8.

 

After she had shut herself away in the hotel room, Monica hadn’t actually seen a lot of the little town she was about to call home. As she walked down the quaint little streets and found her way to a more residential area, she couldn’t help but sigh at how idyllic it truly was.

She had grown up in such a bleak and soulless town. But Grey Mountain was the complete opposite, and it was surprising her at how much she was feeling connected to the landscape and nature around her.

She wandered past log cabins and smiled at how unique they all were. None of them looked the same, and they all had their own perfect little charm. Pine Avenue was long, and it weaved its way right up the mountain, but luckily for her, where she needed to be was quite near the bottom, and when she saw the cabin, she felt the grin spread out over her face.

It was incredible, and perfect for what she needed.

It was small and wooden, set back amongst the trees, and rustic looking with a chimney and a little red door. She clapped her hands together and felt her face flush red with excitement as she crunched over the gravel of the driveway and made her way toward the front of the house.

The trees that surrounded it were high and they acted as a barrier between the cabin and the main road, and the place was so well rooted and old looking it easily could have been there for a hundred years.

She wrapped her arms around herself to shield herself from the chill, and somewhere from behind her she heard the sound of a heavy engine coming her way.

A black truck pulled off the main road and swung around onto the drive. It came to a halt and she brushed her hair behind her ears as she waited for the landlord to step out and into the light.

She kicked at the gravel on the ground, unsure of how to hold herself whilst she was waiting. She had never done anything like this before, and she had no clue of how it would all go, but as the door to the car creaked open and she heard a heavy set of boots hit the driveway, she looked up and her heart almost stopped.

In front of her, stepping slowly toward her, was Evan.

Her accidental husband.

She swallowed hard and her heart beat loudly in her chest.

He looked as shocked as she did, but he ran a hand through his hair and then he put it in his pocket and shrugged.

“Hi, Monica,” he said.

He looked so good. Better than she had even remembered.

He was bigger and broader than her memory had led her to believe, and his eyes were so deep and intense they were captivating her even from across the driveway.

She didn’t know if she could speak, everything she wanted to say was caught in her throat and she started to stumble over her words.

“Ev, Evan…” she managed. “Hi. What are you doing here?”

He cocked his head to the side and gave her a look that made her feel stupid.

“Obviously, I own this place,” he said matter-of-factly.

Monica felt her face burn. The last person she had been expecting to turn up was him. And now they were face to face again and she didn’t know what to say or do.

“Did you know it was me when I texted?” she asked him with confusion.

He shook his head.

“No, but let’s just say I had a feeling,” he said. “I haven’t heard of anyone else coming into town in the past few days looking for a place. But Mo over at the train station did mention she’d given a leaflet for one of the cabins to a cute girl who had arrived on Thursday.”

Monica bit her lip and looked down at the ground. Was he flirting with her, or just being charming to ensure she took the house? 

He strode up toward her with a set of keys in his hand and a smirk on his face.

“I thought you’d skipped town,” he said.

“Yes, so I heard,” she was trying not to blush. “I just saw Jack back at the bar.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked her. “Were you in there looking for husband number two?”

He cracked a mischievous smile and it made her smile too.

“Very funny,” she said. “And obviously, we have a lot to talk about…”

He looked back at her over his shoulder as he slid the key into the lock and turned it so that the door opened.

“Yes, we do,” he said as he held the door open and let her step inside before him.

The cabin was small and dark, and as she wandered into the hallway, she was sure she could smell something that she could only describe as baking. It was sweet, like cookie dough, and it made her mouth water.

“Is someone here?” she asked with wide eyes.

Evan shook his head.

“The last occupier left yesterday, I had the cleaners come by last night,” he shrugged.

“It smells like someone’s been cooking,” she offered as she looked up at him for some kind of explanation.

“That’s just the homely smell this place has,” he shrugged. “I often find it’s a selling point.”

Monica looked back at him with a wry smile and couldn’t quite figure out if he was joking or not.

“So,” he said. “You want this place for a few weeks?”

Monica nodded her head and bit her bottom lip. Being in his presence again was completely disarming. He had taken her by surprise and now she didn’t have a clue what to say or do.

“Well, it’s yours,” he said as he raised his arms. “I mean, you are my wife, after all…” he put a stress on the word and then he looked at her with a bit of intrigue.

“Listen,” she said. “About that… I mean, I don’t exactly have a good memory of what happened.”

“Me neither,” he said as he crossed his huge, muscular arms over his chest.

She suddenly felt embarrassed again. She had no idea how to have this conversation.

“Obviously, we need to get it annulled,” he said sternly. “I’ll look into it.”

Monica nodded her head and just hoped that her face wasn’t a crimson red.

He sighed and stared at her. She couldn’t tell if he was annoyed or playing with her. She couldn’t figure him out at all.

“Take the cabin, free of charge,” he said. “We’ll get this sorted and then I take it you’ll be leaving town?”

He stared at her as if he was demanding an answer.

Monica shrugged and then she nodded.

“Yeah, sure, thank you,” she said quietly.

Evan went to head toward the door and then he faltered. He looked back at her over his shoulder and gave her a weak smile.

There was something in the air between them, but Monica couldn’t figure out what. It was charged and powerful, and each time she looked into his eyes, she saw both danger and safety, and it was confusing her because she was drawn to it and couldn’t explain why.

She knew the moment she had laid eyes on him that he was trouble.

And she hadn’t been wrong.

He raised his hand and waved and then he was gone. The door to the cabin creaked closed behind him and Monica closed her eyes. She listened and held her breath as his boots crunched back over the gravel, he opened the car door and slammed it behind him, and then the truck’s engine started.

When she opened her eyes again and allowed herself to breathe, her heartbeat was whooshing through her ears and she felt dizzy. On the table by the inside of the front door she could see that he had left her the keys.

She leaned back against the wall and sighed.

That had been the last thing she had been expecting.

Evan? An owner of real estate in town? She never would have had him pegged as that.

She was sure that he had told her he worked the land up on the mountain… Had he lied? Or had she misunderstood?

She rolled out her shoulders and tried to shake away her apprehension. There wasn’t a whole lot she could do about this now. She was in town, she was staying put for a few weeks to work, and Evan had assured her he was going to get to work at getting their drunken marriage annulled.

“What a goddam mess,” she whispered to herself.

She slumped down onto the old couch in the living area and sighed. She may have gotten herself into a big mess, but at least they were going to work together to get themselves out of it. And she was pretty sure there could be worse people to be married to. Evan wasn’t exactly hard to look at, and she had genuinely had fun with him the other night in the bar.

As she sat there and thought about everything that had happened in the past few days, she couldn’t help but smile.

It was certainly going to be a story to tell the grandkids.