Wyatt Read online

  WYATT

  Diamond Ridge Mountain Men-3

  Brynn Hale

  Copyright © 2019 by Brynn Hale

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contact Brynn at [email protected] for more information.

  Acknowledgment

  Thank you to authors Tarin Lex, Mazzy King, Kali Hart, Kate Tilney, Krysta Fox, and Lana Dash (and more :-)) for making this story and this adventure amazing and inspiring.
  Contents

  Raine

  Wyatt

  Raine

  Raine

  Wyatt

  Wyatt

  Wyatt

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Raine

  “What do you mean you’re not coming?” I ask my sister, Sierra, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

  “Raine, you have a J.D., you scored a 1600 on your SAT, and you were Valedictorian of your high school class…you know what ‘not coming’ means.”

  The blowing snow blusters sideways into my SUV on Interstate 15. Even after twenty-six years of living here, minus the three I spent at Harvard getting my law degree, Montana in December still surprises me. Cambridge, Massachusetts was never like this. It snowed, but not constantly. Being back for over a year, you’d think the thick skin that’s required for the cold weather would’ve returned.

  The job opportunity presented to me yesterday was looking better and better. At least Cambridge would feel familiar.

  And not have so much damn snow.

  “Then why aren’t you coming?” I overemphasize the words so she can feel my venom for her choice through the phone.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  And my venom disappears.

  I knew what this baby meant to Sierra. She and her husband had been trying for five years, with heartbreaking news month after month.

  “How far along?”

  “Sixteen weeks.”

  That was really good news. She wasn’t out of the woods yet, but that was a very good sign.

  I collected my disappointment and recycled it into happiness. “Sierra, I’m so happy for you and Justin! I wish you would have told me before I left town. I would’ve come over.”

  I actually tried to avoid the trip myself, but Sierra convinced me that it would be closure for both of us. Our father passed in the spring and this was a tradition he’d started. We’d spend Christmas Eve and Day at the cabin, enjoying being away from the hustle and bustle of life back in Helena. And my life had become more hustle and bustle than I’d imagined. But being at the cabin by myself would bring back so many memories.

  It’ll be too hard.

  “Justin’s being really protective right now. It’s super sweet and I admit, I love how attentive he is. He doesn’t want me driving anywhere.”

  The hair on my arm prickles. Avoidance isn’t like her.

  “But why didn’t you tell me before?”

  My sister sighs and clears her throat. “Because I knew you wouldn’t go, and Raine… you need to go.” The way she says it raises the hairs on my coat covered arms.

  I swallow. “I won’t go say goodbye to him.”

  “I didn’t ask you to,” she whispers into the phone.

  My father and I had a tumultuous relationship after my mother left him when I was sixteen. We were given a choice for where we would live. I lived with her. Sierra lived with him. But the cabin was the one place where we could be together. The past seemed to fade away.

  My father wanted to be buried on Diamond Ridge mountain, so the burial had to wait until the spring. My sister acted as the Personal Representative for handling all of his liabilities and assets as per his will and with the help of her hubby, buried his urn at the cabin when the ground thawed. I didn’t even know where it was located, and I wouldn’t go see it. I cared about him, that wasn’t deniable. I didn’t love his choices or how he disregarded his health until he was ravaged by stage four cancer in most of his major organs. There wasn’t a chance for him to even get treatment. He was gone in ninety-seven days. As a public defender, I knew people made questionable choices all the time and you couldn’t be mad at the person or the choice…but I was.

  “I guess I’ll see you on the twenty-sixth then?” I ask.

  “I’ll be here when you come back down.” She said the sentence in a weird way. Maybe it was just her pregnancy, but it seemed she was different.

  “Okay. Again, congrats Sierra. Love you.”

  “I love you, too. Remember that.” She hung up and I concentrated on the drive. The snow stopped falling up the mountains and the sky cleared to a dusty blue.

  I turn off of I-15 and follow the winding road. My SUV isn’t perfect for these back roads, but it is better than a lot of vehicles. The roads are frozen, so that helps.

  Twenty more minutes and I turn onto the evergreen lined road. Memories of playing in and out of the forest explode in my mind. Almost getting lost in the woods dozens of times, only to see the ribbons that my father tacked on trees to guide us out of harms way.

  A family of deer eat in the ditch and I drive by slowly. Don’t need to get in a car accident in a place where my car would need to be towed away. That happened numerous times. It is part of living in the mountains.

  My eyes light up when the cabin comes into view. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, it’s more of a house than a small quaint cabin in…the…

  What the heck?

  A plume of smoke rises from the woodburning fireplace chimney. I slow the car’s approach, close my eyes and shake my head. I’m dreaming. I have to be dreaming.

  I open my eyes and it’s definitely a rolling billow of smoke.

  I pull out my phone and type in 911 while my vehicle creeps closer. I can see a body moving about inside. I decide to park and get a little closer. I still have my phone at the ready. I know this is the right cabin, the plaque off to the right of the door tells me so. “The McCallister Chalet,” handmade board states. I am a McCallister and I doubt that the man inside the cabin is.

  I close my door quietly. He strolls around the living room like he owns the place. I lift my phone and hit the “Send” to 911. I don’t want to worry my sister and I need law enforcement to force this man from our property.

  I act like a ninja and use his big ass truck, obscured in a layer of mud that might be from 2014, as cover. At least I assume it’s his truck. The side says, “Pooch Palaces—No Pussies Allowed.” I roll my eyes. I’m not exactly sure if it’s meant to be funny or gross. And then I get it…cats. Okay, a little amusing, but not funny. None of this is funny.

  “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the line answers.

  “Yes, hello. I’d like to report an intruder in my family’s cabin.”

  “Ma’am, are you in a safe location?”

  I lean back against the truck and instantly pull my back away, brushing the dirt off of my wool coat. “I’m outside, watching him. It appears he’s made himself at home.” I glance through the bay window and there’s a familiar sight. He’s put up our Christmas tree? Who is this man?

  “And the location, please?”

  “3478 Cinders Lane, Diamond Ridge.”

  “It’s going to take us about an hour to get the Sheriff out there. Please leave the scene to stay safe and leave it up to us to take care of the situation.”

  “He’s huge. Please tell the sheriff I said that.”

  “Understood. Are you back in your car?”

  “Heading there now.”

  “We’ll take it from here and I’ll have the Sheriff call you when we ge
t it figured out.”

  “Thank you.” I hand up and blow out a long breath. I stand on my tiptoes to look over the hood of the truck. I squint, but I don’t see him in the house. I wait, but there’s no sight. I turn to go back to my car, and I’m staring directly at a bare chest, a multitude of tattoos staring back at me. Snowflakes, a dragonfly, a diamond, a feather, wings… massive tan chest. My head spins.

  “So, I’m huge, huh? How would you know unless you were watching me in the bathroom?”

  Oh…shit.

  Wyatt

  She’s no James Bond, that’s for sure. I saw her when she pulled into the drive, but I figured she’d come to the door. I’m not that scary. Okay, maybe a little scary. But now that I’m close to her, I’m at a loss for what to say.

  She holds up her hands. “I don’t want any trouble.”

  I cross my arms on my chest and the muscles in my biceps push against my pecs. “That makes two of us.”

  “I’ve called the police. They’ll be here any second.” She waves her phone at me.

  “Oooh, scary, a phone. Are you going to hit me with it?”

  “No, the police are going to come and kick you out. You’re squatting in my family’s cabin!”

  I huff. “No. That’s my cabin, princess.”

  “Don’t call me princess. You don’t know me!” Her voice rachets to a new level of frantic as she jams a finger into my bare chest.

  A blaring alarm echoes out. I look down at her phone like it’s the culprit, but it’s not. I glance to the house and smoke billows from the kitchen window that I left open for a little fresh air. “Shit.” My legs start moving, I swear before I even think for them to.

  “Wait! We’re not finished here. How dare you leave!” She starts to follow me. “Oh, my God!” She gasps. “You set the place on fire? Arson—on top of B&E—you’re going to be sitting in prison for a very long time.”

  Her voice making it hard to run as my cock goes from flaccid to half-staff. The tone is both direct and yet, has a tantalizing nature. I’m imagining she’s a fireball in bed. With her curvy hips, I’m imagining she’s had kids and I’d hate to be the woman’s children because they probably piss themselves every time she gives a command.

  But maybe I’d like to be ordered around by her.

  “No, I left bacon cooking on stove,” I grunt out as I swing the door open. “Because someone was on my property and I wondered if I was getting robbed!”

  “You’re making breakfast?” Like that was the important part of my sentence.

  “Of course, I’m making breakfast! I live here. I eat here. I sleep here.” I let the screen door slam in her face. Maybe her voice isn’t quite so intriguing after all.

  “No, you don’t live here. This is my family’s cabin. See this…”

  I hear something ripping off the outside of the facia. I concentrate on the grease fire that’s currently taller than I am. I find the pan’s lid and throw it on, effectively cutting off the oxygen. The smoke alarms continue their bleating and I find one to shut it off. They’re all connected, so as soon as I hit that reset button the room goes silent.

  Until…

  A piece of wood is shoved into my vision. “This! This is my family. The McCallisters. And this is our cabin.”

  “No, sugarplum, this cabin was Jacob McCallisters, but I bought it from him.”

  Her mouth drops open. “Now you’re an arsonist, a burglar, and a liar!”

  Just as I’m about to order her out, I see the flashing lights. Great. Leave it to my brother to live around the bend and make the shortest trip ever by police to a locale in the Diamond Ridge Mountains. Had he been at the office, it would have taken forty minutes as least, but not today. No, Christmas Eve, and he’s at home, probably making cookies, knowing him. The man loves to bake. Me, I can’t keep bacon from becoming a Molotov cocktail and my pancakes look like they’ve been to hell and back, too.

  Her vision follows mine to the outside. “Yes! Now we’ll get you and your fire-setting ass kicked out.” She runs to the door and instantly looks back at me. “What? Who? How? I…I can’t breathe…I…what’s happening?”

  A man that looks very much like me, but more beard, same bulk—he’d say he’s a pretty version of me—steps through the door. “Miss, it’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath and hold it. You’re hyperventilating. Hold it…”

  Her face flushes crimson and my chest burns. Why’d I have to go and upset her? She’s going to be crushed when she finally realizes the truth anyway.

  She gasps for breath as she inhales again and my brother squats in front of her. His brown uniform usually a calming influence to most around here, but the fact he looks like me probably isn’t helping her. I step out of her vision and she slowly collects herself.

  She points back at me. “This man’s trespassing. Please arrest him so I can get this place cleaned up.”

  I grunt. “No, you’re trespassing. Zeb, arrest her.”

  Zeb holds up his hand. “I’ve got it, Wyatt.” He gives me that older brother back-the-hell-off look. “He’s right, but he’s also wrong. If you leave willingly, no one’s going to get arrested. This is just a misunderstanding.”

  The woman, probably in her early twenties, maybe later twenties, sits up with his help. All the furniture came with the place and although it’s not exactly my taste, it’s not bad. It has a friendly, lived-in feeling. My work has been keeping me on the road, delivering my handcrafted dog houses. There is a layer of dust on everything though so she’s right about the lack of housekeeping. I’ve thought about hiring it out, but no one wants to come this far into the mountains to do that, so I just keep doors to bedrooms closed and only use the one bathroom in my master bedroom.

  Zeb holds up the sign as he takes a seat next to her on the leather couch. “You’re Jacob’s daughter?”

  She nods, her silence now making me crave her voice.

  My brother’s voice softens. “Miss, I’m sorry you weren’t informed, but Jacob sold this place to my brother about a month before his passing.” The badass Army Ranger sure does have a kind and gentle side.

  “No.” Her head swing side to side emphatically. “My sister would have told me.”

  “Would that be Sierra?” I ask her.

  She glances back over her shoulder. “Yeah. How did you know that?”

  “I think you need to talk to her.” Zeb hands her phone to her.

  “No, I think you need to kick him out of here.” And she’s back to spitting fire and attacking.

  “Ms. McCallister, this isn’t your family’s property anymore. You’ll need to leave. You can do it peacefully or I can arrest you.” My brother stands and her eyes widen as he rests a hand on his gun. The last time he had to use the thing was for target practice, nothing ever happens on Diamond Mountain.

  I fight the urge to step between him and her. I can’t explain my need to protect her. Even if she is slightly annoying, something in her speaks to me. Maybe it’s her confusion. I’ve been there.

  Life is fucking confusing. One day you’re alive, next you can be dead. One day you’re living paycheck to paycheck, next day you’re a millionaire. One day you’re lost, and then the next you’re found. One day you’re lonely… and the next day a beautiful milk chocolate haired beauty pokes you in the chest and the touch seems to electrify your body.

  “Okay.” She stands and her legs seem to wobble. I reach for her arm and hold her up. “Hey, why don’t you just lay down on the couch for a little while.”

  She nods. “If you don’t mind, Mr…?”

  “Wyatt. And this is my brother Zeb.”

  “Nice to meet you both.” She shakes her head, as if to clear the fog that’s rolling over her. “I just still don’t understand.”

  “We’ll step outside and give you a little privacy.” I motion my head to my brother, and he backs up.

  She stares at the phone in her hand before swiping it open and hitting a pre-programmed number.

  “Sierra!
What the fuck is going on?”

  And with that, we step outside.

  I walk around the side of the cabin and collect a few more pieces of wood. I don’t like running the propane furnace when I can make do with the fireplace. I like the bedrooms cold. I sleep better that way.

  “That’s a shame. Jacob sold the cabin without telling her.” My brother runs a hand through his still damp hair and brushes his hand over his beard.

  My eyebrows raise. “With how she’s acting, the family was probably scared to tell her.”

  “If she’s anything like Sierra, she’s a sweetheart inside. Heck, you know that better than anyone, Mr. I-helped-a-woman-bury-her-father’s-ashes-and-then-let-her-cry-in-my-arms.”

  I’d done that, but that woman asked me if she could be on the property. Unlike this one.

  “She’s obviously hurting, Wyatt. You know what loss does to people. You can understand that.”

  “Stop. Don’t try to play those mind games on me.”

  Zeb shakes his head. “It’s been twelve years, brother.”

  “There is no limit on heartbreak.” I grit the words through my teeth. “I don’t need this today.” Bringing up my deceased fiancée was just the thing I didn’t need today. She’d gone out for groceries on a beautiful summer day and never came back. A semi lost it on the curves outside of town. She didn’t have a chance.

  He steps in my path. “I know, but maybe you could just let her stay here for the weekend. Mom and Dad are on their cruise to wherever. Not like we were going to do anything. I have to work the holiday so Marnee can be with her kids.”

  His deputy had a dozen rug-rats running around. Probably not quite that many, but it was more than six, for sure.

  “I can’t. She’ll have to go.”

  He moved to the side. “You know, there was a time when you needed someone, too. And I was there for you. Don’t forget that.” Zeb waited like I was going to change my mind. “I’ll go tell her that she has to go.”