“Go on and go,” he told me.
“Okay, cool. I’m gonna call her room then come and pick her up if it’s good with her. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, let me know what happens,” Brad replied.
“Sure thing. Later.” I hung up and dialed the front desk.
Katie answered, and I asked her to patch me through to room 410.
“Hello?” she answered, her voice slow with exhaustion.
“Hi, it’s Cole.”
“Hey.”
“Sorry I didn’t stop last night. I got caught up with something.” I wasn’t going to apologize. Stupid!
“It’s okay.” There was disappointment in her voice, which made me feel bad.
I sighed. Fuck. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I had told myself it would be. “I was wondering if you were up to going down to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Andrews can take and run your fingerprints. Maybe tell you who you are.”
“Okay, yeah. That’s a good idea. Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”
“No problem. Did you get breakfast yet?” I asked her.
“No,” she answered.
“Okay, get dressed and meet me in the common room in about twenty minutes. We’ll get breakfast in town if that works for you?” I was hungry myself. No harm in getting a quick bite.
“Sounds like a plan. See you then.”
“Okay,” I agreed and hung up.
* * *
We reached the diner at nine and ordered breakfast. I ordered a double portion of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and eight pieces of toast along with a tall glass of OJ to wash it all down with. The diner had delightfully tasteful greasy food.
She looked at the menu for a long time, indecisive.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She sighed unhappily and lowered the menu. “I just wish I could remember what I liked to eat. What if I’m a vegetarian or something?” she asked me, looking honestly concerned.
“A vegetarian?” I asked her, surprised she would say that. “I can’t imagine being a vegetarian.”
“Just saying. What if?”
“I don’t know...” I paused to think. “Um, well, you liked the eggs I made yesterday. You ate them anyway.”
She nodded, pursing her lips. “Yes, I liked them. As if you couldn’t tell.” She giggled.
I remembered how fast she had eaten them and chuckled. “Okay, I suggest ordering some bacon and see if you like it. I’d think a vegetarian would know pretty quick even if they can’t remember. From what I hear about vegetarians, they get sick if they eat meat.”
“You’re right.” She smiled and ordered a ‘breakfast grin’, two eggs sunny side up with bacon forming the smile.
“That’s all you want?” I asked her, shocked. “Bring her an order of toast and hash browns, as well,” I told the waitress. “And a large glass of OJ.”
“You got it, Cole,” the waitress said, frowning at the girl.
Before the girl could say anything, I put up my hand to stop her. “Eat as much as you want. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, thanks,” she said. “My stomach feels queasy. Guess I’m nervous about the fingerprints.”
“No reason to be nervous. Unless you’re some kind of felon or something,” I joked, trying to ease her tension. “Though something tells me you’re not a dangerous criminal.”
“Hey, didn’t you ever learn you should never judge a book by its cover?” she joked. Her laughter was short-lived.
I hadn’t thought about that. What if she was in some kind of trouble? What if she was running from the law, and that’s why she was in Colorado? Or what if she was playing a game and I was her mark? Everyone in town knew the Hunter family weren’t hurting when it came to both money and property.
No, there’s no way, I told myself. I’d found her half-dead in the snow. No one would risk that to get at my money.
“Anyway, no point worrying about it.” She smirked. “I know, easier said than done. But you have to find out who you are. I’d be going nuts if I were you.”
“I am going nuts,” she confirmed, her frown so sad I wanted to comfort her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
She shook her head and let out a sigh. “I tried looking up missing persons in the area last night. I found a report about a man missing from nearby but nothing about a woman. What if no one’s looking for me? What if no one cares that I’m gone?”
I hadn’t even considered that, but I did try to counteract her foreboding. “Or what if you’re just not from around here? I bet wherever you're from originally, they’re going out of their minds trying to find you,” I said, trying to reassure her. From the slight smile at the corners of her lips, I had made her feel a little better. I felt good about that. More than I wanted to.
Our food was delivered, and we dug in. The girl ate a lot slower than yesterday. I couldn’t keep thinking of her as the girl. Enough of that. She needed a name.
“I keep calling you the girl in my head, for lack of anything else to call you,” I confessed.
She just raised her eyebrow at me and smiled. It was a sight to see. I was struck again by just how gorgeous she was. “We need a temporary name for you. What would you like to be called?”
“Mmm, I don’t know,” she said, thinking. “What do you suggest?”
“How about Stormy? I found you in a snowstorm, so I think it fits. As a nickname, of course.”
“Okay, Stormy, it is,” she said, smiling. “I like that name.”
“Good.” I chuckled.
We finished our breakfast, and I asked the waitress to box up Stormy’s leftover toast and eggs for Bella. I was glad she finished all of the potatoes and bacon. I guess she wasn’t a vegetarian, after all.
The waitress did so and left our check. A usually talkative lady, I sensed a bit of irritation emitting from her this morning. It may have had something to do with the fact that I’d slept with her once and had to let her down when she thought it meant something more. I hadn’t been a dick about it, in my opinion, so maybe she’d thought she had a shot. Jealousy was just another reason I didn’t want anything to do with a relationship.
“You ready?” I asked Stormy.
“I guess. Let’s go see if someone can tell me who the heck I am,” she answered nervously.
“You’ll be fine. You’ll see,” I reassured her.
“I’m sure you’re right.” Her tone didn’t match her words.
I paid the bill, and we left the diner. I drove to the sheriff’s office down the road on Main Street. Inside the office, the receptionist told us she’d have to page Sheriff Andrews. He was out on a call. Per the request of the Sheriff’s receptionist, we had a seat in the waiting area. After a few moments, she told us he would be on his way shortly and that we could either wait for him or go home and he would get in touch with us.
I told her we’d wait, that the matter was important. She agreed and offered us some coffee.
“I’d love some coffee,” I thanked her.
The receptionist made a fresh pot in the coffee machine in the waiting area and told us to help ourselves when it finished brewing. She returned to her desk. It was nice to have some caffeine to sip on while we waited. Stormy was stressed, but I didn’t know what to say to make this easier. I couldn’t even begin to imagine being in her shoes.
So we sipped our coffee and waited. There was a small TV mounted on the wall in the room, and the local news was on. Once again, they were talking about the missing man from Silverthorne. It was a shame they hadn’t yet found him. The longer he was missing, the less likely they were to find him alive.
“That’s the guy I was reading about last night,” Stormy said, looking intently at the TV.
“Yeah, it’s been on the news for the last couple of days. This guy was abducted from his house, looks like. He was robbed, I guess, but no one can find him. Crazy, really. You don’t hear about stuff like that happening around her
e too much,” I told her.
Her forehead was scrunched up like she was trying to remember something. She put her hands to her head as if it were aching.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I feel like there’s something just below the surface I should remember. I had like a flashback or something,” she said, shaking her head.
“A flashback? Of what?” I probed.
“I don’t know.” She shook her head again, frustrated. I waited patiently. “I really don’t know. Two men popped into my head for a second. Maybe people who I know? But they looked rough. Like hillbillies, maybe.”
“Hillbillies?” I scowled. I didn’t like that term. People from the city were often judgmental about folks who lived up in the mountains or in smaller rural towns. Working with the public like we did, I’d had to deal with my fair share of uninformed idiots.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense,” she quickly corrected. “I just don’t know how else to describe them. Rough looking, like one had missing teeth. I clearly remember him having no front teeth.”
“Okay,” I replied.
Who were these two men she remembered? She most assuredly did not look like someone who hung around with men who were missing teeth. She was watching my facial expression as I was deep in thought. I cleared my throat as she began to speak.
“I don’t think I know these people. I don’t feel any connection with them. I just see them in my head.” She looked at me. “But I don’t know why.”
“So who do you think that they are?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” She sounded so frustrated. “When I try to move past their faces, my mind goes blank. I see white behind their faces, though. Not a room or anything. Just white.”
“White, huh? Like maybe you were outdoors? In the snow?” I prompted.
Her face scrunched up as she thought. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
She was clearly upset by this vision. I couldn’t blame her. I put my hand on her arm as an act of comfort, but when I touched her, I felt a pulse of excitement course through my body. I moved my hand away from her as quickly as if I’d put it on a hot burner.
I’d seen the look in her eyes when I’d touched her arm, and I knew she’d felt the same jolt I had. It had been unmistakable. I cleared my throat and averted my eyes. I sat up tall and breathed a sigh of relief when Sheriff Andrews strolled through the front door.
“Cole Hunter!” Sheriff Andrews greeted me with an outstretched hand. “It’s good to see you. How you doing? How’s the family?”
“We’re good, Sheriff.”
“I’ve been meaning to ride up there one afternoon to check in.” He shook his head. “Been so busy lately with this missing person case. Clues have led the Silverthorne police to Blue Haven, though it seems to be a dead end.”
“Yeah, I was watching about that on the news the last couple of days. It’s a real shame. I feel for the man’s family.”
“I do too,” agreed the sheriff, shaking his head. “Anyway, what brings you in today?”
Stormy and I told Sheriff Andrews her story. He looked wide-eyed from her to me while we filled him in.
“Wow, you’re extremely lucky Cole found you, young lady,” he commented. “Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders, as well, to get close enough to the resort for him to find you.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “If she hadn’t walked toward the smoke and the sounds, I wouldn’t have found her until the spring thaw.”
He looked at Stormy. “So, you don’t remember anything at all? Have you been checked for any injuries?”
“We went to the hospital yesterday. The doctor took an MRI and full body X-ray and said I’m good. I have a checkup scheduled for next week,” she informed him. “He told me my memory should return naturally as I heal.” She sighed. “Which doesn’t help much.”
He nodded sympathetically. “Come on back with me, and I’ll fingerprint you. We’ll see if we can’t figure out who you are and where you’re from.”
We followed Sheriff Andrews to the back of the building, passing several empty jail cells along the way. Stormy flinched as she walked by them. She had to be terrified.
The sheriff fingerprinted her and told us to have a seat while he ran the prints. “It could take some time,” he warned us.
We waited for about half an hour before the computer beeped. The scan had completed. Sheriff Andrews looked over the results and frowned. Oh, no, I thought.
“I’m sorry to report that the results are inconclusive,” he informed us, still frowning.
“Inconclusive?” Stormy asked. Her face was pale.
“Your prints weren’t matched in the system, so we can’t determine your identity,” he answered. “I’m sorry. The good news is you aren’t a convicted felon. Bad news is we still don’t know who you are.”
“See,” I told her. “You’re not a felon or wanted for a crime.”
I wasn’t too sure how reassuring that sounded as she just blankly looked at me. I could see the disappointment on her face.
“Yeah,” Stormy agreed. “That’s good. I was kind of hoping I could find out who I was, though.”
“I know,” I told her. “Maybe there’s another way?”
“What about DNA testing?” Sheriff Andrews suggested. “I can request a court order for testing. Judge Collins would have to approve it. I can push for an emergency hearing to be scheduled for this upcoming week if you agree to it. With that, we’d have to hope that someone in your family has DNA in the system for some reason. It’s a bit of a long shot, but it’s better than nothing.”
“Yes, thank you,” Stormy replied, some excitement in her tone. “That’s a great idea.”
“Okay, I’ll prepare the paperwork and take it over to the magistrate's office Monday morning. I’ll call you, Cole, with the court date.” He returned his gaze to Stormy. “You’ll have to tell the judge your story. Once he approves the court-ordered testing, you can go to the hospital to have it done. It’ll take about another week to get the results back, but that’s better than doing it on one of those ancestry websites where it can take up to six weeks to get any results if you get any at all.”
“That sounds perfect,” Stormy told the sheriff. “I really appreciate your help.”
“No problem, ma’am. I hope you feel better soon,” he said. “Get rested up. Maybe your memory will come back sooner than the test results.”
“We can hope.”
“In the meantime, do you need a place to stay? I can call the women’s shelter and see if they’ve got a spot,” Sheriff Andrews offered.
“Oh, um…” She looked at me fearfully.
I bristled at the thought. “That won’t be necessary,” I interrupted before she could accept. I took a breath before continuing. “We’re happy to have her at the resort with us until everything shakes out.”
He nodded, biting back a smile. I had tipped my hand when I’d been so quick to shoot down his suggestion of getting Stormy a room in town.
“Thank you, Sheriff Andrews,” I told him and shook his hand, eager to get out from under his amused gaze.
* * *
Stormy and I drove back to the resort in silence. She was upset about the fingerprinting results, but at least she had something to look forward to with the DNA testing. I didn’t know what to say to her to make her feel any better. I wasn’t attuned to emotions, didn’t know the right things to say to people when they were down. When we reached the resort, I parked in the main lot. I looked at her and smiled. Stormy smiled back.
“I guess you have work to do today?” she asked.
I nodded, gazing out the windshield. “I need to check on the chimney flues in the main building and up at the lodge,” I answered. “I check them every month to make sure there’s no build-up.”
“I see.”
I sighed to myself. “I think Angela and my mom have activities scheduled for this afternoon. Why don’t you join them?”
<
br /> “Okay. Yeah, Angela invited me to join last night,” she answered, giving me a small smile.
It looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn’t. Her green eyes were watching me closely. I tried to look away but found that I couldn’t.
“Do you wanna have dinner later?” I asked her. I felt compelled to ask. She was lonely, I could tell. Spending some time with her wouldn’t hurt. I hoped.
Stormy’s face lit up. “That would be great.”
“Okay, I’ll come and get you at seven. Is that good for you?”
“That’s perfect,” she responded, getting out of the truck.
I sighed as I watched her walk into the resort. Once she was inside, I drove to the maintenance garage to pick up my extension ladder and attached it to my truck. Then I stopped at my cabin to let Bella out for a bit before going to the lodge to climb on the roof.
The whole time I worked, I thought of Stormy. Those eyes. Her sexy smile. The curves of her body. I imagined putting my hands on her small waist and pulling her to me. Feeling her full lips on mine.
My cock hardened as I imagined touching her. Running my hands over her body, massaging her round breasts. I wondered what she looked like naked.
Stop it, Cole. It’s just dinner. Don’t go there or you will be sorry.
But my boner didn’t go away for the rest of the afternoon.
* * *
I walked to Stormy’s room and knocked on her door at seven. She opened the door, and I felt my jaw drop to the floor.
Stormy wore a short, black-lace, spaghetti-strapped dress. The low cut, V-neck top hugged her ample curves perfectly and showed off a bit of cleavage. She wore black, see-through stockings and shiny black high heel shoes. Her dark, straight hair hung long down her back. Black mascara outlined her sexy, glowing green eyes.
She was as hot as hell. Bewitching. Her smile captivated me, and I was frozen in place, under her spell.
“Hi, Cole,” she greeted me as I stood there gawking.
“Hi. You look beautiful,” I stammered.
She blushed. I think I was blushing, as well. Good thing for me that my bushy beard covered my glowing cheeks. I was in my trademark jeans and a flannel button-down while she was dressed to the max. At least the shirt was tight and hugged my toned pecs, and I had rolled up the sleeves to show off my bulky forearms. But I couldn’t hold a candle to how good she looked.
Take a Mountain Man Home for Christmas: A Mountain Man Romance Christmas Collection Page 26