Mountain Rough

by Kelli Callahan

  Mountain Rough

  A Real Rough Man, Volume 1

  Kelli Callahan

  Published by Kelli Callahan Books, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  MOUNTAIN ROUGH

  First edition. May 27, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Kelli Callahan.

  Written by Kelli Callahan.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1: Mandy

  Chapter 2: Red

  Chapter 3: Mandy

  Chapter 4: Red

  Chapter 5: Mandy

  Chapter 6: Red

  Chapter 7: Mandy

  Chapter 8: Red

  Chapter 9: Mandy

  Chapter 10: Red

  Chapter 11: Mandy

  Chapter 12: Red

  Chapter 13: Mandy

  Chapter 14: Red

  Chapter 15: Mandy

  Epilogue: Red

  Epilogue: Mandy

  Chapter 1: Mandy

  “We won! I can’t believe it! We actually won!” I held my phone in my hand and danced around the room.

  “Seriously?” My best friend, Hannah, started jumping up and down with her mouth hanging open in shock. “See, I knew all of my useless trivia knowledge would come in handy one day. You beat all the people rushing to look it up on Google!”

  “This is crazy! We’re going to start the summer off at a mountain resort. Look at the website! They have a jacuzzi, a heated pool, a gym, and there are tons of hiking trails with scenic views for picnics. This is going to be awesome!” I pointed at my laptop where I had loaded the Blue Ridge Resort website while waiting on someone to answer the phone at the radio station.

  “And the dates don’t interfere with your beach trip. This is going to be the best summer ever!” Hannah smiled as she clicked on a few pictures.

  “Oh, hello,” I purred when I saw a picture of several hot guys in a jacuzzi. “Maybe those guys will be there.”

  “Like you would do anything with them.” Hannah rolled her eyes. “You’re saving yourself for Mr. Right.”

  “One of them could be Mr. Right. I mean, look at them. They’re fucking hot.” I licked drool off my bottom lip.

  “I’m sure they’re just models posing for a photograph. Don’t get too excited. I’ve been to these kinds of resorts before. The only single guys are either too young or way too old.”

  “Dad-bod old or like old-old?” I raised my eyebrows.

  “Like, grandpa-bod old.” She shook her head back and forth. “You can’t even bag that and pretend it’s hot.”

  “That’s okay.” I took a seat on my bed. “We can have some girl time, drink some wine, and then we’ll go to the beach where we know we’ll have a good time.”

  “Where I’ll have a good time. You’ll just stand in the corner and look pretty.” Hannah giggled. “You know it’s true.”

  “Give me a break, I’m trying to be a responsible nineteen year old.” I scoffed at her and shook my head.

  “You’re on an island by yourself, because I plan on hooking up with a different guy every night once we get to the beach.” She ran her hand down her stomach and squeezed her crotch. “This girl needs something long and hard between her legs.”

  “God, you’re such a slut.” I rolled my eyes. “How in the world are we best friends?”

  “Because you’re secretly a lesbian and just waiting on me to get to that phase of college?” She giggled again and dodged a pillow that I threw at her.

  “You need to leave. I have to finish my assignment for Professor King’s class.” I glared at her and shook my head. “I know you have no plans of working on it until the last minute.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You stay here and be the good girl. I’m going out tonight.” She picked up her purse from the couch. “Besides, I have a nerd doing my assignment for me.”

  “I don’t even want to know how you’re paying him.” I moved over to my desk and closed the browser window for the Blue Ridge Resort website.

  “A handjob.” She filled me in anyway.

  “I said I didn’t want to know!” I opened the document I was working on for my Literature class and waited for her to leave.

  I had a lot of work ahead of me and with Hannah gone, it was time to get down to business. There were times when I wished I could be more like her. It didn’t help that my moral compass kept me on a boring path while hers spun out of control. We were exactly the same when we were kids, talking about boys we liked, and eventually sharing the intimate details of our first kiss over Cherry Cokes when we got to high school.

  From there, we just kind of went in different directions. She became a cheerleader and started dating football players—sometimes more than one at the same time. I spent my Friday nights in the library, trying to stay ahead of my assignments. Somehow, we both ended up going to the same college. She was on a scholarship to yell from the sidelines during the football games. I was paying my way with a part time job and student loans. How that was fair baffled me.

  “Okay, Professor King. Prepare to dazzled by the best paper you’ve ever read.” I put my fingers on the keyboard and started typing.

  Professor King’s class was extremely challenging. He expected the best and if it wasn’t absolutely perfect, there was no way he was going to give you an A. I had managed to exceed his expectations for the entire year, until the previous week when I got my first C on one of my papers. He found a flaw in my argument and tore my paper to shreds with red ink along with my chance of keeping my GPA if I didn’t get a perfect grade on the last assignment of the year. The pressure was on and my stomach was in knots as I wrote and rewrote every sentence.

  Come on, you can do this. You’ve crushed so many assignments for his class. Don’t let one bad grade ruin it.

  I tried to give myself an internal pep-talk as I typed away. I had the whole weekend to work on it, but I wanted a workable first draft before I went to bed on Friday night. I was still typing some hours later when I heard a key in the door. Hannah came in like a bolt of lightning, crashing into the table and laughing uncontrollably. She was drunk or high—possibly both. It seemed that I wasn’t going to be able to get the first draft done, because she was going to need a babysitter if I didn’t want her to break something or set the apartment on fire.

  “Mandy, you should have seen the guy I hooked up with tonight at the party!” She started walking towards me, but stumbled sideways and nearly tripped over the chair.

  “I’m sure he was great.” I sighed and grabbed her arm. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

  “No, I’m not done drinking yet! What do we have to drink here?” She pulled out of my grasp and walked towards the kitchen.

  “Nothing. We have coffee if it won’t make you throw up.” I grabbed her arm again and turned her towards the bedroom.

  “I need alcohol!” She started walking towards the bedroom, mostly because that was the direction I pointed her in.

  “You need sleep.” I caught her before she ended up needing a dentist when she stumbled next to the door frame.

  Yep, this is my college experience in a nutshell.

  “HANNAH, WHAT THE HELL? You’re really not going with me to the resort?” I was practically in tears after Hannah broke the news to me. “I can’t go alone!”

  “Brady’s dad is out of town and he has a lake house. That’s so much better than a resort in the mountains. Come on, you’re invited too.” She took my hand and started to plead with me. “The whole football team is going and the cheerleaders have to go.”

  “But that’s nothing more than a big party with people we see every day. We were supposed to have a nice, relax
ing vacation before the beach.” I tilted my head with disappointment clearly etched on my face. “You were excited about the resort!”

  “Brady said it sucks.” She shrugged. “His family went there when he was a kid and he said the place is a shit hole.”

  “He just wants to get in your panties, Hannah.” I shook my head back and forth. “Of course a resort is a shit hole to Brady Remington. His family is loaded and he’s the quarterback of a college football team in the south!”

  “Look, I love you. You know that. I don’t mind that you’re introverted as fuck. It’s cute sometimes, but I have to go where the party is. Come with me. I promise you’ll have fun.” She squeezed my hand. “There’s no reason for you to have to go home for a week before we hit the beach.”

  “I’m not going home for a week.” I shook my head and pulled my hand away. “If you don’t want to go to the resort with me, then I’ll just go on my own.”

  “Seriously?” She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Remember what I said about the grandpa-bods. You’re not going to have fun by yourself.”

  “I’m not going there to get laid. I think I can entertain myself if you don’t want to go with me.” I shrugged and stood up. “If it’s boring, I’ll just hang out in my cabin and eat ice cream for a week.”

  “No, please don’t do that.” She shook her head back and forth rapidly. “We need to be hot for the beach.”

  “Go have fun, Hannah.” I sighed angrily. “I’ll see you at the beach. I’m sure you’ll be able to get there on your own.”

  Anger didn’t even begin to describe how I felt about my best friend’s decision. I was even considering whether she was worthy of that title after she decided to abandon me. The one thing that had been constant, no matter which direction we took on the weekend, was that we still looked out for each other. When her nerd didn’t come through with her assignment for Mr. King’s class, I stepped up and helped her write it. We stayed up all night and pulled a marathon session, barely getting it in on time. I was even willing to risk my GPA so she could pass the class. My paper turned out to be good enough, even without a final night of revisions, but I didn’t know that until I got it back.

  You know what—forget Hannah. I’ll enjoy this on my own.

  It was too late for me to find someone else to go with me, and I really didn’t even know who I would ask besides Hannah. I could have reached out to my mother, but I didn’t want her to know how pathetic I was. She was like a forty-year old version of Hannah, still partying on the weekends with two ex-husbands that had been left in the past and more boyfriends than I could count keeping her entertained in the present. Going with her would have been a disaster, and all those grandpa-bods Hannah mentioned would probably be good enough for a one-night-stands—if they were willing to spoil her first.

  “Last chance, Hannah.” I walked into the living room and dropped my suitcase next to the door.

  “I’m sorry, Mandy. I really am.” She grimaced and held up her bikini. “Do you think Brady will like this?”

  “I’m sure you won’t be wearing it long enough for him to notice.” I grabbed my suitcase and slammed the door behind me.

  It was a six hour drive to the resort, one that would have been much easier if I had someone to trade out with at the midway point. I fumed as I drove and it was hours before I finally settled down and switched the angry-rock music on my radio to something relaxing. When I finally got to the mountain path that led to the Blue Ridge Mountains, I couldn’t help but smile. The mountain was beautiful. It looked so peaceful. I rolled down my windows to enjoy the breeze and the fresh air. I grew up near Chicago, so I didn’t get to see much nature or smell anything other than the stench of the city. We were going to college near the East Coast, which was a lot nicer than Chicago, but it wasn’t very peaceful.

  Yep, this is perfect. I’ll have no problem enjoying this alone.

  It was a long ride up the mountain, but I didn’t mind because it was so beautiful to look at. I actually felt in tune with nature when I saw a sign indicating the resort was only a mile away. I could already see myself hiking through the woods, picnicking on a ledge overlooking the valley that surrounded the mountain. I wasn’t just ready to vacation there, I was ready to move in permanently. I made a vow that I would retire somewhere like that, long after I had married and raised lots of babies—while balancing a successful career and coaching Hannah through her latest divorce.

  Chapter 2: Red

  “Yeah, I don’t know if we can repair this.” The handyman I hired to help me fix up my family’s resort exhaled sharply as he looked at the empty pool. “It won’t be cheap. I’ll need to patch all the cracks and then we’ll need to call someone to come put in a new liner. The filtration system is fucked. It’s gotta be replaced completely. The heaters on the bottom are just flat out shot, and I’m not sure those can be repaired without ripping out part of the concrete.”

  “Okay, then let’s start with someone we can repair faster. I’d like to get this place looking halfway decent before winter.” I put my hands on my hips and shook my head. “The pool won’t matter at that point if we can’t get the heat working.”

  “I don’t know, Red.” He turned in a circle, looking at the resort. “I think you’d be better off just selling it. Your dad talked about it a couple of times before he passed.”

  “Nah. I can’t get anything for the place in this state. I don’t think anyone wants this dump but me. Okay, I need to go make a phone call. Why don’t you work on Cabin A? It would be nice if we had one cabin up here that would pass inspection.” I pointed towards the cabin that was closest to the entrance of the resort.

  “Sure thing, but honestly? I don’t think any of them are going to be up to code without a sizable investment except the one you’re staying in.” He shrugged and started walking towards Cabin A.

  It had become clear that my dad stopped giving a shit about the resort long before he died. When I was younger, it was an oasis in the mountains where families could come for vacation. It offered the solace of nature with the comforts of home. There was still plenty of nature, but not much comfort left. A sleeping bag and a tent offered more comfort than the resort. Part of me did wish my father would have sold it before he passed. I had shopped it around to a few interested parties, but none were willing to pay anywhere near what it was worth. We had cabin rentals on the left and cabin rentals on the right. Most potential buyers were interested in just bulldozing the whole place down so they could sprinkle high priced luxury cabins along the road and they wanted it cheap.

  “Hey, this is Redmond Adams. I’m just calling to confirm that my mattress order will be delivered today?” I held the phone up to my ear and leaned against the counter. “It will? Good, thank you.”

  I was pretty much left with two choices when I heard how little the property was worth. I could abandon it and walk away or I could try to rebuild it. I was tired of the city. I hated my dead-end job. I was beyond frustrated in my on again, off again relationship with my ex-girlfriend. I decided to just pack everything my life into a suitcase and start over where I grew up. I was eleven months into the endeavor and it still didn’t look like I had accomplished much. I had repaired several cabin exteriors myself and restored what I could inside, but it was taking too long. My bank account was dwindling fast, and I couldn’t even rent the cabins out until they would pass inspection. I hired Charlie to help me because he was cheap. He was drunk most of the time, but at least he was willing to work.

  “Okay, the mattress order should be here soon. How are we looking in here?” I stepped into the cabin and saw Charlie tuck a flask into his pocket.

  “Well, you seem to have done a good job with the outside, but the inside needs a lot of work. If you’ll help me get this mattress out, we can at least fix most of this in a couple of hours.” He motioned for me to follow him. “The furniture is in good shape structurally. The living room furniture should be reupholstered, but I can take care of that. This matt
ress, though? It’s got some stories to tell.”

  “None that I want to hear.” I walked past Charlie and lifted the mattress myself, walking it towards the door.

  “You’re a strong fucker aren’t you?” He chuckled. “Okay, the closet looks good on the inside and I can easily repair the knobs.”

  I carried the mattress outside and dropped it near the entrance of the resort. I returned to the cabin and walked into the kitchen. Thankfully, the stove and the refrigerator worked, but they needed to be cleaned. Something was wrong with the oven, but I wasn’t sure if it needed to be repaired or replaced. I picked up a brush and started scrubbing down the counter, along with the walls and the appliances. Within an hour, it looked decent, even if it wasn’t exactly up to date.

  “The television works.” Charlie called out from the living room and I walked towards his voice. “Not that anybody really watches anything on a square anymore. If you’re going to replace it, I know a guy that buys vintage stuff like this.”

  Vintage—right.

  “Yeah, I’ll keep an eye out for a good deal and try to replace all of them at once. Until then, we might as well leave the old one.” I shrugged. “Hopefully people aren’t paying to come to the mountains and watch television.”

  “You’d be surprised.” Charlie chuckled and bent over to open the drawer at the bottom of the television stand. “Oh, ha. It looks like someone left a few dirty movies in here.”

  “My dad used to rent DVDs, but he never had anything current. I guess someone forgot to return them.” I walked over and collected the stack of porn before kicking the drawer closed.

  I’ll definitely be checking these later tonight—to make sure they still work.

  We continued working on the cabin until it was late the day. The mattress order arrived and I had them stacked in the warehouse. I carried one to Cabin A and one to my cabin. My cabin was a little more modern than the rentals. It seemed that while my dad didn’t give a shit about the resort, he still wanted to have a nice big television and a computer. Unfortunately, the computer was filled with viruses and the search engine history was scarier than the stuff I watched and I thought I had pretty filthy tastes.