To Claim the Mountain Man

Chapter 3

ISLA MAE

Present Day

Returning to Laurel Peak shouldn't have scared me.

I loved the little mountain town. I certainly loved it more than New York, where I'd spent the last four years earning my English degree, but I never expected to be home so soon...

Plans change, I reminded myself, hoisting a heavy moving box onto my hip. Plans change, but it doesn't mean you're stuck here forever.

Fresh tears stung the surface of my eyes, but I blinked them back. Garrett would be arriving soon to help me unload my boxes, and I swore not to let my family see me cry. Mom and Dad were so excited when I told them I'd taken a year-long position as an English teacher at Laurel Peak High School. It would break their hearts if they knew how much I wanted to be somewhere else.

I worked my butt off throughout high school with a single goal: Earn a full-ride scholarship to Columbia University's creative writing program. Columbia had one of the best creative writing programs in the country, and I wanted—needed--to learn everything they had to offer.

When I got my acceptance letter and moved into the dorms for freshman year, I thought I was well on my way to becoming everything I ever dreamed of. The next Tessa Bailey or Sarah J. Maas.

Four years later, I was certain I'd exceled during my time at Columbia. I completed my degree with a perfect 4.0. I didn't party. I went to every extra-credit lecture or visiting scholar reading. I participated in book clubs and helped edit the university's literary journal. I did everything right.

But it wasn't enough.

A week after graduation, the letter came in the mail.

Rejected.

I'd been rejected by Colombia's MFA program. My portfolio, although impressive, lacked sustenance. To quote, my romance novels failed to "illuminate and inspire" the committee.

I read and reread that letter, allowing the devastation to wash over me and pull me under. I spent the better part of a week drowning in my misery. Then, my mother called me.

Apparently, Mrs. Manchester, an English teacher at Laurel Peak High, moved to Arizona to be closer to her ailing parents, and the school needed to fill her position in a matter of weeks. With nowhere else to go for at least a year, I called for an interview and took the job.

"Hey Isla Mae," Garrett's familiar tenor tore through my self-pitying spiral.

I forced a smile on my lips before spinning to face him.

Garrett hadn't changed much, although he'd grown startlingly large during his time as a firefighter. After college, he followed in our dad's footsteps and joined the Laurel Peak Fire Department. A healthy pad of muscle covered every limb, and his gut protruded just slightly from the waistband of his jeans. The dadbod was fitting, though, since his wife was set to give birth to their first baby in a matter of months.

He jogged up the front porch steps to meet me, the wood groaning beneath his weight, and wrapped his big arms around me.

"It's good to see you," I squeaked from within his bear-like embrace. "Thanks for helping me move in. Mom and Dad are gonna swing by later."

"Of course. I had the day off, anyway." He set me back on my feet and stood back, taking in the state of my new home's front porch. His easy smile faded in an instant, and he whistled low. "Wow... This place is—"

"A fixer-upper," I interrupted him before he could insult my little cabin. "I know."

He cringed and mumbled, "You could say that again."