Page 71 of Mountain Refuge
Construction on my cabin was not completed. We still needed some supplies from town to finish. However, we were able to install a temporary wall against the loft’s banister, move the couch from upstairs to down, take my bedroom door off that room and place it at the top of the stairs, and replace the kids’ new room with a farmhouse dutch door. We had to install a real wall at the top of the stairs for the bedroom door, which is mainly what Corbin and Dalton had been doing while Elijah and I worked on getting my clothes and bedroom items organized.
Now that it was moving day, my queen bed would need tobe moved out first so the kids’ bunk bed could be brought inside. Corbin had it in sections that he could install together once they were through the door frames. Since we did not have any kid-size mattresses yet, Belle and Lucas were going to be sleeping on camping pads and sleeping bags for a bit. I also had a tent in case they wanted to sleep in that rather than their bunkbeds.
With the dutch door, we didn’t need a monitor system or baby locks throughout the cabin. Their bedroom would also be their playroom.
Elijah and I would be sleeping up in the loft or out in the living room until our king bed was ready. As long as we remembered to get dressed after any adult fun time, I was looking forward to many fire-lit nights with him on the living room floor.
Trenton would be going with Corbin when he left and moving into Elijah’s old room. I heard the engines long before I saw them. I grabbed a shawl and walked out onto my covered porch in my wool socks to watch them approach. My heart was beating fiercely in my chest—but only in anticipation. Due to the nature of our relationship, the time separated, our time together, and the construction needed, I had spent a lot of hours contemplating if this was the right decision for me and for us as a family.
I knew it was. No hesitation. No second thoughts. Iwanteda life here on this mountain with Elijah and his kids.
We never discussed marriage. If I was being honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to get married again. Marriage meant little in the long run. Vows could easily be broken with or without that piece of paper. What was the point? What I cared about was our relationship, ourpartnership. We were a team with or without a set of rings.
Calling Elijah ‘my husband’ was not a necessity on the mountain.
I didn’t care about titles. Husband, boyfriend, lover, friend… Itdidn’t matter. At the end of the day, he wasmine. That claim trumped all the rest.
Elijah drove a snowmobile. He had Lucas strapped to his chest and bundled up in his adorable snowsuit that made him look like a red miniatureMichelin Man.
Belle was sitting behind Corbin on his ATV. The wheels on the trailer had been removed and replaced with skis.
Lucas had not been back to my cabin since last fall. The winter weather was not conducive for him to travel in. Belle, however, had recently started traveling down with Elijah or Corbin to ‘help’ with the construction. Mostly, though, she visited with her big brother. It was admirable to see the two of them together. Even though Trenton was sixteen years older than her, they had a great relationship.
Trenton hadn’t seen Lucas since he was six months old. I stood back, not wanting to interfere as I watched how timid Lucas was with Trenton. It wasn’t until Belle hugged Trenton that Lucas followed suit. Eventually, Lucas was letting Trenton pick him up or seat him on his lap.
It took some time to get the kids settled with Trenton and then to get all of the furniture moved around. Corbin and Elijah were working on getting the bunkbeds put together while I was making everyone lunch.
I couldn’t place the sound at first. The way the mountain echoed the thunder almost made it sound like an avalanche, but I knew immediately that that couldn’t be right. While avalanches were certainly a possibility, the likelihood of one happening this late in the year or starting at our elevation was slim.
As the noise got louder, my hackles started to rise. I had not gotten word of any missing hikers or tourists from the ski lodge. The local SAR team had a helicopter, but they had no reason to be bringing it so close to my cabin.
Snow tornados twirled outside my kitchen window the closer it got.
That was when I saw what looked like a special ops team propelling down. All dressed in black like this was some B-rated action movie. The fools were wearing black in a white terrain.
I moved out of pure instinct.
I leapt into my pantry where my guns were stored on the top shelf. I grabbed as many as I could while calling out for Corbin and Elijah. No doubt they had heard the propellers too. It was too loud to possibly miss.
Corbin appeared in the pantry doorway. He started collecting ammunition.
“The kids?” I demanded.
“Bedroom fireplace,” Corbin answered shortly. His face was alight with a fury I had never seen before.
I had let the fire in my bedroom go out in anticipation of cleaning it before building a protector around it for the kids. The room would certainly be colder but the brick was the best place to protect the kids from bullets. I didn’t exactly have Kevlar in my arsenal.
“Do we know how many?” Corbin asked.
“I counted at least half a dozen.” I checked my long range rifle I used for large game.
We exited the pantry just as Elijah came bursting into the kitchen. “How did they find us?” he demanded. “Is there a possibility this is the police?”
Both Corbin and I shook our heads. “Police would announce themselves,” I told him. “They have to.”
“Owen or one of the others would have heard something on the police scanners and warned us,” Corbin added.
Elijah accepted the gun from me. “So this is Gunther?”
