Danger on the Mountain Read Free Page A

sweet chatter would turn to demanding howls.
    Maggie headed up the mountain, the short mile to her home seemed to take forever. Pulling into the gravel drive, she cut the engine and waited for Reese to drive up beside her.
    He climbed out and looked around. He pointed. “See that house just across the lake?”
    “The one with the white wraparound porch?”
    “Yeah. That one’s mine.”
    “It’s beautiful. I noticed it the day I moved in.” Maggie pulled the carrier with the sleeping Belle from the backseat with a grunt. She slid the handle onto her arm up to the crook of her elbow. “She gets heavier every day, it seems like.”
    He shut the door for her and asked, “Where’s Belle’s father?”
    “Dead.” She heard the matter-of-fact tone in her voice.
    When she turned, surprise glistened in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said.
    “I am, too. Sorry he’s dead, not sorry he’s out of my life.”

TWO
    T he woman just kept surprising him. The gentle, mommy demeanor hid a spine of steel. Also evidenced by her cool-under-fire reaction at the bank earlier.
    Opening the door, she led the way inside, holding the carrier in front of her. “I’m surprised she’s still sleeping.” She set the baby carrier on the kitchen table and opened the refrigerator to pull out a bottle filled with milk.
    “Why aren’t you sorry he’s out of your life?”
    While Maggie placed the bottle in a pot of water she began heating on the stove, she kept her back to him. He wanted to turn her around so he could see her face. When she didn’t answer, he leaned against the counter and crossed his arms, wondering why he was asking questions that were none of his business.
    At first he thought she was going to pretend she hadn’t heard him, but when she turned, she said, “I shouldn’t have said that.”
    Reese lifted a brow at her.
    She shrugged and grimaced. “He wasn’t a very nice person.”
    He’d abused her. She didn’t say so, but she didn’t have to.
    His gut tightened as visions of women he’d pulled out of domestic violence situations crowded his mind. Their bruises, their damaged faces, bodies...souls. The ones who had died. He blinked the images away and focused on Maggie.
    “When did he die?”
    “About a month after Belle was born.”
    “Car accident?”
    Maggie sighed. “Not exactly.”
    She didn’t want to tell him?
    Belle woke suddenly and let out a howl. Reese flinched and watched Maggie calmly unbuckle her daughter from the car seat and pick her up. She then pulled the bottle from the heated water, tested the temperature of the milk on her wrist and stuck it in the squalling mouth.
    The silence was sudden.
    “You’re good at that.”
    Maggie laughed. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
    As the baby ate, Reese took in his surroundings. “Nice place.”
    She looked up from Belle’s face to smile at him. “I like it. It’s simple, functional and pretty much everything Belle and I need.”
    He nodded. “You said you were an online teacher.”
    “I am. I teach learning disabled students online. It’s perfect for us. I get to make a living and Belle gets to stay home with me. So far so good.”
    “What about when you have to teach and Belle doesn’t want to cooperate with your schedule?”
    Maggie grinned. “I have a neighbor who comes over. Mrs. Adler. She’s a retired nurse and lives twelve hours away from her grandchildren. She loves Belle and acts as if every moment she gets to spend with her is the highlight of her day.”
    A shadow moved across the window right in his line of sight. He straightened and narrowed his eyes. She caught his expression and frowned. “What is it?”
    “Probably nothing,” he said. “Just thought I saw something move outside of your window.” He walked over to it and, out of habit, stood to the side, keeping himself from being a target should someone other than a friend be out there. The blinds were open, the sun high in the sky.
    What had he seen?
    Anything at