Her mother had once told her that Misty Hollow was the perfect place for someone to go who didn’t want to be found. Sierra Wells wanted to disappear off the face of the earth.
When her mother had dropped the bombshell that the man Sierra almost got engaged to was actually her half-brother, a baby she’d given up for adoption, well…What a secret her mother had kept the eleventh hour. What if she’d died before letting Sierra know?
She pounded the steering wheel. Dear brother Dayton accepted the fact less graciously than Sierra had and said it made no difference to him. Sierra was his.
How dare he? She belonged to no one but herself. Only now, he’d grown violent, and she’d fled to the middle of absolutely nowhere, a town deep in the Ozark mountains. Talk about insane.
The car’s headlights barely cut through the inky darkness. A mountain road that time of night might not have been a good idea, but Sierra hadn’t wanted to stay another day where her brother could get her in his claws. No, Misty Hollow sounded perfect to her, and she’d found the cutest little house online. She even had a job waiting for her at the local coffee shop.
Heavy clouds overhead released their burden making visibility less. Sierra slowed her speed and leaned forward as if she could peer through the spaces in the raindrops. She glanced at her GPS. Nothing between her and her new home but dirt roads branching off the one she drove on. She had no choice but to keep driving.
Something slammed into her front bumper sending her car spinning. Sierra screamed and stomped on the brake as the car skidded into a ditch. Her head snapped forward, colliding with the steering wheel.
She sat there, fighting to catch her breath. What had she hit? Please, God, don’t let it be a person. Don’t be stupid. Why would a person be out on a night like this? She had to go check.
She shoved her car door open and stepped into the downpour. She sloshed her way out of the ditch, slipping several times in the process, until she once again stood on firm ground. A doe, its neck at an odd angle, lay on the embankment. Sierra turned and searched the trees behind her.
Her heart dropped as a spotted fawn stepped from the trees. “I’m so sorry, little one.” Her words broke on a sob. “We’re both in a pickle now.”
There was no way she’d get her car out of the ditch short of a tow truck. She slid down the hill to the ditch and fished her cell phone out of her purse. No reception. Should she start walking or hope another vehicle would come by? Could she trust anyone that stopped? She’d seen too many times on the news how a woman out alone vanished without a trace. She sat in the driver’s seat out of the rain and turned off both the lights and the engine. Her car would be the trace, should she disappear. Unless a serial killer tow-truck driver came around.
She glanced up and screamed. A man stood near the dead doe.
He laid his rifle on the ground and held up his hands. “Are you okay?” His words barely pierced the pouring rain.
“There’s a fawn!” She pointed. She was definitely not okay. She put a hand to her head, bringing her fingers back sticky. When she looked up again, the hooded man stood next to the car.
“You’re bleeding.” His voice was softer than she’d thought.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious. I’m sorry. I’m a bit shook up. I don’t mean to be rude.”
“Apology accepted. Come with me.”
“Uh, you’re a stranger.”
“If I was going to harm you, I’d have done so already. I’m not going to let the doe go to waste. You’ll have to lure the fawn. I live a mile into the woods.”
She grabbed her purse and the overnight bag she’d tossed in the backseat and returned to the rain filled nightmare of a night. “Come on, darling. Follow your mama.”
The man hefted the doe onto his shoulders with a grunt. “Grab my gun.”
Okay. Maybe he really did mean her no harm. She picked up his weapon and obediently followed. “Will my car be alright out here?”
“Who is going to steal a wrecked vehicle?”
Point taken. She couldn’t get over how fast he moved with a deer on his shoulders. She’d never manage to drag it more than a few feet.
How much farther? Her feet sank into puddles with every step. Her bag grew heavier as the clothes inside got wet.
Finally, she could make out a light through the rain and followed the stranger into a small clearing. He marched to a cement slab, cut holes in the doe’s legs, and reeled her up on some contraption.
“Go on in, take a shower, make yourself comfortable. I’ll be skinning the deer for about half an hour.”
“What about the fawn?”
“I’ll have to take care of her until she’s big enough to fend for herself.”
“What’s your name? I’m Sierra Wells.”
“Spencer Thorne.”
Dismissed, she entered the cabin. Masculine with plaid throws on leather furniture, a crude wooden table that looked handmade, a small but functional kitchen. Two doors stood closed on the opposite wall. The first one led to a bedroom with a rugged four-poster bed. The second was the bathroom. The whole cabin was as big as her mother’s living room.
Sierra dug in her overnight bag for the least wet of her things and turned on the shower. Before getting undressed, she turned the lock on the door, then leaned against it. What was she doing? She ran from one crazy man straight into the home of a stranger. What if this Spencer was as unhinged as Dayton?
~
While he had been out hunting, Spencer hated to see a fawn orphaned. It wasn’t the woman’s fault, but he still had to squelch his anger at the sight of the poor animal watching him with big eyes.
Now, the woman was in his house. He didn’t like people. Avoided them as much as he could, but he couldn’t leave her on the side of the road. Even Misty Hollow had its kooks.
Once he finished skinning and cutting up the deer, he tossed the parts he couldn’t eat into a wheelbarrow and carted them to the edge of his property for the wild animals to enjoy. Then, he entered the house to the sound of the shower. Hopefully, she wouldn’t use all the hot water. He got his electricity from solar panels, not wanting to be connected to the grid in any way. Except for his cell phone. His one luxury.
He grabbed a can of condensed milk from the cupboard. The fawn wasn’t the first orphan he’d had to care for. He poured the milk into a bowl and set it on the corner of the porch. Hopefully, the little thing would eat.
Satisfied he’d done all he could at the moment, he went to his room and changed into a pair of flannel pants and a tee-shirt. His stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten in a while. He frowned at the sound of the shower still running. Shaking his head, he grabbed eggs and bacon from the fridge.
When Sierra emerged from the bathroom, he said, “Solar panels provide my power. Long, hot showers are a luxury I don’t have.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Can I trouble you for a ride home?”
“Sorry. Truck needs a new battery. I have the battery, but I’ve been out in the deluge long enough tonight. You’re welcome to eggs, bacon, and the couch.”
“Do you have a drier?” She clutched her wet bag.
He shook his head, cracking eggs into a bowl. “Line dry.”
She sighed and set the bag next to the couch. “I’ve rented a place in Misty Hollow. Fully furnished, thank goodness.” She sat in one of the kitchen chairs. “I start a job at Still Brewin’ on Monday.”
Spencer wasn’t good at small talk. Instead, he preferred silence, which is why he lived alone except for Buster. “Can you let my dog in? He wandered off while I was hunting.”
“Absolutely.” She jumped up and opened the front door.
Buster, a large mixed breed dog, entered and shook, spraying Sierra.
The outrage on her face made Spencer smile. He ducked his head to hide his amusement. “He’s harmless unless you try to hurt me.”
“What if you try to harm me?” She returned to her seat.
“He’d help.” He ducked his head to hide the twitching of his lips, then glanced up again.
Her face paled, and she stared at her hands folded on the table in front of her. After a few minutes, she wondered the cabin looking at and touching his things. Pretty woman. Hair the color of honey that fell past her shoulders. Hazel eyes that reflected her emotions by changing from green to blue and every shade in-between. Petite and slender, but curvy in all the right places. The men in town would be swarming like ants to a piece of white bread.
“Here.” He set a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs on the table, then fixed a plate for himself.
“Why don’t you have any pictures?” She sat across from him.
“No need.”
“You look military. Are you?”
“Was.”
She sighed and started eating. He didn’t like to be rude, but conversation seemed a waste of time when he doubted he’d see her again unless they passed on the street. No sense in exchanging information. He liked his peace and solitude and wanted nothing to change.
“I’m moving to Misty Hollow to make a fresh start. Are the people friendly? What about the local police? Are they capable?”
He jerked his gaze toward her. “That’s an odd question to ask. Are you bringing trouble to our town?”
“No.” She lied. He could tell by the look in her eyes. “But I am a woman living alone.”
“The sheriff used to be FBI. He’s quite capable.” He narrowed his eyes. For the first time in a long time he wanted to know more about a person. What really brought this woman to Misty Hollow?
He tossed a piece of bacon to Buster. “We’ve had our share of trouble, but Misty Hollow is a nice place to live.”
“I like how secluded it is.” She forked eggs into her mouth.
Another strange statement. The woman seemed to be hiding. From what or from whom? Don’t get involved, Spencer. Pretty women were always trouble. Keep your distance. Her problems were not yours.
When they’d finished eating, he gathered the plates and carried them to the sink. “You can use the blanket on the chair. Go ahead and get some sleep. I wake early.” He washed the dishes and stared out the window.
The rain had lessened. Good. He should be able to replace the battery in his truck in the morning and get Sierra out of his house.
He stopped at the sofa and stared into her sleeping face, noting tear tracks on her face that had left the hair near her temple damp. His heart lurched. The woman was hurting, and he’d always had a soft spot for hurting creatures.
- Publisher : Winged Publications
- Publication date : November 14, 2021
- Language : English
- Print length : 218 pages
- ISBN-10 : 195665416X
- ISBN-13 : 978-1956654165