Chapter Two

 

Meagan woke to a soft gray light peeking through the windows, illuminating the small cabin. The light softly reflecting off the bare yellow logs, giving her the first real look at her new haven.

 The field stone fireplace separated the bedroom area from a small dining area and smaller kitchen with curtains for cabinet doors.

A two person table made of roughhewn wood sat under the far window with a tall bookcase between the window and the front door.  A green and white rag rug covered the middle of the wooden floor and her trusty rocking chair sat in the middle of the room.

All of it a cozy little set up. Not much more than a hunter’s lodge. Obviously enough for the man gently snoring on the floor before the dying fire.

She lay on her side and studied him. Watching as his shoulders rose and fell with each breath. His yellow blond hair draped across his forehead and shone in the flickering light of the dying fire. Even in his sleep the man looked imposing. 

Bringing her hands up under her cheek and her knees beneath her chest she wondered. Pondered really, why was he here?

He didn’t give off the normal vibe of your typical psychopath. Didn’t seem to be a serial killer on the lamb from the law. So why?

Was it some lost love, had he crawled to the mountains to lick his wounds over a woman’s betrayal? Maybe she’d died and he’d cut himself off from civilization because everything reminded him of her.

He obviously wasn’t hiding some disfigurement or obvious deformity. The man was a walking heart ache.

God, she silently begged any and all unknown deities, please don’t have him be one of those survivalist types who thinks the world’s going to end tomorrow. 

Granted, it was a pretty screwed up place, but that was no reason to run off and build a compound full of sister wives and stock piles of food.

The man in questions started to stir. She closed her eyes so he wouldn’t see her watching him then opened them a hair and squinted through her lashes so she could do exactly that.

He rolled onto his stomach and slowly got to all fours, grunting as if he were in pain. Getting to one knee he pushed with both hands as he slowly stood and froze in place. Hands on his thighs, bent like an old man, he rested there for a moment.

Placing both hands in the small of his back he pushed while straightening the rest of his torso, rolling his shoulder as if trying to work out kinks. Had the hard floor done that to him?

A sense of guilt washed through her like a rushing stream.

As she watched, he rubbed his left elbow. Obviously trying to put some life back into the limb. Once he was done, he unfastened his belt then unbuttoned his jeans. Her heart jumped into her throat as she clenched her jaw to stop herself from making a sound.

Reaching back he tucked his red flannel shirt into his jeans, twisted back and forth one last time, stretching tight muscles then glanced over his shoulder towards her.

Meagan instantly closed her eyes, praying it had been in time.  Catching her checking him out would have been way too much to bear.

Keeping them tightly shut, she heard him close the bathroom door and sighed to herself in relief. Another major embarrassment avoided. Unfortunately it’d been the only one recently.

When he came out of the bathroom he walked to the window and wiped away the condensation on the inside of the glass pane.

“Damn,” he mumbled under his breath.

Meagan’s heart raced. What was wrong? Throwing the covers back she jumped from the bed and raced to the window as fast hopping on one foot would allow.

“Damn,” she said as she saw the outside.

Another foot of snow had fallen through the night and was continuing to come down like a white curtain. Millions, no Billions of small flakes. A white world laid out beneath a gray sky. 

“Damn,” she muttered again, in case the message hadn’t been clear.

They stood next to each other. Each lost in their own thoughts as the impact was analyzed and reviewed.

She could feel the heat radiating from him as she caught a small whiff of smoke and old leather. The powerful scent pulled at her, tempting her to lean into his strong shoulder.

What would it be like to have him put his arm around her and hold her? How long had it been since she’d been held by a man like him. Hell, she’d never been held by a man like him.

“I don’t think we can get to your car, let alone the Ranger station, not today.”

She continued to stare out the window while his words sank in. More time alone in this cabin with him. The thought sent nervous tingles up her spine.

“Is there anyone waiting for you. Maybe they’ll contact the Rangers. Send out search parties? If so the Rangers will stop by here first. They’ll want to know if I’ve seen anything.”

Meagan paused for a moment then shook her head. “No, there’s no one.”

Letting that bit of information sink in. He shrugged his shoulders, “You hungry?” he asked, interrupting her day-dreams.

Her stomach rumbled in reply and she gave a shy smile, nodding her head.

Smiling down at her he said, “Give me a minute and I’ll get something started.”

Meagan watched him for a moment then looked outside again. There was no way she could ask him to go out in that. Sighing to herself she mentally shrugged her shoulders and retrieved her clothes from where they hung by the fire.

Stepping into the small bathroom she decided to forgo the bra and panty issue. She quickly donned her now stiff jeans, which felt as tight as vice grips and decided to continue to wear his T-shirt under her own flannel shirt.

Turning to the mirror she startled herself. My god, had she looked like that all morning? Her hair was a flying mess and her face had a ghostly pallor that looked to be just this side of a corpse.

Her purse! She’d dropped her purse somewhere last night. Her stomach fell as she tried to remember when and where she’d lost it.

All of her most important possession where in that purse, her phone, brush, Chap Stick, things, important things.

She couldn’t remember what had happened.  The night’s events seemed to all fold together as she concentrated. There was a big blank spot until Brandon had appeared out of the night to rescue her. 

“Did you by any chance see my purse last night?” she said as she stepped out of the bathroom.

Brandon was squatting by the fire using a wooden spoon to stir a meat and potatoes concoction in a frying pan. No stove, a hand pump, she’d had more amenities at a Girl Scout camp. How did the man survive?

Smiling regretfully he shook his head. “Sorry, I wasn’t looking.”

“It had all my stuff. I can’t lose it.” She said, knowing she was sounding whiney and ungrateful but she couldn’t stop herself. What else could go wrong?

“I’ll try and find it after breakfast,” he said as he placed a plate of what appeared to be brown hash in front of her.

Meagan studied the plate in front of her. The tantalizing aroma of hot food made her stomach clamp into a tight ball. Taking a bight she fought not to moan with pleasure.

She caught him watching her eat. She smiled a quick thank you before taking another quick bight.