Chapter 4
Aspen
“Thank y’all for coming again tonight. Be careful getting home. That storm is moving in faster than anticipated and the first little hit is supposed to be tonight.”
Clippers are tricky little bastards. It seems like more often than not there’s more than one of them riding in to wreak havoc in the mountains. The jet stream catches one and the rest just ride in like avenging horsemen to really tear down the mountain.
“You too, Aspen!” The group clears the doorway and heads out into the cold and I follow them, waving. Turning back, I jump, squeaking, when a shadow draws out of the darkness by the house.
“Aspen, huh? Funny. You don’t look anything like what I thought you’d look.”
Fear trickles down my spine, my heart racing in my chest, my mouth going dry. I follow the figure with my eyes but my body edges away from the person in front of me.
I can barely see his eyes in the dim light from my porch light. There’s nothing in the black light in them that makes me feel safe.
My hand clenches and I swear softly at myself. What the hell was I thinking coming out here with nothing in my hands to protect myself. Who the hell thought I would need anything outside my own house?
Snow falls around us, still light, but the crisp, metallic smell of the night air tells me that there’s a storm brewing and it’s not just with the strange guy circling me.
“I told her that she didn’t need to come here to get over her dad’s death. She just needed to settle down and go back to taking care of us.”
By that, the selfish bastard means taking care of him. I recognize the type.
“But no….her friends told her that she needed help to deal with his death. And she listened to them. Not me. She didn’t listen to her own husband. I know what’s best for her! Me!” His voice is edging louder and I see his fists clenching at his side and my whole body goes taut.
I’m running out of time. I need to do something. Something that doesn’t set this crazy fucker off.
“I think that she was just desperate. I bet she listened to you all the time. She was just confused. Maybe her friends didn’t understand you both and they just tried to split you up. I don’t know. But they got to her when she was hurting and she just didn’t understand.”
He pauses and the crazy light in his dark eyes changes slightly. Going softer. Less manic. “Yeah. They were trying to confuse her. Take her away from me.”
“Right. I didn’t know anything about you. I would have told her that she should talk to her husband, of course.”
“Right.” He doesn’t sound convinced and obviously I’m not as good an actress as I thought I was.
“Maybe I can help you? Could we go to your house and talk to her? I bet she’d listen to me.”
He stiffens and the crazy gleam comes back to his narrowed eyes. “You already told her to leave me. Don’t you remember that? How many people’s lives have you ruined with your big mouth?”
My heart hitches when he strides closer, his whole body taut and menacing.
Oh shit!
I don’t remember any woman that I told to leave her husband! I don’t know who this guy is and I can’t figure out what to do when he’s a blank damn slate!
Backing away, I do the absofuckinglutely worst thing that I can do. The shrubs around the house hit my back and I’ve got nowhere else to go.
Shit, shit, shit!
I hold my hand out and slink to the side, trying to find a way to break past this guy.
But he’s so close I can feel his hot, sour breath on my skin.
“Hey, hey! I don’t know who you’re talking about.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care.
I didn’t tell anyone to leave their spouse.
Maybe she’s just taking a break because she’s scared and confused.
But I guarantee that she’s not gonna come back if you hurt me.
You cross that line and you’re heading to jail and you’ll never get your wife back. ”
His hand lifts and I cringe, knowing that I’m seconds away from pain.
“What the fuck is going on here?” The low growl startles me so bad that the dry sticks scratch at my bare skin as I fall back into the bushes, squeaking.
“Oh!”
“I don’t know who the fuck you are but if you’ve got any sense you’ll get the hell out of here. Before you get hurt.”
The words freeze me in my tracks. Low, deep, threatening. But wrong.
“I suppose you’re another poor sap that’s been tricked by the bitch. But she owes me. And she’s gonna pay up. So you’re the one that should get the hell out of here and stay out of my way.”
The other guy’s threat doesn’t even seem to faze the new guy. He chuckles but it’s dark. Angry.
“Dude, you’re barking up the wrong tree if you think I’m just gonna walk away and let you hurt any woman, let alone Aspen.”
My head comes up, my mouth falling open. I know that voice. I know it really well. But it’s never sounded so damn scary.
The two men circle each other, feet from me and my eyes struggle to keep up with them.
Then they come together with a clash and I leap to my feet.
“Hey! Stop it! NO!” My shrill scream doesn’t even faze the two of them. One grunts as the other slams the first into the wall.
Then the second shadow drops to the ground and comes up swinging, his leg coming out so fast that I blink, confused.
What the hell just happened? But the other guy drops to the ground with a pained oomph.
“Stop it!”
Snow and shadows muddle my head and the two figures fighting, until I can’t tell that there are two men.
Shaking, I stand fully and run to the house to grab my phone. “I’m calling the Sheriff!”
Like he’s finally realized that he’s fucked up, one shadow pulls away and runs for the street, leaving the other shadow panting and growling.
“Jaxon?” I whisper, my body pausing at the door, like I can’t leave him out here alone.
“Are you alright, Aspen?” He moves into the light and my whole body sags, relief making my legs go so weak that I can barely stand.
“It is you. What are you doing here?”
He smirks at me and that familiar smile has me leaning into the doorframe, even weaker than I was before.
What is it about this guy that makes my head go so damn messy?
“I was coming by to see if you wanted that coffee again.”
Huffing, I glare at him. “You just don’t give up, do you?”
He cocks his dark head and there’s a glint of gold in his dark brown eyes. A flash of something pained?
“Not when I think something’s worth it.”
I step back inside and he follows me inside the door, closing it gently behind himself.
What the hell am I doing?
“I’m not sure why you think I’m worth it. Worth anything from you.”
“That tells me that I’m right. Anybody worth their salt doesn’t realize how much they’re worth. How much they help the people around them.” He nods at the room that’s still set up behind me. “I know some of the people that have been in your group. You’ve helped them deal with a lot.”
He pauses and there’s a shimmer of doubt in his dark gaze. “Something tells me that you could use a little help yourself, though.”
I huff, my voice rough. “I definitely needed it tonight. Thank you for showing up when you did.” My eyes narrow. “Even though I’m not sure why you showed up out of the blue like that.”
He turns back to the door and eyes it angrily. “You need to call the Sheriff and report that son of a bitch before he hurts you.”
“He was just upset. He said his wife had been here and then she left him. I can understand that anger and helplessness. He was just acting out a little. I bet he regrets it now.”
He stalks towards me, shaking his dark head. “You don’t understand men as well as you think you do, Red. That guy seriously wants to hurt you and if you don’t make sure that the Sheriff knows, he might get his wish. I can’t be strolling by every night just to save you.”
I stiffen. “Didn’t ask you to, Jaxon. I appreciate the help but I think I understand that guy’s pain more than you do. I’ve seen a lot of men that act out and then regret it.”
He nods his head, sucking his tongue between his teeth. “You’re fooling yourself. But I suppose there are some murderers that regret killing someone. After they get caught. Not before.”
I nod at his hand where his knuckles are cracked. “Let me take care of that hand.”
He snorts. “I’ve had way worse, Red. I’ll be fine. Lock this door behind me and don’t go outside anymore without someone with you and preferably pepper spray too.”
He nods his head and his eyes meet mine right before he steps out the door. “Watch yourself, Red. I’ll be around and I swear I won’t let anything happen to you. Not if I can help it.”
Then he opens the door and steps outside. “Lock up. Sleep tight, Red.”
And then he’s gone and the door closes and my heart skips as I run to the window to watch him walk away. My hand rests on my chest and my heart feels like it’s going to explode out of my chest.
It hurts to watch him walk away. I…I don’t know why. But this feels bad.
It feels…like it’s meant to be. Like he’s…mine.
And I sure as hell don’t need that. I had a mine and he died. I’m never going there again.
With a gulp and a shudder, I drop the curtains and spin away from the window, closing my eyes.
He’s just a guy. He’s not my guy. I don’t have a man. And I never fucking will again.
Not if I can help it. I refuse to feel the way I did when my husband died.
I am never going to feel that pain again.
No. Just no.
But my heart hammers under my hand and it feels like forever until I can walk away from that door.