Page 10 of The Mountain Man's Mail-Order Wife
Swiveling on my stool, I stare at the side of his handsome face. “You were in an accident?”
“Yes.” He’s frowning again. “I told you?—”
His mouth snaps shut and I wait for him to continue but when he doesn’t, I broach the subject we’ve ignored since I got here. “How did I end up here? With you?”
He turns toward me and it’s only then that I remember the scaring on the left side of his face. It looks like someone took a knife and carved into his flesh. It’s not pretty, but it doesn’t take away from his good looks. If anything, it makes him look more handsome. Manly. Like I imagine a rugged mountain man should look.
“Will you please tell me what Warren told you? He told me he found me a job doing what I did for my aunt. Nothing else.”
With a sigh, he puts down his spoon and twists on his stool to face me fully. “There’s a website called Get Hitched. It’s for men and women looking for a partner, for marriage. You put up a profile and write what you’re looking for. If you see someone you think might be a match, you message them and see where things go. I messaged Riley Rose. Except for the photo of you, I think everything in your profile was a lie.”
“It wasn’t me you were talking to. It was Warren.”
“I worked that out within five minutes of you getting here.”
“So you thought I was here to marry you, and I thought I was here to work.”
“Yep.”
“I can’t marry?—”
“I don’t expect you to.” He shakes his head, his frown on full display. “I’dnevermake you even if you were the one who said you would.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. We’ve both been conned, tricked. Luckily there was no money involved in the agreement. Well, none beyond me taking care of my wife.”
“Oh, I’d never expect that even if we did get married. I’d get a job. Help support us.”
Felix smiles, the left side of his mouth not quite going as high as the right, the groove in his cheek deepening. “Not many jobs up here.”
“No. I guess not.” If I had transportation, I could drive down the mountain into Winter Lake. Maybe get a job at Della’s Dina. Or at the Lodge cleaning rooms might be a better option. “Do you have a car?”
“No. I told you I don’t leave the forest. I have an ATV and a snowmobile for getting to and from my uncle’s if I don’t want to walk.”
“Oh.”
“You planning to steal my wheels and escape?” His grin tells me he’s not at all afraid I will.
With a matching grin I say, “I don’t know how to drive either of those.”
“Ride.”
“What?”
“It’s more ride than drive.”
I wave a hand to indicate the technicalities of using his transport aren’t important. “You really don’t leave here?”
“No. Haven’t since I got home from the hospital.”
“When was that?”
“Over ten years ago.”
“Wow.” I look around the room, take in the well-used furniture and the comfort of the place, and realize if I’m going to be trapped somewhere other than Aunt Bethany’s dark, coldhouse, this is a good place to be confined. “I can see why you’d want to stay here. It’s warm and comfy. Safe.”
“You think so?”
