Mountain Man Tempted

Read the first pages

From Chapter 1

Holt is running late again, and his son can't leave without his dinosaur socks.

We were running late. Again.

“Come on, Lane. We were supposed to leave ten minutes ago.” I knelt down next to his bed, hoping he’d be able to pull himself together enough to get out the door. We’d had another rough night, and he was overtired, overstressed, and overstimulated. As someone who hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in almost four years, I could relate.

“I can’t go without my dinosaur socks, Dad.” He’d been flip flopping back and forth between crying and raging. Unfortunately, that was typical behavior for him, and I was fresh out of ideas on how to make things better.

“Where did you last see them?” Forcing him to go without his socks would only make things worse. I’d learned that the hard way, though it had taken me awhile.

“At camp. I took them off when we went swimming.” His face fell as he tried to remember. “I think I left them there.”

“I’ll stop by and see if they’re in the lost and found after my meeting. How does that sound?”

He sniffled. “What if they’re not?”

“Then I’ll get you some new ones.” I’d just need to ask my sister Jessa where she’d found them in the first place. It’s not like a town the size of Hard Timber had kid-sized dinosaur socks readily available at the Hard & Handy. Guilt made my stomach twist. Knowing how much Lane loved those damn socks, I should have thought of that already. I’d learned over the years it was easier to have multiples of the things he loved the most. That way, when something inevitably got lost, I wouldn’t find myself in a situation like the one I was trying to claw my way out of now.

“Will they still have a T-Rex on them?” Lane wiped the back of his hand across a tear-stained cheek.

Sensing a light at the end of the very dark tunnel we’d been stuck in, I nodded. “Absolutely. But if you want me to check camp after my meeting, we need to get you to Miss Nellie’s.”

Lane took in a deep breath and climbed off the bed. “Okay.”

I gathered him into my arms, wishing I had all the answers so I could give him what he needed. Clearly, love wasn’t enough, but I was trying. “Love you, Laneosaurus.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

Find out what happens next tonight.