Rocky Mountain Soul
Kay P. Dawson
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Rocky Mountain Bride Excerpt
Roberts of Silver Springs Series
About the Author
Also by Kay P. Dawson
Introduction
Rocky Mountain Soul is the third book in the multi-author Roberts of Silver Springs Series.
Thank you to the other authors in the series for making this such a fun experience.
Cover Art by Erin Cameron-Hill
Edited by Meg Amor
Rocky Mountain Soul
A second chance at love…
Erin Fowler moved to Denver to forget the one who broke her heart. When circumstances bring her back to her hometown of Silver Springs, what will she do when faced with the man who says he’s sorry for the mistakes he made as a boy?
Jackson Roberts has never got over his high school sweetheart, and has carried the guilt ever since for what he did to her all those years ago. He’s determined to make things right, and prove the love he had for her then has never wavered. Will he get the chance to win back the only woman he’s ever loved?
What will happen when the mistakes of the past threaten to destroy their chance to build a future?
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One
It was hard to hear the words to the song she’d played over a thousand times as the sound of crunching metal reached her ears. The world around her spun, throwing everything into a slow-motion scene right out of a movie. Faintly, she thought again how true the words were as Lady Antebellum’s song, Wanted You More, poured from her speakers. Her body jerked sideways, and her head banged on the roll bar of the Jeep as she closed her eyes to the motion of the vehicle rolling into the ditch.
Branches broke beneath her, slapping her on the face as the glass broke, and she continued to tumble farther down into the ravine.
As fast as it happened, everything stopped. The music still played, while all around her was nothing but silence. Something warm trickled down her face, and she experimentally brought her arm up to wipe it away from her eyes. As she did, she realized she couldn't move the rest of her body. The Jeep lay on its side, the soft top torn away, letting the breeze blow across her skin.
Pushed up against her door, she looked out along the ground. She tried to put her elbow down to pry her legs out and escape the wreck.
Pain shot through her arm, and she fell back against the ground, crying out in pain. How was she going to get out?
Panic started to well up inside her. This road wasn't well-used, so she didn't know how long she might be stuck here. Why didn't she just stick to the highway instead of taking back roads?
What if she was left out here, trapped in her mangled Jeep all night? It was only May, so the night would still be chilly. Not to mention, she didn't know how bad any of her injuries were. She tried to turn sideways, to see if she could find her purse, and cell phone.
Everything started to spin again as the pain pulsed through her body, and a sob caught in her throat.
She thought about her grandma, the only family she had in the world. The woman who'd raised her, and who she was supposed to be coming home to help while she recovered from her stroke.
Still struggling, and trying to ignore the pain, she suddenly thought she heard tires up on the road. She screamed as loud as she could, praying whoever it was would see the tracks and notice her upturned car over the bank.
She cried with relief when she heard it stop, followed by the metallic slamming of a car door.
"I'm down here!" She'd fallen far down into the ditch among the bushes by a ravine, but thankfully she hadn't landed in the water.
Suddenly, a wet nose poked in through the broken top of the Jeep, pressing up against her cheek. Her hand automatically came up to push it away, sending another jolt of pain through her.
"Tank! Stop that, get back." A man's voice growled and grunted as he pulled the large dog back who was now licking her face.
Strangely, the dog's presence seemed to have a calming effect on her, as though, she somehow knew as long as this dog called Tank was here, she'd be all right.
"Are you all right in there?" She could see the man's boots, but still couldn’t see his whole body, as he crouched down to look inside.
The air flew from her lungs when his face came into focus.
"Jack?" The calmness she felt when the dog had first arrived was replaced with sobbing she couldn't seem to get under control.
Jackson Roberts, her high school sweetheart. Her ex-boyfriend who broke her heart.
They’d spoken a few times over the years whenever she was home, but it had never been the same between them. It was always awkward and difficult.
However, seeing him now was like finding an old comfy blanket you'd had all your life, and thought you'd never see again. She wanted to grab him and never let go.
"Erin?" He was just as shocked. "Are you all right?" This time his words were strangled with worry as he stood up and tried to move pieces of the wreck out of the way. The dog, sensing the new stress, was back over licking the tears away before they could make their way down her cheek.
"I'm calling for help, just hold on," his voice reassured her. Her focus was slightly off, and she vaguely heard him calling and giving directions, plus some other details she wasn't sure about.
Then he was down beside her again, his phone on the ground beside him as he reached in and moved his hands over her injuries. "Where does it hurt?"
"I'm not sure. Everywhere I think."
She heard him curse as he tried to move in closer. "Tank, get out of the way!"
She had to smile through her tears as Jack wrestled with the large dog to get in closer, crouching down on the ground beside her. His eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to pull against the metal of the Jeep.
"Don't move. Until we know your injuries, I need you to just lie still and not move around too much. I’ll get you out of here."
Oh, that’s right, her fuzzy brain remembered. Jack was working as a paramedic in their hometown of Silver Springs now. He’d know how to take care of her.
She let her head fall back onto the leather seat, just wanting to rest for a moment before the pain she knew would come when they tried to cut her out of here.
"Erin, stay with me. Keep your eyes open. Do you know if you hit your head?"
His fingers were feeling along the back of her head, and she cringed as he moved over the bump from where she'd made contact with the roll bar. "Ow! Yes. It hurts there."
He pulled his hand away, and she tried not to panic when she noticed the blood on his fingers.
But he smiled at her, and lay on the ground beside her. "You're going to be okay, beautiful. I promise."
She wondered if he even noticed he'd called her “beautiful” like he’d always used to do when they were together. It had rolled off his tongue like he'd never stopped saying it. Whenever he'd said it, she'd always believed him.
He tore at hi
s shirt, and reached in to press his hand against her jaw. “You have a bit of a cut here, so I’m going to need to stop the bleeding, okay?” He pressed hard, and even though it hurt, she didn’t want him to pull his hand away.
The dog, a large black lab, lay down beside him and stuck its head in to lick her again. Erin almost had to smile at how the dog seemed completely unaware that there was anything out of the ordinary going on. Like it was just lying down between two people on the ground chatting.
Apparently, Tank the dog had no idea she was stuck inside a crumpled vehicle with injuries she knew nothing about, other than the blood that seemed to be coming from everywhere.
"Just keep talking to me, okay?" Jack’s voice was soothing. In the distance, the wail of sirens worked their way toward them.
"I'm scared, Jack," she startled herself as the words whispered from her throat. She hadn't even realized until now how scared she was. He reached in with his other hand and held hers.
"You're going to be fine. Just a few scratches and bruises." He winked at her, and she was taken aback at how he could still have the same effect on her as he did all those years ago.
"What are you doing out here anyway? Emma told me you were moving back home, but I wasn't sure when. And besides that—you do remember there's a main highway coming into town you could have used, right?"
She swallowed against the pain that was coursing through her body, and shut her eyes, listening to the shriek of the sirens coming closer.
"I know, I just...you know. Wanted to come this way." She let her eyes slowly open, and he was smiling at her. How could she tell him she’d opted for this route so she could drive past the tree that had been "their spot.” It was the place he'd taken her on picnics, and where he'd first told her he loved her when she was just sixteen.
He simply nodded. By now, the sirens were right there. The squawk of rescue radios, people talking, and getting out of fire trucks and other rescue vehicles surrounded them.
"We're down here. Woman, aged twenty-five, lone occupant, MVA. Possible concussion..." Everything started to spin around her as he yelled up at the people coming down the bank. She would just rest her eyes and let Jack take care of everything...
Suddenly, a loud scream echoed around the scene, and Erin's eyes flew back open as Jack cursed loudly again. "Get her back." He let go of her hand and pulled his hand away from the wound he’d been pressing on. His feet moved away quickly from her as new faces bent down to talk to her.
What was going on?
"Erin, is that you?"
Emma!
Her best friend. Jack's younger sister. Even though they hadn’t spent as much time together as they had when Erin lived here, Emma was still someone she spoke to regularly and loved with all her heart. And Emma felt the same way about her.
Both she and Jack had forgotten Emma was a volunteer with the fire department, and would be showing up to help with the rescue.
The pain was finally too much, and as the blackness closed around her, Jack was calmly trying to tell Emma she was okay.
Erin just prayed he was right.
Two
"What was she doing out on that road, Jackson?" His sister's voice still shook with the shock of everything, and sounded loud in the small room they were sitting in now.
He was leaning forward, both elbows resting on his thighs. Jack held his head in his hands as he clenched his eyes tight, trying to erase the memory of seeing Erin among that mangled pile of metal.
As he'd been driving down the road in his truck, he thought he'd seen a flash of something in the distance and a huge cloud of dust. But he hadn't thought anything of it until they'd gotten closer and he noticed tracks going off the road. Tank had started barking and clawing at the window when he slowed down, and Jack had caught glimpses of the red Jeep lying on its side when he looked into the area by the ravine.
"I imagine she was driving down that road for the same reason I've gone down there myself a million times since she moved away." He thrust his fingers through his hair and sat up straight, sighing deeply.
He stared blankly at the window across from him. Emma put her hand on his arm that was now crossed over his chest. "She'll be okay, Jackson. You should know better than anyone how tough Erin is."
Emma was the only one he still allowed to call him Jackson. To everyone else, he was just Jack. He turned and saw the worry in his sister's eyes, and he reached out to pull her in beside him. They didn't hug often, but he knew right now, she was just as worried as him.
It was like they’d all been taken back six years ago, and no time had passed between. Someone they both cared about deeply was hurt, and they had no way of knowing how bad it was. They’d followed right behind the ambulance, but since they weren't family, they were left waiting out here for answers.
Grandma Wynn, as everyone called Erin’s grandmother, had been notified. She’d been waiting in the hospital for Erin to get here so she could be discharged into her care. Now the staff were keeping her in her room until they knew more.
"I should go sit with Grandma Wynn. She’ll be so worried about Erin." His sister pulled back and looked up at him. "Will you be all right here on your own for a bit?"
He nodded and let her stand up.
"Text me if you hear anything, okay?" She looked down at him, pleading with her eyes before she turned and walked from the room.
He stood up and walked over to the window, watching as the sun started to make its way down behind the mountains. The sky was a kaleidoscope of orange, yellow, pink, and purple. As he stood mesmerized by the display, he was taken back to the time in his life that was embedded in his memory forever.
All of his friends had gone to college and were out doing things that young, single guys were known to do after graduation. He’d just started dating Erin when he graduated, and been head over heels for her, so he’d stayed in Silver Springs, working at the hardware store until she was done with school.
One day, out at “their tree,” talking about their future and what all they would do, he’d started to panic. Something about discussing the future together and how close it was to happening, had set something off in his immature head. She was almost done with school, and all he could think was—was he really ready to settle down and be with one woman for the rest of his life?
His friends started to push him to come out with them, and have the fun they were having, and he’d made a stupid decision he’d regretted ever since. He broke up with Erin, telling her he needed some space, and wasn’t ready to settle down.
Now when he thought back to it, he knew how immature he'd been. He'd actually figured it out soon after, but by then Erin had moved to Denver, wanting to put as much distance between them as she could.
"Jack, you can come in and see her now. She's been to x-ray, and the doctor has been in." Everyone in the hospital knew him, as did most of the team who worked in the medical field in this town. They knew he'd been the one to come across the accident, and was waiting to hear how she was doing.
He was already at the door and heading down the hall to the emergency room where Erin would be. At least they weren't telling him she needed urgent surgery or anything, so that had to be a good sign.
"She's in bed seven." The nurse had followed him, and pointed to the curtain across the room. He took a deep breath before pulling the curtain back slightly to peek in.
The air caught in his throat when he saw her lying on the hospital bed. She had her eyes closed, and the scratches and bruises stood out against the whiteness of her face. A bandage covered her jaw, and another one wrapped around her arm. Her blonde hair was a mess, soaked in blood, and spread out on the pillow beneath her.
He cleared his throat softly, not wanting to wake her up if she was sleeping.
Her eyes flickered open, and she smiled at him. "Hi."
Walking over to the edge of the bed, he sat down in the chair and leaned over the rail that was pulled up. "How are you feeling?"
She clench
ed her eyes tight as she gave a little laugh. "Like I was rolled over in a Jeep."
"Very funny. You know what I mean."
She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Well, minor concussion, a broken wrist that they have to set, and lots of cuts and bruises." Her eyes found his. "And I had to have stitches on my jaw. I imagine that will look great once the bandages come off."
"So, no internal injuries, or anything serious?" He felt a surge of relief. "Your legs are fine?"
He'd stayed with her while the rescuers cut her out of the wreck, and she'd been afraid because she couldn't move her legs. He’d kept telling her it was because they were pinned inside the vehicle, and he'd just hoped he was right.
She nodded. "Everything seems to be working. It could have been a lot worse." A sob caught in her throat.
Reaching out, he wiped a tear away. "But it wasn't."
She swallowed hard and seemed to be fighting the emotions of everything that had happened.
The nurse he'd spoken to earlier came in. “Erin, we’re going to admit you overnight to keep an eye on you and get the cast set on your arm. I've got a shot here that will help you with some of the pain as we get you moved up to your room."
Erin turned back to him. "Can you make sure my grandma knows what's going on? I'm sure she's worried."
"Emma has gone to sit with her, but I’ll go up and let her know while we wait for you to get settled."
"You're not leaving?" She spoke so quietly he almost didn't hear her as he stood up to go.
Winking down at her, he hoped she knew the truth in his words.
"Never."
Three
"Oh, I'm sure going to miss Shirley. Did you know I called my Jeep, Shirley? I don't know why I called her Shirley, it just seemed like it suited her," her words were slurred, and she was rambling. Jack fought back his laughter. He stood back from the bed a bit so his sister, and Grandma Wynn could sit next to her.
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