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

by Crowne, K. C.

  A gunshot rang out, then another.

  Searing pain in my shoulder nearly crumpled me to the ground. I managed to stand, holding a hand over the wound as I pulled out my gun.

  Madison

  The man beside me looked conflicted - should he run after the others or stay with me. That one moment of distraction was all I needed. Not very far from me was the knife I’d stolen. Laying out in the open on the ground, just out of reach. I felt a little dizzy, but I was certain I could get to it if I tried.

  The man had his gun out, pointed in the direction of the trees where one of the others had fired. I kicked out my foot, knocking him off balance. When he stepped back, he hit a root and fell face first beside me, a shot firing as he fell, deafening me with the explosion. I couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t see who the men were shooting at, had no idea if they were there to save me or for another purpose, but I wasn’t about to miss my chance.

  I lunged at the man, grabbing at the gun, but his grip was tight. I had one second to get the gun and remain in control.

  I failed.

  He rolled us over, so he was on top - gun in one hand, both of my wrists pinned in the other.

  “You’re lucky Stan said not to kill you, bitch,” he spat. He looked up, taking his eyes off me for a second. I slipped my hand free from his grasp and searched the ground around me.

  I knew the knife was nearby but feared it might be out of reach. But my hand touched something cool, and I nearly rejoiced.

  More gunshots, more distraction. I grabbed the knife and let it slip down into my palm. Just as the man turned his steely eyes toward me, I slammed the knife into his side. He cried out, a high-pitched sound that didn’t sound like it would come from a man. More like an animal. He growled and stood up, the knife sticking in his side.

  The gun dropped to the ground.

  I rolled over to my stomach and crawled toward it, my hand grazing it just as the man stepped on it. I screamed in pain, fearing all the bones in my hand might be broken. He scowled down at me, blood pouring from his side.

  “I’ve had enough. Screw what Stan says,” he muttered. He reached down and picked up the gun, pointing it directly at my head.

  “Please, no,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “I’m pregnant.”

  “Fuck if I care,” the man said, cocking the gun.

  I propelled my body away from him, using the hill toward the creek to my advantage. I rolled and rolled, the ground beneath me crumbling, until I fell into the creek bed, the water rushing over me. He’d shot, but he missed. He shot again and missed as I climbed to my feet, but the man was faster than me. Even injured, he was faster and was on top of me before I could even get halfway across the creek.

  His eyes were filled with hatred as he shoved my head under the water. I gasped for breath, inhaling the creek water instead of air. I kicked at him, scratched his hands. I fought as hard as I could as the air quickly left my lungs and filled with creek water instead.

  A drowning. They could call that an accident. If they killed my mom too, there would be no witnesses. No one would know I’d been murdered.

  I didn’t want to die. I dug the nails of my uninjured hand into the man’s neck, drawing blood as his hands tightened around my throat. My vision began going dark, and I could hardly fight anymore. My body was giving up, weakening as oxygen ran out.

  I’m sorry, little one, I thought to myself. I tried.

  Suddenly, the man lost his grip on my neck. I was able to push my head above water and take a deep breath of air. Nothing had ever felt so good in my entire life. I gulped at the air and coughed out water as the man was yanked backward.

  Teddy clocked the man in the face full force with his fist. The man dropped his gun into the water. I quickly scuttled over to it, cradling my left hand against my chest. I didn’t want it to float downstream. I splashed horribly, fumbling, grabbing it, and praying that a wet gun would still work.

  I aimed one-handed at the man just as he lunged at Teddy, hoping I could hold the gun steady with just one hand. I’d learned to shoot as a kid, but I hadn’t shot in a long time.

  “Don’t you think about it,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady considering everything I’d been through.

  The man stopped, stared at me for a moment, and cackled. He doubted me.

  I shot.

  I missed.

  He came toward me, and I shot again, hitting him in the chest. My eyes widened as the man stopped and dropped to his knees, clawing at the gaping wound in the middle of his body.

  Oh, God, I might have killed him. Even though he had been trying to kill me, my hands were shaky. I stared at the man, hardly able to hear Teddy calling my name.

  “Madison!” He stepped up beside me and wrapped his arms around me. The gun fell into the water. I didn’t even care. “It’s okay, it’s over now.” He turned me to face him, holding my face in his hands. He stared deep into my eyes. “It’s over now, you’re safe.”

  I heard more footsteps behind me, and I jerked around, crying out, afraid more men with guns were coming.

  “Just my deputies,” he said, speaking softly and calmly.

  Several sheriff’s deputies surrounded the area, and all the men were taken down. I wasn’t sure if they were dead, but none of them were moving.

  I turned back to him and kissed him, pressing my lips to his and holding onto him like I never wanted to let him go again. He grimaced, and that’s when I realized he was shot. Stepping back, I stared at him. Blood coated shirt.

  “Teddy, you’re shot!” I cried, tears welling in my eyes. “I’m so sorry!”

  “I’d do anything for you,” he said, lifting my chin with his hand, forcing me to meet his gaze again. “I’d die for you and our baby, Madison. They had nothing against me, with my training and my drive - I would never let them have you. Never.”

  I kissed him again, careful not to jostle him or press against his wound. We were kissing when one of the deputies stopped near us.

  “Boss, you need to get some medical attention.”

  “Give me a second,” he spoke against my lips. “Are you hurt? We need to get you checked out first.”

  “I think I’m fine. I’m just worried about…” I l glanced at the deputy, not sure if I should say anything. “Well, you know.”

  “I know,” he said with a nod. “We’ll get you and the baby checked out immediately.”

  The deputy’s eyebrows hit his hairline, but he didn’t say anything. Teddy helped me walk from the creek back up to the clearing. EMTs had joined the ranks of the deputies, and as soon as they saw me, I was surrounded.

  Teddy was ushered away, even though it literally took them pulling us apart. He didn’t want to let go of my hand.

  “We’ll take care of her, boss. You need to get that checked before you lose much more blood.”

  “Go,” I said, letting go of Teddy’s hand. “I’ll be fine, but I need you to be okay too.”

  My ears were still ringing, so maybe I misheard. But I swore he said, “I love you,” as the EMTs pulled him away from me.

  Teddy

  A young EMT named Pete was hard at work, bandaging my wounds, making sure I could make the walk through the woods since the ambulance couldn’t make it over the path.

  Madison rushed over to me, cradling the hand I was certain was broken.

  “What are you doing?”

  “They’re taking me to the hospital to be safe,” she said, holding her hand up. “But I needed to check on you. We’ll go together.”

  “They can get a gurney for you.”

  “I can walk,” she said, shaking her head. “If you can, I certainly can. I’m not hurt. I just need to be with you right now. Okay?”

  “Of course it’s okay, sweetheart,” I whispered, stroking her cheek.

  She leaned into the touch and instantly relaxed. “Thank you. For everything, Teddy. You saved our lives.”

  “Like I said, I’d do anything for you and our baby, Madison. Abso
lutely anything.”

  “You don’t even realize it, but you’re already an amazing father,” she murmured, her eyes opening to look into mine.

  Her words took the breath right out of my lungs. All this time, I was worried I’d end up like my father, where nothing came before work. But that was him, and this was me. Work was important to me, always would be. But Madison and our child were the most important things to me now. Work had to take a distant third to both of them. It might be hard to find balance, but I’d find a way.

  And it would be worth it.

  “And you’re already an amazing mother, Madison.”

  “Ready, boss?” Mike was beside me, preparing to make the trek with me. “If you need to rest, we can hold here for a minute.”

  “I don’t need to rest. I just took down three men with a shoulder wound. I think I’m fine.”

  Mike chuckled. “There were four of them.”

  I looked at Madison. “She helped.”

  Mike looked at Madison and grinned. “Looks like you found yourself a good one then. She’d make one hell of a cop.”

  “I agree,” I said. “But I think she has other plans. Bigger plans.”

  Madison nodded. “I do, not that I think it’ll be possible now.” She rested her hand on her belly.

  “You’d be surprised. If you can take down a guy like that, you can do anything,” I said with a wink.

  We started the trek down the trail, and I worried about Madison. She didn’t seem injured, not seriously, but the life inside of her was more fragile. I had only found out about the baby a day before, but I was already attached. I loved him or her more than life itself, and I prayed that our child survived.

  Madison seemed to be having the same thoughts I was.

  “Are you feeling okay?”

  “I am,” she said, chewing on her lip. “I keep doing an internal check. Like, there’s no cramping, so that’s good, right?”

  Her eyes searched mine for some hope. After everything she’d been through, she didn’t deserve to lose her child.

  “I think so, but we’ll get you checked out,” I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

  We walked next to each other. She was quiet, lost in thoughts, and her worries likely getting the best of her. My shoulder hurt like hell - during the shootout, the adrenaline rush had kept me from feeling the pain, but the adrenaline had been spent, and I was beginning to hurt.

  But nothing would hurt half as badly as losing Madison, I realized.

  “Alright, have to split the two of you up now,” Pete announced when we reached the vehicles.

  I didn’t want her to go. Even if we were going to the same hospital, I wasn’t sure when we’d see each other again. Hours? Maybe a day? It all depended on what they found at the hospital.

  I grabbed Madison’s hands in mine and turned to her. Her hair was beginning to dry, and it was wavy and frizzy. Mascara ran down her cheeks. There was a bruise around her neck that literally hurt me to see.

  Still, she was the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on.

  And she was mine.

  “I don’t want to go,” Madison mumbled, speaking the words I felt in my heart.

  “I know, honey, but I promise we’ll be together soon, and trust me, you won’t be getting rid of me. I mean, as long as you stay in Liberty.” I offered her a smile, and that seemed to help. She smiled back at me. The words came out of my mouth before I even thought about them. “I can’t live without you, Madison. I really hope you’ll stay.”

  Her eyes widened, and she gasped, covering her mouth with her tiny little hand. All this time, I had been pushing for her to go back to Los Angeles to get away from Liberty, and now I was prepared to beg her to stay.

  “We’ll figure it out,” she said softly.

  “Good.”

  Pete was growing impatient and nudged me toward the ambulance. I kept glancing back at Madison, who was being helped into another ambulance nearby. We shared a smile.

  Soon. We’d be together soon, and nothing would tear us apart this time.

  Madison

  “Your hand is broken,” the doctor said, looking over the x-rays and test results. “And you have a mild concussion. We’ll keep you overnight to monitor that, but I think you’ll be just fine. We’ll get a cast on that hand as soon as possible. Besides that, everything looks fine. You’re a very lucky woman.”

  “What about the baby?” I asked, trepidation in my voice. I hardly heard anything the doctor had said about me. All I cared about was the life growing inside of me.

  The doctor flipped through the papers and frowned, which sent a stabbing sensation through my heart. I felt like I couldn’t even breathe, like the air was sucked out of my lungs for the second time that day.

  “Oh, there it is,” the doctor said, his face returning to normal. He even smiled. “Everything looks fine. Your baby is just fine.”

  I didn’t even realize how tense I’d been until that point. I relaxed into the pillow, my head aching. I should have felt tired, but I suddenly felt more alive than ever. I made it. I saved us, both myself and the baby.

  I gathered my thoughts before launching into my second set of questions. “And Teddy? How is he doing?”

  “He’s just getting out of surgery and—”

  “Surgery?” I choked. “Why? I thought he looked fine?”

  “He is fine, but we had to remove the bullet. It was lodged in there pretty good, actually,” he said. “But he should regain full use of his arm and shoulder in time.”

  “In time?”

  “We suspect he’ll need to take several weeks off for physical therapy.”

  “Time off?” I scoffed.

  “I know,” the doctor chuckled. “I know him well, and I agree. It won’t be easy for him, but he won’t have a choice. In order to heal properly, he’ll need to rest and go to the therapy.”

  It wasn’t going to be easy, but if Teddy wanted the full use of his arm back, we’d have to make it work. I’d have to make sure he abided by doctor’s orders. I knew how stubborn he could be.

  There was a knock at the door, and a nurse popped her head in. “She has a visitor,” the nurse said.

  He glanced at me. “Are you feeling up for visitors?”

  “Can I see Teddy yet?” I asked. He was the only person I wanted to see.

  “No, I’m sorry, he’s still in recovery,” the nurse said. “He’s not awake yet.”

  “Then I guess I’m okay with visitors.” Mostly I wanted the time to pass quickly, and I couldn’t be alone with my thoughts.

  The doctor excused himself, and the nurse stepped away to grab my visitor. I had a pretty good idea who it was - it would be one of three people. Either my mother or my two best friends, even though Cassie was already back in Philadelphia.

  “Maddy!” my mother cried, coming through the door like a bull. She was by my side, hugging me with tears drenching her cheeks. I clenched my teeth as she jarred my hand. “Oh, sweetheart, I thought I lost you!”

  For the first time, I felt my mother’s love wash over me. She had her issues, yes. But she loved me. Her past mistakes might be hard to get over, but as a mom-to-be myself, I suddenly had an urge to reconnect with my mother.

  Especially since it was clear she was trying. She had stayed clean through my father’s death. At least as far as I could tell, she hadn’t had a single drink. That was one hell of a feat.

  My mother sobbed as I spoke. “I’m okay,” I told her. “We’re okay.”

  “We?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

  I couldn’t contain the excitement. My smile nearly split my face into two. “I’m pregnant, Mom.”

  “You’re what?” she screeched. “You’re pregnant? Oh my Lord, Maddy, that is the best news I’ve heard all day! I mean, I was blessed to find out you’re fine, but this too? I’m going to be a grandmother!” She rattled on and on, and the joy in her face fed into my own excitement. “Who’s the lucky man? Someone in Los Angeles?�
�� she asked, her face falling just a bit. “Are you raising your family out west?”

  “No, actually,” I said, biting my lip. I wasn’t sure how she would take the news. Many times, Teddy had taken her in or arrested my dad. He was the enemy as far as my parents had been concerned. I was raised to distrust the police, but here I was, pregnant by the sheriff of Liberty. “It’s Teddy.”

  She frowned, her eyes narrowing briefly. “Say what?”

  “Teddy is the father.”

  I thought my mom might say something bad about him, but her smile spread across her face so fast, any concern I had went right out the window.

  “Wow, baby. That’s so great. Teddy’s such a good man. It took me a while to see that, but now that I’m on the right side of the law, I know he’s only just trying to keep people safe. And he kept you safe, didn’t he, baby?”

  “He did. I wouldn’t be alive without him, most likely.”

  My mother took my good hand in hers and squeezed it firmly. “He’s gonna keep you and that baby safe, and he’ll make a good father, I can just tell. Does this mean you’re staying in Liberty?”

  Before I could answer her, there was another knock on the door. “Teddy’s awake and asking for you,” the nurse said. “Won’t take no for an answer. Said he’d walk down here himself if he couldn’t see you.”

  I jumped from the best so fast - too fast, in fact. My head began spinning, and again, I jarred my broken hand.

  “Easy now,” the nurse said, grabbing my arm to steady me. “He’s not going anywhere.”

  She helped me into a wheelchair and wheeled me down to Teddy’s room. It felt like an eternity, so many hallways and an elevator, but then we were there - she pushed me inside the room, beside his bed. His eyes were closed, and I thought maybe I should just let him sleep.

  But his eyes opened, and he fixed his intense gaze on me. “Madison,” he mumbled, his voice croaking.

  I took his hand, holding it tightly. “I’m here, Teddy.”

  “Please tell me you’re not going anywhere.”