“Yes, I think so,” she said. “I was feeling pretty good until I stood. I’m really hungry.”
“I have your soup and tea ready,” he said. “I’ll bring it.”
He walked into the kitchen and returned holding what appeared to be an old TV tray. On the tray was a faded blue plastic plate with stainless steel silverware. Also on the tray was a bowl of soup, a cup of Lipton tea and a side plate with carrots, celery and dip. There was also a peanut butter sandwich on the side, with the crust of the bread carefully trimmed away.
“Do you like Ranch Dressing as a dip for the veggies?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you,” she said, smiling. The crust trimmed away from the sandwich reminded her of her childhood. She had not eaten a meal like this since she was a little girl but still, her heart began to warm for the man who was so obviously going way out of his way to nurse her back to health.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking a little embarrassed. “I don’t have much to speak of. I don’t do a lot about food.”
“This is fine, thank you,” she said taking a sip of soup. She recognized the soup from her childhood on the farm in Upstate New York. It came in a red and white Campbell’s can. She had eaten many such cans of soup as a child growing up in New York.
Chapter 10
Vandy finished her soup and veggies. She even took a couple of small bites from the peanut butter sandwich to be polite. Sam carried the tray away.
“Can I use your phone?” she asked. “I want to call Pam.”
“Let me see if there is a signal,” he said, walking to the phone, positioned on the coffee table. He switched on the phone and played with the settings.
“What’s the verdict?” she asked, after a minute.
“You’re in luck but be advised. This is a satellite phone and the signal is weak. The signal gets really interrupted with severe weather like this.”
He handed her the phone. “I’m going outside to get some more wood for the fireplace. It’ll give you some privacy. I’ll be back shortly.”
She nodded and took the phone. She dialed. Pam answered on the second ring.
Sam put on his coat and gloves and went outside.
“Thank god you called,” she cried out. “I’ve been worried sick. Randall brought me up to speed. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” she insisted. “The trip was working. I was having a delightful time until those men showed up.”
The phone began to cut out. For a moment, all Vandy could hear was static.
“Hello?” Vandy called out. After another ten seconds, the connection was reestablished.
“I thought I lost you. Tell me what happened,” Pam replied. “Tell me everything.”
Vandy took her through the chain of events as they occurred, choosing to leave out some of the more embarrassing and insensitive things she had said to Sam. She had to repeat herself several times as the satellite signal kept fading in and out.
At the end Pam asked, “And they can’t get you until the storm lets up?”
“No,” Vandy replied. “I can see the blizzard through the window. It’s coming down really hard. The wind is howling.”
“And you’re stuck in that dirty hovel with that deformed mountain man,” she said, her voice tinged with disgust. “I had no idea Randall was making those arrangements. I wouldn’t have allowed it.”
“I’ve only been here a few hours. The storm will let up. And if you had stopped Uncle Randall from hiring him, I’d be dead now,” Vandy reminded her.
“Well, still…”
“And he’s not deformed, Pam,” she snipped. “Don’t say that—it’s incredibly insensitive.” The hypocrisy of similar comments she’d made earlier made her feel guilty, but she decided not to share the thought.
“His skin has some burn marks, but he’s really very sweet,” she continued. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without him right now. And his cabin is small but very clean. I owe this man my life and… he’s actually…”
“Actually what?”
“You’ll think I’m crazy.”
“I already think you’re crazy.”
“Well, he’s actually kind of hot,” she whispered. “He has a body to die for, and you can tell, before his face was burned, he was sexy as hell...”
“Oh my god,” Pam protested. “You should hear yourself. Do you think you can even trust this guy? I mean, you don’t know him at all. Living out there all alone, who knows what he might do to you.”
“I was worried to death about him when I first woke up,” she admitted, “but now, not at all. He has been so kind and so sweet, I can’t even describe it.”
“Is he there?” she asked. “Can he hear us?”
“No, he’s outside getting wood for the fire.”
“Where are you, exactly?” she asked.
“Sam said the cabin is about four miles north of where I was attacked, which is about six miles west of the cabin. I feel pretty safe here, actually. This guy is a former Ranger. He’s as big as a fucking tree and knows how to handle himself in a fight, that’s for sure. He took on four enormous men with guns and sent them scurrying away like frightened school children.”
“You be careful, anyway,” Pam cautioned. “This guy is still a stranger. You don’t know anything about him.”
“I’m fine,” Vandy insisted. She smiled thinking about what the reaction would be if she had told Pam she woke up naked.
“Well, I will not rest until we get you out of there and into a hospital where you can receive appropriate medical attention,” she said.
The phone began to cut out again. She waited several seconds for the line to clear.
“I’m okay, really,” Vandy said. “I just can’t figure out who would do this to me, or why.”
“You’ve made a lot of enemies, Vandy,” Pam said. “You have investors that have lost millions. It would only take one severely disaffected person to—.”
“But how would they know I was in bum-fuck Egypt?” Vandy asked.
“I tried to keep your plans low key but as I went through the list of people who could have known even I was shocked at the number. There was the travel agent; airline agents who took your tickets; the person who rented us the car. The list goes on. Then there is always the chance that you were recognized by someone on the plane, at the train station, in West Glacier. I called the FBI. They will be waiting on you in Missoula. They will find the culprit. They will pay.”
“None of that makes any sense,” she said. “Some random travel agent recognizes me? And then what? I don’t get it.”
“The police will sort it out,” she said.
“I hope they find out who it was soon,” Vandy said.
“Are you getting to the hospital?” Pam asked.
“Yes, the latest weather report says the storm will let up around sunset. There is a medical helicopter that will take me to a hospital in Missoula. It won’t be too much longer. I’ll be fine until then.”
“Randall said you were cut up pretty bad,” she said.
“This could have been way, way worse,” Vandy said. “Sam is an EMT and he has patched me up really good.”
“Ugh,” she said. “Just thinking of that hillbilly with his giant dirty mitts on you…”
Whatever Pam said next was drowned out by static.
“Are you still there, Pam?
“Yes, but the signal is fading—I can barely hear you. I was asking if you felt like those hoodlums who attacked you were still looking for you?”
“I don’t know,” Vandy said. “I think I’m safe for now. Sam is here and the storm is bad. Sam has lived here for a long time and had never seen them before. They have no idea where he lives.”
“When you get to the hospital,” Pam began, “please call so I can arrange…”
The phone line went to static and then died.
“Hello?” Vandy said.
Dead air.
“Hello. Pam. Hello.”
Sam walked back inside, carrying more fire logs than three men could normally handle. He was wet and covered with snow and ice.
“The storm is still kicked up,” he said, “but the sky is lightening up off in the distance. We may see a break in the weather in an hour or two.”
“The phone went dead,” Vandy said.
“It happens when the storm is bad enough to interrupt the satellite signal. It’ll come back. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just feel exhausted,” she said. “I think I’ll just lie here and close my eyes for a few minutes.”
“Of course,” he said.
She watched the cowboy stack wood, stoke the fire and attend to household chores. There was something about him… so relaxed and at ease… so comforting.
Within five minutes, she was fast asleep.
Chapter 11
She had been laying on her side. Her body was warm under the downy blanket, facing away from the warm fire. She opened her eyes. She could still see the amber glow from the fireplace casting shadows on the wall in front of her. She saw his shadow appear against the wall—large and hulking, almost imposing. The shadow lowered.
She could feel him slip under the covers with her. She remained motionless. She thought of this moment; wanted it to occur, yet she thought she would be afraid if it happened. She wasn’t. She yearned for him. Vandy felt a large hand lightly touching her stomach. He allowed it to rest on her belly, making no move to caress her skin. She placed her hand on top of his and moved it to her lower belly, gently pushing his hand to stroke her skin—it was a sensation she had not felt in a long time.
With her hand on top of his, she moved it down her belly, slipping underneath her thermal bottoms. She pushed his hand further down. She remained still as his fingers roamed freely until they found the right spot between her legs. She resisted the urge to moan with pleasure as his thick fingers began to gently rub the folds of her flesh, causing them to swell and moisten. She remained motionless.
She felt his lips touch her just below her ear. His breath was hot. He began to kiss her neck ever-so-gently as his fingers began to move more rapidly. His kisses only hastened how quickly she was becoming wet. She tried to suppress her movement but she couldn’t. She let out a breath and a tiny moan of pleasure escaped her lips. The tiny sound only served to excite him. She could now feel his body spooning her. She moved her hips to the match the motion of his fingers. Her buttocks touched him and she could feel that he was hard. He continued to kiss her neck, more passionately than before.
She moaned again, this time more audibly. He responded by quickening the pace with his finger movement. She was literally dripping now and moving her hips more and more.
She used her right hand to reach around and touch his manhood, discovering it was fully erect and now out of his pants. She stroked its length with her hand as he continued to rub her. She heard him breathing and moaning with delight at her touch. Unable to stand it any longer she took her hand off him and used it to pull her pants down in the back.
She instantly felt his warm hardness against her naked buttocks. He rubbed himself all over her bare bottom. She moaned again, this time louder as he continued to rub his swollen member on the soft white flesh of her behind. She wanted him. She touched his manhood again wrapping her fingers around it; squeezing it; stroking it; and then gently guiding it inside her. She gasped with pleasure and then drew a breath, holding it as the full length of it slid easily into her. He moved his hand away and slid it up her shirt onto the soft flesh of her right breast. Her nipples were erect. He nibbled at her ear and took the lobe of it into his mouth as he continued to move slowly in and out of her from behind.
The motion of her hips and his alternated as he slid deeply in and out of her; slowly at first; then more quickly. His enormous hand was now gently caressing her breasts, first the left, then moving to her right. He rolled his fingers over her nipples. The motion was bringing her close to orgasm.
Her breathing became heaving and steadier.
He moaned; her breathing matched his.
She ached for him; he for her.
She was closer to orgasm.
Closer; closer; almost there.
She was ready to explode. She gasped loudly just before her climax, and then…
She heard thunder crashing outside and the wind beating against the roof again.
The thunder startled her.
She sat up suddenly, reaching behind her.
Sam was not there.
After a few seconds, her disorientation turned into reality—disappointment.
It had all been a dream.
She was still breathing heavily.
Holy shit, she thought. She had not had a dream like that for many years. She reached down and touched herself. One thing that was not a dream was how wet she was.
She wondered if she had cried out in her sleep. She looked up and saw that Sam was nowhere to be seen. In fact, he didn’t appear to be in the cabin at all. She saw the fire had diminished. He must have gone out for more firewood, she thought.
She looked at her watch. She had been asleep for about 35 minutes and there was no sign the storm was slowing.
She had to pee again.
“Sam,” she called out. “Cowboy!”
There was no answer.
She pulled off the covers and tried to stand. She had almost forgotten about her leg; the discomfort had subsided as she slept. She felt a spasm of pain rifling up her leg but it was not as bad as before. The bathroom was only about fifteen feet away. The pain meds were working pretty well.
She stood and limped forward, putting as little pressure on the injured leg as possible. She reached the door and opened it. That’s when she heard the shower running.
She saw Sam through the clear glass of the shower stall, made only modestly translucent by the steam of the shower. This was no dream, His back was to her and he showed no sign that he was aware of her presence. She looked away and began to close the door, but couldn’t resist looking again. He looked incredible naked. There were some burn marks on his back but they were lighter and minimal. What was more obvious were the healed over surgical scars on his back, his hip, the back of one knee and his ankle. This man had been under the knife many times, she thought. He must have been through hell and back. None of it, however, detracted from his physical attributes which were toned to perfection. His shoulders were magnificent. Her eyes roamed down the length of his back, down to his firm buttocks and over his enormous rock hard perfectly shaped thighs and calves.
He had been soaping his hair but she saw that he was beginning to turn toward her. She could see that soap covered his face; his eyes were closed. He had not seen her. She doubted he heard her. She knew she was violating his privacy and knew she should close the door and move away, but she felt frozen in place, unable to move, unable to take her eyes off him.
She saw that the burn marks extended down the left side of his left leg. He paused suddenly, making her wonder if he was somehow aware that she was there.
Suddenly embarrassed, she closed the door as gently as possible and hobbled back to her bed.
She checked her watch again. Would this storm ever end? Time seemed to be suspended in the small cabin. She had been there just a few hours, but it had felt like an eternity.
Chapter 12
She was back in bed by the time Sam emerged from the shower. He wore a fresh simple white cotton shirt and jeans. The shirt was unbuttoned and the tail untucked. His hair was wet.
He had a military cut, with a short tuft on top, soft and brown, just beginning to pepper with gray.
“Awake already?” he asked, running his fingers through his hair. “You didn’t sleep long.”
“The storm woke me up,” she said, strategically omitting the fact she was having a wet dream about him. “Any sign of it letting up?”
“Maybe close to sunset,” he said. “but not in the short term. Can I get you anything?”
&nbs
p; “I’d love a shot of whiskey,” she said.
He chuckled, “Isn’t it a little early in the afternoon for hard liquor, Mrs. Vanderbilt?” he replied. “And besides, it wouldn’t mix well with the pain meds.”
“I was kidding,” she replied. “Well, half kidding. By the way, drop the ‘Mrs.’ If you please. I’m not going to be a ‘Mrs.’ much longer—my divorce should be final in a month. And please, all my friends call me Vandy.”
He raised his eyebrows, “Oh, we’re friends now. That’s good news.”
“I’d like to think so.”
“I have some better news,” he said. “You can have more pain meds. Can you use some.”
“Shit yeah! How about coffee, too?” she asked. “Got any coffee in this joint?”
“Now that I can handle, and I perhaps have good news for you,” he said. “When I was in town last, I bought this new thingy that makes coffee. It’s called a kruger. You ever heard of it?”
She chuckled, “You mean Keurig, not kruger. Of course, I’ve heard of it. I’ve had one for years now.”
“Oh,” he replied, a tone of disappointment in his voice. “I was under the impression it was something new. At any rate, it’s still in the box. I tried to set it up a few days ago, but it looked complicated, so I set it aside. I like things simple. But if you’ll hang in there with me for a minute I’ll try again.”
“Let me come with you,” she said. “My back is a little sore from laying in this bed.”
“You really shouldn’t be putting pressure on that leg,” he said.
“I just need to make it to the coffee table, cowboy,” she said. “I put my own Keurig together at home. I’m pretty good with shit like this. I think I can help you out.”
“You mean you didn’t have a butler or servant to do it for you?” he asked, only half joking.
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