Take a Mountain Man Home for Christmas: A Mountain Man Romance Christmas Collection

by Crowne, K. C.

  “As soon as the road opens today, I’ll take you to the hospital if you like.”

  Harley added, “You should be checked out.”

  “Maybe they can help find out who you are,” Cole continued.

  “All done,” Harley announced. “Like I said, you should get checked out by a doctor as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you both. And, yes, I’ll take you up on your offer for a lift to the hospital.”

  “Okay, well, if you’re ok for right now, I’ve got to do some work around here. My family owns the resort,” Cole told me. “I’ve got to plow and salt the roads and walkways for our guests. It’ll take me several hours probably. Will you be okay? I’ll leave Bella here for some company.”

  “Yes, go and do what you have to do. I’m gonna rest some more, I think.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Then, we’ll take that drive down to the hospital.”

  “Sounds perfect. Thanks, Cole. And, thank you too, Harley. It was nice to meet you,” I said.

  “You too. Get some rest,” he ordered, smiling to ease the order. “Call Cole on his cell phone if you need anything.”

  “Um, I don’t have a phone,” I told him. “I don’t have anything…”

  “Oh right,” Cole said, frowning. “Sorry. The house phone is on the wall in the kitchen. My cell number is written below it. Feel free to watch TV if you want or to eat anything in the fridge. Don’t have much, but what’s mine is yours.”

  “Thank you so much,” I told him sincerely. I was very lucky this man had found me and chosen to help.

  Cole went to shower and get ready for work. When he returned to the living room, he was carrying a t-shirt, a light flannel, and a pair of sweatpants.

  “They’re too big for you, but I thought you might want some clean clothes,” he offered. “Take a shower or a bath if you want. Make yourself comfortable, and I’ll be back soon.”

  “I really can’t tell you thank you enough times,” I murmured, staring at the floor so I didn’t cry all over him.

  “Call me if you need me. Bella’s good company,” he said, smiling at his dog and patting her on her head lovingly, which gave me time to collect myself.

  Bella knew she wasn’t going out and went to curl back up in front of the fire. A hot shower sounded like just what I needed, and as soon as Cole left, I took him up on his offer.

  * * *

  Cole walked into the cabin later in the afternoon, announcing the roads were open and we could go to the hospital if I was ready. He’d brought a bag of takeout, and I was happy to eat some lunch before going into town.

  First, he let Bella out to do her business, then he came back inside to unload the food. He laid out a box of tossed salad, another of sliced roast beef in gravy, and a third box had homemade mashed potatoes. Then, he pulled out a loaf of oven-fresh bread that was still warm.

  “This food is amazing,” I told him with a full mouth, eating quicker than I liked but unable to help myself.

  “Thanks. We have a restaurant with an award-winning chef. And my mom, Mary Beth, helps out a lot down there,” he informed me, shoveling mashed potatoes and gravy into his mouth.

  “A restaurant? Wow!” I exclaimed.

  “Yeah, you’ll see when we leave. We’re a fully functioning resort with like thirty guest rooms and ten cabins. We have a ski lift and lodge up the mountainside and offer fishing, snowmobiling, quad riding, and lots more. Fun place, if I do say so myself.”

  “Sounds like it,” I mused, trying to picture the place. “How far is town? The hospital?”

  “Well, town is right down the mountainside road, about a ten-minute drive. We don’t have a hospital in Blue Haven, though, so I’m gonna take you down to Frisco. It’s about a thirty-minute drive, depending on how bad the roads are.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “Okay, just let me feed Bella her lunch, then we’ll head out.”

  I watched as Cole scraped the rest of the roast beef into a bowl of hard dog food and mix it together. Bella sat patiently by his feet, licking her chops.

  “Here you go, girl,” he said, placing the bowl down before her. Bella lapped up the juices then munched on the hard dog food until the bowl was empty. “Good girl.” He washed the bowl out in the sink and filled her water bowl. “We’ll be back in a bit, okay, girl?”

  We walked outside, though I walked so slowly because I hurt. However, when I reached the porch, my pain was forgotten. I was astonished by the beauty around me. I could see all the way down the mountainside, almost, to the icy, flowing river below us in the valley. Above that, as far as the eye could see, was snowcapped mountaintops.

  “This is so beautiful,” I said in awe.

  “It is,” Cole agreed, glancing around for a moment. “Come on, my truck is over here,” he said, motioning to a blue pickup truck.

  He opened the door for me, and I took his hand so he could help support me as I lifted myself into the seat. I moaned in pain. My body was killing me, but at least my head hurt a little less.

  The ride to the hospital was pleasant. I told Cole how I’d woken up in the SUV and hiked for two days before he’d found me. I explained how I had gotten lost and had almost given up. He seemed impressed when I told him I’d started a fire using dollar bills and drank pine needle tea.

  “You are very lucky to be alive,” he commented. “Two days is a long time to be exposed in these conditions.”

  “I know,” I assured him, nodding my head slightly. “I just wish I could remember what I was doing out there.”

  “You will,” Cole reassured me as we turned into the hospital’s emergency room parking lot.

  Inside, I checked in with the admissions clerk. It was odd telling her that I couldn’t remember anything except for being in a car accident. She looked concerned and told me she would get me admitted right away.

  “Are you going to wait for me?” I asked Cole, realizing he was under no obligation to do so. Wasn’t driving me here good enough? He probably had work to get back to. “You don’t have to. I don’t know why I asked.”

  “No, I’ll wait. I’m not gonna ditch you here,” he assured me. He seemed genuinely concerned for my wellbeing.

  “Thank you,” I replied, smiling at him, relieved. He smiled back, and I felt a tingle in my stomach.

  A nurse came to me and asked for me to follow her. She told Cole they would examine me, and then she would come and get him. He nodded and sat in the waiting area. The nurse took me back to an open room with green, shower-curtain dividers. She gave me a gown and told me to undress so they could examine me. She gave me a minute, and I struggled to get the gown on.

  When she returned, she took my vitals and checked my wound. “This is a couple days old,” she noted, glancing at me. “Can you briefly tell me what happened?”

  I told her my story and how I couldn’t remember my name. She recorded what I said and then informed me, “Alright. The doctor will be in in a minute.”

  I thanked her and sat back on the bed to wait, staring at a poster on the wall. Several minutes later, the doctor entered, and I repeated my story for the third time. He shook his head as I talked. He said my wound should heal fine with a bandage, noting it was too old to be stitched, and that he’d have the nurse come back in and do it.

  “I do want you to have an MRI and a full-body X-ray. That way, we can be sure you don’t have a traumatic brain injury or any broken bones or internal injuries.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  “How’s the pain?”

  “Stiff and sore all over.”

  He nodded. “I’ll have the nurse give you something. Did someone bring you here?”

  “Yes, Cole. He’s in the waiting room.”

  “Is he your husband?”

  “No, he’s the man who found me. I can’t remember if I have a husband. I just don’t wanna be alone right now,” I confided.

  He nodded. “Understandable. I’ll send for him
, and he can meet you back here after the MRI. Nobody can go into the X-ray rooms with you.”

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  Several more minutes passed, and the nurse took me in a wheelchair to radiology. They did a full body scan then put me in the MRI machine. After they wheeled me back to the emergency room, I was relieved to see Cole waiting for me in the small green chair by the bed.

  “I’m glad to see you,” I told him, blushing.

  He smiled. “How was it?”

  “I don’t know. They did a full-body X-ray and an MRI, and they’re giving me something for the pain. Guess they’ll come and tell me if my brain is all messed up or not,” I said, trying to smile. “Nobody’s really talked with me about my memory loss yet.”

  “They’re probably waiting for the test results first,” Cole suggested.

  “Yeah.”

  The nurse came back in and applied the bandage and give me the medicines. She explained I needed to leave it on for as long as I could so the wound would heal quicker and leave less of a scar.

  “The doctor will be back in just a few minutes,” she told me, smiling. “Need anything?”

  “No ma’am,” I said, smiling

  She glanced at Cole, her smile changing to one of interest before leaving the room. I glanced at him, not surprised the nurse found him attractive. We waited for about twenty minutes, but the time passed quickly and wasn’t so bad because Cole was with me. We chatted, though I did most of the talking. He was tough; I could tell he didn’t like to open up about himself too much. I asked a lot of questions and only got vague answers. I didn’t want to annoy him, so I stopped with the personal questions.

  The problem was, I didn’t know what else to talk about. It wasn’t like he could ask me any personal questions. I certainly couldn’t answer.

  The doctor returned and pulled up a rolling stool. Sitting down, he went over my chart. “Well, you don’t appear to have any brain damage. Just a slight concussion from hitting your head. As for the memory loss, it might be because you’ve experienced a traumatic event. You said you were in a crash?”

  “Yes. Do you think that’s it?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. Until your memory returns, we won’t know.”

  “Okay, but will it return?” I asked him, more worried than I had been.

  “I don’t see why it wouldn’t. Other patients with the same symptoms have experienced full recovery.”

  “How long, do you think?”

  “Some in just a few days,” he said with another shrug. “Others, weeks. It’s hard to say for certain since everyone is different.”

  “What should I do in the meantime?” I asked him.

  “Get lots of rest. Do simple brain exercises every day. You can find some on the internet. Nothing too hard, just something to make your brain work,” he encouraged with a kind smile. “I’ll schedule you for a follow up in a week with the neurologist. I also suggest that you go to the police department and get fingerprinted. Maybe they can tell you who you are.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled, frowning. Then a thought popped into my head. A week! Where was I going to stay for a week with only sixteen dollars to my name?

  Cole must have seen the worried look on my face because he said, “We’ll find you somewhere to stay. Don’t worry about that.”

  I sighed a breath of relief. “You just saved me again,” I informed him, smiling shyly. “I will repay you one day, promise.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” he repeated.

  * * *

  We talked about going to the police station and decided to go another day. My body and head ached, and I was practically falling asleep in the truck. I’d had enough for today. Cole drove us back to the resort, driving slowly and avoiding bumps if he could so I wasn’t jostled. He was the kindest person I had ever met, as far as I could remember. I smiled at my little joke just as he pulled up in front of the main building and turned off the engine.

  He looked at me for a moment, and I asked, “What?”

  “I’m gonna tell my brother Brad that I’m putting you in a room for the week. I just wanted to warn you that you’ll have to meet the entire family, more than likely.”

  “Oh.” I frowned as I touched my forehead. The wound was covered, but I knew I looked a mess. Thank goodness for the shower this morning, I thought.

  Cole raised his eyebrow at me. “What’s wrong? You’re not comfortable meeting my family?”

  “No! It’s not that. I just thought—”

  “Thought what?”

  “I thought I’d be staying with you.”

  Cole didn’t say anything for a moment. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His face remained expressionless. “I only have one bedroom, and I’m kinda too big for the couch. You’ll be more comfortable at the resort in your own room. I can come and check on you every day.”

  “Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. I hated feeling so needy toward him, but he was quite literally the only thing with any sort of familiarity in my life right now.

  “Okay, good,” he said and got out of the truck. He didn’t come around to open my door, so I got out myself.

  I was really confused. Cole’s entire demeanor had changed. He seemed like a nice guy at first, but now I was wondering if he saw me as more of a burden. I scolded myself. This man had saved me more than once in the past few days. I had no right to expect him to turn his life upside down for me.

  I silently sighed and followed Cole into the resort. He briefly introduced me to his mom, Mary Beth. She seemed like a nice lady who was genuinely concerned by my predicament. We ran into Angela as well, who was working behind the bar.

  After introducing us, Cole told me he’d be right back.

  “Oh, my, you poor thing,” Angela exclaimed. “How can I help?”

  “I could use some better fitting clothes, but I don’t have anything besides sixteen dollars,” I informed her sheepishly. I hated asking for handouts, but I really had no choice. “And a hairbrush and other personal items would be nice. I’ll pay you back when I find a way to.”

  “No, you don’t have to worry about that. You’ve been through enough,” she assured me. “I’ll take a break in a little bit and run up to the house and grab you some things. I’ll bring them to you in your room. And there are toiletries in there for you to use.”

  “Thank you. I really mean it, Angela,” I told her.

  “You are most welcome.”

  Cole returned with a room key and led me upstairs to the fourth floor. “Sorry, it’s up the stairs. We have a lot of reservations coming in for the weekend, so the bottom two floors are mostly booked.”

  “No problem. I really appreciate this,” I told him. “I’ll pay for the room when I remember how,” I promised him.

  “No need. It’s on us.”

  “No, I insist. I’ll figure something out,” I repeated. “Thank you again, Cole, and please thank your family for me too.”

  “I will. I heard Angela say she would bring you some of her clothes. That’s good. I can take you shopping over the weekend if you need anything else,” Cole offered. “We can stop at the sheriff’s office and get those fingerprints done, too.”

  “I can’t impose any more than I already have. I’ll make do,” I said. I was starting to feel like a charity case.

  “Look, I have the means to help you. So, please, let me help you.”

  “Um, okay. Thanks.” I was starting to sound like a broken record.

  “For now, you should have what you need in the room. There’re travel-sized soaps in the bathroom and a robe so you can shower. We have cable TV and internet. I can get you a laptop. I’m sure the twins or my brother has an extra one.”

  “That would be great,” I told him.

  “Anything else you can think of? I’ll have room service bring you dinner, and I’ll stop back this evening to check on you.”

  “No, that all sounds perfect. Thank you, Cole.”

  “You’re welcome. See you in a little bit.” He
turned to go, then turned back. “Oh, and you don’t have to stay all cooped up in your room. There’s an entire resort here for you to enjoy when you feel up to it. My mom posts activities over the weekend. The sign-ups are in the common room downstairs. Feel free to order anything you want to eat or drink.”

  “Okay, maybe tomorrow I’ll get out for a while.”

  “Sounds good. Here’s my cell phone number in case you need me. Call anytime.” He handed me a post-it note with his number on it, then left me to my lonesome.

  I took a shower and put on the robe. I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. My mind kept going back to Cole. I looked at the post-it note with his cell phone number on it and thought about making up a reason to call him. As I forced myself to put the note on the dresser, there was a light knock on my door. I opened it and found Angela standing on the other side with a small travel bag and a shoulder bag.

  “Hi there!” she greeted. “Here’s about a week’s worth of clothes. Nothing fancy. All casual. If you need anything else, just tell me. And there are some female products in there, just in case. A brush. Some makeup. And I brought you one of our extra laptops. I’m sure you’re bored out of your mind.” She smiled brightly at me.

  “Thank you so much. This is perfect,” I gushed, feeling close to tears.

  “You’re welcome. And don’t be a stranger. Over the weekend, Mary Beth and I have activities in the afternoon and evening. Please, come and join us.” Angela offered.

  “I will. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Cool. See you tomorrow, if you’re up to it,” she invited. “Come down at about noon. Think we have crafts for the kids first, but it’s fun if you want to help.”

  “Okay, see you then. And, thanks again.”

  “No problem,” she replied and closed the door behind her.

  I put on some yoga pants and a tee shirt, grateful for the warm socks and athletic shoes she’d included. I grabbed the laptop, but before I could turn it on, there was another rap on the door. I opened it excitedly, happy that Cole might have come back so soon. But it wasn’t Cole. It was a kid from the kitchen with a tray from room service.