Page 6 of Inked Temptation
“Well, I’ve always had it. So, I guess it is. You’re not hurt, are you? Because I don’t want to have to carry you down the mountain.”
“I’m fine. Plus, you wouldn’t have to carry me. There are vehicles.”
“I’d have to carry you to the vehicle and get you down there. It’s not like ambulances like to come up here.”
“We’re not that much in the wilderness,” he said as he picked with a new hole on his jean knee. And that’s when I realized we were both still sitting on the ground. I stood up quickly, ignoring the aches and pains in my lower back. Oh, I hadn’t twinged something or broken anything, but I was going to be sore in the morning. Hell, I would be sore in the next ten minutes, and it would last for eons.
“Emergency services can get up here, but it’s a lot of resources and a lot of time on their end. You’re pretty much out on your own, especially since the cell tower’s been down for so long.”
“I noticed that. My sister came out to check on me because of it.”
“Ah. That was that car.”
“Spying, are you?” he asked, and I heard the teasing glint in his tone as he stood up and stretched, wincing a bit. I sighed, wondering why the hell I was even trying. I didn’t try. That was the whole point.
“I don’t honestly care. I have to get back to work. Did you buy the house from the previous owner? Are you just working?”
Archer frowned, probably wondering why I was such an asshole. There wasn’t much left to wonder. I was just kind of an asshole.
“I’m fixing it up for them, our whole company is. But I don’t know. It’s a good place.”
I looked at the nearly worn-down cabin and thought about the home that was worse off behind those trees. The place I spent every day pretending that I knew what the fuck I was doing.
“Well, there’s nothing much up here. Don’t know why you’d want to move out here.” I shrugged. “If you’re doing okay, I’m going to head out. Call down the mountain for help. Maybe a bear will come out and help you if you need it.”
And with that, I turned on my heel and left while I felt Archer’s glare on me.
The man seemed fine, he wasn’t hurt, and I just needed to get back to the cabin. I had shit to do, a life to pretend I lived, and I didn’t need to think about Archer fucking Montgomery.
“Thank you!” Archer yelled from behind me. I tensed but didn’t turn back. “Seriously. The joy of your conversation has made this whole falling from a roof thing completely thrilling. I truly appreciate it.”
I scowled, ignoring the way that my lips wanted to twitch. This was not funny. I did not find this guy funny. He was annoying. He was intruding on my solitude. That was the one thing I had, the one thing I was going to keep. So screw this.
I waved him off and ignored Archer muttering behind me and the sound of metal scraping against stone as he presumably picked up the ladder.
I wanted to stop what I was doing, go back and hold the damn thing for him, or tell him to get off the roof, but it wasn’t my job. It wasn’t my role. I didn’t have any right to make sure that he was safe.
A bark sounded in front of me, and I leaned down and ran my hand over the yellow Lab’s head. “Okay, Cora. Let’s get back to work.” She barked up at me, that doggy grin killing me.
Ecstatic about me just being around, she huffed and jumped and barked before carefully coming to my side and following me to the backside of the house. Her enthusiasm broke my heart, even as it made me smile. I wasn’t very good at raising Cora. I was trying, but I knew who’d have been better at it. I pushed those thoughts from my mind and went back to work.
I was rebuilding this cabin from scratch, doing the one thing I had been good at before my life changed. It was odd to think that someone else had a whole business doing what I needed and was working next door. And since I could do the electrical but not the plumbing as well as I’d like, maybe I could ask Archer for help. Or hire him. But no, that was an idiotic thing to think. I had one thing to do. Take care of this house. And do what I should have done in the first place.
The first thing I needed to do, though, was prep for winter, which meant firewood. There were a few downed trees in the last storm, so I went to work. I’d been working on them since the storm, but with this many trees, it took months on top of all of my other work. I rolled up my flannel sleeves, pushed back my hair slightly, remembered it was in a ponytail, cursed at myself, and ignored it. Then I went to work. I set the log on the chopping block, swung, split it in two, and did it over and over again until the aching in my body from the fall burned but meant something. I felt something because of it, so I leaned into it, craving it.
I kept going, sweat slicking into my flannel, down my jeans, and over my face. I kept going until I couldn’t hold the ax any longer, my hands aching, my gloves pushing new blisters onto my skin.
I set down the ax, careful not to startle Cora who napped behind me, and went back for my jug of water.
My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I cursed. Sadly the damn thing hadn’t broken in the fall, and it seemed that the cell tower was back up and running. Well, at least Archer’s sister wouldn’t be worried about him anymore.
I looked down at my phone and I sighed. Butmysister was.
I thought about letting it go to voicemail like I usually did, but then she might come up here. And her drive was from Texas. She had moved down to the panhandle when her husband had been stationed at Dyess Air Force base in Abilene, and that wasn’t an easy drive to check up on her dumbass brother.
I finally answered on the second to last ring and sighed. “Ann.”
“You’re alive.” I heard the relief in her voice but forced myself to ignore it. “That’s always good to know.”
