“What’s in your purse?” I asked, grunting. “A pair of crutches?”
“The papers from my grandmother’s attorney stating that this cabin is rightfully mine.”
Steadying her on her feet, I helped her over to the bag on the floor. She bent down as blood dripped down her leg. She needed to be cleaned up before some sort of infection set in, but as she rummaged around in her purse, I relented.
If she wanted to look for some paperwork instead of getting to a doctor, fine by me.
“Here,” she said as she unfolded the papers. “Take a look.”
“I don’t care about the papers,” I said. “I was only wondering what the hell a girl like you was doing alone in a place like this.”
I took the papers from her anyway and scanned them.
There were pictures of the house, and I could see why this woman was so shocked. The pictures did this house way too much justice. Whoever took these damn photos got the lighting just right and probably showcased the only two rooms in the house that had any decent structure to them. This woman had been gifted a cabin that wasn’t fit for animals to live in, much less a human being.
But as she looked around the cabin, I could see the memories it held for her.
I wondered if she was haunted by her memories like I was haunted by mine.
Strike two. Now, this woman had me feeling sorry for her.
“Your leg needs to be patched,” I said as I handed her the papers back.
“Thanks for the advice,” she said.
“I have a first aid kit at my place.”
“Are you a doctor?” she asked.
“Nope. But you don’t need stitches, and I have everything I need to clean you up.”
“No, thanks. My mother taught me all about stranger danger.”
“I teach my niece that, too,” I said.
She turned her eyes to look at me, and I was struck by their beauty again.
“Your niece?” she asked.
“Yep. Niece and a nanny. You can meet them. Let’s get you to my place and clean you up. Then, you can be on your way.”
“Something tells me you would like that,” she said.
“No one moves to the top of a mountain to socialize.”
She nodded before she looked back down at her leg and sighed.
“I guess I don’t have a choice. Medical insurance isn’t the highest on my priority list.”
I knew I shouldn’t have cared what she meant by that, but my curiosity piqued even further.
“All right,” I said as I scooped her up. “Come on.”
She sat rigidly in my arms at first, as if she was annoyed by the fact that she needed to be carried. But within a few minutes, her body softened against mine and I felt her give in to the fact that she required help. I tried not to allow myself to think about how good she felt in my arms. I didn’t have time for her other than to clean her up and send her on her way back to the shithole cabin she’d apparently inherited.
I set her on the kitchen counter and propped her leg up before I rummaged for the first aid kit. All the while, I could feel her eyes on me and I willed myself not to look into her emerald eyes.
I needed to stay focused on one thing and one thing only; getting this gorgeous woman the hell out of my home.