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God, what am I even saying? That I’m ready to live here for the rest of my life? What about my job as graphic designer back in San Fransisco? I have friends and family that would miss me. I have a life I’ve built in the city, surrounded by people who love me, am I really willing to push all that aside for… love?
I need to think, but there’s barely any time to do so.
Deep down I know that if I don’t leave with the ranger, then I am never going to leave these mountains. Shaw would never let me go, not if he was sure I was never coming back. But what if I promise to come back to him?
“Miss Watson?” I look up to find the ranger watching me with something akin to impatience on his expression. “We need to get going, it’s going to pour soon.”
I chew at my lips, my heart tugging painfully at the thought of leaving Shaw behind, but under the ranger’s intense scrutiny, I cave. “Okay, give me a second,” I say rushing back inside. I grab my jeans and make quick work of cleaning them before sliding them on and following with my boots.
Once I’m done, I look around the place for a pen and paper so Shaw knows what’s happened, but I find nothing.
Think Jean. Think!
Left with little choice, I decide to use my phone. I notice quickly that there is a phone signal in this cabin, something I would have noticed earlier if I hadn’t been distracted. Christ, I can’t think about that now.
I barely have time to think of what I am doing so I quicky draft a message for him on my note’s app letting him know I’ve left with a ranger and how much my time with him meant to me. I adjust the screen lock timer on my phone so it won’t automatically lock before he gets back.
I don’t let myself think about it too much as I join the ranger outside. I push back the tears in the back of my throat as we walk away from the charming little cabin. I don’t look back, afraid that if I do, I’ll run back in and lock myself inside.
With a last goodbye to my charming mountain man, I follow the ranger in the opposite direction Shaw disappeared through.
Chapter Eight
Shaw
I make it back to the shed right as the first drop of rain falls. It’s almost as if it was waiting for me to make it back for it to start raining. I drop the chopped wood in the shed and brush off the dust from my clothes before walking out.
My thoughts are on Jean as I close the shed behind me and run to the cabin before I get soaked. A part of me expected Jean to run out the moment I arrived, but she remains indoors. Maybe she’s listened to me and is afraid of catching a cold.
I push open the cabin door and I’m suddenly taken aback but how quiet it is. The girl is not in the living room and a quick run to the bedroom confirms that she is not there either. She’s in none of the other rooms and it soon becomes clear that the Jean is not in the cabin at all.
Panic climbs my throat; unlike anything I have ever felt before as I consider the possibility that she might’ve followed me when I left earlier and got lost in the forest. The thought of my angel lying wounded somewhere sends me rushing forward to go out and seek her in the rain. I am about to leave when I notice the phone seated in the middle of the living room table. It wasn’t there when I left. In fact, Jean has barely glanced at the thing since I brought her here.
I grab the device with its screen still bright and notice some kind of note left behind. I read the message letting me know some ranger came to pick her up and how she’d like to keep in touch. My nostrils flare and my eyes harden as I read the message halfway through before the screen blurs. I let out an anguished roar and toss the annoying device aside.
No, I don’t need to know how the hell we’re going to keep in touch because Jean is not leaving!
She is not setting one foot out of these mountains.
She is mine and I am going to kill anyone that dares get in the way of that.
I kick the door open on my way out, blood boiling with anger as I walk out into the rain. I follow the fading trail left behind by the man who was here earlier. Soon, the rain will wash away the two sets of footprints and when that happens, I will have already caught up with them.
All I can think, as I walk deeper into the forest, is that some other man came into my home and stole something precious from me.
Fuck, I haven’t felt this much rage since Tommy pushed me to the edge and I almost choked the man to death. Any emotion I have felt to this moment pales in comparison.
Mine!
The rain is a blessing as I figure it must have slowed them down. I’m right. I see two figures walking by the riverbed, moving quite slowly for people who are trying to get away from me. The rain dies down a bit by the time I catch up with them.
I stalk towards them and the ranger must hear me coming because he quickly draws the gun from his holster and whips around quickly, ready to fire. Jean is started by the suddenmovements and she turns around terrified, but her expression clears when she notices that it’s me.
The ranger, however, doesn’t immediately put his gun down which seems to confuse, Jean.
“I know him,” she says to the man. “He’s the one who helped me, put your gun down are you crazy?” Worry flashes in her eyes as she tries to stand between us.
Despite her words, the gun remains trained on me and I see in Tommy’s eyes the need to shoot me. He’s calculating whether he can get away with it or not. I would recognize that floppy hair anywhere. It’s been more than a decade since I have seen the man, but he is the same as he was back then. I have run into most of the forest rangers out here with the silent agreement to ignore each other, but I’ve never crossed paths with him.
