Belonging to Her Mountain

by Marla Monroe

  “Okay. I’m sorry,” she said.

  He huffed out a breath and slammed the door behind him. Tammy was about willing to take on two part-time jobs rather than work for him much longer. He’d gotten more and more demanding over the last few months. She was sure that whatever he was all mixed up in had him on edge. She really didn’t want to be any part of whatever that was. Yeah, two part-time jobs might work out just fine. She’d talk to Randi about it when they had lunch next.

  Speaking of lunch, she checked the time on her computer. She had another fifteen minutes until she could sneak away. Even though she’d brought her lunch, she really wanted out of the office for at least forty-five minutes. She was sick of the place.

  When her phone rang, Tammy sighed and answered it.

  “Hey, Tammy. It’s Baldwin. How are you doing?” he asked.

  “Hey, Baldwin. I’m good. What about you guys?”

  “Actually, we’re in town and were wondering if you’d have lunch with us today. Nothing much, just the diner.”

  “That sounds nice. I’d like that. I was just trying to talk myself out of my peanut butter sandwich,” she admitted.

  Why am I agreeing to go out with them? I already decided I couldn’t handle both of them.

  It was just lunch. She could eat lunch with them and it would get her out of the office for a while. What harm was that?

  It means I’m not really on board with breaking things off with them.

  So, they hadn’t done anything wrong. It was all her. She couldn’t say no to them and that meant she’d say yes to things she might not want to say yes to.

  “Eww, peanut butter lunches went out with high school. Let us save you from that fate worse than death,” Baldwin said.

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “Since I eat them fairly regularly, don’t bad-mouth them too much.”

  “I stand corrected. I won’t discuss how much better lunch at the diner will be,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Fine. I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes,” she said.

  “See you then, hon.” Baldwin ended the call with Tammy’s mood soaring once more.

  She sighed. What had she just done? She was supposed to be strong and tell them she didn’t want to see them anymore.

  I’ll tell them at lunch today.

  It wasn’t something she needed to say over the phone anyway. That was too impersonal, and they deserved to hear it from her in person. They’d been nothing but good to her. Breaking things off over the phone was too grammar schoolish.

  Fifteen minutes later, she walked into the diner and instantly saw the two guys at a table near the back corner. She couldn’t help the broad smile that had her face almost hurting with it. They had a way of making her smile like that. Now they’d think she couldn’t wait to see them again.

  Well, isn’t that the truth? I am excited about it. Durn, what am I going to do?

  “Hi, babe. You look especially nice today,” Gabriel said, holding her chair for her.

  “Thanks.”

  Both men had stood when she’d walked up, and that endeared them to her even more. Once they’d all gotten comfortable again, Tammy asked what they were doing in town at lunchtime.

  “Needed some supplies, and lunchtime during a workday means less people shopping to get in the way,” Gabriel said.

  “I have to agree with you on that,” she said. “I hate shopping right after work when everyone else is thinking the same thing. The only time worse is a Saturday at the beginning of the month after everyone who gets paid once a month has gotten their paychecks.”

  “I have to agree with you there,” Baldwin said.

  “What do you want to eat?” Gabriel asked.

  “The special is fine with me,” she said.

  When their waitress walked up, Gabriel ordered three lunch specials and three iced teas. He nodded toward Tammy. “Make hers sweet.”

  Tammy smiled. They’d remembered that she liked sweet tea. When he winked at her, she wanted to melt in her chair.

  “How is work going today?” Baldwin asked.

  “It’s fine,” she said.

  At Baldwin’s lifted brow, she sighed. “Actually, it’s just as aggravating as always. I’m really thinking that I’d rather have two part-time jobs instead.”

  “That bad, huh? That would take up more of your time, but if it’s really that tough, maybe it would be worth it,” Gabriel said.

  Tammy couldn’t believe he agreed with her. Well, sort of. It made her feel as though it mattered to them that she be happy. There went another chink in her determination to end it with them.

  “If you have to spend eight to ten hours at a job, you should at least like it a little bit. It doesn’t sound like you like your job at all. Is it the job itself or your boss?” Baldwin asked.

  “My boss. I have two bosses, but one of them is a real asshole.” She popped her hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that out loud.”

  “Why not? He isn’t here to hear you, is he?” Gabriel asked.

  “No, but someone might tell him. Everyone knows everyone around here. Small town, you know.” Tammy took a sip of her tea when the waitress set their drinks on the table.

  “Food will be right up, guys.” She walked off to take another order at the table next to them.

  “I agree with you guys, but finding a new job isn’t very easy here in such a small town. I could try for one of the small towns around us, but that would mean more driving. I don’t see putting a lot of miles on my old car.”

  “Maybe something will turn up here soon. I’m sure you’ve been watching the paper for one,” Gabriel said.

  “Yeah. That’s why I’m thinking two part-time jobs might work best until something full-time opens up,” she explained.

  “Do you have a college degree?” Baldwin asked.

  “I have an Associate’s degree in business from a community college,” she said.

  “That’s good. If we hear of anything around town, we’ll be sure to let you know,” Baldwin said.

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  Their food arrived, so conversation was mostly centered on the food and the latest gossip around town. She was surprised the two men kept up with it. Then again, Randi had assured her that men were just as big on gossiping as women.

  “Get two or three men together over a car engine and they’ll fill each other in on who’s screwing who and who’s getting a divorce in five minutes flat. Only women get into the whys and wherefores,” Randi had told her.

  “This has been nice, but I’d better get back to work now. Don’t want to give my boss anything else to fuss about,” Tammy said.

  “We’ll walk you out to your car, babe,” Gabriel said.

  Once they were standing next to her SUV, Baldwin leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

  “How about pizza and a movie Saturday night, hon?” Baldwin asked.

  “Oh, well. I hadn’t thought about anything really. I was sort of thinking maybe we needed to slow it down some,” she finally got out.

  Slow it down? I’m supposed to tell them that I want to call it off. What is wrong with me?

  “No pressure, hon. Just pizza then a movie. What about that?” Baldwin asked.

  “Um, okay. I guess we can do that,” she said.

  “Best get back to work, babe. Don’t want your boss to say anything that will irritate you more. Hate to have to come talk some sense into him,” Gabriel said, then leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips before he and Baldwin took a step back so she could open her car door.

  “See you Saturday about five? That work for you, hon?” Baldwin asked.

  “Yeah. Five is fine,” she said as she got into her car.

  Gabriel closed her door and waved at her as she started the engine, then backed out of the parking slot. She could still see them in her rearview mirror after she’d driven out of the diner’s lot. What had just happened?

  * * * *

  Friday afternoon
Tammy was still working at a quarter to four, trying to finish a brief her boss had given her at two thirty. He’d insisted that it needed to be finished before she left. When he’d told her that she could leave at three, she’d just said okay, locked the door, and continued working.

  At four fifteen, the door rattled, and then the sound of the lock clicking had her jerking her eyes toward the door when two rough-looking men walked into the room. They stopped when they caught sight of her.

  “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be off at three thirty today,” he snarled.

  “I’m finishing up some work my boss gave me. How did you get inside and who are you?” she asked.

  “Tammy? What are you still doing here?” Mr. Bigsby demanded when he walked out of his office. “I told you to leave an hour ago.”

  “You also told me that you needed this brief finished before I left today. I’m nearly done. I’ll be out of here in about fifteen more minutes,” she said.

  “Leave now,” one of the gruff-looking men said.

  Tammy started to argue that he wasn’t her boss, but then she looked over at her real boss and wondered if that were true.

  “Fine.”

  She saved her work, closed down the computer, and grabbed her things from her desk. She had to walk past the two scruffy men, but she managed to without touching them and stepped outside the office. She wasn’t going to bother with locking the door but realized she needn’t have worried about it since the lock clicked almost as soon as she’d closed the door behind her.

  Those two men had made her shiver at the way they’d looked at her while she’d gotten ready to leave. They hadn’t said anything more and hadn’t moved from where they’d stopped just inside the door. When she’d looked up at Mr. Bigsby right before she’d walked out, she’d seen something she hadn’t thought to ever see in the mean old man’s expression. Fear. He was a little bit afraid of the two men standing in the office.

  Tammy unlocked her SUV’s door and climbed inside. It was cold and she realized she hadn’t bothered to put on her coat. Now she wished she’d done so after walking out of the office. It would take too long for her heater to get warm since she lived less than four blocks from the office. Instead of turning it on, she resigned herself to shivering.

  The apartment was blessedly warm when she finally let herself inside. She had about twenty minutes before Randi got home. She wanted to take a nice hot shower, then dive into her PJs and read. Most of all, she wanted to put the entire afternoon behind her. Those two men had scared her. They looked like bad news to her. She had no idea what Mr. Bigsby was thinking having anything to do with those men.

  She couldn’t stop her mind from running the different scenarios around inside of it. Everything she came up with was scary. Combined that with what she’d overheard the Friday before, and she was pretty durn sure her boss was into something illegal.

  “Hey, girl. Thought you were going to go out with me and Scott tonight,” Randi said.

  “I had a really bad day at work today and didn’t get home until about fifteen minutes ago. All I really want to do is crash tonight,” she said.

  “Wow. That sounds like more than the usual Asshat Bigsby day. What happened?”

  “It’s a long story. Maybe we could talk it over tomorrow before our dates. What time are you leaving to go to Billings with Scott?” she asked.

  “Not until four. What time are the guys going to pick you up?” Randi asked.

  “Five. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow afternoon,” she promised.

  “So, are you doing okay with them?” Randi asked, switching subjects.

  “I don’t know. I’m having a real problem that there’s two of them. I mean, I like both of them and couldn’t imagine going out with just one of them, but who am I kidding? A threesome can’t work in the long run. Right?”

  “I don’t know. There are two other families up there on the mountain who are making it work. Who’s to say it can’t?”

  “So far they are. They haven’t been together for very long yet,” Tammy pointed out.

  “Give it a chance, Tammy. They’re nice guys. I liked them when I met them. Do they treat you right?”

  “Yes. They’re awesome to me,” she admitted.

  “Then there’s your answer. What can it hurt to see where this goes?”

  “What if my heart gets involved? Then I’ll end up hurt,” she said.

  “Is your heart getting involved?” Randi asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “Then I’d say you’ve got nothing to lose.”

  Tammy watched her friend disappear down the hall toward her bedroom. Was it already too late for her to back out now? Did she like them like that, or was she fooling herself into believing she was already a little in love with them?

  How? It’s only been a few weeks. I don’t believe in love at first sight.

  Still, she’d been attracted to them from the start. Then they’d treated her so sweetly at the bar. Tammy was pretty sure she was falling for them.

  Well, hell. Maybe I do.

  Randi returned a little while later wearing slacks and a pretty teal blouse with a small ruffle down the center hiding the buttons.

  “Wow, you look nice,” Tammy said.

  “Thanks, girlfriend. We’re going to the steak house, then back to his place. He’s got to be at his brother’s early tomorrow, so I’ll be back around midnight. I know if we spend the night together he’ll never be on time at his brother’s. They’re going to the range to practice for bow-hunting season.”

  “I’m not even going to ask why,” Tammy teased.

  “Hey, I didn’t demand all the sordid details on why it was so late when you came in last weekend, now did I?” she asked with a grin.

  “Nothing to tell. We watched a movie,” Tammy said.

  “One movie does not make a midnight curfew.”

  “Just because you’re doing sleepovers doesn’t mean that I’m going to,” she said.

  “Sleepovers? Call it what it is, girlfriend. Sex in the small town,” Randi said with a huge grin.

  “Oh, there’s Scott, better remember your purse this time,” Tammy said, tossing a pillow at her friend.

  “I’ve got it.” Randi walked over to the door and peeked through the peephole. “See you tomorrow, Tam.”

  “Night, Randi.”

  Her friend opened the door, and Scott stuck his head inside and waved to Tammy before the two of them locked up behind them, leaving her alone to switch titles from Married to the Firefighter to Loving Two Men. She had to admit that it sounded nothing but great in the book. Even the last one she’d read had made it all seem easy to love two men and live with them in their happily ever after. Still, this was real life, and nothing went according to plan in real life.

  Well, Randi and Scott were doing pretty well. She wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to move in together soon. That would put more on her rent-wise unless she decided to find another roommate. She didn’t like that idea. The only reason she could handle Randi was because they had been friends since grade school.

  I might as well face it. I’m either going to have to downgrade to a smaller apartment and get two jobs, or I’m going to have to suck it up and deal with the one I’ve got.

  The only problem with that was now she knew that her boss was mixed up in something not so legal. She was sure of it. Nothing had been legal-looking about the two men at the office that day.

  Chapter Eight

  “What do you mean you think he’s working with criminals? He’s a lawyer. Of course he is, Tammy.” Randi poured a glass of wine for each of them, then sat on the love seat next to Tammy.

  “No. He was talking about guns and money and shipments or something, then this Friday two really ugly men show up at the office when I’m supposed to have already been gone. Plus, they had a key to the office, Randi.”

  “That does sound weird. Why would anyone other than you and the lawyers have keys to
the office?”

  “He was pretty mad at me for still being there, and the two men looked positively pissed about it. Honestly, with the way he looked at me, he might fire me over it.”

  “Surely not. There’s no reason to fire you because you were working over when he’d instructed you to finish that brief. You could fight that,” Randi pointed out.

  “Maybe, but then I really don’t like working for him in the first place. All he does is yell at me, and the only raise I’ve gotten in the six years I’ve worked for him was two years ago.”

  “Tammy, what other choice do you have?” she asked.

  “I was thinking about getting two part-time jobs and quitting there,” Tammy admitted.

  “Oh, hon. Is it really that bad?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “I’m so sorry. I got a great job and you ended up with a piss-poor one. How did that happen? I could have handled Bigsby better than you,” Randi said.

  “He wasn’t this bad when I first started. It’s only been the last three years that it’s been so rough. He changed almost overnight. It sort of coincides with when he started spending so much money and started sending me home early on Fridays.” Tammy sipped her wine. “Hell, I could work till six any other night and he’d think that was great, but Fridays? He wants me out of there by three or three thirty.”

  “So, from what little you know, he could be mixed up with selling guns to or for someone. Were these guys wearing any special coats or jackets?” she asked.

  “No, but they were inked all over and wore baseball caps backward like a lot of gangs do,” she said.

  “Then you have to believe that he’s mixed up with a gang. Maybe he’s on retainer for them for when they get arrested,” Randi suggested.

  “Here?” Tammy asked with wide eyes. “We don’t have gangs here. It’s a tiny town. We barely have stoplights here.”

  “Doesn’t mean they aren’t from one of the larger cities nearby or even from Billings,” Randi suggested.

  Tammy sipped at her wine and sighed. “All I need is to get tangled up with a gang while working for an asshole.”

  “Do you think you’re in danger?” Randi asked.