Scolded by the Mountain Man (Sweetheart Falls)

11. Tyson

11

TYSON

I’m woken up by the sounds of Penny shouting from downstairs. I blink several times and look around to see that yep, she’s not in the bedroom, and quickly throw on some pants and rush down to the living room to find probably the worst scenario I could possibly imagine.

Penny standing in front of Gracie.

“Whoa,” I say. “Gracie? What are you doing here?”

Penny’s eyes well up with years. “So it’s true.”

The next second, she’s out the door, running as fast as she can. I glare at Gracie. “What have you done!?”

I sprint after Penny, who is already nearing the treeline. She’s running fast, and without shoes.

“Penny, stop!” I shout after her, but it’s like she doesn’t even hear me. If anything, my words simply spur her on faster. Too bad for her, she can’t outrun me.

I catch up with her once we’ve entered the pines. I scoop her up in my arms. She kicks and thrashes against me and the hold I have on her. “Penny, relax!” I try not to shout as I wrestle with her in an attempt to keep her from breaking my nose with one of her wild elbows she’s throwing. “Relax!”

“Your wife!” she yelps. “I should have known!”

“It’s not what you think!”

“Let me go!” she cries out.

“You know I can’t do that.” I can feel her pain as though it were mine as she continues to fight against me. In this moment she hates me. She feels betrayed. And she has every right to. “You have to let me explain, Penny.”

“Explain what?” she asks. “That you’ve been married this entire time? And you’ve been cheating on your wife with me? That you’ve made me your mistress?”

Gracie’s voice rings out behind me, echoing through the woods. “Tyson! You get back here right now!”

I glance behind me and see her silhouette racing through the trees toward us. Gripping Penny firmly by the arms, I hold her at arm’s length and stare deeply into her eyes, doing my best to communicate honesty, integrity, and love.

“Please, wait here,” I ask her, begging with my eyes. “Or go back to the cabin and wait for me. Just don’t–please don’t leave. I’ll explain everything. I just have to get rid of her.”

I take her hand and raise it to my lips and kiss her delicately. Then I quickly spin and run away, back toward Gracie, leaving Penny alone and away from the confrontation that is about to occur.

God, what a nightmare.

“Think you can just run off?!” Gracie is already shouting at me as I come up the slope and approach her. “Leave me with nothing?”

“I honestly cannot believe you’re doing this, Gracie,” I reply. “You can’t be here. It’s not legal for you to be here. You understand that, right?”

“It’s not legal for you to stop paying me, Tyson.”

“Have you spoken to your lawyers?” I ask, genuinely mystified. “Because I’m pretty sure you haven’t.”

“I don’t need to, Tyson,” she sneers defiantly. I throw my hands up in the air. This is starting to make sense now. “We had an agreement.”

“A divorce agreement, Gracie. Lump sum alimony that was to be paid off in three payments, the last of which was paid five weeks ago.”

“Don’t try and weasel out of–”

“I also have a restraining order against you,” I growl, fighting against the anger which is growing and growing inside me. “In the state of California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, where we currently are.”

Gracie shifts uncomfortably from one foot to the other and rolls her eyes like I’m making things up or something. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Tyson. We both know those days are long gone. There’s no need for that.”

“You’re right, there isn’t.” I nod. “You can just hike back down the mountain and get out of here.”

“Tyson–”

“ Or I can call the police, who happen to be really good guys up here, and have them come put you in handcuffs and drag you off to jail for the night. Would you like that?”

My heart is beating really heavily now. Penny hasn’t passed us on her way up to the cabin, which means she’s either waiting for me back where I left her, or she’s started hiking back down the mountain. I need to finish this conversation with Gracie now so I can go find Penny and fix things with her.

“You know I wouldn’t, Tyson,” Gracie replies, a snippy tone to her voice.

“Well then you need to leave,” I say. She stares defiantly back at me as though waiting for me to break. “We’re not a couple anymore, Gracie. And we never will be. And the longer you stay here, the worse you make things for yourself.”

Gracie’s eyes roll in her head once more, and she crosses her arms over her chest. She shakes her head as though somehow, I’m being unreasonable, despite the fact that everything she’s done thus far has been unreasonable. Then she scoffs.

“Fine. I’ll leave. But don’t forget about the check you owe me.”

I say nothing as she walks passed me. I know she’s just doing her best to get in the last word. Whether or not she still believes I owe her money doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is getting her out of here. She won’t get another dime out of me, and I believe she knows that.

I watch her go, and once I’m satisfied that she’s not going to double back and try something again, I race back to where I left Penny. My heart leaps when I see her sitting on a rock, her arms curled around her shins, her chin leaning on her knee. She looks up when she sees me.

“Wife, huh?”

“ Ex -wife,” I reply. “We’ve been divorced for about a year now. Just about as long as I’ve been missing.”

“But she still calls herself your wife?”

I sigh as I go over to her. “She’s got more than a few screws loose,” I tell her, offering her my hand. “Which is one of the reasons we got divorced in the first place.”

Penny takes my hand, and I lift her to her feet. “And the other reasons?”

“Where to begin?” I chuckle. “Remember when I told you it was hard to determine who actually liked you and who only liked you for your money when you’re a guy like me?”

Penny nods. “I’m guessing she was one of those girls?”

“As it turns out, yes.” I run my hand through my hair and take a deep breath. “I probably should have seen it coming, but I didn’t. And I paid for it.”

Penny gently rubs the back of my hand with her thumb. It’s exactly what I need right now. “Literally or figuratively?” She jokes. I laugh and nod.

“Both. But I can afford it. That’s why she was up here, though. Trying to get me to pay even more than I already paid out during our divorce.”

“Will she get it?” Penny asks. I smile and shake my head.

“Hell no. But let me ask you something,” I say, inching even closer so our bodies are nearly touching. Penny is so beautiful. It’s almost impossible to believe. I can barely even process it. “Will I get you?”

Penny’s cheeks instantly redden, like roses in bloom. She looks down for a moment to hide her eyes, then looks back up at me, slightly embarrassed but enjoying every moment of it. She nods, and her voice comes out of those sweet, plump lips as just a whisper.

“Yes.”