught between a rock and a hard place. But if push came to shove, she owed more loyalty to Debra than to her brother...even if, hands down, she preferred the man who reminded her of her attacker. What did that say about her?

That she liked having a job in safe surroundings.

“Yes?” She forced a bright note into her voice while wondering if she was about to be taken down for hiding vital information from her superior.

Debra glanced at the clock. “Would you stop by my office before you go home?”

“Certainly. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Thank you.” Debra didn’t bother with her fake smile, which made Faith’s stomach tighten a little more. After Debra left, she closed the file. She’d worked through her break, as she often did—it wasn’t like she really needed to sit in the small staff room and socialize—so she wasn’t cheating the college by leaving early. She’d put in her hours.

What now? She let her head fall back, tried to remember a time when she hadn’t automatically expected the worst.

Actually, it was very easy to remember that time—it was her entire life up until the assault had shifted her perspective. She was getting damned tired of shifted perspective.

Faith set the closed file on top of her Done pile and pushed her chair away from her desk. Why wait to find out what Debra wanted? If it was bad news, then she might as well get it now. She grabbed her purse, locked the door to her small basement office and headed for the stairs rather than the elevator. When she reached the registrar’s office, she gave a quick rap on the open inner-office door. Debra looked up, then waved her inside.

“Please close the door.”

Faith already had it half-shut.

“My brother told me about his accident—and your part in aiding him. Thank you.”

Relief washed over her. Drew Miller had been as good as his word. “I’m glad you understand. I didn’t feel right keeping the matter quiet, but he wanted to tell you himself.”

“I do understand.” Debra gave her shoulders an odd little roll before meeting Faith’s gaze. “However...in the future...if something of a serious nature occurs, I would very much appreciate a heads-up. Just a hint that I should be aware that all is not well in my brother’s life. You don’t have to spill all the beans—just let me know I need to look into things.”

The warm feeling of relief had started evaporating at the word however, and by the time Debra was done speaking, Faith was once again in defensive mode.

“I can’t get involved in your family matters.” She should have made this position clear from the very beginning, shouldn’t have agreed to meet Debra’s brother, but she’d caved to stay on Debra’s good side—and because she believed in equine therapy. Now she regretted that decision.

“I’m not asking you as a boss. Please understand that.” Faith’s eyebrows rose. “Drew is not the man he used to be and until he is...well, it would help me to know what’s going on. So that I can help him.”

A hard knot was forming in Faith’s stomach. “I doubt I’ll see your brother again.”

“That’s very possible. But...” Debra’s expression became even more serious and there was a faint pleading note in her voice as she said, “You are his neighbor, and if you notice anything unusual, will you please tell me? I’m worried about Drew. I want him to get better.”

Faith sucked in a breath. “I don’t think I’ll see Drew,” she repeated, hoping that Debra would believe her. “However, I will tell you if I notice anything disturbing.”