He pointed to the front door, the beginning of a smile on his face. “Outhouse. Turn left at the fallen tree. Grab some leaves on the way for TP. Oh, and take a flashlight to scare the coyotes away. They don’t like the light.”
No. Just no.
An outhouse? With coyotes. “I’ve woken up in a nightmare.”
Grizz had the audacity to laugh at her.
She stood and moved toward the back window. There was no hope for that man. Clouds hung low in the sky, heavy with yet more rain, and she had no idea what time it was. Outside, there was a tiny shack on the side of the mountain.
He wasn’t kidding. And she really needed to use the facilities, however primitive and scary they were.
“Okay. I can do this.” She pulled her jacket tight around her and headed for the front door.
“Wait. I’m kidding. I mean, the house has an original outhouse, but it’s not what you think. I have two bedrooms and a bathroom at the back, with working plumbing. Here, I’ll show you.”
She followed him down a hallway that led to two bedrooms, the window at the end overlooking the forest. Grizz’s place was tucked up against the side of a mountain, so the view was trees and not much else. But it made the place feel cozy.
Warm. Safe.
He lumbered to the kitchen, and she used the restroom, surprised at how clean and fairly modern it was. It was possible that in her disorientation, and with a pounding headache, she might’ve been a smidge unfair in judging this man and his simple life.
A claw-foot tub with a big chip on the rim looked like it had been there for decades. The idea of sinking into hot water and getting cleaned beckoned her in a way that made her nearly whimper. But she needed to get off this mountain and away from the distracting man who had a fancy tub in his remote cabin in the middle of nowhere and made delicious soup. She needed to focus and find Josh.
She washed her face in the sink, then used a washcloth from the cupboard underneath to wipe the chunks of mud and dried blood from her hair. She looked in the mirror at her flushed face, and one blurry memory surfaced.
Diva Dani.That’s what Grizz had called her.
Oh, she’d show him the real Dani—the one that never gave up. Just as soon as she could think straight and find her way in a rainstorm, she would get out of here and search for Josh.
By herself.
Dani slipped into the room next to the bathroom, which looked like Grizz’s bedroom. Again, no decorations, just a basic black comforter covering the king-size bed.
Hang on a second. There was something tacked to the wall. Not art.
A bow.
Must be for hunting. Hanging next to it was a bag full of arrows.
She took the bow off the wall and grabbed an arrow. So she’d never even held a bow before, but at least it was a weapon.
She peered out the door of the bedroom and caught a glimpse of Grizz in the kitchen. The smell of coffee hit her, and her stomach rumbled again. But there wasn’t time for luxuries.
Her memory might have failed her, but she knew Josh was in trouble.
Dani grabbed the bow and slung it over her shoulder, along with the bag of arrows. The bedroom window opened without so much as a squeak, and she climbed out. She couldn’t trust the mountain man she vaguely remembered to save the day.
She needed to find Josh.
* * *
This reporter was going to be the death of him.
He had sensors on his doors and windows and knew the instant she’d opened the bedroom window. His closed-circuit security system let out a chime, indicating that he had a runner on his hands.
She had grit, that was for sure. The reporter wasn’t going down without a fight, and he liked that in a woman.
In Alaska, it was about the only way a person survived.
