Just when he’d finally started standing up for her, she’d ruined everything.
But there was nothing to be done. Hopefully, he’d be willing to listen to her explanation afterward. She hadn’t had a choice once she’d overheard the bandits talking about an ambush. Until they’d arrived, the posse had been surrounded, but Emma Jane and Wes had caused enough of a distraction to allow the posse to act.
Please, Emma Jane prayed. Let Jasper see it that way. But mostly, just let him come out of this alive.
He turned toward her, then a shot rang out. Jasper gave her a funny look as he fell off his horse.
“No!” Emma Jane screamed as she jumped off her horse, not waiting for it to slow down or stop. The force of hitting the ground jarred her, and she stumbled, then got back up. She ran toward Jasper, her heart thundering in her chest.
Why wasn’t anyone else going to help him?
A bullet whizzed past her, and Emma Jane realized the bandits were shooting wildly at the posse now.
She reached Jasper, who lay on the ground at an odd angle.
“Jasper!”
He coughed. “I’m fine.” His voice was raspy. “Just got the wind knocked out of me. Help me up.”
Once he was sitting upright again, Jasper tugged at his great overcoat, fumbling with the buttons.
“Let me.” Emma Jane brushed his hands aside and worked them open. Her Bible fell out of his coat.
She picked it up and examined it. A bullet was stuck right in the middle.
“Well, I’ll be,” he said, a smile teasing his lips. “I’ve been saying that a Bible couldn’t save a man’s life, but I guess I was wrong.”
He took the Bible and kissed it, then he turned to Emma Jane and kissed her.
The kiss happened so fast Emma Jane didn’t have time to react. She simply kissed him back. When it was over, she pressed her fingers to her lips and stared at Jasper. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been reading your Bible in secret. Things were happening inside me, and I needed to know. I wasn’t ready to talk about it.”
A bullet zinged the ground next to them. Emma Jane jumped, clinging tighter to him. Her heart thundered in her chest so loudly, she almost didn’t hear his next words. “When I left today, I just had a feeling that I should bring the Bible with me. I’m not sure why, but I’m glad.”
Then Jasper quickly scanned the area around them. “I need to get you someplace safe.” Setting his gaze on her once again, he gave her a stern look. “What were you thinking, riding into the middle of this?”
“I was trying to warn you,” she said. “I overheard one of the deputies telling someone in the saloon that it was a trap. They have explosives.”
Emma Jane glanced around, trying to see how and where they’d use them, but Jasper pulled her close to him. “I should wring your neck for taking a chance like that. But I’m just so grateful that you’re all right.”
He kissed the top of her head, and once again, Emma Jane found his warmth coursing through her. For a moment, she couldn’t even tell there was snow on the ground.
Had she made a mistake in giving up on her marriage so soon?
“Stay close.” Jasper took her hand and, crouching low to the ground, moved toward a group of nearby boulders.
Another bullet whizzed past them.
Emma Jane looked behind them, noticing one of the bandits headed their way. “Jasper, watch out!”
He turned, and Emma Jane watched in horror as the bandit raised his pistol in their direction.
“Rich boy or no, I’m gonna git you. You done messed with the wrong man.”
With all of her strength, Emma Jane shoved Jasper to the ground. Then a searing pain radiated through her back, like she was on fire. Which made no sense, since everyone knew you couldn’t light a fire in the snow.
Which is when she hit Jasper as she fell to the ground.
* * *
The weight of Emma Jane’s body slamming against him felt wrong. “Emma Jane? Are you all right?”
She didn’t answer, and as he shifted his weight, he felt something sticky on her back. When he pulled his hand away, he saw blood.
“Emma Jane!”
She blinked. Mumbled something incoherent about a fire in the snow, then her eyelids closed and she went limp. Jasper held her tight against his chest so she wouldn’t fall in the snow.
The crunch of boots on snow made him look up to see Will standing beside him.
“Emma Jane was shot.” The words burned as they came out of his mouth. They were the correct words, but they felt so wrong.
Will’s brow furrowed as he came closer. “Let me take a look at her. I saw the man take aim at you, but I thought I hit him before he managed to get a shot off. I’m sorry.” The lines on his forehead deepend for a moment but relaxed as he squatted on the ground beside them, examining Emma Jane. “Fortunately, she appears to be breathing all right.
“I think we’ve finally got the upper hand against the bandits. They won’t be bothering anyone else, that’s for certain. Emma Jane and Wes coming when they did provided us the opening we needed. Let’s see what we can do for her, and then we’ll get her back to town.”
Jasper watched as Will prodded at her wound. This was one area where Jasper had no idea what he was doing. A feeling of helplessness washed over him. The woman he loved had been shot, and he could do nothing to help her.
At least the moon gave off enough light that he could see the rise and fall of her chest.
“She’s still unconscious,” Jasper said, looking at Will for some reassurance.
“Her breathing’s fine. She’s had a shock, and it’s probably best she’s out. It won’t be an easy trip back home.”
One of the lawmen, Cam Higgins, joined them. “We got most of ’em,
