Single Dad's Cabin: A Mountain Man Romance Read online

  Single Dad’s Cabin

  A Mountain Man Romance

  Lara Swann

  Copyright © 2018 Lara Swann

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, dialogue and everything else are products of the author’s imagination. Any similarity to people or events, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Please note: This copy of Single Dad’s Cabin also contains a bonus book, Billionaire Baby Daddy! This means that Single Dad’s Cabin ends approximately 55% into this book – but rest assured, Single Dad’s Cabin is a full-length 95,000 word novel.

  Trigger Warning: This book contains non-explicit references to childhood abuse.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  Mailing List

  BONUS BOOK: Billionaire Baby Daddy

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Liam

  “Come down from there, monkey!”

  There’s a giggle from above me and Emma swings around, taking my breath with her as she launches herself at a higher branch. She crawls out onto it and grins down at me, the snow falling steadily around her.

  “Why? This is what monkeys do, Daddy.”

  “It’s not what little girls do - not that high.”

  Though if you based your idea of little girls on Emma, that probably wouldn’t be true. Emma likes to give my heart a regular morning workout with this routine.

  “It’s what I do.” She says obstinately, as if knowing the exact direction of my thoughts.

  “Not that high, sweetheart.” I repeat again, trying to keep some of the stress out of my voice. “You know you’re not supposed to go past that big branch there. The one below you. If you fall—”

  “I won’t fall.”

  She slowly stands up again and I lurch forward as she walks along the branch as simply as if it’s a sidewalk, back towards the trunk of the huge tree.

  Jasper whines from beside me, cocking his head at me and thumping the ground with his tail.

  “I know, buddy, I know.” I mutter, trying to move around to match her position.

  If she falls…

  The familiar throb of terrifying responsibility beats through me, while Emma continues walking precariously, totally oblivious to my concern.

  “I thought you were coming out here to help me, little girl.” I try instead, letting some of the exasperation into my voice.

  She peers out from between the branches and gives me the sheepish look that’s becoming more than a little familiar.

  “I am helping?” She tries, drawing it out almost experimentally.

  I just raise an eyebrow, settling my hands back on my hips.

  I tell myself I’m looking stern - but every time she meets my gaze with that impish spark in her eye, looking so vibrant and alive, I think my heart flips over in my chest. The patch over her other eye only adds to the effect, making her look like some roguish fiend in little-girl form - which, if I’m honest, is an entirely accurate description.

  “Okay, o-kay…” She finally mutters, giving up with a loud sigh. “I’m coming down.”

  “Thank you.” I say, keeping my tone perfectly agreeable.

  I watch until she’s halfway down and back into the part of the tree that she’s climbed around for years before finally turning back to the large log I was splitting for firewood.

  The snow is swirling around us now, adding to the inches already covering the ground, and I can already feel the storm picking up. It’s meant to be a bad one and even though I’m sure I’ve got everything I need, there’s always a part of me that feels on edge.

  There’s just something about forces of nature like that - powerful storms, with wind and snow hammering to be let in - that combine to make you feel totally powerless and insignificant. It was the same with the wildfires. The parts of the world we’ve never tamed, still strong enough to take you completely out of yourself and force you to confront your own helplessness.

  Of course, in my case, that only made me perversely determined to try and pit myself against them. First with the years spent firefighting - and now, even here in the mountain that was supposed to be a reprieve from it all, somehow I found a place that could still turn harsh and desolate at a moment’s notice.

  I’m about to pick up the ax when something hits the thick coat at my back, smashing into pieces. The telltale giggle tells me exactly what it was and I spin around to see Emma watching me from the tree, still perched on one of the lower branches with her face portraying all the innocence an eight-year-old can muster - which would have been enough to make me immediately suspicious anyway.

  “Mm…that wasn’t you, right?” I say, eyes sparkling as I meet her gaze.

  She shakes her head and even manages an almost-solemn expression.

  “Noo…”

  I nod.

  “Good…then this isn’t me either.”

  I stoop down to gather my own snowball as she shrieks - darting behind a couple of branches just as I fling it at her, the snow thumping harmlessly against the tree instead.

  She giggles and I growl in frustration as I see her little advantage, bending down to make another one as I stalk closer.

  “Daddy—daddy—it wasn’t meeee…”

  I throw the snowball anyway and she suddenly becomes busy enough jumping around the low branches of the tree that her objection cuts out.

  “Who was it then?” I ask, determined to get at least one hit in before I convince us to go back to what we really should be doing.

  “Um, er…” She looks around, and I can just see the braid that I tied for her this morning flicking behind the branches. “Jasper did it!”

  I look at the poor, innocent dog - now barking and darting between me and the tree excitedly, seeming to want to catch snowballs - and shake my head. Poor Jasper has been accused of things that no dog deserves for years.

  Another snowball hits me on the arm while I’m giving him a sympathetic look, my head swiveling back to Emma.

  “Was that Jasper too?” I ask incredulously.

  “No.” She grins, sticking her tongue out at me. “That was me!”

  “Monkey!” I scowl at her, darting forward with another snowball of my own, and she shrieks and hides behind the tree again.

  I wouldn’t play quite so hard if she were a little higher, but on those low branches…if she falls, well, a little dousing in snow would probably do her good.

  We continue like that for a little bit - laughing and darting around and throwing sn
ow at each other. She only gets one more hit in - but hitting her feels a little like trying to catch lightning. She’s too small and fast - and sometimes I think she’s too clever for me too.

  Until something else occurs to me, and I start collecting a much bigger snowball. I can see her watching me in amusement, playing around in the tree. When I finally get it together, I stand and face her. She sticks her tongue out at me and darts behind the tree - but this time, I throw it up.

  She’s already giggling at the obvious miss - when it hits the branch just above her head and dislodges all the snow right down on top of her. I grin, feeling more than a little bit smug.

  It’s not always that I can beat my eight-year-old at her own game.

  “H-heyy!” She splutters, shaking off the cold powder and jumping down from the tree. “That’s not fair!”

  She starts bouncing over to me and I just smile.

  “Got you.”

  “Brrr…” She says, shivering exaggeratedly as she wriggles and tries to get it out of her coat.

  I smile and pull her in towards my body. “Now, are you going to come and help me, or did you just come out here to make my life hard?”

  “I was having fuun, Daddy.”

  “Uhuh. Yeah, I saw that, monkey.” I drop my voice to a mutter. “Felt some of it too.”

  I start walking us back towards the firewood I was about to start chopping and she continues bouncing around me - Jasper picking up on her mood and jumping around her as well, barking excitedly as we walk.

  “I’ll help now.” She says brightly, running on ahead to the ax.

  How she has so much energy and can dart on top of the snow like some winter animal, I have no idea, but it makes me smile anyway.

  I step up in front of it and warn her to move out of the way - which she doesn’t, of course.

  “Can I chop the firewood?”

  I just laugh. She asks this every time.

  “No, sweetie. You need to be big and strong for that.”

  “I’m very big and strong.” She says, flexing her arms and trying to show me her muscles.

  “Uhuh.” I nod. “Then you can carry the firewood inside while I chop, yeah?”

  “But—”

  “If you carry firewood, you’ll grow up big and strong.” I say and watch her debate it for a moment.

  She finally gives an exaggerated sigh and nods. “Okay…”

  “Good girl.”

  I pull on the end of her braid and smile at the glare she gives me as she walks past to pick up the firewood. She’s still only little and can’t take that much of it, but my heart still swells with pride at everything I see her do. For a kid, she’s far more willing to join in and help me than I could expect - and I seriously admire the things she is able to do already. I have no idea what I was like at that age, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was still running wild and causing chaos. Emma legitimately contributes to the upkeep of our little home in the mountains, and her maturity constantly surprises me.

  Then again, she’s had more than one reason to mature earlier than she should have to.

  The thought makes me sad, and I pause for a moment where I’m steadying the ax, glancing behind me where she’s trekking through the snow - slower now that she’s weighed down by a slightly optimistic amount of firewood - humming some careless tune while Jasper runs in circles around her. That brings back a smile and I let myself picture the way her eye sparkled as she grinned down at me from the tree just a few moments earlier.

  I wouldn’t wish what she’s been through on anyone, but there’s no doubt that being out here like this brings her to life. It thrills me the way that she lights up when she gets to play outside - running around the mountain and forest as if she’s known it all her life and never wants to be anywhere else. She’s not terrible when we end up shut inside during a storm - probably better than me, with her books and coloring and the movies I let her watch - but out here…it’s obvious that this is what she lives for. And the way she’s changed over the last two years…

  You did the right thing. You were right to bring her here.

  The familiar doubt nags at me anyway, but the obvious glow in her expression is all I really need to reassure myself. Everything else, I’ll deal with - so long as Emma has what she needs.

  I turn back to the log and - I won’t deny it - end up working out some of the tension and uncertainty that lingers in the cracking and splintering of wood. Emma comes back a few more times, carrying more firewood back to the store we have at the back of the house, before looking at me skeptically after a while.

  “Dad, do we really need all this?”

  I try to hide my smile. “It doesn’t hurt to—”

  “—be prepared.” She finishes, in a long-suffering tone.

  I laugh - and then finally relent. She’s not exactly wrong - we haven’t even used up everything I’d prepared for the last storm yet.

  “Well, I guess we do have a lot of firewood now, huh?”

  She nods emphatically, her braid flying as her head goes up and down.

  “Okay monkey, maybe we’ve done everything for the storm now.” I glance up at the sky, my forehead creasing in a frown. “It looks like it’s getting bad, too.”

  I put down the ax and turn back towards her.

  “I just need to go to the cabins and check they’re safe too, sweetheart.” I pause, trying not to make my hesitation over the next question obvious. “Do you want to come with me?”

  Just like that, my brightly smiling daughter changes completely. Her expression closes off, and I can feel more than see the self-conscious shyness come over her. She shakes her head, all her easy chatter evaporating as she glances off to the side.

  My heart clenches tight in my chest and I can’t help the familiar wave of sadness. She’s the most amazing, precious, beautiful little girl I could ever ask for, and the fact that I know exactly what’s going through her head right now makes me want to curse and break things and change everything about this world.

  But I don’t. Instead I try not to sigh, and give her a gentle smile instead.

  “Okay sweetie, do you want to go back to the house with Jasper then?”

  She nods, still not looking at me.

  I can’t stand another second of it and kneel down in the snow, pulling her in close and wrapping my arms tight around her. I breathe in the beautiful scent of Emma and snowflakes and good, clean air…and after a moment her arms come around me too. I think the hug is probably more for my benefit than hers, but then her low, sad voice comes through to me.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy.” I catch a sniffle and squeeze her tighter.

  “Shh, it’s okay. Don’t be sorry.” I lean back to kiss her on the forehead, then pull her in again. “It doesn’t matter - maybe next time, hm?”

  She hesitates, but eventually she nods. “Yeah. Maybe.”

  I swallow, but I don’t let her feel it as I get up with a smile, brushing the snow off my thick, waterproof pants.

  “Just be careful, okay? It’s not far - go straight back with Jasper and stay inside until I get back.” I give the sky another suspicious look. “I don’t trust this storm - I think it’s going to get real bad, real fast now.”

  She looks at me, some of the somber mood shifting into wide-eyed concern as she follows my gaze to the sky, batting away the now quickly-falling snow as if she’ll be able to see something beyond it. Then she looks back to me.

  “Will you be okay, Daddy?”

  The look she gives me is so very fragile - and for a moment I almost decide to forget about my responsibility to the cabins. I don’t want to worry her. I’ve left her for a couple of hours before and she barely notices it - it’s just that with a storm like this…it’s different.

  But this is my job, and right now it’s the only thing letting us live here…not to mention, I have no idea who’s staying in those cabins at the moment, and if some other child suffers because their parents have no clue how to stock up for a storm like
this and I wanted to be selfish and stay home with mine? I couldn’t forgive myself that.

  “I should be fine, sweetie. It won’t take me long to get to the cabins and they should already have everything they need - I should be back soon. And I know what I’m doing in storms like this.”

  And there’s nothing on this earth that could ever stop me coming back to you, Emma. Nothing.

  But I don’t say that. Because as strongly as I feel it, I don’t think she’d believe me, not when she knows how badly things can go wrong. I’m not stupid enough to think I can control everything, either - and if I make a promise like that and something happens—

  I don’t want to think about what that might do to her.

  She nods, still looking up at me with those big, concerned eyes, but trusting me the way she always has.

  “If I’m not back in three hours.” I say reluctantly, precisely because we both know that shit can happen. “Then you know how to call Mr. Jackson. You remember, Emma?”

  She nods again.

  “Call him and he’ll make sure you’re safe - even if the storm is bad. But don’t worry, Emma. I’m just telling you this…just in case, you know?”

  She nods. Yes, she knows.

  “I should be back a long time before that, okay? Go home, find some blankets for you and Jasper, and put a movie on or something.”

  I give her another hug and kiss the top of her head before stepping back.

  “Okay Daddy. See you soon.”

  She gives me a small smile, and my chest tightens as I wonder yet again at the bravery that lets her know that bad things happen…but still be willing to believe that this time, it won’t. I make another fierce promise to myself that I’ll keep showing her that - I’ll keep showing her that this time, it won’t.

  “Hey, Emma—” She turns back to me and I smile again. “Love you, sweetie.”

  She smiles again, giving me a quick wave. “Love you too, Daddy.”

  I crush the urge that makes me want to run back to her, sweep her up and go with her to our own cabin - and instead, turn back into the storm.

  The wind is starting to howl through the trees now and my heart beats just a little faster, as it does every time I sense those raw forces of nature step up to try to challenge me.