"I'm happy for each of you. Dating is impossible," I groaned as my thoughts flitted to my last three failed relationships.
"You'll love Texas," Molly promised. "And you can call any of us if you need advice on handling an angry mom or a grumpy dad."
"Or the best place to get tacos in Houston," Toni offered with a hungry smile. "Did somebody say tacos?"
We all laughed, and I found that at some point in the conversation, I'd started to relax. By the time the evening was over, I felt better about my move to Texas and my career change.
At least I would as soon as Serenity found me another placement—hopefully one that lasted at least a year, or maybe a few years. I was feeling good as I left the party and made my way home, buoyed by the prospect of a new life and a new job.
But when I pulled into my designated parking space, the weight of the burden I'd been carrying settled around me like a lead weight. There was a familiar silhouette sitting on my doorstep, and I froze. My heart raced, not because I was afraid—mostly I was just stunned, since I was pretty sure I'd left him back in Florida. "Jason. What are you doing here?"
He shrugged his broad shoulders, a familiar, slightly charming smile on his face—one that had worked on me many times in the past. "I'm here for you, baby girl."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes because I no longer found him charming or adorable or appealing at all. "Not interested," I said and brushed past him to get to my front door.
"Come on, Rosalee. We used to be good together." His tone was soft and slightly alluring for a silly girl who didn't know any better. I was no longer that girl.
"Not. Interested. You should go back home where you belong." I turned the key in the lock, stepped inside, and as soon as I kicked off my shoes, I cranked up the music to ignore Jason's attempts to win me back. He didn't stand a chance, and the fact that he was trying was more than he'd done during our entire relationship.
Jason was one of the primary reasons, aside from unemployment, for my departure from Miami specifically and Florida in general. We weren't good together, and I was simply treading water, stuck in several bad relationships that I was desperate to free myself from at any cost. That cost was uprooting myself and starting over.
Again.
I wasn't sure how long Jason stood on my doorstep and knocked to plead his case, but after more than an hour of girl rock and female anthems, I was relaxed, smiling, and had stopped giving a damn.
He was my past, and Texas—Houston, ENS—that was my future.
Not even his passive-aggressive text,This isn't over,could shake me.
Chapter 3
Xavier
Chopping wood was the perfect activity to clear my mind. The act of raising the axe and lowering it into the blocks of wood soothed me, gave me clarity, and allowed me to see any problem from all sides. I spent the morning after my conversation with Nate chopping far more wood than I would likely need to get me through the rest of autumn and winter. His warning about our mother had left me shaken and slightly pissed off. The last thing I wanted was another fight with her about the way I chose to live my life, but I would fight to the death before I conceded even a step.
After chopping the wood, I traipsed around the mountain to check out all the cabins that existed for hikers who found themselves caught in bad weather to make sure there were no leaks and they had a safe place to hunker down for a few hours, if necessary.
Everything was fine, which meant I could head back to my own cabin for a quiet lunch. I shoved away the sound of Nate's voice as I dropped chunks of beef, potatoes, and carrots into a pot along with stewed tomatoes and herbs. Soup was the perfectfood for the mountain. Full of healthy nutrients to keep me healthy and fit, and easy enough that I never starved.
Did it get boring sometimes? Sure it did, but what mattered more than excitement was that I ate regularly. I needed my strength to get through tough, physical days on the mountain, and after a difficult rescue, the last thing I wanted was to come home and slave away in the kitchen.
Soup with crackers or crusty bread was more than good enough for me, even if Nate didn't understand it.
A sound broke through the simmering pot of soup, and I froze, closing my eyes to hear the noise clearly. It sounded like someone was crying, and my shoulders fell at the realization that someone else was very likely trapped somewhere close, which meant lunch would have to wait. The sound went away for a minute, and I turned back to my stew, but then I heard it again.
Crying, but not just any crying. It wasn't someone calling for help; it was the sound of a baby crying. "What in the hell," I murmured to myself and wiped my hands on a kitchen towel as I made my way to the front door of the cabin. I yanked it open and looked left and then right in search of the sound, but I saw no one. The cry sounded again, and I looked down to find a chubby little baby girl with big gray eyes, rosy red cheeks, and wisps of blond hair.
She stopped her crying at the sight of me, tilting her head and eyeing me curiously.
"What are you doing here, sweet girl?"
Her legs and arms pushed out into tiny kicks and punches at the sound of my voice. It was getting cold out as the sun slowly sank behind the horizon, and I looked around in search of who might have left her on my doorstep, and why. The area around my cabin was empty as it always was, with no visible footsteps and no sounds to indicate someone else was—or had been—here recently.
"Let's get you inside," I whispered and took the baby and her carrier inside. She was small, less than a year old—I thought—but otherwise, I had no clue. I hadn't spent a lot of time with babies in my adult life, and I was completely out of my depth as the little girl showed off her impressive and loud lung capacity. "What do you need?"
My deep voice stopped her crying once again but only for a few seconds before she voiced her displeasure even louder and with more passion, as if to tell me I was doing it especially wrong.
I searched the carrier and her clothing, looking for anything to indicate who she might be or who she belonged to, and all I found was a small note that left me with more questions than answers.
