The Hermit (5 page)

Daphne
wouldn’t pretend otherwise.  Not anymore.  No one would ever tear her down like
the man who’d promised to love and cherish her had in a thousand small ways
during their time together.  She was physically weaker than she’d ever been in
her life but she knew the core of her being had now been forged in steel. 

No one
was ever going to hurt her again. 

That
evening, they sat in silence while Ryan read one of the many books he had on
shelves around the cabin.  Titles by James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and Neil
Gaiman were similar to what had once decorated her own office in the little
house she’d shared with Steven.  A stereo system played soft classical music
that filled the room with warmth, adding to the heat from the fire.

Daphne
watched him, too tired to choose a book of her own.  He had showered earlier
and trimmed his beard.  He was very tall with a lean body under a soft t-shirt
and jeans.  Thick socks covered long feet.  There was nothing wasted on his
frame. 

The
intensity he focused on the book was incredible and he read ridiculously fast. 
Watching him didn’t bore her.  It gave her a feeling of safety and relaxation
she had been so long without.  After an hour, she began to doze and didn’t
remember falling asleep. 

Ryan
watched as Daphne’s eyes drifted shut a final time.  He waited, finishing his
chapter and making sure she was deeply asleep.  Instead of turning off the
stereo, he turned it down low to soothe her as she slept then approached the
couch.  Tucking her snugly under the quilt she seemed to prefer, he stood
staring down at her for a long time. 

Daphne
wasn’t well but she looked so much better than she had the first time he’d seen
her. 

With a
small sign, he added another log to the fire and locked up the cabin.  He turned
all but the bathroom light off.  That combined with the light from the fire
would help her navigate.  Checking on her one last time, he whispered,
“Goodnight, Daphne.”

Walking
into the only other room of his compact cabin, he slipped into sleep pants and
got in bed.  He found he missed sleeping closer to her but thought she’d sleep
better without being forced to remain alert to his presence all night.  It felt
strange not to be able to see her when he opened his eyes.  He left his door
open and watched the shadows on the ceiling from the living room fire. 
Clearing his mind, he slowly found sleep.

In the
middle of the night, Ryan opened his eyes.  He didn’t know what had pulled him
out of a peaceful dream state.  A sound, a feeling in the room.  Moving to get
up, intending to check the house, he found Daphne curled up asleep on the braided
rug beside his bed.  The quilt pulled around her frail form.  Shock held him
immobile for several minutes but finally he knew he couldn’t leave her where
she was.  Her health was still too fragile. 

Crouching,
he woke her carefully, a hand touching her shoulder.  Her eyes opened and she
instantly focused on him.  He didn’t see any fear in her eyes and he refused to
consider how happy that made him.  “Daphne, why are you on the floor?  You must
be freezing.” 

She
swallowed hard, holding the quilt a bit tighter.  “You…you weren’t in the
living room.  I woke up…got scared.  I needed to…to be in here.  You won’t let
anything happen to me.”  He stared at her for a long time, feeling unsure of
what to do or say to this woman he never wanted to feel fear again.  “I won’t
be any trouble.  I’m used to much worse.  Please can I stay here?”  Ryan
started to shake his head until he saw the single tear track into Daphne’s
hair.  That tear hit him hard.

“I
didn’t mean you couldn’t sleep in here, I meant you can’t stay on the floor.  I
don’t want to see you sick.  Your system is still trying to recover.”  Pausing
and taking a deep breath, he added, “Daphne, I’ll put you on the bed if you
want but I don’t want to frighten you.  I won’t hurt you.  You can trust me to
never hurt you.” 

Nodding,
she whispered, “I know, Ryan.  I know I can trust you.”  Hearing those words
from the mouth of a woman who had been through what this woman had was like a
punch to his heart.

He
lifted her gently and put her on the other side of his big bed, pulling her
socks back up before covering her with the quilt.  Walking into the living
room, he pulled another heavy quilt from the back of the chair and stoked the
fire. 

Back
in the bedroom, Daphne had curled on her side.  He dropped the second blanket
over her, tucking it around her feet and up to her chin.  He climbed under his
blankets, thankful he’d gone to bed in a t-shirt and sleep pants.  For a long
time, he watched her watch him.  Closing his eyes and pretending to sleep
allowed her to eventually drift to sleep. 

Ryan considered
the knowledge that a woman was sleeping in bed with him for the first time in many
years.  He didn’t want to think about how much he enjoyed having her there. 
Watching her breathing, her lips slightly parted, the steady rise and fall of
the blankets covering her soothed him as nothing had for so long. 

When he
slipped under hard, a slight rumbling snore filling the snug space, Daphne
watched him until the sky began to lighten.

The
next morning, Ryan opened his eyes and Daphne was gone.  Before he could stop
himself, he reached out and touched the indentation on the pillow where she’d
slept. 

He
smelled coffee and bacon.  Getting up, he pulled on socks and went to the
kitchen.  Daphne stood at the stove wearing long john pants and a t-shirt of
his that fell almost to her knees.  She stood with her hand on her hip while
she cooked. 

She
looked like she belonged where she was.  Right here, in his cabin, sharing
space with him.  He realized her hair was finally getting some of its shine
back and it fell heavily down her back in a thick braid.  He wondered if it was
losing the coarseness so many months of neglect had given it. 

“Good
morning, Daphne.”  She turned with a look of surprise and gave him a half
smile.  “You don’t have to do that.  I’m happy to cook for you.  You should be
resting.”  He went to add a log to the fire and found she’d already done it.

“I was
a good cook once.  I was curious if I could figure out how to turn on the
stove.”  She shrugged and turned back to the bacon and eggs popping in the fry
pan.  “Thank you for babying me last night, Ryan.  It gave me such a sense of
peace for the first time in a long time.  I think I’m strong enough to call
today.”  He sat at the table, wondering at the dread he suddenly felt in his
gut.  “I should get out of your hair before I screw up your entire life.”

They
ate together and she insisted Ryan let her clean up while he went through his
morning routine of checking the clearing and his work shed.  He got her the
satellite phone and placed it on the counter with the notes he’d given her the first
day. 

Leaning
his hip on the cabinet and crossing his arms over his chest, he told her, “I’m
going to give you some privacy to talk.”  Remembering that she had a life to go
back to was hard but her friends and family would be so happy to know she was
alive.  “Daphne, you’ve been through so much but you’re going to be safe now. 
Back with people that love you.  Don’t be afraid.”  He grabbed his latest book
and headed for the front door, “Call me if you have trouble with the phone.” 

Daphne
watched as he walked away from the house and took up a spot twenty yards away
against a tree so she could see him clearly.  She stared at him for a long
time, the bottom of one foot propping him against the trunk while he read.  Ryan
had boy-next-door good looks, he was educated and kind.  In another life, she
might have wished for him to love her. 

She knew
without a doubt that she was too damaged for anyone to ever love again. 

With a
sigh, she grabbed the phone and paper, moving to stand in front of the window
to watch the man who’d saved her life.  She dialed the number and when a voice
answered on the other end, she almost hung up.  It took her a long time to find
her voice but the person waited patiently. 

Daphne
spent thirty minutes giving a detailed account of where she had been, where she
was now, and what had happened to her and her husband.  They asked if she was
safe and she told them she was.  Explaining how Ryan had found her and saved
her at no benefit to himself. 

When
the call was done, she called Janice at home, the only number she remembered. 
“This is Janice.”  It was surreal to hear her best friend’s voice.  Daphne was
unsure what to say, frozen in confusion at her familiarity with the woman on
the other end of the line.  She listened as Janice said carefully, “This is an
Alaska area code.  You’re speaking to Janice Dovecott.  I’m still searching for
my best friend, Daphne.  Please tell me you have information.”

The
words wouldn’t come at first.  Her mouth opened and closed several times before
she managed to make a sound.  “Janice…”  Daphne whispered, tears beginning to
stream down her face.

The
other woman gasped into the phone, “Daphne…oh my
God
…
Daphne
?  Is
that you, honey?”  Daphne completely broke down, sobbing bits and pieces of her
story to the person she’d known most of her life.  “I’m coming, baby.  I’ll be
there by tomorrow latest.  They’re going to have to airlift you out and that’s
going to take time.  They’ll likely take you to McArthur, the closest town to
where you are.  I’ll be there.  I’ll
be there
, Daphne.  I love you so
much.  I’m so sorry I couldn’t find you, baby.  I’ll see you soon.  Can you
write down my cell phone number?  Let me give you that so you have it.”  Daphne
wrote it on the same paper Ryan had given her, folding it and putting it in the
pocket of the flannel shirt she wore.  “Oh my God…
Daphne
.  I’m so scared
to hang up.”

“I’m
safe, Janice.  The man who found me…who
saved
me…is outside.  He’ll keep
me safe until someone comes.  I…I miss you so much, Janice.”  They talked for a
few more minutes before Daphne disconnected the call. 

Ryan
still stood where he’d been the entire time.  She carried the phone with her
and opened the front door.  Calling softly, she said, “It’s cold out here.  You
shouldn’t stay outside.”

He
looked at her intently, standing away from the tree and walking slowly toward
her.  “Are they coming?”  She nodded.  “Were you able to speak to Janice?”  She
nodded again and smiled.  The first real smile she’d felt on her face in so
long.  It seemed to startle him, causing his footsteps to stutter.  “The
weather is still good so it probably won’t take them long to get here.”

He
placed one foot on the bottom step and went still, not wanting to get too
close.  “Ryan…I…,” was all she was able to say before she slowly covered the
distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.  Whispering against
his shoulder, she said, “Thank you.  Thank you for helping me, Ryan.  I’ll owe
you for the rest of my life.” 

He raised
his arms to hug her loosely, “You don’t owe me, Daphne.  I’m so glad you’re
going home to friends, to the life you left behind.  You deserve all the
happiness in the world after what you’ve been through.  You’re going to be
okay.”  He pulled back to look at her and realized again how very small she was,
even without the extreme weight loss.  She was level with him on the porch, almost
a foot shorter than his six-two height. 

“You’ll
need a lot of physical rehabilitation and they’ll likely put you on a million
supplements to get your body’s nutritional levels back up.  Psychologically, I
know you have a long road ahead of you.  Physically, you’ll probably bounce
back inside of six months.”  He put one hand on her shoulder and said softly,
“You were so strong, you survived so much.  You can start over.  Make a new
life for yourself.”

She
nodded and said quietly, “I will.  I’m a fighter.” 

He
smiled and walked past her, holding the door open for her.  “Let’s get you something
to eat.  The rescue workers will have to set down in the large meadow about a
quarter of a mile away at the base of the mountain.”  He gave her a small laugh
as they entered the kitchen.  “I’ll have to find you something to put on your
feet.  My shoes will be far too big; no way will you be able to walk in them
unless we stuff them with cloth.  That might work.”