Mountain Man's Bride

by Lauren Wood

  He stopped and gave me a look that was hard to ignore. I had been the one that he had almost married, but things had gone awry and it never happened. His parents liked us together, but everyone had agreed that waiting was what needed to happen. It was in that wait that Chris decided that he had to do more in his life. He left Alaska and left me with my head spinning and my heart breaking. For a long time, I blamed them, but then I had to think that if it was meant to be, nothing would have stood in our way.

  “I remember.” I hated how soft my voice was and I knew that it was because I was going back to the time and it still hurt to think about.

  “You? Did you find a husband to have that family with? I seem to recall that you were very good at that part.”

  My cheeks got red and I just shook my head. I didn’t want to tell him out loud that I had failed in that respect. I hadn’t been able to ever give anyone another chance because he had never been too far from my mind. Even now, I was sure that I thought about him in passing almost every day. We had so many memories together that it was impossible not to see something that jump-started a memory that I hadn’t thought of before.

  “That is hard to imagine.”

  “Well, it just never happened I guess. As I got older, I decided that it was never going to happen and I stopped worrying about it. Life is good, but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you think it is going to.”

  “Yes, I can definitely say that I agree with you there, but you’re not that old. We are the same age and you look the same as when I left.”

  I wasn’t even going to comment on that last part. I wanted to know why he was here, the real reason because I knew it wasn’t just to chat over a cup of cheap coffee.

  “So why are you really here Chris? I know that it isn’t for a trip back down memory lane. I have to start cooking soon, so if you could get out with it, I would be a lot happier.”

  “I don’t know how to say this.”

  “Straight out is the best way.”

  He didn’t look so sure of that and it made me wonder what it was. Chris had always been a straight forward kind of guy and I wondered what it was that made him change that. It couldn’t be good and that doomed feeling was back in my stomach again.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m already sitting down, out with it.”

  “Well damn Molly, it’s been a while and I forgot how direct you are. That’s a rare quality nowadays.”

  He was flattering me and I don’t know why. He wanted something. He was up here because he wanted something and even though I was reacting to him in a way that was normal for us, I couldn’t forget how he could be when he wanted me to go along with something.

  “Okay Chris, what are you here for?”

  “My parents died a couple of months ago and I just went to a will reading not too long ago. You were in it and I’m here to see what you want to do about your inheritance.”

  I felt immediately bad because I thought he was here for his own reasons. I put a hand over his with the knowledge that his parents had just passed. “I’m so sorry Chris. I didn’t hear anything about Ruth and Paul.”

  I wanted to ask what happened. They were in great shape the last time I’d seen them and they weren’t that old.

  “It’s okay. It was fast, but they didn’t suffer and the accident came out of nowhere. They went together, like they always talked about.”

  The couple was one that I wanted to model my marriage off of. They were so in love and it showed in everything that they did. I’d always love the way they were together and I was instantly saddened to hear of their passing.

  “Wow, yeah.”

  I was stumped at what to say and my mind went to the face of the smiling couple in my memory. Even without thinking I envision them together because they were always at each other’s side.

  “I thought you would have known, the way this place is.”

  “I’ve tried to stay away from the gossip mills. They come in here, but I ignore it. Nome is too much in everyone’s business and I’m trying to stay out of it. I wish I would have heard. I would have sent flowers or something.”

  My guard was down. I wasn’t expecting Chris, but I wasn’t expecting to hear about such a tragedy. I really liked his parents and I talked to them ever so often after Chris and I broke up.

  “It’s probably for the best you stay away from it. I remember you used to get so riled up sometimes over it. I always said you would do better to ignore it all together.”

  “You were right and I finally figured it out. It took long enough.”

  He agreed and we sat in silence for a moment. Chris mentioned the will again, but I was still stuck on the gone part to have even remembered.

  “The lawyer is coming here in a week to sign everything.”

  “This feels weird Chris. I didn’t even know they were gone. I don’t want anything from them.”

  “They left you all of the land they own on the other side of Gipson’s farm.”

  That was shocking. That was a lot of land. “Who owns the other side of it now?”

  “Me. You got the east and I get the west. I think they are trying to play matchmaker from their graves. Sounds about right. Mom never forgot about you and she told me all of the time that I’d messed up losing you. She always was right.”

  Chapter 5

  Chris

  She was puzzled and a little grief-stricken, but I was here for more reasons than one. I hadn’t set foot in Alaska in many years. It was always going to be a part of me, but it wasn’t a part that I wanted to keep. I’d always wanted to get out of here. The only thing that had kept me here for so long was Molly, but even then there came a time when I was ready to go and she hadn’t wanted to come with me. I’d made the decision to go anyways, something I still wondered about.

  “Well Ruth always did have a way of laying the guilt on strong. I’m sure she just wanted you close. She knew that I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  “They spent less time here than I have the last few years. I don’t know what their intentions were, but you are now one of the richest women in Nome. That land is worth; well I don’t have to tell you. I remember how much you paid for this place.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I was trying to figure out what in the world you were doing here. I never would have guessed it was for this reason. What’s even out there now?”

  “A few houses.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  I didn’t know if she was talking about my half or what. This is where it got a little tricky because I knew how Molly was about keeping everything the way it was. She liked to preserve everything and what I planned to do with the land was not going to help me secure her half that I needed, so it was a question that I could have done without.

  “I’m not one hundred percent sure yet.”

  She nodded her head and squinted her eyes at me as if there was an answer written on my forehead that I didn’t know about.

  “So you have no idea what you are going to do with it?”

  “Well I have an idea. You know how I am.”

  “Yes I do.”

  Molly took a drink of her coffee and I sighed to myself because I knew that she was paying attention now. She always knew when I was up to something and a smile her way wasn’t helping like it used to. I used to have a lot more pull on her.

  “I want to sell it. All of it and go back to New York. I don’t think there is anything for me here anymore and I don’t need the extra ties.”

  “That’s a shame. You belong here Chris, you always did. No matter how you try to fight it you will always belong right here in Nome. Look at you. You were made for this place. I bet the business world never saw your six foot self-coming.”

  I had to laugh because she had a way of saying things that was more than a little cute. She’d always made me laugh; something that I found out was a rarity. I missed all of the talks we had and damn I missed Molly. She was a one of a kind girl. The only one
that I’d ever really cared for and I wished more than anything that I was able to take her home with me.

  “Maybe not. I do get my way a lot more because of my size. The city slickers don’t know what to think of me sometimes. It’s hilarious.”

  “I can only imagine. I haven’t been down to the lower forty-eight in a long time. I don’t know if I want to go back. They are trying to buy up land up here and turn it into another Juneau, but the people around here aren’t going to sell out and let that happen.”

  “That will never happen way up here, not completely.”

  “They’re trying. I’ve heard talk about a cruise line wanting to stop here once a week. That would be a mess for the town.”

  It was clear how she still felt about new comers coming in and I wished that she had changed her mind on that a little bit.

  “Think of all of the business that you will get if that happened. You can’t be doing all that great right now.”

  I shouldn’t have said that. As soon as it left my mouth, I was sure that I should have just kept my damn mouth shut because that irked Molly to no end.

  “I do okay here.”

  “I’m not trying to make you defensive. This is what you wanted, here in Nome and you did it. I’m proud of you.”

  “You sound condescending.”

  I groaned inwardly and sighed to myself. I don’t know how this was going to happen when I first got up here, but I hadn’t thought that I would get into it with Molly. While we had a lot between us, it was so long ago. Now I realized that it was still rather fresh after all of these years, even after all of this time.

  “I’m not Molly and I’m not here to fight with you.”

  “Then why are you here Chris? You say that you are here about the will, but wouldn’t the lawyer take care of that? It’s his job, isn’t it?”

  She was on to me and it was better to just get it out because I knew Molly well.

  “I want to make you an offer on the land that my parents gave you.”

  “An offer?”

  “Yeah, I will give you more than it’s worth. You won’t have to work, ever again Molly.”

  “Why does that sound too good to be true? What do you want to do with it?”

  “I want to package it with mine and sell it.”

  “To who?”

  That was where it got tricky and from her comments before, she wasn’t going to want to hear about how the cruise company needs a place to dock and the family land on the coast was perfect for them. It was the only spot in Nome that made sense and they were offering far more than I could imagine. I wouldn’t have to work either and we would both come out ahead. But Molly wasn’t going to see it that way.

  “A company in California.”

  “You want to sell out?”

  The look on her face said it all.

  Chapter 6

  Molly

  “It’s not like that Molly.”

  “I used to know you pretty well, but I can’t believe that you would want to sell out with your parent’s property. They would never have wanted that.”

  I was starting to think that was why they had given me half of it. They knew that it wouldn’t sell without both sides and they knew that I wouldn’t let it happen. I was one of the only ones that didn’t mind standing up to Chris. He had always been a bit scary to most people, but Chris was just Chris to me.

  “They wouldn’t sell, but they didn’t live here either.”

  “Your father said once that he bought up Nome so no one else could have it. He wanted it to stay how it was.”

  I couldn’t believe him and I had to wonder what it was that he wanted with all of that money. Chris had always wanted more and had never been happy with the way things were. I’d felt that way for a while when I was younger, but as the years past, I realized that there was only so much that a person needed. I wish that he would stay and remember why he loved this place so much. He used to.

  “I know, but they are gone and I don’t want to own part of Nome. There is nothing here for me anymore.”

  “You’ve got a bunch of old friends here that I bet would like to see you. It’s been a while Chris. I think you’ve forgotten how good it can be here in Nome. Why don’t you stay a while?”

  “I’m not staying any longer than I have to.”

  “Well you have to stay for the lawyers at least, right?”

  He nodded his head that he did and I smiled back at him. I wanted him to stay, I always had and I knew that if I could just get him back up on the mountain, doing what we used to love, I would be able to convince him that this is where he needed to be. I wasn’t going to sell him the land. He knew that before he came.

  “Yeah, I guess so. I’m staying with my Aunt because the hotel here is still a dump.”

  “We had some good times in that hotel.”

  His eyes darkened for a moment and I didn’t regret putting the image in his head. I wanted him to get back to the old Chris, not the one in front of me now.

  “Will you help me go check out the land and see what kind of work is needed? No one has been up there for a while.”

  “I don’t know if I will have time. I still have to work.”

  I sighed to myself and sat back in the booth, rolling the coffee cup around in my hands. I didn’t want to argue with him, so I knew that I was going to have to add some incentive. I needed a way for him to agree to help me, but it was going to be a risk because Chris could not change his mind and then I would be stuck losing out.

  “What if I made it worth your while?”

  “Like what?”

  He was thinking about sex because his face was showing the lust that was always simmering under the surface. I knew that look all too well and I loved it if I was honest with myself. I loved it when he looked at me like that, but I was getting ahead of myself and I had to pull back a little bit.

  “Like I will sell you the land if you help me and stay with me for the next week.”

  “Are you in need of some good loving?”

  I shook my head that I wasn’t. “I gave up on that a long time ago. I need some help fixing a few things that I know you are good at and it would be good to reminisce.”

  He looked like he didn’t trust me, like I had something up my sleeve. I did of course, but he didn’t have to know that at the moment. I didn’t want him to know what my plans were. I had a week to make him fall in love with this place again. I had to assure myself that it was all about him loving Nome, not me. I was going to have to remember that, even when my heart was being a dumb ass, thinking that his being back was going to bring something home for us. It was over. I was doing this… for Ruth’s sake. Yeah, that’s why.

  “So I stay the week with you and help out and you will sell me the property at market value?”

  I agreed and he smiled this big way that made me wonder then if it was all going to backfire in my face. He was obviously sure that he wasn’t going to be sucked into Nome life again. He was going to stay with me, do a little labor and then he was going to go back to his new life.

  I wasn’t going to let that happen, so I smiled back at him just as widely. I was going to make sure that it didn’t happen like that. I needed him to stay and see what his parents had left him. I was doing it for them, but deep down I knew that I was doing it for me too. I missed Chris something fierce. I miss what we used to have and I liked to think that I could make it happen again.

  “Yes, you have a deal. Stay a week and help me out. I’m sure that you will remember what it is that you are missing here. Nome has always been your home and will always be your home.”

  And I am still here waiting.

  Chapter 7

  Chris

  Molly had that look on her face like she had found a way to get her way. She was convinced that I was going to fall back in love with the place and that I was going to stay, but I wasn’t. I had feelings for her, always had and always will, but I didn’t miss the place where I grew up. It had gotten too small f
or me a long time ago and that hadn’t changed. Now that I had been to other places, I couldn’t see coming back as an option, no matter how much the locals had their charm.

  “So you will sell me the land and that’s that?”

  “Yes, if you choose to leave after staying for a while, I will do as you ask. I just want you to give it a chance.”

  “Then why do you want me to stay with you? Is there something unrelated that you need from me because I’m more than willing to give a little extra.”

  I wanted her to say yes, admit it now and it would make everything easier. I was here for the land and her part of it, but at the end of the day, I had thought about seeing Molly again, touching her, far more than I thought about what I could buy with the money. I’d missed her and seeing her in front of me was kind of messing with my head.

  “It’s not about that Chris. I’m sure there are plenty of girls to satisfy that particular itch.”

  “Molly, it’s been almost eight years since I left and I assure you now that no one else has been able to scratch that particular itch for me. There is no substitution.”

  She blushed a little and looked away. The sun was hitting her hair, making it brighter and I could see the golden highlights shining against it. She was beautiful and all it took was a little light from a window to make it even better.

  “I think that you’re mistaken about that itch. Some itches aren’t meant to be scratch, it leads to infection.”

  She always had a way with words and I wasn’t going to start a battle of words with her. I always lost.

  “Nothing a little antibiotic can’t fix.”

  Molly laughed and finally had a look that wasn’t so tense on her face.

  “I’m lost on that metaphor, but no funny business. I don’t want you around for that Chris. I want you around for your wood working skills. I need some new trim and you always did the best work.”

  It reminded me of the many things I had made for her when we were together. She always loved that I made her things with my bare hands and I always loved her reaction. I had a small part of me that wanted to know if she kept any of the things I made. Had they meant anything to her after all of this time?