Jack disappeared toward the kitchen and Monica suddenly felt the silence between her and Evan. She had been completely at ease with him, and she enjoyed his company, but because she hadn’t expected to see him again so soon, and the fact they were sitting in the exact same places as they had been the night they met, suddenly she was feeling nervous.
“How do you like the cabin?” Evan broke the ice.
She looked up at him and was sure he would be able to tell how grateful she was.
“It’s cute,” she said. “Really cute actually.”
Evan nodded his head.
“I didn’t realize it was you when I sent the text,” she said, wanting to clear up any confusion, just in case there was any.
“I didn’t say you did,” he raised his eyebrows.
“I know, I know,” she bit her lip. “But I just didn’t want you to think that I was reaching. I honestly didn’t know.”
“Well, it’s not like you can just disappear and never speak to me again,” he half-laughed. “So, I’m glad we managed to catch up.”
She smiled and nodded.
She loved the way he was looking at her. For a man who was so intimidating, he really did have the most incredible eyes. His pupils were wide and dark when he looked at her, and it made her own expand as well. Her heart was racing, and she had to look away.
“Thank you for being so generous and accommodating,” she said. “I’ll pay you, though, of course, when I come to leave.”
“I said don’t worry about that,” he looked at her sternly. “I don’t want your money, I’m helping you out.”
She felt a little gush of gratefulness, but she didn’t want to show it too much. She wanted him to be on his toes and want to please her more and more with each passing moment they spent together.
“So where have you been hiding for the past few days?” he asked her.
Monica smiled and at the same time, Jack placed down her glass of wine. She took a big sip to calm her nerves, but it didn’t have the same warm and relaxing effect as it had done a few nights before. She knew she didn’t want to drink again. She was so done with alcohol and the beer fear that came with it.
“I needed to try and work,” she said. “And also recover from the hangover that never seemed to want to end.”
“Tell me about it,” Evan laughed. “I was pretty bad myself that day.” He smiled at her and she found herself looking into his deep, brown eyes again.
They really were amazing.
“Can you remember much of the night?” she finally had the nerve to ask.
Evan laughed and shrugged.
“I remember enough to know we have to consult someone legally,” he smiled. “But don’t worry, it should be pretty straight forward.”
“So, I won’t be a divorcee?” she asked, half-jokingly.
“No,” he grinned. “It’ll just be like the whole thing never even happened.”
She smiled too and somewhere in her stomach she felt a sag of disappointment.
She sipped her wine again and admitted defeat. She slid it across the bar to Jack and asked him for a lemonade instead.
“You seriously can’t face it?” Evan laughed.
“Not a chance in hell,” she winced.
Evan raised his eyebrows and then a bottle of beer to his lips and took a big, satisfying sip. She watched the way his Adam’s apple went up and down in his thick throat and it made her tingle. His hands were so big, the way they gripped the bottle made her whole body feel alert and ready. All she could think of was having them all over her.
She looked away and tried to clear her mind of dirty thoughts.
“So, what are your plans whilst you’re here in town?” Evan asked her.
He was genuinely making an effort with her, and it was nice to have his attention again. She had worried when she had woken up on the bar floor with him that he would have thought she was crazy, regretted everything, and blanked her for the remainder of her time in town. But it appeared that he was being completely mature and in control with the fact they had accidentally gotten married. And it didn’t seem to phase him.
He was all man, and so much more.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll go for a hike at some point,” she said. “I haven’t really looked around yet. I haven’t even been down to Main Street.”
He slapped his hands down on the counter and looked at her with his mouth agape.
“Are you kidding me?” he said. “You haven’t seen Grey Mountain’s pièce de résistance?”
Monica couldn’t help but laugh.
“Oh, well, when you put it like that, clearly, I’m going to have to go this very night!”
“Damned straight you are,” he said. “I’ll take you once we’ve eaten.”
She looked over at him in surprise, but she wasn’t about to argue. She couldn’t think of a better way to spend the rest of her evening, or with anyone better, for that matter.
“Okay,” she said as she sipped her lemonade. “But don’t try to marry me again or it’ll get awkward.”
Evan let out a roaring laugh and winked at her.
“I promise nothing, town girl.”
She smiled and bit her lip.
This mountain man, he was growing on her.
When they had finished eating and their plates had been cleared, it felt strange to have Evan insist on paying. They hadn’t even arrived together, and had been seated together by chance, and now he was acting as if they had been on a date.
She had to keep reminding herself of the situation.
She was his wife, for crying out loud!
She may have only known him for a short amount of time, but they did have chemistry and an attraction that was obvious for anyone to see. If he wanted to treat her to dinner, why should she feel as if that was the wrong thing to do?
She pulled her jacket on over her shoulders and slipped down from the stool as Evan shook Jack’s hand and put on his own thick, padded jacket.
He looked every inch the mountain dweller, and his big, Timberland boots were scuffed and dirtied and only added to his image and how well he carried it.
“Come on then,” he said as he opened the door and they both stepped out into the night.
The sun had long set, and the air was crisp and cold. The moon was high in the sky, peeking out from behind a cloud and shining down silvery light all over the mountain. The stars were twinkling brightly and, for a moment, Monica felt as if she were on another planet.
“Wow,” she said. “Look at that.”
“Are you not used to it?” he asked her.
Monica shook her head.
“I’m from a small town, but we have so much industry, the night is never this dark.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re getting to see it,” he said. “I’ve never known it any other way.”
They continued on walking out of the street where the bars and restaurants were located. Outside was busy and bustling and Evan pointed to a group of people and whispered to Monica, “They’re tourists.”
“Really?” she asked. “I thought it was still out of ski season?”
“It is,” he said as they turned another corner. “But the walkers tend to come out in force before the majority of the snow arrives.”
“So, this place is never truly quiet?” she asked.
Evan shrugged.
“It can be,” he said. “I mean, last week the only new person to roll on into town was you. And we all noticed you straight away.”
Monica laughed.
“Yeah, I’ve certainly made quite the impression here, haven’t I?”
Evan smirked and pointed to the other side of the street. There was an intersection and Monica could tell that the road cutting across it was Main Street from the cars buzzing up and down it, and the lights coming from that way.
“Here we are,” Evan said as they approached, and Monica felt her eyes widen when she saw how beautiful it was.
Evan hadn’t been kidding when he said that Main Street
was Grey Mountain’s pièce de résistance, it was truly remarkable and captivating on every level.
She held her hands up to her chin and clasped them together as she took in the sights and felt a warm buzz flood through her. She had never seen anywhere like it before. It was as if she had walked into a storybook land, or a little mountain town in Switzerland.
“This is incredible,” she whispered.
Even looked down at her and smiled, and he nodded his head.
“I know,” he said. “We’re all very proud of it. I think it’s why town is always so popular with visitors.”
On either side of the main stretch of road, there were individual and unique buildings, all with thatched roofs and brightly colored doors and windows, but none of them were the same size, and they all varied in old world style. They had painted green shutters, hanging baskets of flowers swinging from the doorways, and candles and fairy lights in the windows making them all look so cozy and idyllic it was almost hard to believe.
In the center of Main Street was a fountain, lit up by warm lighting, and next to it, a man on an accordion was sitting and playing some wonderful songs. Men and women stood with their arms wrapped around each other and clapped him when he finished one and began another.
“He’s always here,” Evan confirmed. “He’s a street artist but a good one, he has a permit and it’s all legit.”
Monica smiled and wrapped her arms around herself again. It was so lovely being in an environment like that, and it seemed even better because she was standing there with him.
“Thank you for bringing me,” she said as she looked up at him and their eyes locked in on each other’s again. “I really appreciate it. It was a lovely night.”
Evan smiled and nodded and then he held out his arm for her to link hers around it. She hesitated for a moment, but then she reached out for him too.
As they walked back along Main Street and toward Pine Avenue, Monica felt as if something special was happening. She had met someone who was wrong for her in every way, someone who drove her mad and was clearly both cocky and funny, but someone who could also be a gentleman when he needed to be.
It was a lethal mix, and she was drinking it down too fast.
But she couldn’t stop herself. She was loving every moment.
10.
The sunlight streamed in through the back windows and lit up the cabin for the first time since Monica had arrived there. She smiled as she opened up one of the doors and let in some fresh air, at the same time she started to heat a frying pan on the stove.
She had been out at the crack of dawn and walked down to Main Street where she had found a grocery store and had stocked up on some essential supplies. Little by little, she was getting there, and the cabin was beginning to feel like home.
She started to make some eggs, and she put some bread into the toaster to brown nicely. She had fresh butter and milk from Grey Mountain’s own little store, and she had bought coffee and fresh juice too.
When she had finished rustling everything up, she put it all onto a tray and carried it toward the back door and went out onto the small veranda at the back of the cabin. It overlooked the woodland beyond, and even though there was only room for two chairs and a small table, she placed her tray down and decided to enjoy her brunch in the sunshine.
She had spent all night tossing and turning, thinking about Evan. She had had such a good time with him the previous evening, and he had been constantly on her mind since they had parted ways and he had given her a kiss on the cheek goodbye.
She had wanted to jump on him. She’d wanted to pull his rugged face to hers and kiss him just like she had done the night they had met, but they were both holding back and being reserved, it was like neither of them wanted to put a foot wrong.
When she had climbed into her bed at the cabin she had lay awake for hours replaying the whole evening in her head again and again. She remembered the way he had looked at her, the way he had been funny and cocky, bordering on arrogant, but then he would pull it back by being so unbelievably sweet and kind. When he had taken her to see Main Street, it was literally so romantic. The whole place was like something out of a movie, and there they were experiencing it together. She knew that it was Evan’s everyday world, but she could tell that it meant something to him, and he had wanted to share it with her.
She was practically swooning as she sat there eating her eggs and toast and sipping her coffee. He was all she had on her mind and she couldn’t shake him. He had lit something up inside of her, and now all she could think about was seeing him again.
As if the magic powers of the universe were at work, suddenly her cell phone pinged on the table in front of her and she held her breath.
When she looked down, she saw that it was a number she didn’t recognize, but she also had the feeling that she knew exactly who it was. She pressed open, and when the text appeared on her screen, she grinned as she could see there was a past conversation in there as well.
It was the conversation from when she had enquired about the cabin.
It was Evan.
She bit her bottom lip and tried not to grin too wide.
E: Good morning town girl, I hope you’re recovered properly now and got a good night’s sleep. I spoke to a lawyer and I have the paperwork. Shall I head over to the cabin tonight and we can take a look at it? E.
Monica’s heart raged in her chest and she read the message over and over again. She didn’t want to stop reading it. She looked at each word individually and committed the entire thing to memory. She loved the way he had a nickname for her.
Town girl.
To him, she must have seemed completely different to all of the mountain women he was used to. She smiled and read the message again. She liked the idea of appearing different. She liked the idea of standing out.
She pressed reply and started to type…
M: Hey Mountain Man, sure that would be great. Thank you for looking into it. Would 8pm be okay? M x
She hit send and within a split second she had a reply.
E: That’s good for me, see you then! E x
She took a deep breath and sank back into the chair. Her food was going cold, but she no longer cared. She wasn’t hungry anymore. All she could think about or focus on was the fact that she was going to see Evan again in a matter of hours.
She drank the rest of her coffee and then she scooped up the tray with her half-eaten brunch on it and carried it back inside the cabin. She was going to have to get her ass in gear and tidy the place, as well as making sure she had put her own little stamp on it before he got there.
She tidied the kitchen area as quickly as she could and gave the floors a once over with the mop before she washed and dried the dishes and picked up her computer.
“Work for an hour,” she instructed herself. “Then once it’s done, it’s done.”
She went back out onto the veranda and she opened her laptop. As she flexed her fingers and prepared to bash out an award-winning blog post, she thought long and hard on what she could call it…
She smiled to herself as a little flicker of genius went off deep inside her mind.
How to Make the Most of Your Time in a Mountain Town
If anyone knew a thing or two about that, it was certainly Monica.
She laughed as she bashed away at the keys and just went for it. She had no idea what she was writing, but she was sure that by the time she had filled the page there would be something good in there that she could use.
By the time two hours had passed, she had written three pages and she had gone off on tangents about various different things. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She felt as if her head was about to explode, and she knew she needed to call it a day.
She closed the computer and got to her feet to go back inside. As she wandered through the kitchen, she looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was four-thirty, and all she could think about was the fact that it wouldn’t be long before Ev
an was coming to join her.
She went through to her bedroom and flicked on the lights. It was a cozy little room, which smelled faintly musty, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was just clear that it had been lived in and not decorated for a while. She had hung up some colorful scarves around the walls, and she had cranked open the window and burned some incense to cleanse the place and make it feel more like home.
In her adjoining bathroom, she ran the water into the tub and pinned up her hair. She was going to sink down into it and the lovely rose oil she had dripped into it and let her entire body feel as if it was being delicately massaged.
She dipped in her toe and withdrew it quickly when she felt how scalding hot the water was. For some reason, she had thought that maybe the plumbing would be useless in the place and she would have to top up the tub with boiled water from the stove. But she was in luck.
When she slipped in and the warm water flowed over her, she closed her eyes and tried to free her mind from all stresses and worries. She was finally feeling settled in town, and she was beginning to really enjoy herself.
She suddenly got a rush of feeling, she wondered how it would be if she had never left her job at the bar, if she was working there right at that very moment, instead of having her adventure up on the mountain. And she knew she had made the right decision. She had never traveled anywhere, and this was going to be an experience to shape her and the woman she was becoming.
When she drained the tub and wrapped herself up in a big, soft, waffle towel, she padded back through to the bedroom and threw open the closet doors. Inside, she had arranged all her clothes, and she was wondering what she could wear that evening that would enhance all of her best features, but also look casual and effortless.
“It’s hard work being a woman,” she said with an eyeroll.
She reached into the closet and pulled out a pair of tight jeans that were ripped on the knee, a black t-shirt that she could knot up a little at one side, a black choker, and some black flats. She looked like she would look on any other normal day, except this time she was going to make sure her hair was done perfectly in a gentle wave, and her make-up would be just rosy and dewy enough to look like she was barely wearing any at all.
Accidental Mountain Man_An Accidental Marriage Romance Page 6