Jeannie Watt - Her Mountain Sanctuary

Deb’s eyes widened. “She didn’t say a thing.”

“I asked her not to.”

“Why?”

Drew cocked an eyebrow. “Because I didn’t want you peppering her with questions that should be directed at me...like whether I was drinking.” Deb flushed. “I told her I’d tell you in my own time.”

“She did ask to speak with me yesterday,” Debra said with a thoughtful frown.

He got to his feet. “Let’s leave Faith out of this. She’s my neighbor, your employee. Period. She shouldn’t be in the middle of family matters.”

And he didn’t want to add more stress to her life. She’d remained in his thoughts the night before, long after she’d confessed her past, and he’d woke up thinking about her. He told himself it was because his protective instinct was kicking in. He had an idea of what she was going through and he felt for her. That was all.

When Deb remained silent, he assumed she accepted his logic and decided to make good his escape. “See you around.”

“I heard there was a lumber delivery at the cabin.”

Drew stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned back. “How?”

“That’s not important. What on earth are you doing up there?”

None of your business.

Except it was half her business. She and Drew had inherited equal interest of their grandfather’s mountain hideaway years ago, and he now leased her half of the property.

“Do you really care?”

“I’m interested.”

“I’m not building a bunker or anything.”

“That’s not funny.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.” He let out a breath that made his shoulders sag. “I’m going ahead with the renovations that Lissa mapped out.”

Deb’s eyebrows came together. “Is that a good idea?”

Drew pretended to consider for a moment before saying, “Yes. I think it is. It’s something Maddie and I can work on together over the summer.”

Deb gave a brittle laugh. “Oh, I’m certain she’ll love that.”

Deb knew next to nothing about Maddie. She was the most hands-off aunt he knew of. Maddie was acknowledged on her birthday and at Christmas, and Drew was certain that was only because it was expected.

“She will. And so will I.”

“Drew...you need to think about this. If Maddie comes to stay with you full-time, is she really going to want to live in a mountain cabin? Even if it is renovated?” Deb cleared her throat. “Wouldn’t it be fairer to her to move to one of those nice neighborhoods they’re building on the west end of town?”

Drew gave his sister a long, hard look, wondering what her objective was. Did she honestly care about what was best for Maddie? Or was she just trying to make him fit the mold so he wouldn’t embarrass her?

“I don’t know. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, and in the meantime, I’m renovating the cabin.” He let himself out of the office before she could say anything else to add to his already bad mood.

The door clicked shut behind him and after giving Penny what he hoped was a pleasant nod, he headed down the hallway toward the exit. Nobody raised his blood pressure like his sibling. He gave a small snort as he unlocked the truck. She probably thought the same about him.

Drew parked next to his brother-in-law’s shop a few minutes before Maddie’s school bus was due to arrive at three thirty. Pete, who was elbow-deep in a trash pump repair, gave him a grunt of greeting.

Earlier that morning, as soon as Maddie had caught the bus to school and Cara had taken off for work, they’d winched the Jeep up the side of the mountain and towed it to the shop, where it now sat, listing sadly on its axles.

Drew was going to have to explain to his daughter about the accident and he wasn’t looking forward to it. Maddie was a resilient kid, but she’d lost her mother, had nearly lost her father, and she didn’t need to hear that she’d almost lost him again. He wouldn’t exactly lie, but he was going to gloss over a few things. Pretty much, he’d almost hit a deer and had a little accident. Then he’d come up with a way to distract her.

“Doing okay?” Pete asked as he finished ratcheting a bolt into place.

Drew idly rubbed his left shoulder, testing for pain. The bumps and bruises from his deer encounter were nothing compared to the percussion injuries he’d suffered in Afghanistan. Injuries he’d ignored as he’d done what he could to help pull his buddies from the wreckage—it was only afterward that his body had shut down. The doctors had been amazed at what he’d managed to do despite a gaping head wound, broken ribs and a punctured lung. Sheer adrenaline had carried him through—then abandoned him. He’d gone into shock, waking up in the hospital to the news that he’d lost three friends.

He swallowed dryly. “I’m good. Not looking forward to explaining to Mads.”

“Understandable.” Pete put down the wrench and got to his feet, dusting off his hands on his jeans.

Maddie essentially had three parents now. Pete—Lissa’s brother—and his wife Cara had taken Maddie in after Lissa’s death, with the idea that she’d stay with them until Drew’s tour of duty ended. Then came the blast, the hospital stay, followed by five more months of duty. And the nightmares. He’d had to confess those to Pete and Cara when he’d arrived back in Eagle Valley four months ago, and he’d confessed about the one he’d had a few nights ago—which was why Maddie wouldn’t be staying with him as much as she hoped during the summer.

Pete jerked his head toward the line of lawn mowers near the bay door. “Those are all yours.”

“I’ll take a few with me today, pick the rest up tomorrow.”

The school bus rumbled up to the end of the driveway and the door opened with a hydraulic hiss. A few seconds later, Maddie came around the nose of the bus and headed for the shop, her expression brightening when she saw Drew step out of the bay door.

“Dad!”

His heart twisted, as it always did at the sight of his beautiful daughter. “Hey, tiger.” Before he’d left for his last tour of duty, he’d swung her up in the air when she got home from school and she’d thrown her head back and laughed. Now she was twelve, almost thirteen, and swinging in the air was no longer the thing to do. Instead they bumped fists and then she gave him a bear hug.

“Can I stay with you this weekend?” she asked, tilting her head back to look up at him. It was all Drew could do not to push her glasses a little farther up her nose. Lissa had had the same problem. Glasses simply hadn’t stayed in place.

Before he could answer, tell her that she wouldn’t be staying overnight, her eyes went wide. “What happened to the Jeep?”

Pete and Drew exchanged quick glances, then Drew said, “I swerved to hit a deer yesterday.”

“And wrecked the Jeep?”

Maddie sounded horrified, so he made an extra effort to sound casual. “It was rainy. It slid off the road.”

Maddie headed for the vehicle, her backpack bouncing on her back. She inspected the damage with a critical eye, making Drew glad that the Jeep was topless. As it was, she had no way of knowing it’d rolled. “Are you going to be able to fix it, Uncle Pete?”

“It’ll be better than it was when I get done with it.”

“Good.” She turned back to Drew. “Is the deer all right?”

He almost laughed. “Yeah, honey. I swerved, remember?”

“Good. Sorry about the Jeep, but glad about the deer.” She gave her father a sidelong look. “Does this mean I won’t be spending the night this weekend?”

Maddie knew about his nightmares, knew why he spent his nights alone. She was also convinced that if she moved in, then he wouldn’t have them anymore. “Because you’ll have me there,” she’d told him a few months ago, after his discharge.