Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
My father stands up and starts backing out of my cabin. “Fine. I’ll leave. But I want my car. It’s my car.”
Hunter looks at me, lets out a long sigh, and then grabs the metal jerrican he had been carrying with him, toward the door. He throws it at my father. “Take that. It’s somewhere on the road back to Evergreen Valley. It ran out of gas. Refuel it, and then get out of here. If I ever see you again, I’m going to carry out my threats of old-fashioned justice, and no one will ever hear from you again. Not until some poor hiker accidentally finds your corpse in the woods a decade from now.”
My father’s face is ghastly white as he stands up. I’ve never seen him so scared before in my life. He takes the can and then runs toward Earl’s truck, scrambling into the passenger side. Earl himself looks confused by the whole thing before throwing the truck into reverse and finally driving my father away from here. I hope that if I ever see him again, that maybe he will have realized just how far he’d fallen since my mother passed.
I don’t think it is likely. But I’m allowed to have hope.
Hunter turns toward me as I push myself up off the floor. Our eyes meet.
And I rush toward him.
I throw myself into his arms.
All the terror I felt, I realize it’s because Dad was threatening to tear me away from the first bit of happiness I’ve felt in years. From a man who really wants to treat me right, who wants to take care of me, and to actually help me become who I want to be. The despair I would have felt, being torn away from him, not knowing if I’d ever get to enjoy his embrace ever again is embedded in my soul.
More than ever, I can’t deny my feelings.
“I love you,” I say, tears streaming down my face.
“I know,” he replies, a powerful kiss following. “And I love you so fucking much, Savvy. No one’s ever going to take you from me.”
He holds me close. For the first time in my life, I feel absolute calm. I’m taken care of. I’m protected.
I am loved.
SEVEN
hunter
It’s been about a month since Savvy entered my life.
And what a wonderful adventure it’s been.
After I ran off her father, I arranged for her to join me full time. Moving in with your boyfriend this fast is unusual, but I wasn’t going to let her go back to live with her father. Not after what he threatened. I did help her go get the things that mattered to her, including some more changes of clothes and some stuff that belonged to her mother.
Given we found them in the trash, her father didn’t fight us too hard on these things.
Now Savvy is tying up her boots. She didn’t let me buy her too much, but if she was going to take to the woodsman’s life with me, I told her a good pair of boots was absolutely required, and she relented. Beyond that, she put a stop to a lot of the things I wanted to buy, always insisting that she wasn’t here to mooch off my money.
Which I always found funny because of all the things I had, I never thought money was one of them. I had enough for me and my future family. My savings were good for dealing with any emergencies. I guess I’m not broke, but battling off gold diggers was never something I’d be worrying about.
She looks damn fine all dressed up to head out into the forests. The tightness of her jeans, the way her flannel still shows off her curves, I’d say she’d look damn nice in anything, but she absolutely rocks the style of practicality.
“Are we ready to head out?” she says as she saunters up to me.
“Yeah, yeah, but hold on a second.”
I hear an engine rumbling in the distance. Up the hill rolled up a big-ass truck, carrying its big ol’ payload of lumber. The beast of a man shuffles out of the driver’s seat and hits the ground, in boots made for working instead of hiking. “Got all the wood you need right here,” he says, gesturing to his cargo.
Savannah tilts her head. “Wood?”
“I’m expanding the cabin,” I say.
“You mean our steamy cabin?”
I chuckle. “Yes, our steamy cabin. I know you keep saying I don’t need to, but you need a space of your own, too, Savvy.”
“I don’t think I’m going to be needing my own bedroom, Hunter. I think we’re definitely happy sharing yours.”
I let out a hearty laugh. “But you need a spot to store your yarn and practice your knitting.”
She’d taken my advice and started visiting one of the old knitters down in Evergreen Valley. She’s really got a knack for it, and Clara is so eager to share her time-tested skills.