Lost & Found (Possessed 3)

Sitting up straighter, Pepper looked at them all, questions in her eyes. “So, what’s the plan fellas; how do we catch my attacker?”

That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

Running his hand through her hair and across her soft cheek, Ace promised, “We’ll find a way, baby.” Hoping it wasn’t a false one.

Chapter Twelve

Waiting was the worst. Pepper didn’t know what was what or how things would go down. Jake had insisted that she and Roxie come back to his cabin closer to town and give the men some time to formulate a plan, as well as, giving her some breathing room from all the chaos that was her life.

As she sat on the front porch with her canine pal practically in her lap, she watched fascinated as a moose came into Jake’s front yard. One would think being a B.C girl, she’d have seen it all, but she hadn’t. She was trapped in a life she no longer understood.

The animal watched them steadily as it moved around the yard, searching for food. She was lost in the way its muscles rippled, the way it seamlessly walked through the snow with no trouble at all. It’s huge hooves left a trail as it moved on.

Envy coursed through her at the moose’s freedom. The basic instincts it would have even if it lost its memory. She struggled to pick up on her own. Her impatience was getting the best of her.

“My Addy used to sit in that same spot watching nature as it went by.” Jake smiled at her.

That was the first time she’d heard anything about Nick’s mom. She could tell the woman was loving by the way the men all acted, only a strong woman could bring that out.

“Tell me about her?”

Walking over, he handed her cup of hot chocolate. “She was a remarkable woman,” he murmured sitting beside her.

“I bet she was a firecracker.” Pepper smiled back at him.

His chuckle was warm, loving, as he told her, “She’d have loved you.” His words warmed her heart. “She was a simple farmer’s daughter when she caught my eye. It was at the PnE I first saw her, roping a calf better than most men.”

“PnE?” she asked quietly while he thought on the fond memory.

“Pacific National Exhibition. Right there in your town.”

“Oh, I should know that.” She felt so stupid.

His hand gripping hers had her gazing up into his kind eyes. “No dear, don’t do that. Your memory is protecting you. Remembering the trivial things isn’t important.” The understanding reflected back at her soothed her frayed nerves.

“Tell me more,” she insisted.

“She took that calf down with grace. Not a hair out of place. I think I fell in love right then.” He remained silent for a moment. “When I finally got a chance to speak to her, she told me off. Told me if I couldn’t handle a woman in a man’s world, I didn’t belong, not her.” His laughter was full-bodied. “When I finally told her I thought she was better than most men, the prettiest blush I’d ever seen worked up her tanned skin. I was hooked.”

Turning her body more fully to face him, she smiled and asked, “Did she like you, too?”

“Oh, she thought I was a fool. Especially after I’d made a mess of myself trying to rope a calf. It got away from me with one leg tied and wrapped me up but good.” Pepper couldn’t help laughing at the picture he’d painted in her mind. “I kept going back for more, though. After that first time of hearing her laugh,

I knew I wanted to hear it for the rest of my life.”

“That’s so sweet,” her eyes misted up.

He gave her a sardonic look as if to tell her that she had her head in the clouds. “By the time I’d finally convinced her daddy to let her go on a date with me, she was off to college. I think that’s why the bastard said yes. That man was a pain in my rear from the day we met. Too bad for him, I was fixing to buy my own piece of land.”

“Where did she go to school?”

“Back then it was Okanagan University College, now they call it Okanagan College. Changed that name four times; twice it was the same. Fools. She studied Administration and Bookkeeping. Told me when I finally got things running, I’d have my own office manager.”

“Did you follow her?”

“As far as I could. Not much for farming in Kelowna, so I moved here. On the weekends, she would come here, or I would go there. Made her daddy right mad.” Laughter rumbled from his chest. “That old man finally came to see me after a year of us sneaking behind him, told me to make an honest woman of her or back off so he could find a suitable man for her.”

“Oh, goodness,” Pepper gasped.