“You mean stay in someone’s house?”
“Don’t figure there’s any room at the boarding house, either. Which means there are no other options, unless you want to sleep in your car. Maybe you want to try to find that husband of yours? He might have dug up a room somewhere.”
“I wouldn’t want to do that, since I didn’t exactly marry him.”
“Why am I not surprised?” His scowl deepened, emphasizing the crinkles in the corners of his eyes, age lines that placed him somewhere in his midthirties.
Maybe he was feeling sympathy for Alan. Maybe Gage Parker would agree with her mother’s assessment of things. Karenna hung her head, not knowing what else to say.
She didn’t so much care what the mountain man thought of her. She was starting to see his point. This is what happened when you acted out of upset, not calm, rational thought. She had no idea when calm, rational thought was going to kick in. She prayed it would be any second.
A glaze of lights glowed in the shadows up ahead. It was hard to see the surrounding area because of the dense trees, but she caught an impression of a big shed, a woodpile stacked higher than a house and a ramshackle cabin with torn curtains in the windows. The door swung open and a gnarled man’s silhouette was backlit by the light as he put a round into the chamber of the biggest rifle Karenna had ever seen.
“Ho there,” Gage called through the open window, as he stopped the Jeep. “Myron, I need to use your phone.”
“Is that you, Parker?” The man ambled onto a broken-down porch and squinted at the windshield. “Is that the gal you rescued from the cliff?”
“Nah. This is a different one. Her car died out on the road.” He opened the door and hopped to the ground. An old hound dog loped around the side of the house, yowling. Gage paid it no heed. “She needs a tow truck. You wouldn’t mind if she waited with you, right?”
“What? Are you kiddin’?” The old man moved down a few steps and glared harder at her. She could feel his disapproval piercing the tempered glass. “Is that a weddin’ dress she’s wearin’? I don’t want nothin’ to do with that.”
“C’mon, Myron. You know I’ve got my hands full at home.” Gage’s voice was a murmur now, as the two men bent together conspiratorially in the poorly lit front yard. The hound put his paws on the edge of the driver’s seat, sniffed the air and barked at her. No way was she able to hear what was going on.
What she needed was to get out of the vehicle and beg the old man to help her. Although it did look kind of scary out there, so shadowy, with the forest right up next to the buildings. Surely, he was a kind soul who wouldn’t turn away a woman in need? Hadn’t the magazine article said the town was full of noble men and handsome hero types? She opened her door and something big, furry and black lunged at her.
Yikes. A bear! She pulled the door closed with all her might and screamed when something hit the window. Beady green eyes glowed through the glass. Fear exploded through her and she flew out of the seat. The belt yanked tight, holding her in place.
The dog silenced, Gage hopped behind the wheel and slammed the door. “That’s a no go. I can’t believe Myron. He doesn’t like brides, either.”
“B-bear,” she sputtered out, pointing at the window. The beast beat against the glass again, rocking the Jeep.
“That’s Myron’s other dog.” Gage shook his head at her. “You don’t know much, do you?”
That’s exactly what Alan used to say to her. The big black creature loped through the gray twilight—now clearly a mammoth dog—as he joined the grizzled old man on the porch.
She might not know much, but she was learning. Life used to be simple, but it had gone from great to complicated in five seconds flat, and she hadn’t been prepared. Add that to the fact that she was out of her element and she hadn’t slept in nearly two days—and she was a mess. “What now? Are you going to take me back to my car for the night?”
“No.” He sounded unhappy as he wheeled his vehicle around and pointed the headlights down the sorry excuse for a driveway. “You’re coming home with me. But there are going to be rules.”
“Yes, absolutely.” She thought of the wife and child at home, missing him, maybe wondering why he was late. Some women might not be understanding of a husband arriving with a younger woman in tow. “I really appreciate this, Mr. Parker.”
“You’re not to disrupt things. I’ve got a baby in the house. Matthew needs to stay on his schedule.”
“Of course.” Matthew. A little boy. “How old is your son?”
“He’s my nephew. Apparently, my brother decided he had better things to do than raise him, so I’m doing it by default.”
“You and your wife must be extraordinary people, to take in a baby.”
“My wife? That’s a good one.” He shook his head, the SUV accelerating on the dirt lane. They bounced harder until he hit the brakes with an angry punch. The seat belt caught her again, saving her from hitting the dash. “No wife. She had better things to do than stay married to me.”
“I’m sorry.” She could tell the man was hurting. She could make a huge list of all the obvious differences between them, but they had the ravages of failed relationships in common. She felt sorry for him. “I wish that hadn’t happened to you.”
He glanced at her sideways as he turned off the narrow country road. Surprise carved into his granite features. He really was a handsome man. Dark, thick hair tumbled over a high forehead. His compelling sky-blue eyes and high slash of cheekbones could have belonged to a movie star. The straight blade of his nose didn’t overpower his face, and his mouth and jaw were pure artistry.
If only he didn’t scowl so much.
“Don’t get any ideas,” he said. “I’m off the market for good.”
“Ideas?” She blinked. “You mean marriage?”
“Yes.” He didn’t sound as if he thought she was too bright, either. “That’s another rule. If you want me to help you, you don’t try any funny stuff.”
“Funny stuff?”
“Flirting. And don’t even try to get on my grandmother’s good side.” He sounded angrier and angrier.
She wasn’t exactly impressed. In fact, she was liking him less and less with every passing second. “You live with your grandmother?”
“Remember what I said.” He maneuvered along a tree-lined driveway and gravel crunched beneath the tires. “You leave with the tow truck. Got it?”
“Like I would want to stay.” It wasn’t such a mystery why he was divorced. His plan was sounding like a really good idea. She didn’t want to spend any more time with Mr. Bitter than necessary. She didn’t want his mood or his personality to rub off on her.
Chapter Two
Gage watched the front door of the two-story log home open in a wash of light. Like a beacon, it drew him and Miss Digby closer. A diminutive woman’s shadow appeared in the doorway, drawing a sweater over her shoulders against the cooling night air. No doubt Gran had caught sight of Miss Digby in the Jeep when he’d pulled up, and she was busy drawing all kinds of wrong conclusions.
So not looking forward to this, he thought, and stepped aside to let the jilted bride go first. Karenna swished ahead of him up the concrete walkway and into the porch light’s reach.
“Goodness! Who do we have here?” Gran practically sang, she sounded so happy. “A wayward traveler you found on the drive home?”
He groaned, bracing himself for the obvious comment yet to come—that his grandmother had prayed for him to find a woman. He was