Chapter Eleven
“Hello” a high squeaky voice called out. “Is anyone here? Luke honey, where are you?”
When Luke turned to Morgan, she was anchoring herself off the bed in a flash.
“Really?” If her eyes had been lasers, she’d have burned holes right through him. “Now tell me you don’t remember what happened six years ago. Oh I knew I couldn’t trust you and leaving then was the right decision. Just like I’ll be doing right now.”
She was hobbling pretty well but the anger bubbling through her blood was much more powerful than the pain and now more than ever she was determined to leave this mountain and Luke.
He could have his damn floozy. She’d sure as shit never changed her ways.
Otherwise, why would she be here hollering for her honey?
He closed the distance between them and tried to stand in her way, she wasn’t having it.
“Is Margie who you were talking about?”
“Don’t’ talk to me. Get out of my way. Now!
” She wanted to plant her palms in the center of his chest and push but he was no light weight.
She knew he might try to stop her from leaving.
It wouldn’t really be too hard now that she was a little crippled.
She just couldn’t understand why he would deny any of what had happened.
She saw with her own two eyes, they were definitely wrapped around each other.
As she passed the end of the log bed, her arm snaked out in a swift motion to grab her old duster lying on the cedar chest. Throwing it around her shoulders, with the other hand she grabbed the saddle bags Luke had left on the floor at the door.
Bursting through the bedroom door into the living room she stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the site before her, the train-wreck of an ex-best friend who’d ruined her future. She tried to ignore Luke as he stood right at her heels cursing silently to himself.
“What a surprise to see you here Margaret.” Morgan’s tone dripped with sarcasm as she drawled out her words.
“No happy homes in town to break up so you came looking for your old flame? Oh wait,” she threw up her hands in exaggeration.
“Maybe its current flame; I have been gone a long time after all so one never knows.”
She couldn’t contain her nausea much longer. The back door was in sight, she had to get out fast.
“Morgan please wait.” Margaret sat her bag on the kitchen table and walked into the living room across from where Morgan and Luke both stood. “I really think we need to talk this out. We were best friends after all.”
“Were being the key word and you should of thought about that before you stole my boyfriend?” Once Margaret was further away from the kitchen and standing in front of the fire place, Morgan knew her escape was in sight.
She could hear Margaret saying something but her attention had already wandered off, tuning her out.
Mentally tracing her steps back to earlier before she got into that unfortunate little scuffle with Luke, a few things could be checked off of her short list for the trip home.
First, she’d already loaded up and saddled Pepper so all she had to do was untie him and hop on.
She’d also thought about radioing her uncle but knew he would question her about Luke.
Apparently those two were thicker than thieves and she’d rather avoid the questions until they were face to face.
The small freezer was empty after loading its contents into a couple leather pouches Uncle Bill had in the barn. After strapping them to her saddle, all she had left was her own bags with her personal items and clothes. Yep got it all. No way do I wanna come back because I forgot something.
Focusing back to the present, she saw that Luke had walked over to where Margie was standing at the fireplace which first of all made her sick to her stomach to even see but also gave her the perfect opportunity and she made a bee line for the back door.
Hopefully they didn’t notice she’d taken off.
It was harder than she thought to climb onto Pepper but she’d done it.
Just when Pepper’s first footsteps hit the trail under the cover of the trees, Morgan heard the back door slam open and Luke hollering for her.
She hiked up her chin took a deep breath and kept riding.
Talk about Deja Vu. Looking back at the cabin now would only plummet her six years back. She needed to run away fast.
* * * *
“What in the sam-hell just happened?” Luke was standing on the back porch after he’d heard the rustling of her horse as Morgan rode away. “Shit, I’ll never catch her...”
“I’m guessing I shouldn’t have come?” Margie stood behind Luke in the middle of the kitchen by the cook stove with an out-of-place smugness about her.
Luke turned to her then. “What are you doing up here Margie? I didn’t tell anybody I would even be here and I didn’t think anyone knew Morgan was here either. I was trying to work things out with her.” Margie walked into the living room to sit down.
“I was supposed to come with Tyler but he got a call and had to go out on a run so I just said I’d go on alone. He said he’d meet me here later.”
“I should have known Bill would tell her brother she was here. Damn it. I’ll never get her back now. She is beyond pissed.”
He had to think. It didn’t make sense why Margie was here.
I just don’t’ believe Ty would have Margie come up here with him.
Margie’s up to something, I just don’t have the time to deal with it now.
There’s no way he’d catch Morgan before she made it down the mountain.
Hans down, she was more skilled than any of them at that trail.
Proof of that was his trip up there in the first place.
He’d be dead if she hadn’t found him and taken care of him.
He’d like to think she did it because she cared but it’s what she did for a living so he wasn’t too sure.
“Okay Margie. Can you please just stay here and wait for Tyler?” Luke walked past the couch heading for the room he slept in. He needed to get his stuff together.
“No! I mean…uh why do you have to leave, I just got here?” Margie was nervously twisting her fingers in her lap while the wrinkles on her forehead creased in confusion.
“Are you kidding me? I came here for her and I have no clue what would possess you to show up here uninvited. I also seriously doubt Tyler invited you so I’ll get in touch with him on the way down too and you can stay put til he can deal with you. I need to pack up and go after her.”
“It’s clear she hates you or she wouldn’t have left. You’re better off without her.” She motioned with a hand for him to follow her into the living room. “Come join me and we can catch up, just like the old days.”
“What? No. There are no old days for us.” He shook his head, frustrated at this unnecessary conversation.
“This isn’t really any of your business Margie so just mind your own business and stay put will ya?
” He disappeared from her site to pack his things but then reappeared just a couple minutes later to her standing in the kitchen blocking his exit.
“Seriously? What the hell…” Luke dropped his belongings by the door and tried to reason with her. “Alright, this is getting weird, what do you want?”
A slow smile crept across her face and Margie’s hands uncurled from her breasts, aiming toward his chest as she hovered in his personal space.
“Now come on Luke, you know you wanna stay.” Her drawl, in which he figured she meant to be sexy, was making his skin crawl.
While she ran her creepy nails along the inside of his duster, he slowly moved away from the door, turning slightly so she would be on the opposite side of him.
When he’d reached the point where his bags lay on the floor, he grabbed her hands carefully, pushing them away from him to make his move.
He moved swiftly to the door, grabbing his belongings and closing the door behind him with her on the other side.
He didn’t care whether she could fend for herself or not.