The moment her parents entered the kitchen, her father looked suspicious. He sat across from her and smirked. “It’s never good to come to a table set for talking. Maureen, how about some coffee, love?” He yawned.
Her mother went about setting up the coffee pot and her father stared at her expectantly, but she couldn’t find her voice.
“Is this about you wanting that job? We already have a secretary, Katie girl. You’d be better off finding something fulltime.”
She’d wanted the job because all of her brothers were expected to work at the yard and it just seemed fair to do the same. But maybe he was right and she should find something fulltime. She supposed she could waitress.
Her mother took a seat at her side and patted her arm. “Katherine has something to tell you, Frank.”
He raised a brow. “Oh? Did you get a letter from a college?”
God, she was such a letdown. She’d gotten a letter a week ago, telling her she was accepted at the community college, but she made sure to intercept the mail, knowing her father would rather see her go off to school. School wasn’t an option at the moment. She needed to work.
“Go ahead, dear,” her mother coaxed softly.
She drew in a deep breath. “I’m not going to go to school this year, Dad.”
His lips twisted. “Because you want to live alone? Listen to me, lass. You go to the community college, get your Associates, and in two years you can go off and live wherever you want while you finish your degree. You do that, and I’ll give you a part time position at the office.”
Her throat tightened. She couldn’t meet his gaze. “I can’t.”
“Katherine, you’re going to want more than I can pay you when you’re in your twenties. The good jobs go to kids with an education. I told you I’ll help you with the loan papers and pay whatever we can. I don’t know why you’re fighting me on this.” He looked at her mother. “Since when are you silent?”
Her mother drew in a breath and gave her father a stern look. Without raising her voice, she said, “Katherine won’t be going to college this year, Frank.”
He rolled his eyes, looking away from the table in clear irritation. “This is ridiculous. She can work and go to school. Give me one reason—”
“I’m pregnant.”
Silence.
Every hair on her body stood on end as her vision blurred. “So I won’t be going back to school this year or the next. I know what I did and I know how disappointed you must be and I’m sorry, but what I need is a job.”
She’d memorized every nick and divot on the table, but still looked for more as she lowered her head. She couldn’t seem to lift her face to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, as a tear fell to the worn surface.
“I’ll get the coffee.” Her mother rose and her abandonment resonated, tension pressing hard into Kate’s shoulders.
Swallowing the thick lump in her throat, she forced herself to look at her father. Nothing prepared her for the devastation she found in his eyes. More tears gathered at her lashes and fell unchecked down her face. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.”
His mouth was flat, his eyes the darkest shade of blue she’d ever seen. The only movement came with the rise of his shoulders under each heavy breath and the slight twitch in his jaw.
Her mother placed a cup of coffee on the table and he broke eye contact. She returned to Kate’s side and they silently waited for him to respond.
Without touching the mug, he rose and walked out the kitchen door letting it slam behind him. As Kate stared at his back she fell to pieces, sobbing quietly as her mother pulled her into her arms. “Give him a minute, love.”
“He hates me.”
“No, dear. Your father loves you. Nothing will ever change that.” She kissed her head and brushed her hair away from her wet cheeks. “Men need time to process. Right now he’s just thinking of what this means. You have to understand. You were his first baby, his little girl. As a father of seven he knows quite well where babies come from and right now he’s protecting you the best he knows how by carrying himself outside until he calms down.”
She wiped her eyes, but her tears continued to flow. They waited a long time for him to come in off the porch. Her mother had two cups of coffee and forced Kate to eat some pudding, but she wasn’t hungry and could only stomach a few bites.
They kept their voices low as they waited. “I was thinking we could clean up Sheilagh’s cradle for you. That would fit nice in your room.”
She couldn’t think of things like that when she didn’t feel welcome in her own home.
“And I still have a changing table in the attic. It’s fairly new, being that Luke and Finnegan destroyed theirs. Pray for a girl, dear. Boys break everything. So destructive.”
The screen opened and she looked up at her father expectantly. His face was devoid of emotion. “You knew about this, Maureen?”
Her mother stammered. “I only just found out.”
He nodded and glanced at Kate. Though his eyes were nothing more than sad, his detached gaze crushed her. “You can start work as soon as you finish the school year.” He hesitated and shook his head then walked out of the kitchen. His steps echoed through the silent house as he took the stairs.
When a door slammed on the second floor, she flinched. Her mother sighed and said, “Well, you have the job you wanted. That’s a plus.”
Chapter Nine
Ant glanced at his resume checking it over one last time as he waited in the trailer for Mr. McCullough. The secretary had called to let him know he was there almost twenty minutes ago. He’d thought they had an appointment, but supposed the man forgot and was busy with other things. He’d offered to come back at another time, but the secretary told him Mr. McCullough insisted he stay put. So he waited.
As he watched the clock another fifteen minutes passed. He wanted the job, but this was bordering on plain rude. He should have made an appointment and come back later. The phone on the secretary’s desk rang.
“McCullough Lumber. Okay, Frank.” She hung up the phone. “He’s waiting for you out front.”
Finally. Ant stood and left the trailer, coming up short when he saw Mr. McCullough leaning up against a work truck taking his full measure. Jesus, the guy was intimidating. The mere breadth of his shoulders was twice the thicker than the guys on the field, fully suited for a game.
He held out his resume. “Sorry if I got the time wrong.”
Kate’s father’s eyes narrowed and he took the resume without a word, giving it only a partial glance before folding it in half and stuffing it in the pocket of his flannel. He eased his bulk off the truck and gruffly ordered, “Get in.”
Ant didn’t know where they were going, but if he was planning on showing him around the yard that was good sign. Hopefully it meant he had the job. He climbed into the passenger side of the truck and stilled when he saw the ax leaning up against the dashboard.
He was being ridiculous. Shutting the door, he waited for Mr. McCullough. The man slid behind the wheel and gripped the stick shift. His arms were corded with thick muscle and covered in dark hair. Nicks and divots of white scars spattered across his tanned skin. This was a guy who had obviously taken a few lumps in his day.
He didn’t drive them where Kate had taken him. They drove so deep in the woods Ant’s sense of direction got turned around. Thank God Mr. McCullough was familiar with the land, because Ant wouldn’t have been able to find his way back if he tried.
The truck pulled over on a mud road outside of a small shack. Mr. McCullough grabbed the ax and said, “Get out.”
Unsure if this was his natural disposition or if he simply didn’t like him, Ant set his mind to proving himself. He followed Mr. McCullough to a long tree that appeared to have fallen that winter. The gnarled roots were dry and stood a good ten feet above the ground.
A stump from a different tree was next to the fallen trunk and Ant paused as Mr. McCullough swung the ax with one hand and buried it in the
center of the stump. “You see that ax, son?”
Ant nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“It’s mine. You touch it and I’ll break your legs.” He walked back to the truck and Ant stood staring at the glint of sunlight catching the blade wedged into the stump.
Okay, he definitely wasn’t imagining things. Kate’s dad did not like him. Leaves crunched as the man approached and chains jangled as he tossed them by Ant’s feet. He glanced at Mr. McCullough and took a jerky step back as he yanked the cord of a chainsaw and brought it to life. This was definitely not the meeting he’d anticipated.
The woods echoed with the churning buzz of the saw as Mr. McCullough simply stared at him and kept the motor going. Ant waited for the echo of banjos from Deliverance in the distance. Swallowing, he glanced at the little shack.
The saw silenced. “You see that tree?”
Ant looked back at the tree and nodded.
“Also mine.” Mr. McCullough carried the saw to the stump and placed it on the ground. Extracting the ax with one hand, he examined the blade. “This whole mountain’s mine and that includes everything—and everyone—on it. You understand?”
“Yes, sir.” If this was a question of his honorability, he was sure his previous employer would give him a decent recommendation.
“I don’t take kindly to other men trespassing on my property.”
Oh fuck. This was about the falls. “Sir, it was only a couple times.”
His eyes snapped to him and narrowed. Somehow that had been the wrong thing to say.
“It won’t happen again.” Damn. This guy really didn’t like trespassers. “I hope this doesn’t interfere with my application. I’m a hard worker and I hardly ever call out.”
“You’re damn right it won’t happen again. That’s my daughter. My first daughter. I ought to kill you, but that won’t solve the mess you two got yourselves in.”
Ant frowned, completely lost. “Is this about the falls?”
Mr. McCullough’s head turned, the weathered skin at his neck dark with stubble. “My falls?” He took a menacing step toward him and drew an audible breath in through his nose, the ax gripped tight in his hand. “Let me make this clear to you, boy. This is my mountain. These are my trees. Those are my falls. And Katherine is my daughter.”
He was going to die.
Swallowing, he took a pace back. “With all due respect, sir, she’s an adult.”
Big mistake.
His eyes contracted into little slits and Ant was certain he wasn’t getting the job now. He was sort of okay with that, being that Kate’s dad was turning out to be a psychopath with lots of sharp toys.
“You think you have it all figured out, don’t you, son?” His clipped laugh was menacing. “I’ll tell you what. You have all the answers? Find your own way back.” He turned and grabbed the chainsaw, carrying it with the ax back to the truck. Leaving the chains, he climbed into the truck and the engine roared.
“You have to be joking?” Ant mumbled under his breath, sure this was some sort of test. But then the truck peeled out on the muddy road and he was standing there next to some creepy, fucked up, serial killer shack and a downed tree.
He smacked his arm as a mosquito bit him. “What the fuck just happened?”
He scanned the woods and listened for any sounds of traffic. All he heard were animals scurrying across the brambles and wind blowing through the trees. He decided to follow the mud tracks back.
After about thirty minutes of walking, he was certain he was lost. Dirt roads crisscrossed every few hundred yards and some pretty strange looking bugs had bitten him. He caught sight of a few chipmunks and a deer, which was exciting at first, but as the sun began to set he started thinking about other animals, bigger animals, and walked a little faster.
His sneakers were not cut out for this sort of terrain. He’d intended to invest in boots if he got the job, but that wasn’t happening now. The longer he walked the more everything started looking the same. Nasty moths that looked like spiders with wings clung to trees and if he didn’t find people again soon, he was going to die up on this mountain.
His mouth was dry. His back was sweating. And he had blisters on his feet. As he hiked, his jaw clenched tighter and tighter. Kate’s dad was a fucking nutcase. Why the hell would he leave someone in the middle of woods unless he hoped they’d die? Ant was a little worried he might not live long enough to tell the man exactly where he could shove his ax and crappy job. At this rate, he never wanted to set foot in the woods again.
When dusk turned to darkness, he was certain he’d be sleeping in the wilderness. His legs were tired and he couldn’t see shit, tripping every few steps over roots and rocks. He was starving and getting nowhere, so he paused to take a rest by a tree.
“Hello?” he yelled then smacked his shoulder as something else bit him.
“Can anyone hear me?” he screamed, his voice reverberating in a drifting echo as it passed through the endless trees. “I’ve been left in the woods by a fucking lunatic!” The echo gave no inclination of where he was.
“I’m in the fucking Blair Witch Project,” he growled, moving on as something with big ass wings buzzed past his ear. “Jesus!”
Why the hell hadn’t he been a boy scout? He tried to find some stars in the sky, but when he could see past the canopy of trees he had no freaking idea how the Big Dipper was going to help him. If that was the Big Dipper anyway.
He was going to die there. A bear was going to get him or a million mosquitos. “Fuck!” he roared sending little things scurrying through the brush.
He itched under his clothes, certain bugs were crawling on him. He was back on a muddy path, but not one he recognized. Or maybe he did. Everything was black and looked fucking identical. He should have stayed at the little shack.
Pressing the button on his watch offered the only light he had, not that it helped. Eight-thirty. He’d been walking for almost four hours. Turning in a circle, he lost his sense of direction again, unsure if he was backtracking or moving away from the direction he’d just come. Squinting, he saw something in the distance, a subtle light. Maybe it was just the reflection of the moon on the trees, but he followed it, desperate to get out of the darkness.
His feet crunched over sticks and leaves, snapping twigs and slipping over rocks, but the more he walked the more he could make out the distant light. It was coming from something, maybe the freeway. The woods thinned and stumps filled a long spread of land, making it easier to see. His breath caught as he made out the silhouette of a house in the distance.
“Thank God.” Jogging, he ran toward the house and panted. “I just need a home. I’ll call Pop for a ride and—” He scowled, his steps stumbling to a halt when he recognized the house. “Son of a bitch.” Mr. McCullough’s truck was parked right out front.
Seething, he stumbled down the hill, lurching, as his legs were practically numb from hiking. His brain played on a steady ramble of insults. Crazy motherfucker. How about I stick that ax right up your ass? I probably have twenty spider bites and at least ten ticks on me. I should drag your ass back to that shed and lock you inside with a wasp hive. Like to see how tough you are then, you psycho son of a bitch.
His feet stumbled as he neared the house. His dry mouth was no match for the roar building in his chest. “McCullough!” he yelled, his voice echoing off the surrounding trees.
He didn’t care that the guy was Kate’s dad. It didn’t matter that he had more than twenty years on him. He gave not one shit that he was on his precious property. He could have died in those woods! And he was not going to let it slide.
“Get out here, you crazy fuck!”
As he crossed the field the front door opened and Mr. McCullough’s burly form stepped onto the porch, arms crossed. Ant glared at him, his eyes burning from sweat and the side of his face swollen from some bite he’d gotten in the last mile or so.
“You left me there to die!” he shouted, crossing the driveway.
Another
door opened and Mrs. McCullough came out and gasped. “Oh dear.” Her fingers wrung a dishtowel and she looked at her husband. “Frank, what have you done?”
He had nothing against Kate’s mom, but he was not going to take this lying down. “Do you have a problem with me? Did I do something to you? What the hell kind of guy leaves another man in the woods like that?”
One by one Kate’s siblings came out of the kitchen and gaped at him as he stood on the driveway shouting at their father. When Kate came out she gasped. “Anthony?”
He glared at her, unsure if any girl was worth this sort of insanity.
Her fingers covered her mouth as she glanced at her father and back to him. “What happened to you?”
“Your father drove me into the woods, showed me his chainsaw, then left me in the middle of fucking nowhere!”
Her wide eyes turned to her father, who made no attempt to deny a single accusation. She visibly shook as she glared at him. A shrill voice came out of her as her hands balled into fists. “What the hell is the matter with you? Why would you do that?”
Without giving him a chance to answer, she rushed down the porch steps and set her attention on him. “You’ve been eaten alive by mosquitos.” When she touched his cheek he jerked back, not trusting a single one of them.
“Colin, go get the first aid kit. The rest of you back to bed,” her mother ordered, pushing the kids back inside.
Ant continued to glare at her father as Kate looked up at him. “I don’t know why he’d do this. I’m sorry.”
Mrs. McCullough waited for Kate’s brother to return and when he did, she hustled off the porch and came to examine his face, tsking. “You come with me, Anthony. I’ll clean up these bites. I think I have some Benadryl to help with the itching.”
“I’m not going up there,” he growled, eyes hard on Kate’s dad.
Mrs. McCullough looked over her shoulder and scoffed. “You should be ashamed of yourself, Frank. He’s done nothing you didn’t do when you were his age.”