Chapter 8 - The Choice Neither of Them Expected
The offer came from the territorial marshal.
Jasper knew the mountains.
He could track.
He had proven himself at Black Pine Pass.
The marshal wanted him in Cheyenne.
Good pay.
Steady work.
A new life.
Everything Jasper had never had.
Ellie read the letter.
“You should consider it.”
Jasper frowned.
“That sounded suspiciously like you want me gone.”
“I want you to choose because it’s right for you.”
“What about us?”
“There is an us?”
His eyebrows rose.
“You kissed me.”
“That establishes a kiss.”
“Ellie Caldwell.”
She smiled.
“I’m teasing.”
He relaxed.
Then she became serious.
“I won’t be the reason you refuse a future.”
“And I won’t build a future that doesn’t include you.”
Those words frightened her more than they should have.
She had spent years learning independence because dependence seemed too dangerous.
Now someone wanted to plan around her.
Not tolerate her.
Not accommodate her.
Choose her.
Jasper declined the marshal’s offer.
But not because of Ellie.
Instead he accepted occasional tracking work from Harlan while rebuilding his cabin and helping Rose establish a small seamstress shop.
Meanwhile Copper Falls rebuilt Ellie’s clinic.
The new building was larger.
Someone painted a sign:
CALDWELL MEDICAL CLINIC
Ellie stared at it.
“Harlan did that,” Barnes said.
She almost laughed.
The sheriff approached awkwardly.
“Figured people ought to know whose place it is.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
“Doctor Morrison’s license will likely be revoked.”
Ellie’s expression darkened.
“And the town needs someone.”
“I’m a nurse.”
“Best medical person we’ve got.”
Months passed.
Winter softened into spring.
Jasper visited daily.
Sometimes with excuses.
A cut finger.
A sore shoulder.
A splinter so small Ellie needed a magnifying glass.
“You rode six miles for this?”
“Could get infected.”
“You fought a grizzly.”
“And learned my lesson.”
Eventually he stopped inventing injuries.
He simply came.
They ate supper.
Talked.
Walked beside the river.
For Ellie, happiness felt suspicious at first.
She kept waiting for someone to expose it as a joke.
Nobody did.
One evening Jasper took her to a hill overlooking Copper Falls.
Wildflowers had begun appearing through the melting snow.
“I have something to ask.”
Ellie’s heart raced.
He knelt.
She stared.
“Jasper.”
“I had a speech.”
“Oh?”
“Forgot all of it.”
She laughed.
He took out a simple silver ring.
“Ellie Caldwell, I spent years believing nobody would come if I called for help.”
His eyes glistened.
“Then you crossed a mountain.”
Her tears came immediately.
“You saved my life.”
He shook his head.
“Not just the part that breathes.”
Ellie covered her mouth.
“Will you marry me?”
She looked at him.
At the mountains.
At the town that had once made her feel invisible.
“Yes.”
Jasper stood so quickly he nearly slipped.
Ellie laughed through her tears.
He kissed her.
News traveled faster than wildfire.
Most of Copper Falls celebrated.
Most.
Three days later, Ellie entered the general store.
Two women near the counter fell silent.
Then one whispered loudly enough to be heard.
“Poor man probably thinks he owes her.”
The old Ellie might have pretended not to hear.
This Ellie turned.
“Excuse me?”
The woman reddened.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Yes, you did.”
The store went silent.
Ellie walked toward her.
“You are free to dislike how I look.”
The woman stared at the floor.
“But you are not free to turn Jasper’s choices into charity because you cannot imagine someone loving a woman who looks like me.”
Nobody moved.
Ellie’s voice remained calm.
“I spent years believing people like you knew something about my worth that I didn’t.”
She smiled sadly.
“You didn’t.”
Then she left.
Outside, Jasper was waiting.
“How much did you hear?”
“Enough.”
“You going to punch somebody?”
“I was considering it.”
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
Ellie slipped her hand into his.
“Because I already handled it.”
Jasper grinned.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Their wedding was planned for autumn.
For several months, life became almost peaceful.
Then Samuel rode into town carrying news.
A grizzly had been spotted near Jasper’s cabin.
A huge male.
Scarred across the muzzle.
Jasper’s expression changed.
Samuel said quietly, “Could be the same one.”
Ellie looked at Jasper.
The animal that nearly killed him had returned.
May you like
And Jasper intended to find it.
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