Stranded but not Alone (Midnight Moanings Collection) (4 page)

“I’ll try not to snore, Miss Daniels,” he chided her from under those dark lashes.

“Appreciate it…” She tried for non-chalant, yet couldn’t help watching the way his shoulders seem to push at the air when he walked, almost stalking something.

“Drop the bar over the door after I leave,” he said, leaving her alone.

Last thing I need in my life right now is a man. I’m just not up for it. It’s too soon.
Heck in the woods, while photographing the horse, she thought of putting the picture in the baby’s room. Four months since the miscarriage, and at times, it still felt like he was growing inside her. No, a relationship wouldn’t work right now.

Simone was no stranger to the outdoors and she tooled around the makeshift kitchen. Back in Michigan she had been her father’s hunting buddy. She could remember being excited the year he bought the camper with a shower… a necessity. Not that she was getting naked to take a shower with a strange man in the cabin.

She continued her search. One cabinet held a cylinder with tubing attached to the faucet in the tiny sink. She turned the knob not expecting anything. Surprised when water ran out of the silver spout, she filled a pot with water and made enough coffee for the two of them. After chucking more wood in the stove, she set out two cups and pulled out her Ziploc bags filled with granola, peanut butter, and cheese crackers. Eyeing the room, she noted no major cracks or holes, nothing bigger than what a bug or spider could get through. Being rodent free eased her mind.

~~~

In the bedroom, she stripped off her jacket and boots before falling back on the bed. With her arm draped over her eyes, the memories flooded over her like ice water. She slid her other hand under her sweater over her miserably flat stomach.

Butterfly would have been close to sixteen weeks by now, wiggling away deep inside her tummy. Oblivious to the jerk of a father he’d had.
How could Ronald ask if the baby was his,
she thought,
after sleeping together nearly every night?

She stopped herself when the self-deprecating came over her. No more analyzing why she went to the basement that day. No more,
what if Bandit hadn’t been on the stairs
? No more,
why couldn’t she have caught the banister before she hit the floor and lost her baby
? Her mother’s voice in the hospital was the first thing she remembered, when she woke. “Sweetheart, they couldn’t save him. But your family and Kim are all right here and we’re gonna get you through this—together.”

That had been the worse day in her life. But her mother had been right without family and her best friend, Kim. She couldn’t have gotten out of bed that first month due to the depression.

She let out a long sigh. Ronald belonged in her past. Austria was meant to recharge her juices. How could she achieve her goal when she’ll need to share not only a house but also a bed with a strange man tonight while so many suspicious things were happening?

“Are you feeling alright, Simone?” That rough deep voice rang from the doorway.

She jolted upright. “Seth, I didn’t hear you come back in. I’m fine. I found some coffee in the kitchen and put a pot of water on to boil. Did you see any tracks outside or get a cell signal?”

“Coffee sounds great. I didn’t get a cell signal and found some four-legged tracks. It’s to be expected since we’re in the forest.”

“Hmm.” She moaned softly.

“If you’re not feeling well, stay there. I swear I don't bite.” The sincerity of his words brought his strong facial features to a warm glow.

“This was supposed to be my chance to recharge and getaway. After what I witnessed out there on the cliff, I’m ready to get back on the plane for home. This vacation is over,” she said as he eased down on the bed beside her. Uncomfortable with her attraction to Seth, she stood to put some distance between them.

Seth propped a jean-clad knee on the bed. “Was that your first time seeing somebody die?” he asked.

She held his stare. “Seth, it wasn’t just some
body
dying, but people. They got on that van this morning just as we did, thinking they were going hiking. Expecting to explore the mountains, not plummet to their death.” She pointed toward the door. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“I know.” His tone had softened, yet the edge was still there.

She tilted her head and eyed him. “This doesn’t bother you?”

“Someone knows we weren’t in the van. Or else our bags would’ve been with the others. Focusing on something I can’t fix won’t change the situation,” he told her. “I’m more concerned about our safety right now. There’s nothing else we can do for those people besides tell their families where to find their bodies.”

She moved out to the living room to set up her laptop and pulled out the Ziploc bag that held her battery. Seth’s practical logic made her curious of his past. He had a cold side about him. No point in asking him—men like him don’t do emotion well.

“In case we don’t make it out of here, I’ll type up what happened so far. At least this will give the police somewhere to start from.”

He zipped his jacket. “I’ll get more wood. We’re staying here tonight.”

“Seth, what were you doing in the woods earlier?”

He held the door open. “Watching you. A family of skunks was traveling along the tree line. Figured you’d try to take a picture and get sprayed.”

“Get the wood.” The door closed. She rolled her eyes and started in on her laptop. Once she finished describing the van accident, she started uploading the pictures from her digital camera before preparing some lunch. She looked out the window just as Seth crossed the yard, picking up broken branches. He’d been right. They needed to concentrate on their safety, so why had he gone out alone?

Searching for soup bowls, she pulled open the small door set back in the wall. Instead of a pantry, she was pleasantly surprised to find a large room with a sink, toilet, and large metal tub. Centered in the room, it appeared to be galvanized steel with its welded corners. A pump attached to an environmental water saver fed the tub from a pipe along the floor. A rectangular gray box hung suspended from the wall. It held cold water. Another water reserve.

She left the bathroom door open. Heat from the potbelly stove would move in and warm the small room. Tossing her jacket on the sofa, she continued going through her pictures on the laptop. She crouched over the counter at one particular photo. A panoramic view of the mountains and the faces of those lines up to board the van lined the bottom of the shot. She shut the laptop.

A loud bang rang through the room. She jerked around to face the door. “Simone—” Seth’s rough voice penetrated the door of the shanty, making her drop the towel she held. “I’m freezing.” His voice shook. She bolted for the door. Shoved the bar off, then wrenched it open.

Four

“What happened to you?” Simone asked. Seth stood there, a bundle of logs falling from his grasp, soaked from head to toe, staring at her.

His teeth chattered. “I slipped in a ditch.” He fought against the urge to tremble as ice water ran down under his clothes, clinging to his skin. His jacket made a splat sound as it hit the floor in front of the fireplace.

Simone went to work and all he could do was watch. She transform into her “care mode” right before him. “Here,” she said, grabbing the blanket off the couch and wrapping it around him, briskly running her hands over his chest. “Lord you’re ice cold. Come stand in front of the stove.” Joints stiff, he moved from the door to the warmth of the stove, boots squishing with each step. In the middle of the room, Simone knelt before him, to unlace his boot strings. “Lift your foot up.” She wiggled the soaked leather from his feet. After removing both boots and his socks, she set them in front of the stove. “Take off the rest of your clothes off while I run you a warm bath.”

He shivered under the blanket. The military had prepared him for survival, but not for the knot forming in his gut from watching this beautiful woman take care of him. Unable to grip the blanket, it slid down his shoulders. Chewing his bottom lip, he eyed his blue fingernails. He needed her help. Simone was busy making his bathwater. He flexed his cold hands and tried to unsnap his jeans. He couldn’t feel the button in his hand, let alone push it through the little hole. Cursing under his breath, he moved to the sweater, warming his hands before he tried the jeans again. He fought to get the sweater over his head as it clung to him.

“You smell awful,” Simone said. He could feel her warm hands slip under the wet sweater. She slowly bunched it up and removed it in a wet ring over his head, then freed his arms. “Keep your arms up. This t-shirt has to go also.” She dropped the two items on the floor. Warmth from the fire swirled around his wet skin, raising the hair on his arms.

“You kept the fire from going out,” he mumbled, trailing her hands with his eyes.

She held the blanket to his chest. “You’re too tall. Lean into me so I can put this around your shoulders. Start taking your pants and underwear off. I’ll put some of that wood on the stove.”

“I don’t think I can,” Seth said, flexing his fingers. Fumbling with the snap, he groaned as she glanced at him from the doorway. “My hands are stiff.”

“Here, I’ll get it,” she said. He sucked in a breath. Her fingers slipped inside his jeans behind the zipper, protecting his skin from the metal teeth. “Hold that blanket up and stand closer to the fire,” she ordered him. He liked the sound of concern in her voice.

With a gentle hand, she carefully slid the zipper down and pushed his jeans down his legs. How could she undress him without a flinch but refuse to share a bed with him? He glanced for a ring on her finger. None, but that didn’t matter. A lot people refused to wear the symbolism.

“Are you married, Simone?” his shaky voice asked.

She turned her face up at him. “No why?”

“Sharing a bed with me…” He paused, swallowing twice to curb the teeth chattering and then said, “Bothers you.”

She squeezed his hand between hers. “Blue fingernails bother me more. Let me check on the bathwater. She held the waistband of his briefs. “Can you get these or you need me to help?”

“I’m freezing, Simone.” Was she that intimidated by him? He stared down into her face and it wasn’t intimidation looking back at him. By the gentle tilt of her head and soft set of her mouth, Simone was showing him consideration by asking.

She stepped behind him and wedged her warm hands beneath his waistband. He tipped his chin down and watched her work the clinging material down his thighs to a puddle at his feet. She hadn’t blinked while undressing him. Maybe she preferred women.

“Go ahead and step out of those,” she said, pulling the blanket over his shoulders. “If you wash them in the tub, I’ll lay them in front of the fire. At least they will be clean. Your water should be ready now. Need me to help you get in?”

He wanted to drag her beneath the blanket with him. “I think I can manage,” he said, looking into the open door. “I didn’t know that was in there.”

“I thought it was a pantry” She waved him on. “Go ahead. I’ll bring you something hot to drink.” Dropping the blanket once in the bathroom, he sank into the glorious warm water now at chest level in the metal tub. The gray box on the wall, he noticed was attached to the floor, surely a hot water reserve underground. He dipped below the surface, flushing out the debris in his hair when Simone knocked on the door.

“Okay if I come in?”

He smiled. She just saw him buck-naked, then asked to come in. Who was he stranded with, Mary Poppins? “Come in, Simone.”

 “I figure you could use this,” she said, carrying in a pail of burning logs.

This woman was a quandary. Covering himself in the tub, he leaned close to the edge to watch her set up her little fireplace she made. He met that warm, brown stare as she lifted her head from over the bucket.

“Were you in the military, Simone?” he joked.

“My father was,” she said and pulled a small towel out of her back pocket. “I found a kitchen towel. Use it as a washcloth.” He held her hand as she handed him the towel. “Don’t worry. It’s clean,” she said, extracting her hand and rambled on. “I learned this from camping, though.”

Her sterile demeanor broke when he tugged her hand again. The longer he spent time with this fireball, the more he saw it was a veil for a softer woman beneath the layer of smart-ass. Oh, she was definitely not what she showed him. Why was she hiding the softer side? He should be grateful for that because he wasn’t looking to get involved.

“Didn’t figure you for the outdoors-type,” he said, releasing her hand, laying the towel over his groin.

“Most men don’t,” she agreed.

“Can you blame them? We’re in the middle of the mountains and you have on makeup.”

“No I don’t.”

He could feel his body coming to life under the water at the thought of those lips wrapped around him. He reached out and tapped her bottom lip, her so close to the tub. “That’s the natural color of your lips?”