Weeks had passed since Jake and Vanessa had spent their first night together. Vanessa was pleased that Jake had been riding Tamara again, but only under her watchful eye. She’d been checking on her periodically. It was on the evening of one such checkup that their lives took a turn for the worst. Jake had already gone inside to get his shower, but she had stayed behind in the barn to finish examining Tamara’s leg. After giving the mare a flake of hay, Vanessa had turned to leave when the open barn doors banged shut as if a strong wind had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. When she tried to push one open, Vanessa discovered the bolt on the outside had been slid in place locking her in. She blew a wisp of hair out of her face and stood annoyed with her hands on her hips. “Who the hell would close and lock the doors without checking first?” She asked herself.

“Hey, who is out there? I’m stuck in here. Unlock the doors!” she yelled, beating on the inside of them. When there was no answer, she began beating and screaming louder.

Finally, Vanessa threw up her hands and turned to head out one of the stall doors open to the paddock area. That’s when she realized someone was systematically closing and locking all the exits from the barn. After noticing she had left her phone inside the house, she sunk down on a bale of hay resigning herself to the fact that Jake would finally miss her and come searching.

For a few moments, she sat with her chin cradled in her hands when she sniffed and sniffed again. Was that smoke? She turned to look around and realized that it appeared a bit hazy at the back of the barn. It only took a moment for the smell of smoke to waft toward her. Her eyes began to burn, and she coughed as more and more smoke filled the barn. Terrified, she turned back toward the large front doors and began beating and throwing her weight against them, screaming, “FIRE! Help! Help… I’m locked in here!”

Her heart was pounding in her chest when the smoke got thick. She dropped to the floor in an attempt to stay beneath it, coughing as she continued to kick at the door with both feet while screaming for help. Her voice was little more than a whisper when she wondered if she was going to die as everything went black around her.

Then it seemed Jake’s voice was miles away when she heard him yell, “Vanessa, hang in there, sweetie. I’m here!” The next thing she knew, she could feel Jake’s hands on her face, smoothing back her hair. Vanessa opened her eyes. She could see Jake’s face over her even with her blurred vision. Suddenly, someone came up from behind him and shoved Jake down on top of her. She felt Jake scramble off and could hear him cursing and the sounds of punching and scuffling. Finally, she opened her eyes and heard Jake scream, “You FUCK…” Then the shadowy figure disappeared.

The next thing she could remember was Jake on the phone with what she assumed was a 911 dispatcher before everything went black again. When she came to, a paramedic was pressing an oxygen mask over her face before lifting her onto a gurney. She could hear Jake somewhere nearby giving a statement to what sounded like policemen, but everything was still too hazy for her to be sure. Then, Vanessa remembered the bumpy ride and heard the crunch of the gravel under the tires when the ambulance whisked her away.

Vanessa was dimly aware of what was going on around her as she was wheeled into the emergency room and treated for smoke inhalation. Once she was stabilized, they put her in a room for overnight observation. Her mother and father called, and her mother was already making plans to fly in, but she told her she was fine and would be home by morning. The last thing she needed was to have to deal with her overzealous pampering. She loved her mother but also knew they got along better from a distance. As the medication they gave her to ease the inflammation and help her rest kicked in, she dozed off.

“Hello there,” Jake said from a nearby chair as she awoke some hours later.

“Hey,” she said weakly. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” he asked, with concern in his voice.

“Bits and pieces, but it is all fuzzy,” she told him.

“I’m so sorry, Vanessa. I don’t know why someone would do that,” he said, looking down at the floor.

“What? What do you mean?” she asked, still a bit groggy from the medication and not really comprehending what he was trying to say to her.

“Someone locked you in the barn and set it on fire. I was just getting dressed after my shower when I heard you screaming. I rushed outside and didn’t see anyone at first, but saw the smoke coming out from under the barn doors. I unbolted the doors as fast as I could and found you unconscious laying there on the floor.” Jake squeezed her hand. “When I started CPR someone I didn’t recognize came out of nowhere and attacked me,” he said, letting the words tumble out as his voice choked up.

“Did the barn burn down?” Vanessa croaked and started coughing.

“No, when Tucker saw the smoke from his kitchen window he rushed out and put it out with the hose. I think the damage was minimal, but I left to be with you before the fire was completely out,” Jake explained.

A nurse came in, disrupting their conversation to give her another breathing treatment. While she was sitting up straight breathing into the mask, she noticed a large vase of a dozen red roses sitting on the side table. She managed to wink at Jake.

“I hope you like them. There wasn’t a lot to choose from in the gift shop when I got here,” he told her.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered through the mask. When the treatment was finished, Jake helped reposition the hospital bed so she could get some sleep.

During the night, she opened and closed her eyes several times and noticed Jake was sleeping in the recliner beside her. Once, well past midnight, her eye-lids had fluttered open, and she saw how the light from the full moon was falling across his face. For the first time, she realized how incredibly handsome he was. To her, Jake always had been cute and very sexy, but this time it was much different… his chiseled features, and broad chest…

The following morning, the doctor came in for early rounds. After checking her over, he gave her the good news she was ready to be discharged and go home. Jake’s grin was wide when he said, “I’ll take you home and get one of the guys to drive your mobile unit back to your house. And, of course, I will stay with you.”

“Hopefully, that means you aren’t going to abandon me,” she smiled.

Jake shook his head, “No, not hardly!”

A nurse brought in her discharge papers but before she left Vanessa asked, “Where are my clothes?”

“Oh, they put those in a bag. It is sitting in the closet. I’ll get them for you,” she replied, walking over to the built-in cabinet area on one side of the room. The nurse pulled out a bag and brought it over to Vanessa.

When Vanessa opened it up, the acrid smell of smoke filled the room. She made a face and stuffed them back into the bag.

“They smell horrible,” she groaned.

“Oh, yeah. Of course, they do. I hadn’t thought about that,” he said. “I’ll go downstairs to the gift shop and find you something to wear.”

“Thanks, but I don’t have my purse,” she said.

“Don’t worry I’ll take care of it,” he said, already heading out of the room before she could protest. He returned a short time later with a bag in hand and gave it to her. She reached in to find a pair of pajama pants, a t-shirt, and fuzzy blue slippers.

“Quite the fashion statement,” she laughed.

“Hey, it was the best I could do. It’s better than wearing a gown and taking the chance of exposing your ass,” he said, with a wry smile on his face. Then Jake nodded toward the door. “I need to use the phone. I’ll let you get changed.”

“It won’t take me long. I need a shower, but I guess I’ll just wait until I get home where I can soak.”

“I’ll be outside when you are ready,” he told her.

It was only a few minutes later when she stepped out, a bit embarrassed and noticed Jake was leaning against the outer wall texting, but abruptly tucked the phone into his pocket when he saw her. A nurse turned up with a wheelchair, insisting that she get in it.

“I’ll pull the truck around to the entrance,” Jake said and walked toward the elevators.

After he had helped her inside and placed her smelly bag of clothes in the bed of the truck, he turned to her and said, “Listen, Vanessa. I don’t think I can tell you enough how sorry I am about this. I don’t know who did it or why, but I’m sure it has something to do with Kessler.”

“It’s not your fault, Jake.” She looked out the window. Jake was quick to blame Kessler, but her second sense told her not to jump to any quick conclusions. So, she decided to take an optimistic attitude and said, “Whoever did it was unbalanced… you never know about folks these days. The police will find them.” Vanessa reached over and touched his hand and continued choking up a bit, “I’m just so thankful that you came along when you did. You saved my life.” He pulled her to him in a hug, letting her cry on his shoulder for a moment before she pulled away. “I’m sorry. I must smell horrible.” Embarrassed that Jake might find her a bit repulsive, at least for the moment.

“I don’t care. I’m just really glad you are okay,” Jake said, looking into her eyes just before he turned into her driveway. “I guess we better get you inside. Tucker will be here in a minute with the camper and the medical bag you left behind. I sent him a text while you were getting dressed. I’ll call one of the others to come pick him up and take him back to the ranch.”

“Thanks, for everything,” she told him as they made their way to her front steps.

“Do you need anything right now? Food, drinks? Tucker and I can go shopping for you,” he asked.

“No. I have food in the house,” she told him.

About that time Tucker pulled into the driveway behind him. Vanessa wasn’t in a hurry for him to leave. Tucker may have more information by now that Jake was not yet aware of and she was curious. “I didn’t see much damage, but I didn’t stick around… so what’s the scoop, Tucker? Is it bad?” Jake asked.

“Not too bad. It was mostly hay and straw that was burning,” Tucker replied.

Vanessa put her hand to her mouth and gasped, “Oh God, I just realized. There were animals in there when I was inside.”

“We got them out while Jake was helping you. That’s why we didn’t notice the guy who jumped him at first,” Tucker said shaking his head.

“How? The barn was filled with smoke, and their stalls were latched,” she wondered. “Was anyone else hurt?”

“No. There is a master switch on a post outside the barn that automatically unlocks the door. It is there for just such an event like a fire. Other than the main doors in the front, all you have to do is hit the master switch, and the other doors fly open. So, that’s what I did. From there, it was just a matter of calming them and getting them into pens,” Tucker explained.

“Thank goodness,” Vanessa replied, feeling relieved.

Jake looked over at her then turned to Tucker. Throwing his key to him, Jake said, “Take my truck. I’ll call you later.” Vanessa held the roses to her nose while Jake unlocked her front door and followed her inside.

Later in the evening, Vanessa fell asleep while Jake stroked her hair. It was short lived though. She woke up when he pulled away his arm. He thought she was still asleep while she watched him pull on his boxers and slip out of the bedroom. A few minutes later she snuck out of bed and went to see what he was doing. She laughed when she saw him with his back to her sitting at the table with a glass of milk. The tin of her chocolate chip cookies was open in front of him. “What are you doing,” she asked with a grin.

“Jesus, woman!” Jake yelled, as he almost jumped out of his skin.

She walked over to the fridge, and poured a glass of milk for herself and sat down across from him. “Jake, now that I’m fully rested tell me again what happened. You said you didn’t get a good look at the person who jumped you…”

“He was wearing a ski mask. Big guy… I can’t imagine it was one of Kessler’s goons. After all, right now Kessler is happy with me since I’ve been paying on time… even paid ahead a bit.” Jake took another gulp of milk. “Perhaps it was someone who I ruffed up in the past. I just don’t know. And to tell you the truth I don’t have a lot of faith in the sheriff’s department these days. They just see me as another thug. As you know my reputation is…. not the greatest.”

Vanessa was pleased the way Jake was beginning to open up to him. She too was not convinced that Kessler had been the culprit. But she had nothing to base her assumption on either.

After another cookie, they wandered back to bed and enjoyed making love again until the wee hours of the morning.