Snow and the Seven Men: A Reverse Harem Fairy Tale Romance(31)

I couldn’t possibly be so lucky.

Cane had known my father a hundred years ago and the old man considered himself some unofficial guardian of me.

I knew he meant well but he was just another person infringing on my desire to be alone.

I much preferred it when his son, the sullen-faced Stephen was at the counter, his acne-scarred face pressed into his tablet.

“What will it be today, son?” Cane crowed and I winced at the volume of his voice.

“Just looking for some things for the house,” I replied, flashing him a tight smile. “I know what I need.”

“Eh?” the old man yelled and I bit my lower lip. It didn’t help matters that he was deaf.

I held up a bag of cement to show him I was finding everything just fine and he nodded through rheumy eyes, coughing into the air freely.

In reality, Cane couldn’t be more than sixty but he looked a hundred.

He had grown up in the mountains also but unlike Jacob Jackson, when Cane had married better, he brought himself out of poverty and into town instead of subjecting his family to poverty and disease.

Even two years after my father’s death, I still wondered what he was thinking, keeping my mom away from the luxuries she could have had if he had just bit the bullet and gotten a job on the rig.

How much different would I be if he had done that?

But the “what if” game was for children, not grown men.

We each make our own destiny.

Anyway, dad was dead. There was no way to ask him what the hell he was doing and how he slept at night.

“How are those renos comin’ along?” Cane asked, following me around the store and I bobbed my head with phony enthusiasm, relying on body language more than words.

“I can’t wait to come up there and see it but I don’t much head that way anymore. These old bones can’t handle the mountain climate much.”

“When it’s all finished, you’ll have to come,” I replied emptily. I didn’t mean it of course.

I sped up my shopping as Cane continued to ramble in my ear, my mind only half registering what he was saying.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the door open and a strange looking man wandered inside. I was hardly one to notice an oddity in someone else but there was something about this man which stood out to me for some elusive reason.

“Randolph, how are you?” Cane called, excusing himself from my side. I was grateful for the distraction and I turned my full attention back to my shopping, the newcomer all but forgotten.

I finished up as Cane talked to the pale, emaciated man standing at the counter.

Snatches of Cane’s end of the conversation flittered toward me but I really had no interest in anything but getting my shit and getting out of there.

I ventured toward the cash as the strange man stepped aside to let me unload my purchases.

“Go ahead,” the too-thin man said to me before turning back to the proprietor. “Cane, you will let me know if you hear anything?”

“Of course,” Cane called. “Damned shame.”

I noticed the man (Rudolph?) cast Cane a warning look but the owner didn’t seem to notice.

“Tell Denton I will spread the word, Randolph,” Cane assured him. “Should we put out flyers or – ”

Randolph, not Rudolph. Not that I cared much. Both names were stupid.

“NO!” the man cried and even I was startled by the vehemence in his words. Instantly, he caught himself, offering a tight smile.

“I mean, there is no cause for alarm. I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

Cane shrugged and Randolph turned to leave.

I felt my eyes narrowing as the skinny man excused himself, hurrying from the store.

Although I was curious, I didn’t bother to ask. I didn’t want to give Cane more reasons to talk.

Anyway, I knew he would volunteer his own information.

“You haven’t seen a young girl around in these parts, have you?” Cane asked and I snickered.

“Have you checked Wendy Lou’s? That’s where they all seem to end up these days,” I joked but Cane shook his weathered head.

“Not this one. Blonde girl? Skinny?”

“That doesn’t narrow it down,” I told him and Cane chuckled.

“I suppose you’re right,” he replied. “But I’ll be damned if I can remember what she looks like now. It’s been years since I’ve seen Eloise Danzer.”

I reached for my wallet as he slowly rang up my selections, eyeing him as he laboriously worked on the task at hand.

Almost done here, I thought, willing myself not to lose my patience with the old man.

“Has she gone missing?” I asked reluctantly, hoping that filling the silence would make the process less painful.

“Looks like,” Cane replied. “Probably runoff. That was her step-brother. Strange family over there.”

I could relate to that assessment.

Once upon a time, the Jacksons were the strange family, I thought wryly.

“Hope they find her,” I replied without any real sincerity.

What the hell did I care if the runaway was found or not? Who could blame her for wanting to flee Utah?

Suddenly, I remembered the blonde girl I had seen on the road that morning and a slight chill slid through my body.

Could that have been Eloise Danzer?

I opened my mouth to ask for more details about the missing girl but Cane cut me off.

“One hundred twelve dollars, six cents, Harding.”

I stared at him for a second, my mind whirling.

If the girl I had seen was Eloise and she had been in trouble, she would have flagged me down for help, wouldn’t she?

She clearly did not want to be found and I was not about to get involved in some teenaged domestic situation.

I made the decision to keep my mouth closed and my ears open.

Peeling six twenties out of my wallet, I told Cane to keep the change, hurrying to load up my truck.

Bidding Cane goodbye, I jumped into the cab and left the lot, my eyes scanning the area for Randolph but he was nowhere to be seen.

It’s none of your business, I reminded myself, making my way toward Cedar Canyon Drive, out of the city.

I consciously exhaled as the town disappeared behind me, the hour-long drive back to my cabin filling me with a familiar sense of peace.

The afternoon sunlight was blazing through a cloudless blue sky and by the time I slipped up the mountain road, I had left the anxiety of people well behind me.

I was already going through the mental checklist as the F150 gripped the dirt curves, my mind on autopilot as I managed the treacherous curves.

Feed the dogs, have supper and start on the second floor. I’ll finish the planking and framework tonight before –

I slammed on the brakes, my body lurching forward as my gut jumped into my stomach.

She stood on the side of the road, her face almost gray as she stared at me with haunted eyes.

My initial evaluation of her had been off. She was not a teenager, although she did look very young, at least ten years my junior.

Our gazes locked and for a minute, I didn’t know what to do, my heart pounding with anticipation as I took in her matted blonde hair and shivering frame. Once upon a time, her tresses had been pulled into a fishtail, flipped over the side of her left shoulder but it had long since come loose. The strands hung in limp strands to her ribcage, amass with twigs and greenery.

She was dressed in dated clothes, like an Amish girl in simple homespun clothes and I realized that Randolph had been in the same style of attire.

That was what my subconscious was trying to tell me at Cane’s store, I determined but none of that seemed as important as I tried to figure out what to do with her at that moment.

Her pale lips parted slightly as if she wanted to say something and I pushed the truck in park, seeing the panic on her face.

I knew for certain that she needed my help and as I opened the driver’s side door to call out to her, my mind racing.

But no sooner did my foot touch the road did she spin and run, disappearing into the ravine beyond, leaving me gaping after her in disbelief.



- End of Sneak Peek -