Page 18 of The One With the Mountain Man
Her eyes sparkled. "A very nice man, huh? The dreamy kind?"
With his cowboy hat, crinkling eyes, and calming voice? Oh yeah, Jackson was dreamy. "I don't know who he is. I'll probably never see him again."
"You definitely won't if you never leave your cabin hidey hole."
What did she think would happen? That I'd wander into town, and he'd just be there? Lost Creek only had a population of something like four hundred. "Believe it or not, there's a bookstore here. I was invited to a book club." Connecting with fellow bookworms was sounding more and more appealing now that Charley pointed out they probably wouldn't recognize me.
It might even be like the old days, back when all I ever wanted was to spend some quiet time alongside a fellow book nerd, then grab some food and gush over our favorite books.
Charley clapped her hands together. "Yes! Okay, maybe you did pick the perfect place for you to get your shit together. And make sure you go find all those places your fictional bestie went in her books. They're real, right?"
I shrugged. "I've found some of them on a map. I might need to hire a guide or something."
"Find a sexy one. You'll have a great view no matter what." Then she winked.
Oh my god. This divorce was turning her into something wild. "Has anyone told you that you're kind of sex crazed?"
"Everyone. Everyone has told me. And you know what? I don't care! I'm single and horny and I'll fuck whoever I want!"
I put up my hands. "No judgment. Just maybe lay off me a little bit?" I was in no shape for a relationship of any kind. Unless you counted my book, in which case I was in a very committed, albeit terrible, relationship.
"Okay, fine, but only if you promise to leave the cabin. Book club sounds healthy."
"I will, at the very least, go to book club."
"Good. Now go soak in that hot tub or something. Relax!"
The hot tub did sound nice. And it would definitely take the chill off. "Go eat your lunch and tell everyone I say hi."
"You got it, boss." She blew me a kiss and ended the call.
Seven
Marley
Then my heart dropped into my stomach and I forgot how to breathe
I was cold.But what did I expect when all I had on was a sports bra and leggings. I sat on my yoga mat, legs crossed, hands on my knees, spine straight, as I stared at my mountains and practiced my breath work.
This was me being vulnerable. I was outside, in very little clothing, and no one was watching me.
No one is watching me.
My breath faltered and I had to start all over again.No one is watching me.My stalker—I never used his name because I didn't like giving him any more power over me than he already had—had no idea where I was and there was no reason to expect anyone in Lost Creek to guess who I really was. It was safe here.
Home was not. Both my address and my general location had become well known. When I stepped inside a store, I always scanned the shoppers, hoping no one was staring, but more and more often, they were. So I stopped shopping. Stopped going anywhere. I became a recluse, not because I was afraid of leaving the house, but because I was afraid of the people who would follow me around, demanding answers I didn't have.
It was so overwhelming, so intense, that I didn't even have time to realize how fucking insane it was.
But now that I was here, breathing this clean air with my guard down, I understood that I hadn't felt safe in a really long time. Instead, I'd been grasping at straws hoping one would turn into a rope and save me.
No one was going to save me.
Charley understood that because no one was going to save her either. She pushed me to get out of town and now she was pushing me to experience life outside my cage and remember what it was like to be normal.
I picked up my phone and tapped out a message.
Marley
