Chasing the Renegade

by Bonnie R. Paulson

  The older buildings of Bailey soaked up the light like they welcomed its final rays of the day. The streets were quiet with the residents of town either out at the Bailey Ranch or in the community rec center.

  Where would a visitor stay in Bailey? Probably at the Bailey Inn on the north side of town. Treya didn’t want to chance walking by on the hope that she’d catch a glimpse of Jasper. The Bailey Inn was deep in the heart of the Bailey side of town. Smythes didn’t go there, if they could help it.

  Treya might hate the limitations that the feud placed on her life, but she wasn’t dumb. Just because she didn’t care about the feud like everyone else did, didn’t mean she could act like it wasn’t a real thing and suffer the consequences.

  The scent of honeysuckle and lilac reached her, signaling that she was right around the corner from her place. She paused at the doorway to the apartment building before going inside. If she were lucky, she’d win Jasper’s heart the next night and her days in Bailey would be numbered.

  If only there were some way to guarantee she could go with him. If only she could guarantee she could make him love her.

  She stared at the disappearing sun and gripped her hands at her sides. She wasn’t sure what it would take, but she was going to get out of there and she was going to do it her way and on her terms. Jasper-No-Last-Name better be ready to lose his heart. Because Treya was ready to take it.

  Chapter 5

  Jasper

  “Man, where were you? That wedding was just awkward. Be glad you missed it.” Jasper’s cousin, Nolan, reached out and shook Jasper’s hand. “I wasn’t sure what to do until that idiot on the Smythe’s side stood and clapped, making a fool of himself.”

  Connor laughed, handing a drink to a younger version of himself. “I didn’t know what to do either. That whole thing was uncomfortable.”

  The majority of the Baileys were men. There were a few women there, but none of them were daughters. For the last century or so, the Bailey family had only been blessed to have sons. The women present were wives and fiancées’, even though none of the men there had any hope to keep the women in their lives. There was always a bit of reluctance when finding someone to spend a part of their lives with. The Bailey men had long ago accepted it would end sooner than they wanted.

  Jasper shook his head, glancing toward the hall where he’d hung his backpack and hat on a hook. Titus should be there any minute. He arched an eyebrow and folded his arms as he stood amongst his cousins and nephews in the great room on the lower level of the ranch home. “Would you believe me if I told you that idiot was me?”

  “What? No way.” Archer pushed through the edge of the group, sloshing some of his drink over the edge of his cup. Not enough to make a mess but enough to declare he wasn’t drinking pop. “That was you? Why would you sit on the Smythe side?”

  Rather than state how glad he was to have been on that side where he had the chance to meet Treya, Jasper chuckled and pointed at Jason who had sent him over to the Smythe side in the first place. “Ask Jason. I went to the Bailey side to get a seat and was sent over to the other side. Billy, the red-haired kid, sat me in the back row.” He narrowed his eyes and took in the full room of his family members. “I was really rather disappointed that no one else from the Bailey side started the cheering for Titus’s wedding. You’d think you were all on the same level as the Smythes.”

  “Now wait a minute. Titus married a Smythe, Jasper. You don’t know what it’s been like since you left. Things are getting way out of control. Descendants from the Peters family have been trying to buy up the land around town. Titus knew better than to take up with Abby Smythe, but he did it anyway.” Brice, a younger cousin, didn’t shy away from brazen outbursts.

  Because Jasper had been away from the craziness in the town of Bailey, he had no problem seeing the issues for what they were. He stepped forward, taking himself out of the perimeter of the room where most of the men had collected, like they waited for something or someone to take up the center. Jasper turned slowly, taking in his fellow clansmen and shook his head.

  “Is this what the Baileys have become? A cowardly group of men just waiting for death? When did we let the Smythes dictate how we behave? When did we let anyone tell us we couldn’t be happy for one of our own finding love? Even if it’s only for a few years, Titus found it. Connor, you’ve been married, would you trade those years you had with Annabelle and those two great kids you have for a chance to avoid the sadness?”

  Connor closed his eyes as he considered the question. The whole room fell silent as if waiting with bated breath. After another moment passed, he opened his eyes and reached out, wrapping his arm around his nearest son. “No. I wouldn’t. It was worth it.”

  Jasper took in the shame on everyone’s faces. “You don’t know what’s out there. The world is full of people just trying to make it on their own. No one else has a family behind them like we do. No one else has a town with such a rich history behind it. Just because the Smythes want to fight with us doesn’t mean we have to do the fighting, too. Imagine how much you’d shock them to smile and wave or to say hello. At the very least, if your cousin or uncle marries one of them, you should clap and welcome her into the family. She’s no longer a Smythe. She’s a Bailey and she deserves your respect.”

  No one replied as they studied the carpet in front of them.

  The silence allowed the sound of the front door opening and closing to be heard downstairs. Eyes jerked upward as everyone tried to figure out how to act and what to do.

  Jasper turned, facing the steps where his brother and new sister would be joining them. He wasn’t sure what Abby was like, but as far as Jasper was concerned, Titus loved her. That had to be good enough for him. With all of the Bailey men watching him, Jasper knew he had to back up his little speech.

  As Titus’s feet came into view, Jasper raised his hands and started clapping and hollering, much like he had at the wedding. There seemed to be a more significant shift in attitude in those around him as they, too, raised their hands and clapped. Whistles and catcalls filled the air as Titus and Abby came more fully into view.

  The smile on Titus’s face was worth everything. He gripped his bride’s hand in his and looked around the room. When his gaze fell on Jasper it was like the room fell away. True delight spread his clean shave face into a grin that reached his eyes. He tugged Abby forward as he strode to Jasper, his arms held wide.

  Folding each other into a tight embrace, Jasper and Titus hugged for a long minute. The applause only grew more deafening.

  Jasper was home. If for nothing else, he’d returned to find his brother happy. As far as he was concerned, there was no need to go anywhere else for a long time.

  After they parted, Titus pulled Abby forward, his hand lowering to the small of her back in a protective display. “Jasper, this is Abby. Abby, this is my baby brother, Jasper.” Pride shone from Titus’s face and Jasper wouldn’t ruin his day for anything.

  Bending over Abby’s hand, Jasper winked at his new sister-in-law. “If you don’t take care of her, Titus, I just might steal her away.”

  Abby grinned and glanced at Titus. “You’re right. He’s very charming.” She laughed and pulled her hand back. “Nice try, Jasper. Be forewarned, I’ve already got a cousin in mind for you.” She pointed her finger around at a large portion of the Baileys in the room. “In fact, I know of quite a few women in town who are looking for someone to marry. Now that I know where to find a few single men…” She let the statement trail off as if she were delivering a promise, or more possibly, a threat.

  Jasper leaned down and muttered out of the corner of his mouth so only Abby and Titus could hear. “I wouldn’t go down that path, sis. A few of them have been drinking already and might not have a problem complaining.” He reached out and clasped his hand on her shoulder to take the sting out of his words, but he knew he was right. The Baileys and the Smythes weren’t ready for that kind of union in town.

  They’d b
arely been able to clap at a wedding for crying out loud. No one had embraced the actual possibility that the feud could be over. No, Jasper would be better off sticking to his plans with Treya, date her for a bit in private and then move on with his life. He didn’t need love or commitment to be happy. All he needed was the comfort of home. Maybe he could help Titus with the boys’ home he’d started or maybe he could start up his own ranch.

  Either way, he didn’t have room in his life for happy-ever-after. Treya could be a diversion, but then that would be all.

  He could do that.

  As he looked around at the men in his family and realized there was so much more than loss there, he accepted the fact that not only could he be happy with Treya as a fling, he had to be happy with it.

  Love in the Bailey clan only ended in despair.

  Chapter 6

  Treya

  As soon as she was done with work that afternoon, Treya had plans to rush back to her apartment to change before meeting with Jasper down by the stream. She couldn’t help wondering how he knew about the stream unless he was a relative of Abby’s.

  The creek on the Smythe property bordered the Bailey Ranch. Only Baileys and Smythes knew about the collection of trees and boulders in the bend right before the creek that took a sharp turn and headed southwest toward the bigger rivers running toward Missoula.

  Finishing her sandwich while on her lunchbreak, Treya crumbled up the plastic baggy she’d brought the sandwich in and stuffed it back in her canvas lunch bag. Sipping from her water bottle, Treya glanced around the small town of Taylor Falls from her vantage point in front of the clinic.

  Three benches had been set up in front of the building to face the road, protected from parked cars by eight feet of sidewalk. Not many people walked around in the middle of the day since Taylor Falls was neither a touristy place nor a heavily populated town.

  Taylor Falls could have been Bailey minus the feud. The mountains loomed in the distance with their comforting presence and the bright Montana sky made promises Treya hoped it would keep. Even the breeze seemed to sense that Treya had high dreams and that some of them would be manifested that night with Jasper. Or they wouldn’t.

  What if they weren’t? What if the attraction she’d felt to Jasper had been because of the wedding and the need to feel romance at such an event? Could she be hinging all of her dreams on a man who wasn’t even a possibility?

  “Treya!” Pulling Treya from her thoughts and turning her attention to the right, Treya’s mom waved as she strode toward her daughter. She smiled, her silvery-blonde hair pulled back in a knot-style bun at her crown. “I thought I’d find you here when I saw Doc MacAllister over our way picking up her own lunch.” Treya’s mom worked at the deli where everyone in town tried to eat at no less than once a week. Her bright pink and white nametag read Judy with a little red heart sticker shining from the upper corner. The bright turquoise shirt with the deli’s logo emblazoned on the front showcased her trim waist and curvy shape.

  Smiling a greeting, Treya scooted over on the bench to give her mom room. “Mom, you missed one awkward wedding.” Treya drank from her water again, not caring that she jumped topics. She knew why her mom had come down. They hadn’t had a chance to talk since the reception, mainly because Treya had gone home and dreamt about the possibilities associated with her date with Jasper. She didn’t even know the man and she was already planning on leaving with him.

  Her mom laughed and sat beside Treya on the bench. “I heard. I also heard you sat next to a very handsome man who held your hand during the ceremony.” She arched a well-defined eyebrow and waited with a curious smile.

  Blushing, Treya gathered the rest of her lunch items from the bench seat to her left and tucked them into her bag. She cleared her throat and then looked her mom in the eye. “Okay, so this guy sat by me. He was obviously from out of town. Before you ask, yes, he was very good looking. I think we were both moved by the ceremony and he reached out and took my hand. It was like… it was just a friendly thing, like what you do when you pray in a group.”

  Except it wasn’t. Never before had Treya’s hand felt like it’d been dipped in fire and ice at the same time. There was no pain, but more like a heightened awareness that took her breath away. She couldn’t explain it to herself, so there was no reason to even try explaining it to her mother.

  “Uh huh. I’m sure.” Her mom continued without expounding on her doubts. “From what Debra said, he was quite taken with you.” The old-fashioned phrase was more likely her mom’s interpretation. Treya had no doubt that Debra had probably said some other things.

  “It really wasn’t a big deal.” She couldn’t believe it, but Treya didn’t want to tell her mom what was going on. She didn’t want to possibly jinx her chances with Jasper, which meant she was going to have to keep things a secret, most especially from the people in town or her mom would find out. She swallowed before sealing the lie with another one. “I doubt I’ll even see him again.” She waved it off and ignored the niggling at the back of her mind that she was blatantly lying to her mother.

  “Well, it’s just as well. I still think you should move over here to Taylor Falls with me.” Her mom wiggled her eyebrows at Treya. “We could do girls’ night and go out dancing. It’d be so fun.” The excitement on her face left no doubt that she actually believed that.

  Treya shook her head, laughing. “Mom, I can’t move over here. I have a lease on the apartment.” But that excuse wouldn’t last long. She didn’t know how to tell her mom she just wanted out of the entire small-town atmosphere. She wanted to find love without the expectations associated with being a Smythe. She just wanted to get free of the trappings of her life.

  “Well, as soon as you get out of that lease, you can move over here. It only makes sense since your job is here.” And her mom was right. It did make sense.

  Except it wasn’t what Treya wanted. She didn’t want to be stuck in a small town forever. She wanted a forever love that would sweep her away to a big city where no one knew who she was. That was the dream. That was her dream.

  The rest of the day passed by slowly like someone kept pushing pause on the remote. Treya finally rushed home, gripping the steering wheel like she expected the car to stop working before she could get home.

  As she switched from outfit to outfit and curled her hair, Treya hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. What were the odds that she’d find a man to fall for on the day Abby and Titus got married? There had to be something wrong with him and yet the only thing she could think about was getting out of Bailey and how Jasper’s hand had felt in hers.

  The sooner she could see him, the sooner she could calm her pounding heart and answer the pressing questions about conjured attraction and chances.

  Was there a chance he felt the same way? Could he be as excited as she was? And something she hadn’t though of, where was he going to find the makings of a picnic when he was from out of town?

  Chapter 7

  Jasper

  Jasper double-checked the edge of the tartan-style blanket he’d borrowed from the game room at Titus’s place. Everything was perfect.

  After laying the blanket out along the sloping edge of the shore leading down to the creek, he’d set the picturesque picnic basket in the corner with its red and white checked cloth poking from under the flap-style coverings.

  He hadn’t realized how much he missed the evening lighting in Montana in late summer. The sun wouldn’t succumb to the pull of the mountains for a few more hours, but as it got closer and closer, there was a definite pinkening to the way the light hit everything. Like the angle of the sun’s rays had altered to add a touch of romance to everything in view.

  Unable to sit on the perfect setting in case he ruined something, Jasper ambled over the twisted tree roots protruding through the dirt with just enough of a presence to be known and not enough to trip anyone. Thin green grass warred with the dark of the earth as everything seemed to race toward the water’s edge wh
ich was adorned with sparkling colored rocks no bigger than a dime and moss-covered rocks that could have been flattened soccer balls in a different life.

  Treya was late and Jasper worried she might not show. As much as he kept telling himself he was only there to see how far he could take it, he had to work to ignore how much effort he’d put into the preparations. He’d had to make sure and do things in the kitchen when everyone else was busy which was hard to do when the household was made up of so many people – all of them men.

  The horse he’d borrowed from Titus’s stalls didn’t seem to mind the calm and peaceful setting as it stood in the shadows of the large trees with their sagging boughs and fluttering leaves. Would Jasper be there to eat dinner by himself?

  A snapping of a twig caught his attention and he turned from beside the tree. He stood in such a position that he could look across the creek toward Smythe land and watch Treya approach and not be seen himself for another moment or two.

  Jasper needed that moment to compose himself as he watched Treya saunter through the knee-high grasses. Dark tortoise-style sunglasses perched on her nose. Wooden bangle bracelets graced her wrist as she reached out a hand to trail her fingers over the soft tops of the grass. As if he were connected to her touch, Jasper could almost feel the tickling of the fuzzy heads himself.

  She slowed as she took in the setting, a soft smile playing about lips Jasper couldn’t stop thinking about. She’d left her long blonde hair down, layered chunks moving here and there in the soft breeze, framing her face just so.

  He’d never thought he’d be so transfixed by a woman before. Thankfully, she wasn’t going to be anything serious or long-term. He couldn’t afford getting attached. Not when he wasn’t sure just how to pull off announcing another Bailey-Smythe union.

  Glancing once more at the scene he’d set, Jasper tried to see it from her perspective. Was he trying too hard and would she think so? What if she thought it was corny? All Jasper wanted was to add some romance to the evening, but she might think he was obviously after only one thing.