Timberman Werebear(11)

The unspoken words hung in the space between them.

Danielle was breaking apart. She’d shattered them both by making assumptions. “Denny.” She stood and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

He tossed the pillow back on the couch and kept his eyes on it. Softly, he said, “I’ve been accused of a lot of things. Cheating is a new one for me. I think you should leave.”

“I owe you a huge apology.”

“I ain’t ready for it tonight. Go on now.” He still wouldn’t look at her.

She felt like she was falling. Like she was being sucked into a hole in the floor and scrabbling her nails for purchase on thin laminate that was getting pulled down with her. She closed her eyes as the pain of what she’d done burst through her chest. How stupid had she been to let a misunderstanding do this to them? She deserved this burning that spread through her limbs and left a numb sensation in their wake. “Okay.”

I’m sorry. The words sat right at the tip of her tongue. She wanted to say them so bad, but he’d told her not to. He deserved those words from her, but he wasn’t ready to forgive her. She understood, but it didn’t make it hurt less. Gritting her teeth, she turned for the door and opened it just wide enough for her to get through.

Tagan stood at the bottom of the porch stairs. In fact, the entire group seemed to be there, milling around in the shadows. Someone had turned strings of holiday lights on, illuminating the dirt road and the dilapidated trailers that lined it.

Heat filled her cheeks. “I guess the walls are pretty thin around here.”

“We heard,” Tagan said, arching a dark eyebrow.

His bright blue eyes studied her in silence until she was nice and uncomfortable under the scrutiny. She probably had mascara all over her face and looked like a sniffling zombie.

“Denison will help you. I can spare him for a week.”

“I don’t think he wants that.”

“He doesn’t have a choice. It’s my decision, and what I say goes around here. Anything past a week, we can’t help you.”

She’d have to mull this over tonight because she definitely wasn’t sure she still wanted to do this. The job felt very small in light of everything now. But maybe, just maybe, she could make it up to Denison if he would let her.

Tagan sidled past her and disappeared inside Denison’s house. The boys wandered off, talking low, but Skyler and Brooke waited for her to climb down the steps, then flanked her and walked her to the jeep.

“I know you’re thinking about leaving,” Brooke murmured, “but I think you should stay. If you have a running problem, I can promise you, it won’t fix what’s been broken with Denison.”

“Denny doesn’t want me here. He told me to leave.”

A door banged and Danielle jumped, then spun in time to see Denison hop over the railing of his porch and stomp off toward a fence that surrounded the trailer park. He didn’t even look at her once before he disappeared into the shadows.

She’d done this. Every ounce of pain she’d been through to get over Denison was on her. And the unimaginable agony she’d caused him made her feel like the dirt between the tread on her jeep. “I messed up really bad.”

In the distance, a feral roar echoed off the mountains. Danielle hunched as a flock of birds lifted from the nearest tree and flapped off into the night, as if startled by the terrifying noise. “What was that?”

The other women looked at each other, then Brooke draped her arm over Danielle’s shoulders. “You’re in the wilderness now, Badger. Better get used to the wild animals.”





Chapter Five


A horrendous booming sound traveled down the side of the RV, rattling the metal home. Danielle shot straight up with a yelp and lurched over the edge of the bed.

“Breakfast is on.” A voice that sounded suspiciously like Bruiser’s called through the thin wall.

Grumpily, she lunged across the tiny living area and threw open the door.

Bruiser’s eyebrows shot up, and he rocked backward on his heels. “Whoa there, Badger. You look like hell just spat you out.”

Danielle glared. “You know ‘knocking’ means on the door, not all along the walls, right?”

Bruiser balanced a plate piled with eggs and bacon in one hand and made a sweeping gesture to the ramshackle homes behind him. “Different rules in the trailer park darlin’. You don’t like them, you can park your fancy RV on that side of the fence.” He shoved the plate of food at her, then spun and walked away. “We’re leaving in half an hour. Oh!” He turned his behemoth shoulders and pulled a wadded up length of fabric from his back pocket. “Wear this.”