The ax felt solid in my hands as I brought it down onto a stump of wood. The methodical movements always calmed my mind. The wood splintered, and the ax stopped. The sounds of nature yielding to my strength made me feel powerful and strong in a world that had taken everything from me.
The sun was bearing down on my back as the sounds of my niece drifted from the house. She and the nanny were running around, burning energy like a camp fire with driest of woods. Those were the only two sounds that could calm me, the sound of nature, and the sound of Lanie.
They gave me solace in a world where peace and harmony were a myth.
Shoving the wood off to the side, I pulled a rag from my pocket. I’d been chopping wood for the past two hours, and I could drops of sweat running down my back. My muscles ached, and my body was roasting in the sun, even as the air around me dropped to a cool forty degrees. The mountains of North Carolina had fickle weather, and while its winters weren’t harsh, the temperatures at night easily plummeted to below ten degrees.
And we used our last supply of wood last night to burn for heat.
I heaved another stump of wood onto the bench before I heard something off in the distance. Out here, it was mostly the rustling of trees and the chirping of birds. Unless it was the nanny coming up the driveway to tend to Lanie, there were no other man-made sounds. No heavy machinery, no cars buzzing by. No ambulances with their sirens and no children laughing as they got off school buses.
The sudden sound of a car off in the distance caught my attention.
I shared this face of the mountain with another home, but it hadn’t been occupied in at least four years. I leaned against my ax as I listened to the noise of the car on the road, hoping the vehicle wouldn’t come any farther.
I hated meeting new people.
I purchased this cabin, assuming the house down the road would remain abandoned. That last thing I wanted was neighbors who felt the need to be friendly.
Whisking Lanie away to this secluded paradise was the best damn thing I could’ve done for both of us. After the unforeseen death of my sister, I was the only one Lanie had left in the world and I’d be damned if I left her to fend for herself. She was much too innocent for this world.
The sound of the car shut off, and I went back to chopping wood. I didn’t care who was coming to tend to the house. After being abandoned for so many years, it probably needed a lot of work. I checked up on it every now and again, seeing if there was a “for sale” sign in the yard. If anything, I thought I could purchase it so no one else could live up here alongside us.
I never saw a “for sale” sign, so I figured the house had been abandoned, left behind by someone with no family while it rotted away on its foundation. The wood desperately needed to be treated and some of it probably needed to be replaced altogether. No matter the condition of the house, however, I hoped the person pulling up to it was the type to keep to themselves.
I wasn’t a hospitable person, nor was I willing to expose Lanie to some stranger.
I sliced stump after stump, knocking them off to the side. I was quickly building a stash that would last us for the rest of the winter. I had to start thinking about dinner since the nanny couldn’t stay late tonight, and I groaned just thinking about it. If my calculations were correct, I was due for a grocery trip within the next two days.
Which meant going into town and dealing with people. Shit.
“Aaaahhhh!”
The shrill shrieking sound of a woman’s voice pierced the air, and I whipped my head around to see who it was. The ax dropped from my hand as Lanie ran out onto the porch, the nanny on her heels as she swooped her up. The scream happened again, but this time it was more frantic, so I turned around to the two on the porch and held out my hand.
“Stay here,” I said.
I took off down the road and followed the path to the noise. It led me right up to the neglected home, the front door hanging open on its rusted hinges. I leaped onto the porch and barreled into the house, choking on the dust that flew into my face.
Through the dust, I was able to make out a woman who was stuck in the flight of stairs.
Her head whipped around to me and her eyes practically stopped me in my tracks. They were piercing green eyes and contrasted against her raven black hair. She was a sight for sore eyes. Even though she had a startled look on her face, I could see the stunning features of her face clear as day.
I strode over to the woman and took her in my arms, pulling her from the staircase and carrying her over to the couch.
She wrapped her arms around me, and I could feel her warmth; the way her luscious breasts pressed into my body and the way her curves sat against my muscles. It didn’t even occur to me that I still didn’t have my shirt on until I sat her on the couch, and her eyes lingered a little too long on my chest.
A dainty flush rose to her cheeks before she drew in a shuddering breath. Her skin was like porcelain, and her lips were glistening, drawing my eyes to them as my breath hitched in my throat.
“Thank you,” she said.
Even with the tears in her voice, it felt like silk against my ears.
Sitting on the rickety coffee table, I reached over for her leg.
“May I?” I asked
She nodded.
I gently picked up her leg. She was bleeding and badly scraped up. I couldn’t see how severe the gash in her leg was, but I could see several splinters that would need to be pulled, and her leg needed to be disinfected and bandaged.
“I guess the wood gave way underneath me,” she said.
I slowly rose my gaze to hers as I rolled her pants leg up.
“Doesn’t shock me,” I said.
I stopped rolling up her pant leg and allowed my hands to rest on her knee. I started pushing her knee cap around, making sure nothing was dislocated or broken. I slowly worked my way down until I got to the top of her bleeding shin, and that was when I saw her flinch.
I found myself curious as to why she was here.
“Do you live around here?” she asked.
Strike one. She wanted to be friendly.
“Down the road,” I said.
“Did you—?”
My eyes slowly rose back up to hers before I moved her leg down to the floor.
Her eyes were still roaming my body, and I had to bite back my smirk. I allowed my eyes to linger on her as she took in her fill, clocking her prominent cleavage. Her stomach was toned, and her waist dipped in before flaring into a pair of thighs that had my tongue begging for a taste. She was a gorgeous woman who was in way over her head with a place like this.
“Did I what?” I asked.
Her eyes snapped back up to mine before her neck flushed with that beautiful pink hue.
“Did you know the woman who used to live here?” she asked.
There was sadness in her eyes as she asked the question. Like she was searching for some kindred spirit to share in her anguish.
Of course, I didn’t fucking know anyone. That was the whole point of moving up here. No people, no women, and no fusses.
“No,” I said. “Can’t say I did.”
She nodded her head and looked away before her eyes gazed down at her leg.
“What exactly were you thinking when you came up here all alone in a place like this?” I asked.
“Sorry?”
“This place isn’t for someone like you,” I said.
“Someone like me?” she asked. “What does that mean?”
“No offense, but you don’t strike me as the mountain gal type.”
“I’ll have you know I grew up in this home,” she said.
That piqued my interest.
Pushing me away, she got up onto her leg before she yelped. I jumped up and caught her before she hit the floor, cursing her as she went down. She was a stubborn woman, and I had no time for any drama. Hell, I hardly had time for myself.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting to my purse,” she said.
“What’s in your purse?” I asked, grunting. “A pair of crutches?”
“The papers from my grandmother’s attorney stating that this cabin is rightfully mine.”