Page 23 of Knocked Up By The Mountain Man

“What do you mean?" she pulls away and looks between Adam and me.

"This guy's bad news," Adam grunts. "Moved here a few years ago. Never made any friends, but made a lot of enemies, that's for sure. Stupid asshole still owes me four hundred bucks."

I shake my head.

"You're never getting that money from him."

"Yeah, I know," he says bitterly. He looks at Alyssa. "His name is mud in this town. You're not the only one he's mistreated. He's a bad dude, and the fact that he doesn't want you isn’t a reflection of your value. Not one fucking bit."

Now that's something that an emotionally intelligent guy would say, I think. Why didn't I think to say something that good?

Alyssa smiles at him appreciatively, and I feel jealousy tighten in my chest, wishing that appreciative smile was aimed at me instead of at my friend.

Adam seems to sense this and clears his throat, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I gotta go," he says. "Gotta get back to work. But you're in good hands with Jack over here, Alyssa. He's a good guy. He'll take you wherever you need to go."

Alyssa looks at me, wiping the moisture from her cheek.

"Okay," she says. "I guess I need to get back to your cabin and pick up my things."

"Pick up your things?" I ask.

She shrugs.

"No reason for me to stay in Wildwood anymore. I did what I came here to do."

I think of the ultrasound photo in my breast pocket and know that this can't be true. She didn't just come here to confront Toby. She also came here to talk to me.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have brought this photo.

She must have changed her mind, deciding to run back home without ever telling me about any of this.

Maybe I should feel angry about that, but I don't. I feel understanding. She doesn't know me at all, and right now she's hurt.

Alyssa climbs back into my truck, and I wave to Adam.

Both of us take off, one behind the other, parting ways at the fork in the road as we head in different directions.

I travel right back up to the mountain just like I had before, and this time I've got to figure out how to eliminate the wall between Alyssa and me.

Not just temporarily, but for good.

CHAPTER 13

ALYSSA

My mind feels numb.

Every now and then, on the journey back to Jack's house, I try to think of a sentence to say, something to break the awkward silence that settled between us.

But I can't even think.

I keep picturing that old house and Toby, my father, glaring at me through the dirty glass.

There was that briefest moment of recognition and realization in his eyes, before it was quickly replaced with that soulless, hateful stare. It as like my very existence was offensive to him.

Burden. The word echoes between my ears. That's what I always was.