“Meet Molly Wheeler,” Jasper heard Rebecca say, her voice almost beseeching him to pay attention to the pretty girl who was looking at him expectantly.
“Miss Wheeler,” Jasper murmured, bowing over her hand, but her flawless skin and lovely features made no impression on him at all. For some reason he was eager to go into the kitchen and discover what secrets lay behind the vivid blue eyes of their substitute cook.
“Jasper,” Rebecca urged. “Why don’t you ask Molly to dance?”
“Of course, mother,” Jasper said graciously, leading the girl onto the dance floor. It was while they were dancing that Jasper happened to look into the shadows, and he saw Serena there in her uniform, looking intently at him. His eyes met hers over Molly Wheeler’s bobbing head, and for a minute it seemed that though it was Molly he was dancing with, it was Serena he was holding in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” Jasper said, looking guiltily down at Molly. “Did you say something?”
“Yes. I was just saying that you seemed very far away. You have something on your mind?”
Jasper shook his head, quickly thinking up an excuse for his wandering mind. “Not at all. My attention was diverted for a moment by the entrance of my sister Marjorie and her husband Paul, whom I haven’t seen in a few days.”
“Oh, where do they live?” Molly asked.
“They have their own house on the ranch, just beyond Steep Hill. That’s what our ranch was named after, you know.”
“How interesting.” Molly replied, looking at him with soft eyes.
“My dear brother!” Marjorie said as Jasper led Molly off the dance floor. “You do look dashing!”
Jasper grinned, looking embarrassed, and Marjorie turned her smile to Molly. “Isn’t he dashing, Molly?”
Molly blushed, and peeped at Jasper from under her lashes.
“I see you haven’t lost the ability to make me squirm, Marj,” Jasper said wryly.
“Thank you for the dance, Miss Wheeler,” he said, bowing to the girl. He turned and walked up to another pretty debutante who hadn’t taken her eyes off him all evening. I will do my duty and escape for a ride on Falcon, Jasper thought to himself.
“Going somewhere?” Marjorie’s husband Paul asked as Jasper attempted to slip away later.
“I need some air,” Jasper replied, and Paul grinned.
“You do realize that this ball is as much for you as it is for Petula, do you not?”
“Yes,” Jasper replied, looking uncomfortable. “And I feel guilty for not being at all interested in any of these lovely ladies.”
“Is there someone not present here who has stolen your heart already?” Paul raised an eyebrow and asked amusedly.
Jasper thought of Serena but shook his head in response. “No,” he replied. “I guess this ranch and my work here are the love of my life and I don’t really need a woman right now.”
“You’re the eldest son,” Paul remarked more seriously. “And I think your parents would be relieved if you showed some signs of interest in getting married and settling down.”
Jasper made an impatient sound and strode away, hoping that Thomas and Rebecca wouldn’t notice his absence. He was on his way to the stables when he almost collided with a toddler, who ran out of nowhere and attached himself to Jasper’s leg.
“I want my mama!” the little boy cried, looking pitifully up at Jasper.
“What’s your name?” Jasper asked, reaching down to unlock the boy’s fingers from around his leg, but the boy merely cried louder.
“Come on,” Jasper said, swinging the boy up into his arms. “Let’s go and look for your mama, whoever she might be.”
“I want my mama!” the boy cried even louder.
“Don’t cry, little boy. I’ll find her for you,” Jasper reassured him, stroking his golden curls, suffused by a surge of warmth that he couldn’t define.
“Nathan! Nathan?” a voice called out desperately, and the boy stopped crying immediately.
“Mama!” he shouted, and Jasper exclaimed in surprise when he saw Serena running forward with her arms outstretched.
“Oh! Mister Riley! I’m so sorry!”
That seems to be all she can say to me, Jasper thought, handing Nathan over to her. “Please, call me Jasper…and don’t apologize. Being attacked by a frightened little boy doesn’t bother me.” He grinned good-naturedly.
Serena clutched Nathan tighter. “Thank you for bringing Nathan to me,” she said gratefully. “How did you find him?”
“I was escaping from the crowd to go on a peaceful ride and was heading toward the stables when I made Nathan’s acquaintance,” Jasper chuckled almost bashfully.
“Oh, I’m sorry that you were interrupted,” Serena said hastily.
There it was again. “Please, don’t apologize,” Jasper repeated, tipping his hat to her and preparing to leave. Then, seized by a momentary flash of recklessness, he turned back to Serena. “Perhaps I could take Nathan riding with me sometime. And you could join us too, of course, if you’d like.”
Serena’s eyes grew moist and tender as she stared wordlessly at Jasper. “Thank you Mr. Ril…Jasper. Nathan and I would be most grateful for your kindness.”
Realizing the ludicrousness of what he had just suggested, he laughed self-deprecatingly. “Well, Nathan is too small to ride alone…so you would have to join us…although I could just seat him in front of me and…”
“It’s quite alright, Mr…ummm…Jasper. Nathan is only three years old, but it’s never too early for a boy on a ranch to be introduced to horses. Until he is older, yes, I would come with him.”
“You did a splendid job with the banquet food,” Jasper complimented her, noticing that she had the manners of someone more refined than a kitchen hand or a cook.
“Thank you. Your mother was happy too…and has offered me the job until Angelica’s return. It appears that Angelica – who is a distant cousin of mine – has to stay on to help take care of her father.”
“Where did you work before your employment here at Steephill Ranch?” Jasper asked curiously.
Serena’s eyes clouded over. “It’s a long story,” she replied, “and I ought to get back to the kitchen. The banquet isn’t quite over yet.”
Jasper nodded. “Yes…yes of course,” he said, tipping his hat again and watching her hurry away.
Later, as he rode slowly back to the stables, he saw Serena again. She had changed out of her maid uniform and was wearing a green dress that must have come from one of the bigger shops in town. Her golden hair fell in soft waves about her shoulders. He couldn’t see her face because she was facing away from him, standing on an incline, and watching the party guests dancing in the distance. Jasper got off his horse and walked slowly up to her, surprised that Serena didn’t even hear his footsteps – so completely absorbed was her attention in the scene before her. She sighed wistfully as she watched the women twirling in their partners’ arms, and Jasper was once again seized by a spirit of recklessness.
“Dear lady, may I have the pleasure of this dance?” Jasper asked, coming up behind her. Serena whipped around, her eyes startled.
“Jasper!” she exclaimed, a rosy flush creeping up her cheeks and setting her face alight.
Jasper bowed. “Please?” he whispered, holding her eyes captive.
Serena hesitated. It was not her place as a cook to dance with the eldest son of the ranch owner. She should not accept his offer. But he was a handsome man and he was her employer. Finally, she curtseyed to him and, shaking, took his outstretched hand.
The music wafted across to them on the breeze, and the moonlight fell about them. How perfect this feels, Jasper thought as he held Serena’s gaze. Even when he spun her around and her eyes left his, it was like they hungrily cleaved to his once more the moment she was back in his arms. More reckless still, he drew her closer, feeling her warmth only inches away.
“Jasper,” Serena whispered, her lips trembling. “Please release me. This is not…proper. I
must…”
“Hush,” Jasper whispered back, drawing her even closer until he felt her body against his.
A blaze of desire surged through him, igniting the flame of Serena’s passion. She gasped, her eyes fearfully burning into his, as his lips came down hard on hers, scorching her with a kiss that surprised and overwhelmed her. Fear sliced through her. What kind of man was this? He knew nothing about her, yet he treated her as an equal. As a lover. Guilt flooded through her.
Suddenly she realized that beneath Jasper’s brooding demeanor lay a molten passion just waiting to be unleashed, and she was playing with fire that she was powerless to resist. She could feel the extent of Jasper’s desire through the light fabric of her dress and she gave in, responding to it by circling her arms around his neck, and burrowing her fingers through his luxuriant hair as he hungrily pressed his lips to the side of her neck.
“No!” Serena gasped, pushing away as Jasper’s lips moved to her throat and began to make their way to the tantalizing cleft between her exquisitely rounded breasts.
“I’m sorry!” Jasper said, his voice ragged with desire. “Please…don’t think badly of me. This isn’t what I do ….”
“This isn’t what you do with the kitchen staff?” Serena finished the sentence for him. She didn’t know whether to be afraid or angry. She suspected he was not a man she could be around too often.
“No,” Jasper said weakly. “You misunderstand.”
“I’m sorry too. I was carried away…I am so sorry.” she turned and sprinted away from him, her hands clutching the fabric of her pretty skirts so she would not trip on them.
Jasper stared miserably after Serena’s retreating back – the warmth of her body still quickening his pulse, and the taste of her skin lingering on his lips. He felt ravaged, torn, and hungry - something he had never previously experienced. Hoping that none of his family, or the guests, had seen the spectacle, Jasper made his way back to the party, willing his heart to be still as he walked unsteadily forward.
CHAPTER THREE
WHEN PASSION RAGES
WHEN PASSION RAGES
Serena hurried back to her room in the cottage behind the ranch house, her heart beating with unfamiliar intensity. She sat on the edge of her bed, looking down at Nathan’s sleeping form, and thought of Daniel.
How happy they had been together, and how overjoyed they were when Nathan was born. Serena couldn’t help the tears. How many have I shed? she wondered. Perhaps that was why she had responded as she had to that chance encounter with Jasper. It had been on an impulse that she had changed out of her uniform and gone out. She had only wanted to gaze at the dancers and imagine she was one of them – which she might have been, had her circumstances been different, and Daniel had returned.
“Papa will be back,” she whispered to Nathan, though she knew that she was intoning the words for her own comfort. Nathan had no recollection of Daniel at all, and even less with each day that passed with no sign or word from him.
Serena sighed and lay down on the bed, her hand on her throat – her skin still tingling from Jasper’s display of raw desire. She would avoid him, she decided. He probably thought that his position made it all right to take advantage of the female staff. Serena blushed as she recalled how she had responded, and found herself replaying those moments in Jasper’s arms. She tossed, ashamed, guilty for betraying Daniel. She would have to increase her efforts at finding him, she thought as her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep.
It was easy to dodge Jasper the next day, because there was so much cleaning up to do in the kitchen and everyone – from Thomas and Rebecca Riley to Jasper, Jeremiah and Petula – went to Marjorie and Paul’s house for the day, so that the staff was free to tidy up after the big event.
“The banquet was just perfect, Serena!” Petula beamed, coming into the kitchen.
“Thank you,” Serena replied, her heart hammering in her chest as she prayed that Jasper wouldn’t follow Petula into the kitchen.
“I’ve seen you before,” Patsy, one of the maids, remarked as Petula left.
Serena’s guard went up automatically. “Really? Where?”
“I used to accompany my mother sometimes when she worked at a place called Sweet Haven – a ranch on the outskirts of Misty Creek.”
Serena’s heart nearly stopped and she went pale. “Oh,” she turned away, hoping they would not notice her reaction.
“Do you know Sweet Haven?” Patsy queried.
Serena nodded, avoiding Patsy’s eyes. “Yes, slightly,” she answered, and Patsy looked more closely at her. “Have you been to Sweet Haven recently?” Serena asked, concentrating hard on the silver that she was cleaning.
“No,” Patsy replied. “It’s been taken over by someone else. It used to belong to…”
“Oh!” Serena exclaimed as a silver platter slipped from her hands. It would have clattered to the floor had Patsy not reached out in time and caught it. Glad of the diversion, Serena replaced the silver platter and politely excused herself, moving away and avoiding Patsy for the rest of the day.
That night, as Serena prepared to lay out the evening meal, the Rileys returned from their day out and she was seized by panic. Rebecca Riley bustled into the dining room, chatting excitedly with Jeremiah.
“So you’re telling me that Jasper seemed to be quite taken with Molly Wheeler?” Rebecca said, giving her younger son a gleeful look.
Jeremiah nodded. “Yes, I’m almost certain he is, because he had more than one dance with her.”
Rebecca sighed. “Perhaps wedding bells will ring this year!” she said, clapping her hands. She spied Serena laying out the food and smiled at her. “And then we will need your skills to prepare a banquet fit for a king!” she exclaimed happily.
Serena returned her smile while inwardly feeling a sense of despair. She liked the Rileys and Steephill Ranch; otherwise she would leave right away. She was also aware that if she left she had nowhere to go. She was vaguely aware of Thomas Riley walking in with Petula, and sitting down at the table. She couldn’t face Jasper, so she’d turned to leave when Rebecca stopped her.
“There are just the four of us for supper, Serena,” Rebecca said. “Jasper won’t be joining us.”
Of course, Serena thought to herself. He was avoiding her. Rather than relief, she felt only a sense of deep loss. “Yes ma’am,” she replied brightly, and cleared Jasper’s plate.
“Where is Jasper?” Petula asked, and her mother giggled.
“Maybe he has gone calling on Molly Wheeler.”
Serena felt a sharp stab of pain, and she hoped the Rileys wouldn’t linger over their supper so that she could escape to her room and lick her wounds in privacy.
Later that evening, the cottage felt oppressive to her instead of comforting and Nathan wanted to go outside and play, so she decided to take him for a walk.
“Ah, Serena!” Jeremiah greeted her as she walked past the stables.
“Mister Riley…” she murmured, her voice trailing off as she thought of the other Mister Riley; the one whose lips she still felt on her skin.
“Who is this handsome young lad?”
“My son – Nathan,” Serena replied, ruffling the little boy’s hair affectionately.
“Where are you both off to?”
“Nowhere in particular,” Serena answered, almost regretfully. “Nathan didn’t want to be cooped up inside, so I thought I might take him for a walk. He likes looking at the horses.”
“I’ll be breaking in a horse tomorrow. If you would like, feel free to bring Nathan around to the paddock over there, and he can watch.”
“Thank you, Mister Riley,” Serena said with genuine gratitude. “I’m sure Nathan would love that.”
Jeremiah was eyeing her with increasing curiosity, and Serena shifted uncomfortably.
“You can call me Jeremiah,” he said kindly. “We don’t stand on formality here at Steephill Ranch.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“To be
honest, you don’t really look like someone who has been a cook or a kitchen hand all your life. Though you turned out the most spectacular spread yesterday.”
Serena was silent. She longed to tell her secret to someone, but she couldn’t burden Jeremiah with the truth that she was concealing.
“May I speak frankly with you?” Jeremiah asked, and Serena looked up in surprise.
“Certainly you may, Mister…Jeremiah,” Serena replied hesitantly.
Jeremiah appeared to be fighting a silent battle within his mind. “I saw you…and Jasper…dancing.”
Serena gasped. “I’m sorry, it… it was …nothing,” she said, her words coming in a rush. “I don’t know what came over him…me…us…but you needn’t worry because I will never do anything to….” She stopped, swallowing the tears that so readily sprang to her eyes these days. “I will leave and never return if you advise me to.”
Jeremiah held up his hand. “No, no. That’s not what I meant at all. I merely saw, from a distance, my very serious brother Jasper enjoying a moment with you. It surprised me. I didn’t want to intrude so I left. Mother had sent me to look for him, and that’s how I came upon the two of you. I left quite quickly because I have never seen Jasper looking so relaxed and I didn’t want to take it away from him. To be honest, I’ve never seen Jasper dance with any woman with quite that air of abandon.”
Serena said nothing. It was obvious that Jeremiah had left before Jasper had done more than just dance with her. “What would you have me do?” Serena asked eventually, her voice just above a whisper.
“If you could, please be honest with us about your life…and what brings you here to Steephill Ranch. If there is anything we can do to help you, we will.”
Serena looked up into Jeremiah’s kind eyes with gratitude. “Thank you,” she said. Nathan was pulling on her sleeve. She looked down at him as he shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m sorry, I think Nathan is getting restless and needs to go for a walk. We will see you again soon?”
Jeremiah nodded. His lips shifted in a slight grin and his eyes sparkled at her in an amused way. “Yes, you will.”
Love’s Battle Won Page 2
