Chapter 4 Sage
FOUR
SAGE
Snow starts to fall as we pull up to my house. The flood lights flicker on, drenching the sad little garden in a soft, yellow glow. Being less than a month till Christmas, we’ve been told to expect the snow to come down more frequently.
The thought of being up on the mountain when it really hits makes my stomach twist, and yet…
My mind is a jumbled mess as the giant mountain man turns the truck off and takes in my home without a word. By some miracle, we didn’t run into Scott, though a sick, twisted feeling in my gut tells me the man beside me has a point.
Scott’s never acted like this. Jealous, sure. He used to hate a particular coworker of mine, thought he was flirting when really, he was just being nice—and gay. But this is so out of character for him. To track me down and demand I return with him? That’s not the Scott I know.
So maybe Rhett has a point. Maybe a desperate Scott will do something terrible.
Swallowing hard, I barely look at Rhett as I get out of his truck. As soon as the cool air hits me, I shiver. “I won’t be long,” I say when I hear his door open. “I’ll just pack a bag.”
The car door slams. “Need to be fast so the road doesn’t close on us.”
This time when I shiver, it’s from how close he stands as I shove my key in the lock. My heart races, not from the cold or fear burrowing deep into my bones, but because his cologne is potent, and for some reason it has my belly clenching in a way that doesn’t make sense.
Shaking my head, I manage to shove the door open. It groans as it does, just another reminder of the things that need work here.
Like the hinges that seriously need to be replaced, or the security screen I’ve been meaning to ask Axel to put up.
But after the long hours going between vet clinic and ranches, all I want to do when I get home is curl up in bed and sleep.
The monotony has been great for avoiding my damage.
“You okay?” Rhett asks quietly, too gentle to not make me want to feel something good again.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask, raising a brow, and it all just spills out of me.
Everything I’ve bottled up since getting here comes out like word vomit.
“I left...that. Scott drained me of everything. And now that I’m here, I’m living for just me for the first time in forever.
I’m the big sister, but I’m not needed anymore.
She has a husband and a baby and a new life that doesn’t involve me.
And now my safe space is tainted because he followed me here.
God, who does that?” My hands go to my head as I take in the towering man still standing in my entryway.
Somehow, he doesn’t seem fazed. “Sage.”
“Is it ridiculous that I’m jealous of my sister?
” I say, cutting him off. In my own ears, I sound desperate—sad.
“I want what she has. When I first got here, I said: no more men. That was my motto. No more pining over scumbags and losing myself to their bullshit. I promised myself I was going to find myself and instead I’ve been working my ass off for a clinic that may or may not be mine by the end of the month. ”
I draw in a sharp breath, each crashing beat of my heart suddenly painful.
“But now, Scott is back to ruin it,” I whisper, tears burning in a way they haven’t before.
“He took my savings. Everything I put away for my own clinic in the city. He bought himself a SUV instead. Thousands, I put away. I was so close. I had a friend who was going to be my partner. We were looking at recruiting someone else. And then he flushed all those dreams down the drain when he bought himself a fucking car. And when I told him I was going to sell it and get the money back? He told me he’d have me arrested because the money was in his account. ”
The tears fall, and all I can do is suck in a breath.
Wiping a hand over my face, I continue, and for some reason he lets me, “Delilah always told me he’d do something like this.
Something despicable. I mean, I thought cheating on me with an escort after a miscarriage was bad.
I should have left then. But I made all these excuses for him.
I told myself he was grieving, too. That he’d also lost a baby.
So, I forgave him. But I couldn’t make excuses for that, for some reason. Why couldn’t I make excuses for that?”
Something dark flashes in Rhett’s deep brown eyes, something that has me wanting to push him away and also fall into his arms.
Slowly, he takes a step towards me, the movement making me shudder. And yet I don’t move away, not even as he enters my space and takes hold of my upper arms.
“You don’t have to make excuses for him anymore,” he murmurs, voice so low it has me shivering. “He doesn’t deserve your understanding.”
I pull in a deep, shaky breath. “I don’t want to do it anymore.”
“I know.”
I should be feeling all kinds of stupid for crying to a man I barely know. Hell, I should have just kicked him out of my home and told him to forget about his offer—forget about the protection a fake marriage might offer, because it really is insane.
But there are two things I think I know for certain about Rhett: one, he’s much more caring and understanding than meets the eye, and he has a protective instinct that really calls to me.
And two, I have a feeling he would have, if kicked out, stayed in his truck all night to make sure Scott hadn’t followed us.
We pull up to his cabin almost an hour after the word-vomit incident, kittens perched at my feet and a duffle of clothes on my lap. With it so dark here on the mountain, it’s almost difficult to spot the small cabin nestled in the trees.
It’s nothing like the one Axel has, which he built with a family in mind.
This is more...creepy cabin in the woods.
I press my lips together as Rhett pulls the truck to a stop in front of the small building.
It’s your stereotypical log cabin, with a small deck in the front, a bump out, and large glass windows looking out into the forest. There aren’t any lights on, so it almost makes the place look abandoned.
Rhett kills the engine and sits back with a sigh. “I know it’s not much,” he says softly, “but he won’t find you here.”
I swallow thickly and nod. “I know. Thank you.”
My heart twists and stutters in my chest. This is more than I know I deserve. I still don’t know why he’s helping me—why he even cares.
Shaking my head, I turn to him fully. “I really appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”
Our gazes meet, and heat flares in the depths of his eyes. “You can stay as long as you need to. I’ll protect you here.”
My heart skips a beat. I believe him. Completely. If Scott finds me, I know Rhett will be there to protect me.
Maybe that’s a lot to be putting on a complete stranger. I mean, here I am, at his cabin, and we’ve known each other less than two hours.
But Delilah married a man she’d known for a week because of a one night stand, I remind myself. She found love just by trusting herself.
I don’t think this will end up with love, but I might find someone I can trust in Rhett.
By the time we finally leave the truck, my heart—and head—are tangled messes wrought with unknowns and too many questions.
I have to keep reminding myself that the old Sage would never have done this, but that woman is dead.
Has been dead for months. And this new Sage, this new, alive version is living for herself again.
Rhett takes my duffle and tries to take the crate, too, but I shake my head. “I’ve got them. You’re already doing enough.”
He huffs before running a hand over his beard.
It looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t.
Instead, he glances down at them once before turning back towards the cabin.
“I know it looks small on the outside, but there’s space for us to set them up in the laundry room, so they have a place to roam. ”
“Great. And blankets? It’s getting colder, so we need to make sure it’s warm. Oh, I should have taken some from the clinic. I’m sorry—”
“Sage,” he cuts in, turning back to me. “It’s okay. I have plenty of blankets and old towels. Hell, there might even be a box of t-shirts that haven’t been worn in over five years. There’s enough here.”
I can’t bring myself to reply, so I nod.
When we finally make our way up to the front door, I hear a thump on the other side, then a low groan.
He said he had a pet, hadn’t he? I grit my teeth as the door opens, and I hold the crate to the side just in case.
I’ve been tackled one too many times by dogs, and with the precious cargo in my hands, I’m not risking it.
But instead of a loud, rough dog, a slow, docile lab comes walking out. Dark fur glints in the dim light, but there’s nothing hyperactive about this pooch.
She gives her owner a sniff before turning to me.
I’d changed out of my scrubs at home, so now I’m in something that shouldn’t upset her too much.
The old lab looks me over before inspecting me with a sniff, and I give her my hand for good measure.
She’s well behaved, doesn’t run off, and even sniffs the crate. But she doesn’t react.
Instead, she turns and trots back into the cabin. “She hasn’t had her dinner yet,” Rhett explains. “And she won’t harm them.”
He guides me into the cabin with a hand on my lower back. His touch is...electrifying. I stopped feeling anything with Scott years ago. But now, it’s like every brush of skin is enough to reawaken something in me.
The lights flicker on as Rhett closes and locks the cabin door behind us. But he keeps his hand on my back, like he enjoys the contact, too.
Am I wrong for feeling like this? It should feel wrong—out of place even. But it doesn’t.
“I’ll take you to the laundry. We can set the crate up in the corner, make sure they can’t get under anything with blankets. They’ll be safe in there,” he says, turning so we’re facing one another.
What would the new Sage do in a situation like this? The Sage who is finally living for herself, finally out from the dark shadow of Scott.
The new Sage would do what her heart wanted her to do.
I lower the crate to the floor before stepping into Rhett. “Thank you. For all of this. You have no idea how much this means to me,” I whisper, pressing my hands against his chest. He sucks in a deep breath through his nose, but he doesn’t move.
Rising on my toes, I press a soft kiss to his cheek. He shudders as soon as my lips leave his skin, but maybe to my surprise, he doesn’t do more.
When our eyes meet, I can tell he wants to say something, but after a moment, he shakes his head. “In the morning, we should discuss our plan.”
“Our plan?” I ask, dropping to the ground, forcing myself to take a step back as he nods.
“The license, what you want to do about him,” he replies, clearing his throat. “Whatever you want to do—I’ll do it.”