EXCERPT

Part I

Chapter 1

Jenny forced herself to buy a copy of the national newspaper before she boarded the jet bound for Pennsylvania. The news of the bombing in Beirut dominated the front page.

Perhaps reading the story would help Jenny to stop denying reality, but she doubted it. She still prayed that the whole thing was a nightmare, that she would wake up and he would be at her side once again, announcing their marriage to their families as they had planned.

“Your ticket, please?” The voice of the stewardess pulled Jenny back to reality.

Jenny handed the stewardess her ticket.

“Enjoy your flight.”

Jenny nodded and made her way through the narrow aisle to her window seat.

Once the jet had leveled above the clouds, Jenny unfastened her seat belt and opened the folded newspaper in her lap.

TWO HUNDRED AMERICAN G.I.’s FEARED DEAD. The bold letters of the headline roused a powerful yearning in Jenny to travel back in time . . .

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Martin Canpata were giving a barbecue in honor of their daughter’s acceptance into law school. The guest list consisted of the elite of suburban Towering Heights.

The celebration was held on the neatly clipped grounds of the three-hundred-acre sprawling estate. The aroma of barbecued chicken floated in the air along with the soft music played by the three-piece band assembled on the patio.

“You look just divine, Jenny,” complimented Mrs. Turner, the wife of the newly elected judge of Morgan County.

“Thank you, Mrs. Turner.” Jenny gave her a radiant smile, then continued through the crowd, greeting familiar faces.

Suddenly Jenny felt shivers of uneasiness slide down her back. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched.

She scanned the surrounding area, trying her best to appear casual, but hoping to catch the person watching her.

A man propped himself against the bar near the band and watched the woman who was making an effort to be friendly to all the guests. Whoever she was she was beautiful.

When she smiled, she was lovelier than any woman he could recall. Her shining silken hair clung to her delicately boned face before falling gracefully over her shoulders right down to her buttocks. Her petite body was sensuous and exciting, he thought. Her ivory-colored, sleeveless dress clung in all the right places, emphasizing her full breasts, curved hips and shapely legs.

He felt his pulse racing. His palms became damp with perspiration. Damn! Had he lost his mind? He asked himself. It was impossible for him to become involved with a woman of her obvious genteel background and upbringing.

But it was too late. He was completely captivated. He felt compelled to move closer. He had to meet her. It was then he discovered who she was. Martin Canpata’s loud voice boomed and his dictatorial tone claimed everyone’s attention as he summoned his daughter to his side.

He put his arm around Jenny’s shoulder. “Jenny, these are the Muellers.” He introduced the middle-aged couple with a look in his eyes that Jenny recognized immediately.

She was quite familiar with the Mueller name. Mr. Mueller was her father’s biggest client and head of Mueller Real Estate, the largest real estate agency in the state.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Jenny responded to her father’s eyes of steel, which demanded a show of her well-drilled training for entertaining people of such high caliber.

“That’s a lovely dress you’re wearing, Jenny,” Mrs. Mueller remarked, smiling while gritting her teeth as her husband’s eyes closely examined the curves that filled the dress.

“Thank you.”

“Come along, George. I see someone I’d like you to meet,” Mrs. Mueller suddenly declared, tugging at her husband’s arm. “It’s very nice to meet you, Jenny,” she called over her shoulder as she nearly dragged her husband into a circle of people.

As Jenny excused herself to her father as well, she felt again the same shivers of uneasiness. Paranoid or not, she was positive now that someone’s eyes were boring into her back. Deciding that the time had come to put a stop to this nuisance once and for all, she swiftly turned her head.

It was then she saw him, a tall man standing nearby, staring at her with the softest blue eyes she had ever seen. As their eyes locked, they seemed to carry on a brief conversation. Jenny had the sensation of being struck with a powerful object, so intense was her reaction to this man.

As he continued to hold her with his gaze, she took in every detail of his appearance. He looked to be about twenty-four or twenty-five. His soft, brown hair lay in thick waves over his forehead. His face was angular, with strong but perfectly carved features. His tall frame was impressive, and emphasized by the muscle of his all-male form. He was dressed in a western-styled, light blue shirt and a pair of neatly pressed, new-looking jeans.

Jenny remained transfixed, trapped by the stare of a stranger. She had never met a man who could make her feel so strange. Her insides felt weak but at the same time were giving birth to a sensation she never knew existed.

With a force of sheer will, Jenny turned her eyes away from this man who for a moment had wielded the potential power to turn her well-planned future upside down.

The muscles of her face were becoming sore from smiling so much. Sneaking away from the guests for a while certainly would be better than greeting them with a frown, she decided.

She casually drifted away from the noises of the crowd and suddenly darted around the side of the house. She followed the path that led to the stables. Talking to her four-year-old thoroughbred horse would be much easier than finding the correct words to add to the conversation of her father’s associates, she thought.

Jenny swung open the stable door. The tensions that had been building within her evaporated instantly as she went inside.

She scooped two handsful of oats from the oversized barrel in the corner and held them out to the well-groomed mare in the end stable. The color of the horse reminded Jenny of the first snowfall blanketing the ground. A beautiful shade of white.

“Just for you, Splendor,” Jenny offered.

Jenny’s father had given her the thoroughbred the year she started college. At the time, White Splendor was a filly for Jenny to train. And train she did. Jenny spent every spare minute she had with the horse. And a special love developed between them.

“That’s a fine-looking animal you’ve got there,” a deep male voice praised.

Jenny was brought back from the private world only she and White Splendor shared with a jolt on hearing his voice. She knew without looking that what she never expected to happen was indeed happening. The mystery man had sought her out.

Slowly she turned her eyes to encounter his handsome face, now so very close to her own. As he towered above her, she could see its smoothness. The exciting fragrance of his cologne drifted downward, causing her pulse to increase its beat.

“I hope I didn’t frighten you,” he said, a worried look crossing his fine features. “My name is Jeffrey. Jeffrey Scott.”

She should tell him he had frightened her, but her lips refused to obey and form the words. “I don’t believe I know the name, Mr. Scott.” Jenny was surprised at how evenly her words came out when she felt a knot cutting off her breath.

Jeffrey snickered, his gaze dropping instantly to the concrete floor. “There’s no reason you should. See, my folks don’t have much free time for fancy parties. We’re just a farm family, working from dawn to dusk most days.” Jeffrey explained, occasionally raising his soft blue eyes to capture Jenny’s.

Jenny allowed him to get away with the sarcasm he wished he had better controlled. Excitement was evident in her voice. “Then you must have horses, too.”

Jeffrey chuckled. “No, I don’t. Horses . . . ” His voice trailed off suddenly, reaffirming his earlier thoughts. He and Jenny were indeed worlds apart. To him, a horse of his own was a luxury he could only dream of some day owning, while Jenny had no understanding of a dream such as his. Her father’s vast wealth made those kind of dreams real every day.

Jenny had a peculiar look in her eyes, intoxicated with desire to know everything about this mysterious man. “Don’t you like horses?” she pressed.

Jeffrey kicked a few strands of straw with the toe of his boot. “They’re magnificent animals. And someday I will own several,” he said and meant it.

Jenny didn’t doubt him for a minute. Jeffrey Scott seemed like the type of man who honored his convictions.

Strange as it was, it wasn’t until just now she realized Jeffrey wasn’t to be mistaken for one of the upper-class citizens of Towering Heights who were guests at her celebration. She cringed with embarrassment. But what was he doing here? She wondered curiously.

“What-“ she and Jeffrey said at the same time.

Jeffrey blushed. “Ladies first,” he insisted.

“Well, I-“ Jenny stammered, not exactly sure how to ask. Finally she just came out and did so. “I was just curious as to why you are here.” Her voice had softened with each word she spoke.

She’d hate me if I told her the real reason, he thought. He stepped closer, deciding to improvise. “I had hopes of meeting a beautiful woman with long, dark, silk like hair and baby soft skin to run my fingers over.”

Jenny snapped out of the trance Jeffrey had drawn her into and jerked away from his hand sliding over hers. “Forget that I asked,” she choked, annoyed with herself for allowing his soft words to temporarily seduce her.

“I’m sorry, Jenny. I don’t know what came over me. But I’ll be going now so it won’t happen again,” he said, turning away from her and starting to walk away feeling ashamed of his boldness. But he couldn’t help it. This woman had gotten to him.

“Wait a minute!” Jenny’s voice held panic.

Jeffrey came to an abrupt halt but didn’t turn around.

“How do you know my name?” she shot at the back of his head.

Jeffrey looked over his shoulder. He swallowed hard, relieved she wasn’t ordering him to leave and excited that she seemed to be looking for an excuse for him to stay. “That’s my secret,” he finally answered, winked, and left the stables only because he knew he had no right to be there in the first place. He’d had to bribe one of the household staff to steal one of the written invitations for him to attend the celebration today. And he hadn’t even had time to search the library, where he’d hoped to find the evidence he had been looking a long time for. And now that wasn’t possible. He had to leave the premises immediately, before Jenny started asking questions about him.

Why, Jenny wondered, had she let him go? Why would she want to stop him? Because she didn’t have the answer to either question, she let them stand, holding fast to the strange, yet exciting sensation dancing within her.

She gave White Splendor a lopsided smile and ran her hand over the horse’s forehead. “I think we’re in for an unusual summer, girl.”

The horse whinnied as if agreeing with what Jenny had said.

“I better be getting back to the party. I’ve been gone too long already. Father will be furious with me for deserting our guests.”

Jenny stopped outside. Only now, she felt an urgency to appreciate the warmth of the June sunshine. The sweet smell of blooming wildflowers tickled her nostrils. The sound of distant laughter overlapped the music of the band as she floated to the rear of the house.

“Well, there you are, dear. Your father was about to go searching for you. Where have you been?” Elizabeth Canpata asked her daughter with more concern than annoyance in her tone.

Jenny sighed heavily. “I just needed to take a breather,” she answered and left it at that.

It didn’t seem the appropriate time to tell her mother about the man who had just left her feeling magnificently peculiar. But Jenny was certain she would tell her. Elizabeth Canpata was an extremely understanding individual. It was her father she doubted she could ever confide in about a relationship such as the one she imagined with Jeffrey. It didn’t matter anyway, Jenny thought. With law school ahead of her, there would be no time for the imagined relationship to become reality.

Jenny tried to keep her thoughts occupied the days that followed, but nothing could overpower her reverie of her brief encounter with Jeffrey. And she chose to ignore and inner voice which warned her against seeing him again.

It was a gorgeous Saturday morning. Saturday was Jenny’s favorite day of the week. It was hers to do with whatever she liked. Her father would be spending the day on Towering Heights’ well-groomed golf course. Mrs. Canpata had a morning tennis lesson and would spend the afternoon in the city shopping.

Like most Saturdays, Jenny planned to spend the day with White Splendor. On her way to the stables, she stopped to chat with the groundskeeper of the Canpata estate.

“Good morning, Mr. Gunerson. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day,” Jenny said. Facing the sun, she was holding her hand over her brow as a shield against the brilliant rays.

Mr. Gunerson climbed down from the ladder he was standing on to prune one of the peach trees in the forty-acre orchard. “Indeed. A splendid day,” the elderly man agreed. “On your way to get Splendor, are ya?”

“That I am,” Jenny smiled. “Mr. Gunerson,” Jenny’s voice became serious, “you wouldn’t happen to know where the Scott farm is, would you?” she asked, unsuccessfully trying not to sound anxious.

The man pulled a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Let me see now. You say the Scott place?” He had his lips twisted to one side, giving it serious thought. “There’s some Scotts livin’ in the Bernards old farm.”

“I don’t believe I know the place,” Jenny told him, hoping he would offer directions.

“It’s on the other side of Lookout Point.”

Lookout Point was nearly three miles away by the road. Riding White Splendor, Jenny could take the shortcut through the valley.

“Do you know if these Scotts have a son named Jeffrey?” Jenny pressed, unable to contain her eagerness.

“Sorry, Miss Jenny, I don’t rightly know that they do.” Mr. Gunerson’s voice held regret.

Jenny saddled and mounted White Splendor. Her normal sense of reasoning seemed to have left her with the speculation she’d soon have a second encounter with the man she had tried to forget.

Slowly was how the ride began as she guided the horse into the thick of the forest adjacent to the estate. She was too busy rehearsing what she might say to Jeffrey if she saw him to notice the calm of the forest. An occasional ray of sunlight filtered through the colorful leaves and glittered against Jenny’s long hair.

The wide opening to Jenny’s right led into the valley below Lookout Point. Jenny welcomed the open space of the valley. It gave her a powerful longing to be free of the ordered life she was beginning to feel confined to. She loosened her firm grip on White Splendor’s reins and made a clicking sound and the horse’s speed increased to a gallop. The warm wind swept against Jenny’s delicate features.

As they approached the other side of the valley, she eased back on the reins. “Whoa, there, Splendor.”

She looked over at an old farmhouse nestled in a cluster of towering pine trees. The house could use a fresh coat of white paint, she decided. Otherwise, the place seemed to be well taken care of.

Jenny’s eyes carefully scanned the area between the house and barn. No Jeffrey was in sight. As she started to look away, she noticed a beat-up pickup truck pull around to the side of the barn, then stop.

Tension knotted her neck muscles when she saw it was Jeffrey who had stepped out of the truck and was climbing into the back that was loaded with bales of hay. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, only a pair of faded blue jeans. Jenny felt a strange fluttering in the pit of her stomach. She ached to run her fingers over his tanned and muscled chest, his broad shoulders. And once again, prickles were climbing up her back.

Stop it! A proper lady shouldn’t be having such thoughts, she told herself. But she couldn’t stop. She wanted him. And heading for home as the proper lady she had been raised to be wasn’t the way to get him.

She found a spot where the fence was down and crossed the pasture that ran alongside the barn. The thudding of White Splendor’s hooves gained Jeffrey’s immediate attention.