Read Online Husband Fur Hire (Bears Fur Hire Book 1) by T. S. Joyce - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: T. S. Joyce
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us, because we got to help my uncle around the homestead.” Elyse ghosted him a glance, then returned to her food. “I fell in love with this place when I was seven.”
“Is that why you’re so hard on yourself for struggling here?”
“Yeah. When I stayed with my uncle, I thought there was nothing he couldn’t do, you know? He could fix anything and come up with a solution to every problem. I watched him dig a water filtration system to get water in this cabin, just because Marta wanted it. I saw him treat her like a queen as much as he was able, and he never got impatient with explaining how and why he did things around the homestead. My dad wasn’t in the picture, so Uncle Jim filled this void in me I couldn’t figure out how to fill up when I lived in Anchorage. Josiah always loved this place, but me? I loved this place.” She pursed her lips and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. “It always felt like home, and my real home in the city felt temporary. I think my mom saw that, too, because even when Josiah started wanting to stay in the city and spend the warm months shooting the shit with his friends, she kept sending me here.”
“Why didn’t your uncle teach you to hunt?”
“He got me through the hunter safety course, but by the time most of the big game seasons came about, I was back in Anchorage going to school. And when I turned eighteen, Mom wanted me out of the house the second I graduated high school, so then I got a job in the city and my visits out here were few and far between. Life, you know? I got caught up trying to cover my bills. I missed the last of Marta’s life, and I missed the last of Uncle Jim’s. And I missed this place. I was unhappy and uncomfortable in my own skin. I didn’t know a damned thing about myself and couldn’t figure out what was missing, and then Uncle Jim left me this place in his will when he passed three years ago. And suddenly, everything made sense. It was like coming home after being away for a really long time. And I was proud of myself for the first time in a long time because the first year I did okay. Josiah helped a lot and settled twenty miles away. The grazing was better over his way, so we figured out how to run the cattle together. Sometimes I think he moved here to make sure I was okay, though. He liked Anchorage more than I did. He has friends there.”
“And you didn’t have friends after all that time there?”
“I did, but it wasn’t like with my brother. I have trouble connecting with people. No, that’s not true,” she said with a deep frown. “I have trouble picking the right people.”
Ian nodded slowly. He could see that. She was trusting and gave too many chances, and sometimes in this world, innocence like that drew in dark people who liked to take advantage. She’d put herself in a submissive position and drawn in the dominants who would feed off what she could provide, be it emotional or material. It was the easiest thing in the world to see why a woman like Elyse would want to make a life way out here where she didn’t have to make those decisions on who to trust.
“Is that why you let Cole come around?”
Elyse gave him a faraway look and an empty smile, then pushed her half-eaten bowl away as if she’d lost her appetite. “Cole came around because he found a good mark to use. And being too big a pussy to break it off with me, he made himself unacceptable so I would pull the trigger on our relationship. I’m going to go to bed.” She stood and walked abruptly into her bedroom, leaving Ian’s head spinning on what had just happened.
What had he said? He’d just asked about Cole because he was honestly curious on why a smart, hard-working, level-headed woman like Elyse would allow a free-loading asshole to drain her like that.
Elyse closed her bedroom door behind her, and from the other side, he heard the trickle of water from her bathroom sink. Troubled, he ate slowly, going over and over their
“Is that why you’re so hard on yourself for struggling here?”
“Yeah. When I stayed with my uncle, I thought there was nothing he couldn’t do, you know? He could fix anything and come up with a solution to every problem. I watched him dig a water filtration system to get water in this cabin, just because Marta wanted it. I saw him treat her like a queen as much as he was able, and he never got impatient with explaining how and why he did things around the homestead. My dad wasn’t in the picture, so Uncle Jim filled this void in me I couldn’t figure out how to fill up when I lived in Anchorage. Josiah always loved this place, but me? I loved this place.” She pursed her lips and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. “It always felt like home, and my real home in the city felt temporary. I think my mom saw that, too, because even when Josiah started wanting to stay in the city and spend the warm months shooting the shit with his friends, she kept sending me here.”
“Why didn’t your uncle teach you to hunt?”
“He got me through the hunter safety course, but by the time most of the big game seasons came about, I was back in Anchorage going to school. And when I turned eighteen, Mom wanted me out of the house the second I graduated high school, so then I got a job in the city and my visits out here were few and far between. Life, you know? I got caught up trying to cover my bills. I missed the last of Marta’s life, and I missed the last of Uncle Jim’s. And I missed this place. I was unhappy and uncomfortable in my own skin. I didn’t know a damned thing about myself and couldn’t figure out what was missing, and then Uncle Jim left me this place in his will when he passed three years ago. And suddenly, everything made sense. It was like coming home after being away for a really long time. And I was proud of myself for the first time in a long time because the first year I did okay. Josiah helped a lot and settled twenty miles away. The grazing was better over his way, so we figured out how to run the cattle together. Sometimes I think he moved here to make sure I was okay, though. He liked Anchorage more than I did. He has friends there.”
“And you didn’t have friends after all that time there?”
“I did, but it wasn’t like with my brother. I have trouble connecting with people. No, that’s not true,” she said with a deep frown. “I have trouble picking the right people.”
Ian nodded slowly. He could see that. She was trusting and gave too many chances, and sometimes in this world, innocence like that drew in dark people who liked to take advantage. She’d put herself in a submissive position and drawn in the dominants who would feed off what she could provide, be it emotional or material. It was the easiest thing in the world to see why a woman like Elyse would want to make a life way out here where she didn’t have to make those decisions on who to trust.
“Is that why you let Cole come around?”
Elyse gave him a faraway look and an empty smile, then pushed her half-eaten bowl away as if she’d lost her appetite. “Cole came around because he found a good mark to use. And being too big a pussy to break it off with me, he made himself unacceptable so I would pull the trigger on our relationship. I’m going to go to bed.” She stood and walked abruptly into her bedroom, leaving Ian’s head spinning on what had just happened.
What had he said? He’d just asked about Cole because he was honestly curious on why a smart, hard-working, level-headed woman like Elyse would allow a free-loading asshole to drain her like that.
Elyse closed her bedroom door behind her, and from the other side, he heard the trickle of water from her bathroom sink. Troubled, he ate slowly, going over and over their
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