That beautiful woman who talked of a place she loved like it was the only place she ever wanted to be.
The cabin was completely off the grid. I kept a gas generator going for electricity during the winter months, but the solar panels on the roof kept us going during the summer months. The kits were easy enough to purchase and install and the few weeks of summer we had experienced here proved I’d installed them correctly. Every other day, I’d go outside and chop up firewood, storing it inside for the cold winter months to come. The fireplace in the cabin was the only source of heat in the house, but the air ducts that shot off and lined the ceiling poured heat into the other rooms while casting the smoke outside.
Where we were, I could hear anyone and anything coming. We lived off the beaten path and I took to homeschooling Junior, which was fine with him because he didn’t seem to trust people anyway. For now, we had to venture into town to get fresh vegetables to eat, but once we got past this first winter in the Poconos, that wouldn’t be the case. I’d been making plans to plant a garden in the backyard and, coupling that with the hunting I did, we’d be completely self-sufficient.
At that point, the only thing I’d need to run into town for was gas for the generator, which I stored away by the gallons in a shed I’d built with my own two hands out back.
Every day I woke up, I thought of her. The innocent little songbird that sang among these mountains. I wondered what she was doing, or if she ever thought of me. I’d wanted to track her down years ago when my body craved her the most. Just to see what she was up to. Just to make sure she was okay and happy.
But I’d stopped myself on many occasions. I couldn’t risk the Del Vecchio family finding out about my weakness for a woman whose name I didn’t even know. She was too pure. Too good for me. Besides, developing any kind of personal relationship with her would put her in danger.
Danger she didn’t deserve.
But now that Junior and I had settled into our new lifestyle—now that I had left all of that bullshit behind—it was finally the right time to check in on her.
A knock came at the door just as I threw the meat into the stew. Junior looked at me with fear in his eyes and my gut pulled with guilt. I knew I’d made the right decision by leaving that lifestyle behind. Just the look of fear that rattled across his stare was enough to make me sick, even after all this time. I walked over to him and kissed the top of his head, telling him to stay put while I saw what was going on.
Then, I made my way to the door with a gun holstered on my hip.
“Don’t panic. It’s just me.”
I sighed with relief, and I opened the door. The private investigator I’d hired to track down the girl held a massive manila envelope in his hand. I ushered him in and we sat down on the couch. Then I called out to Junior and told him everything was just fine.
He didn’t say anything back, but I could hear him pressing the buttons on his gaming system, so I knew he had settled himself down again.
“Did you find her?” I asked.
“I did,” he said. “Since you knew she lived in the area, she wasn’t hard to track down. I didn’t even have to risk tapping into the old footage of the club you owned in order to find her.”
“Good,” I said. “How is she?”
“She’s… as good as can be expected,” he said.
“What the hell does that mean?” I asked. “Has something happened to her?”
“She does still live in the area,” he said. “She lives just on the other side of this mountain. Works at a diner called Stevie’s. Ever heard of it?”
“No, I haven’t,” I said.
“It’s not too far from here. Maybe a thirty-minute drive. Anyway, you said you encountered her three years ago, right?”
“Yes, what’s happened to her?” I asked.
“Take a look inside.”
He handed me the manila envelope, and I practically ripped the top off it. My heart was pounding in my chest and my blood rushed heavily through my ears. I pulled out page after page, tossing everything to the floor as a picture of her finally came into view. Those beautiful peridot eyes and that milky skin were exactly like I remembered, matching the image of her I’d had burned in my brain. My heart ached at the sight of the black hair that had felt so soft against my fingers and those beautiful, luscious lips I’d dreamed about for years.