THE ATTACK
“You look flushed!” Patsy observed as Serena slipped into the cottage.
“Probably the exertion of the brisk walk,” Serena replied. “Thank you so much for watching Nathan.”
Patsy looked at her curiously, and Serena acutely felt her scrutiny. “I can’t shake the feeling that we have met before,” Patsy said, and Serena blanched.
“Perhaps,” Serena replied. “Misty Creek is a small place, after all.”
Later, she sank down on the bed beside Nathan and stroked the little boy’s cheek. Her heart still raced. She had ridden Falcon to a point from where the ranch house was visible, and then dismounted and walked the horse back to the stables. Though nobody had seen her, she was still apprehensive about the questions they would ask. As she walked Falcon back, she adjusted her dress, remembering the moments before she had had to flee the cabin. In the lamplight back in the cottage, she examined her skin, seeing the marks of Jasper’s passion on her skin. She had felt his raw desire, and wondered if she would have let him go where only Daniel had gone before. She wrung her hands together, guilt and shame bowing her down, and began to pray silently for forgiveness. She had to avoid him at all costs. In fact, she had to get away from Steephill Ranch.
* * *
Serena wished she didn’t have to pass the stables on the way into the ranch house kitchen, because she was always acutely aware that Jasper could walk out any minute with Falcon.
“Serena!” Jasper called, coming out of the stables, just as Serena feared he might.
“Jasper,” Serena murmured, looking uncertainly at him.
“About…” Jasper began, and Serena raised her hand to silence him.
“I’m sorry. It won’t ever happen again. I will take steps to find alternative employment.”
“No! Please, don’t do that!” Jasper exclaimed desperately.
“I am a married woman, Jasper, and I still love Daniel. I suppose whatever happened between us…is the result of how deeply I miss my husband,” Serena said, knowing she was telling a falsehood to save his reputation. She didn’t know if Daniel was alive or not but if he was, she did not want to betray him.
“Say no more,” Jasper replied gruffly. “I will keep out of your way, but I beg you not to leave on my account. You need this job, and we need your skills.”
Serena searched her mind for something suitable to say. “Angelica will be back soon,” she said, “and I will stay till her return, so as not to cause your family any inconvenience.”
“Thank you, Serena,” Jasper said, sounding relieved. “And since you are being so kind to us, I want to do something for you too. I am going to get someone to try and find your husband. I can see that you truly love him and since I…feel…very warmly toward you…” Jasper’s voice trailed off and he fell silent. Then he cleared his throat and continued. “I cannot lie to you, Serena. I have very strong feelings for you. I know we have not known each other long, but from the first moment I saw you, I felt like you were someone that I just had to know.”
Serena dared not meet Jasper’s eyes, lest she give her own feelings away. Whatever she felt for him, she decided, Jasper must never know. “I have great regard for you, Jasper,” Serena replied, her eyes lowered, “and I would be most grateful for your help in locating Daniel.”
“I promise to do all I can, Serena,” Jasper whispered. “And I’m sorry…for…”
“Jasper, please don’t apologize,” Serena begged. “I am equally to blame for it.”
There it is again, Serena thought in agony – that spark that seems to flare up between us each time we are within a few feet of each other.
Jasper moved toward her and then slowly backed away. Serena fled to the kitchen, fighting the urge to break down and weep… because she wanted Jasper so badly, although she couldn’t forget that she was married to Daniel.
* * *
The next morning, Jeremiah and Petula came into the dining room quietly murmuring to each other about the huge bear their brother had encountered.
“Where’s Jasper?” Rebecca asked, looking up at them.
“He’s breaking in a new horse,” Jeremiah replied, “and he wanted to get an early start.”
“He should have eaten before he left,” Rebecca remarked.
Jeremiah gave Serena an uncertain look, and she glanced away.
“Maybe, Serena, you could take Jasper an early lunch?” he suggested.
“Don’t go bothering Serena,” Rebecca scolded Jeremiah. “Jasper can come in and get his own lunch.”
Jeremiah shook his head. “Nope. He mentioned he wasn’t going to take a break.”
Rebecca sighed. “He’s so much like his father.”
“Yes, Dad is out there with Jasper,” Petula replied, taking a thoughtful bite out of her bread.
“Well then,” Rebecca said. “Serena could take lunch for both of them. Would that be alright with you, Serena?”
Serena smiled brightly and nodded. “Certainly, Mrs. Riley,” she replied, with more confidence than she felt.
A few hours later, Serena set off to the paddock carrying a basket with lunch for Jasper and Thomas. Neither of them was there, however, and the lone horse ran back and forth inside the paddock, looking as if it wanted to jump over the fence and escape.
“Mr. Riley?” Serena called out hesitantly, her eyes sweeping the paddock and the area around it. “Mr. Riley?”
She started when she heard a sound, almost like a low growl, and, remembering the bear, stood poised for flight. “Mr. Riley? Jasper?” Serena cried out, running forward, just as her eyes alighted on a body lying outside the paddock fence.
“Jasper!” Serena shouted, dropping the basket and flying to his side. He lay there in the dirt, blood dripping from a wound on his temple, where his head appeared to have struck a jagged piece of rock.
“Oh, Jasper!” Serena wept, laying her ear to his chest and groping for a pulse in his neck.
“Help!” she shouted, but there seemed to be nobody to hear her. She leaned over and grabbed a cloth from the picnic basket. She pressed it to Jasper’s wound and watched, alarmed as the fabric became sodden with blood in minutes. Serena bound Jasper’s wound and then tried to get him to talk, but he remained unresponsive. Making a decision she wished she didn’t have to, she then left Jasper and ran back to the ranch house, shouting for help as her feet rapidly covered the distance.
“Serena!” Jeremiah shouted, seeing her running toward the house, her face registering her panic.
“It’s Jasper!” Serena gasped, her body convulsing in sobs, as Jeremiah sped to the stables and attached his horse to a wagon.
“Where’s Father?” Jeremiah asked.
“He… he wasn’t there,” Serena answered, barely able to get out the words. “Only Jasper…please hurry!”
“Get on the wagon,” Jeremiah instructed Serena and urged the horse forward.
When they reached the spot where Serena had left Jasper, they found that he had moved.
“Jasper!” Jeremiah shouted, jumping down from the wagon, and Serena’s hand flew to her mouth to stifle a scream. Holding Jasper, who was struggling to stay upright, was Trent…and he held a pistol to Jasper’s already injured head.
“Trent!” Serena exclaimed. “What are you doing? Let Jasper go!”
Jeremiah turned to Serena in surprise. “You know this man?” he asked.
Serena nodded wordlessly, unconsciously moving closer to Jeremiah, as if for protection.
“Where’s my father?” Jeremiah asked Trent. “And what do you want with us?”
“Give me what’s mine and I’ll give you what’s yours,” Trent replied, and Serena felt the anger rise up within her.
“What do we have that is yours?” Jeremiah asked.
Trent nodded toward Serena, and her eyes flashed dangerously.
“I do not belong to you, Trent!” she cried, enraged. “You cheated me out of my ranch and left me with nothing!”
“I offered to take care of you after your parents died,” Trent retorted as Jasper began to struggle weakly to get out of his grasp.
“These good people have done you no harm,” Serena said, speaking slowly, deliberately. “Please let Jasper go and I will do whatever you ask.”
Trent threw his head back and laughed, revealing his tobacco stained teeth, and Serena recoiled – remembering the time he had tried to subdue her and take her against her will.
“Please release Jasper. Tell us what you have done with Mr. Riley. I will come with you. Please, Trent. I will come with you,” Serena begged.
“What is this man to you?” Jeremiah asked.
“He used to be my father’s friend,” Serena replied, biting back all the other words that threatened to break through.
“Well, obviously he wasn’t a very good one,” Jeremiah remarked, advancing on Trent.
“Stand back!” Trent ground out through clenched teeth, “or I’ll take your brother’s head off!”
“Trent,” Serena attempted to croon. “Please let Jasper go.”
“Why should I? Does he mean that much to you?”
Serena’s breath caught in her throat. “Yes,” she wanted to say. “Yes, he means a lot to me.” Instead, she said nothing, but searched her mind for some way to get Trent to release Jasper, who now fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.
The next few moments seemed to go by in a blur. Jasper was apparently recovered well enough to reach out from where he was and grab Trent by the boots; dropping him to the ground just as Jeremiah pounced on him and pinned him down. Serena’s long suppressed anger brimmed over as she ran for the nearest rock she could see and brought it firmly down against Trent’s head.
“Serena!” Jasper gasped. “Good job! Now let me have the rock.”
The look on Serena’s face alarmed both him and Jeremiah. She dropped the rock to the ground and hung her head.
“What has this man really done to you?” Jasper asked, rising slowly to his feet.
“He attacked you. I don’t know what he has done with Mr. Riley. I’m afraid.” She began to tremble, and Jasper pulled her into his arms, as Jeremiah looked at them with the light of understanding dawning in his eyes.
“What did he really do to you?” Jasper asked, making a valiant effort to rein in his anger against Trent.
Serena bit her lip and shook her head violently. “I can’t tell you. He is despicable, that’s all I can say.” She began to sob. “I need Daniel! I miss Daniel!”
Jasper’s eyes grew sad. “I will find him for you, Serena,” he said, “if it’s the last thing I do. I will find your husband and bring him back to you.”
“Right now, we need to find Father,” Jeremiah said, but just then Thomas rode into view.
“What’s going on?” he asked in surprise, looking from Jasper and Serena to Jeremiah, to Trent’s unconscious body lying in the dirt.
“This man assaulted Jasper,” Jeremiah said. “But where have you been, Father? We thought you were with Jasper, breaking in the horse.”
“I was,” Thomas replied, not taking his eyes from Trent’s face. “Until this man called me away – saying there was an injured man on my property. I left Jasper here and rode off to look for the so called injured man.”
“And did you find him?” Jeremiah asked.
Thomas shook his head. “He rode with me part of the way and then pointed me in the direction he said I should go look, that he was going in another direction in case he was mistaken…and then he disappeared.”
* * *
“Really, brother?” Jeremiah asked later as he sat by Jasper’s bedside after Rebecca had bathed her son’s wound and dressed it. “You’re going to make it your life’s mission to reunite Serena with her husband?”
“Yes. What’s wrong with that?” Jasper murmured.
“You are clearly taken with her. You are in love with her, Jasper. I’ve been observing you two. She is falling for you too…if she hasn’t already.”
“I wish that were true,” Jasper said. “but Serena is devoted to her husband. She will always be devoted to him. He went gold prospecting to North Carolina and hasn’t returned in three years. Serena was forced to give up her property and get a job because she couldn’t run her own ranch by herself.”
“She owns a ranch?” Jeremiah asked in surprise. “That’s why she doesn’t seem very much like a cook. Though she is brilliant at her job.”
“She’s wonderful,” Jasper said, and Jeremiah gave him a sharp look.
“You are going to get your heart broken if you undertake a search to find her husband,” Jeremiah declared.
“It is what I feel is right. And after three years, be honest, my brother, the man would have contacted her if he could. Don’t you agree?”
Jeremiah didn’t want to answer the question. He looked away. Jasper nodded.
“What did you and Father do with that man, Trent, who Serena is clearly terrified of?”
“I was in favor of turning him in, but Father said he would not press any charges if he steered clear of us and never caused any trouble again,” Jeremiah replied. “But why did he injure you so badly?”
“Because I attacked him first. He spoke disrespectfully of Serena and I couldn’t allow that,” Jasper answered.
Jeremiah sighed. “And now you’re going to look for her husband.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jasper asked.
“You are already protective and possessive of Serena. What will you do when you find her errant spouse? Give her up happily?” Jeremiah asked.
“All I want is her happiness,” Jasper answered gruffly. He looked appealingly up at his brother. “Jeremy, would you do me a favor? Could you get Serena in here to see me? I know she would want to. And I want to see her. Don’t let mother see. She’ll throw a fit.”
“No,” Jeremiah said firmly, shaking his head. “I’m not going to stand by and watch you do something you will regret.”
“Fine then, I’ll get up and go find Serena myself,” Jasper countered mutinously.
Jeremiah sighed impatiently. “All right! I will bring her here. But I’m going to stay with you two the whole while.”
“My younger brother playing chaperone? That’s ridiculous!” Jasper exclaimed.
“This situation isn’t to be taken lightly, Jasper. There’s something Serena isn’t telling you. I’m certain of it.”
“It’s probably something to do with that man – Trent,” Jasper said. “He has obviously hurt Serena in some way, and I intend to find out what it was.”
Jeremiah looked pityingly at his brother. “I can see you devoting a considerable amount of time to solving the mysteries surrounding Serena,” he said. “When you should be thinking of getting married and settling down with a good girl who doesn’t have a husband lurking around somewhere.”
“Don’t you like Serena?” Jasper asked.
“I hardly know her, and you barely know her too. How can you have fallen so much in love?”
“Stop asking questions and please bring her to me,” Jasper pleaded, just as they heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
“Jasper!” Rebecca exclaimed, bursting into the room. “Look who’s here! Molly Wheeler! She heard about your ordeal and came rushing to see you!”
Jasper suppressed a groan, and Jeremiah gave him a significant look as Molly followed Rebecca into the room.
“Oh, Jasper!” she said breathlessly. “I was so worried when I heard you had been hurt!”
“Yes,” Ethel Wheeler, Molly’s mother, said, striding into the room after her daughter. “Our Molly wouldn’t even stop to eat her lunch. All she wanted was to see you and reassure herself that you were well.”
“Mother,” Jasper replied, barely concealing his displeasure. “I’m not that badly injured. You needn’t have told anybody.”
“Oh, she didn’t,” Ethel replied. “We heard from one of our stable hands…who apparently heard from one of yours.”
“News travels fast,” Jasper remarked dryly.
“It’s so thoughtful of you to come and visit Jasper,” Rebecca gushed, trying to compensate for her son’s lack of enthusiasm.
“I brought you a pie, Jasper,” Molly crooned. “I made it myself!”
“You shouldn’t have,” Jasper replied ungraciously. “Because your efforts might be in vain.”
“That’s because the rest of us might get to it first!” Rebecca said, laughing rather too loudly. “But I shall send it up to you immediately.”
Jasper glared at Rebecca. “I’m not in the mood for either pie or conversation, Mother,” he said shortly. Then, sitting up against the pillows, he looked from Molly to Ethel. “But thank you for coming to visit,” he said.
“Not too sociable, is he?” Jasper overheard Ethel say to Rebecca as they left the room.
“He just has a lot on his mind, our Jasper. He’s really very moved at your gesture, which is why he was a trifle stilted,” Rebecca replied, and Jasper frowned.
“I’ll see you soon, won’t I, Jasper?” Molly said, standing at the door.
“I don’t know, Molly,” Jasper replied.
“I know how you feel,” Molly whispered, coming closer to the bed, and Jasper wished that Jeremiah had stayed instead of leaving the room with Rebecca and Ethel.
“Oh, really?” Jasper said, not quite comprehending what she was saying.
“Yes. After we danced so many times the other night…the connection…I feel it too!”
“Molly! You have got it all wrong!” Jasper began to say when he felt her lips come down on his. He didn’t know that Jeremiah had gone down to the kitchen and sent Serena up to see him… and that she now stood in the doorway, distressed by the spectacle before her.
Jasper heard Serena gasp, as he pulled away from Molly’s arms and caught a glimpse of her – her eyes wide with shock and pain – her skin pale as the blood drained from her face.
“Oh! Forgive me for being so forward!” Molly exclaimed, her face flushed. “But since we are practically engaged, I’m sure it is alright, isn’t it, Jasper?”
“Practically engaged? What do you mean?” Jasper asked, sitting bolt upright, making his head spin, and hoping that Serena hadn’t heard what Molly had said before she disappeared from the doorway.
“Yes, Mama told me what your dear mother revealed to her.”
“Which is?” Jasper prompted.
“Oh, Jasper!” Molly giggled. “You are so charmingly shy. Your mother told us how you feel about me…and that you will soon be asking for my hand. And I just want you to know that I will accept your proposal in a heartbeat.”
“It is not right or proper for a young lady to be in my bedroom alone,” Jasper said, his voice cold and hard. “Please, Molly, you must leave.”
“Oh! Aren’t you the perfect gentleman! I so adore that, Jasper!” Molly tittered. She turned at the door and blew him a kiss, and Jasper waited only until she had gone down the stairs before he hastily got out of bed and prepared to go in search of Serena.
“Where are you going?” Rebecca enquired, coming in just as Jasper was slipping out of his room. Her face lit up momentarily. “Are you feeling well enough to join us for a late lunch? Molly and her mother are staying over, and they will be thrilled to have the chance to spend some time with you, my handsome son!”
“Mother,” Jasper ground out. “I have just had a rather nasty experience and all I want is to rest. Please, would you stop being so aggressive with your matchmaking, especially with a girl I have no interest in, and just leave me to live my life in peace?” His eyes flashed as he continued, “How could you go around telling people I was going to propose marriage to Molly?”
“Well, aren’t you?” Rebecca asked. “You should, after that intense encounter with her the night of Petula’s coming out ball.”
“What?” Jasper asked, aghast. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mother!”
“You were seen in a passionate embrace with a young woman whose identity was unclear in the darkness, but we all knew it was Molly. Jeremy confirmed that it was…and after watching you dancing with her, I wasn’t surprised.”
Jasper froze. Jeremiah must have known it was Serena and thought he was protecting his brother by telling Rebecca that it was Molly. Meanwhile, Serena had come into his bedroom at the very moment that Molly had decided to kiss him.