dad never hurt a soul in his entire life. All he wanted was to live on the mountain by himself. To be left alone. He never did anything bad to anyone, but people couldn’t just let him be. They had to judge him. Question him. And make sure he knew that they considered him some kind of scary deviant.”
She wasn’t wrong. The stories of Old Man Grant were legendary in the park ranger office. They included tales of criminal behavior. But that behavior had been minor. Grant had not appreciated the restrictions governing use of public lands. Especially those pertaining to hunting or cutting down timber. He’d trapped animals and taken trees, but only what he needed to survive. At most, Grant was hostile. Rude. Protective of his land and more than a little frightening. Seth knew the conflict between Grant and the rangers in the office at the time had escalated to an unhealthy level on both sides.
A man who wanted to be alone. Much like Laura, it seemed. A man with a daughter. Also like Laura. “But he wasn’t alone, was he? He had you for company. And your mother?” Seth was clearly prying for information. He couldn’t help himself. He was speed walking through a tunnel, fleeing from an unknown threat, with a woman who had probably caused this mess to begin with. He was surprised by his curiosity, but it was a welcome distraction from what was behind them in the tunnel and what might be ahead.
Seth didn’t want to get away from Laura. He wanted to know who she was and why she was on this mountain. She was also known for being hostile to the outside world. Why was that?
Seth wanted to know...her. Period. Laura didn’t really fit with the vision of Old Man Grant’s daughter.
“I think we better stop talking and save our energy. We’re probably going to need it.” Laura’s voice sounded brittle. It seemed she was done talking.
Seth didn’t say anything, but he did turn his attention fully on the stretch of tunnel in front of them. It had not changed in width or height but he thought he could feel it curving. Taking them somewhere.
He was walking in the dark. Again.
Seth had thought his days of battle were behind him. He had worked hard to put them there. Leaving the war had cost him everyone he had ever loved. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. It was the way Seth refused to let his family help him after the war that had ruined everything.
Seth had so many regrets surrounding how he let war dominate his life. Now, it seemed, he had walked right back into it.
It was as awful as he remembered.
They walked and walked and walked. Hustling, Laura kept trying to listen over the sounds of their feet and breaths. She didn’t know what she was listening for, exactly.
She thought she heard footsteps. Or voices. Or both. Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. “Do you hear something?”
Seth immediately stopped. He held up his hand, and Laura wanted to say that she didn’t need him to tell her to be quiet. She didn’t, though. As much as she did not want to be with Seth right now, she didn’t want to be alone in the tunnel more. Well, not alone. Alone would be okay. It was meeting with a team of armed men dressed in black that she was looking to avoid.
Laura was glad she could hear Seth’s ragged breathing as well as her own. It was nice to not be the only one feeling the pressure of this situation. Seth’s whisper was soft, but not hesitant. “I don’t hear anyone. I think we’re still okay.”
Laura looked at him and nodded. She readjusted Abby in her arms and jerked her head forward. Taking the hint, Seth started to move again. He might not have heard anything, but Laura noticed that his pace was slightly faster than it had been before she had asked her question. She was okay with walking faster.
This tunnel was not nearly as exciting and fun as Laura remembered. Instead of an adventure, the journey felt like a horror movie. She looked at Abby, who was dealing with this as though she went on trips through dark tunnels with her mommy every day. Laura made sure her grip on her daughter was firm and increased her pace, silently urging Seth along.
She had been frozen in the cabin. Unable to fully comprehend the danger, she had felt almost like she was sleepwalking. Now, however, her body thawed. She no longer felt like a statue. But it wasn’t a relief. Instead of being frozen, her stomach was suddenly boiling with fear. Acid was bubbling, trying to burn its way up her throat. Her goose bumps were replaced with sweat. Her heart was beating again, but far too quickly. She tried to use Abby as an anchor, muffling a gasp into her sweet girl’s hair.
She was probably scaring her daughter. Laura tried to stop. She couldn’t.
When Seth suddenly turned and looked at her, Laura flinched. Her gasp must have given her away. He frowned and stopped midstride when she instinctively took the small step away from him. She didn’t want to be weak. But, if she was, she definitely didn’t want to be weak in front of him.
“Hey. Laura. It’s going to be okay.”
She looked at him like he had lost his mind, and he actually chuckled softly. “Okay, okay. It’s not good. But we’re not down yet, and I have faith.” He smiled at her, his face warm and almost comforting. Then he continued walking down the tunnel.
Faith. Laura had faith. But faith wasn’t always enough. Laura looked at her daughter and, as always, saw pieces of Josh. Abby’s eyes were all Laura but Abby’s dimples were all Josh. Tears welled up, and Laura closed her eyes as she kissed her daughter’s head. Josh was dead from a mugging. Sometimes the evil in the world won. Laura swallowed, trying to clear her throat of the panic and excess saliva her now-burning body was creating.
Abby must have picked up on her mom’s distress, because she reached those chubby hands up to frame Laura’s face. Then she placed a smacking kiss on her mom’s cheek, causing Laura to laugh out loud. Laura looked at Seth when she heard him chuckling, too. They shared a smile before Laura remembered that he wasn’t her friend. No. He was one of those people who delighted in their supposed superiority over others.
Seth certainly wasn’t the first person to say something disparaging about her dad. In fact, people had only bad things to say about the man who had shown her more love and acceptance in her life than she had ever found anywhere else. The man who had literally saved her life.
Josh had loved Laura. And Laura had loved him, and the family they created, in return. But the Laura who Josh met was relatively whole. She liked to think that it hadn’t been too hard for her husband to fall for her. The daughter that Laura had been... Well that person was someone who was scared and hurt and bratty most of the time. And her dad had loved her in spite of it and during all of it. He had brought her through it.
Laura usually recognized that trying to defend her dad was a wasted effort. People saw Malcolm Grant—saw how he lived—and made their judgments. They weren’t interested in the truth. They just wanted the most sensational story. They didn’t care about the man who had survived in this world the best he knew how.
Her dad might have chosen to live apart from everyone, but he had been the best man Laura had ever met. He had sacrificed his solitude to raise her because he knew that she did not have any other family. Just him, an uncle who wanted to be alone. And her Uncle Malcom had put aside his wants for her needs and had become her dad. He deserved better. Laura couldn’t keep quiet when people started telling the tale of Old Man Grant. If nothing else, the anger helped push away the loneliness.
