Free Rocky Mountain Man (Historical) by Jillian Hart Page B

arm, swept up the porch steps. “I’m glad you’re safe and sound. You have no idea how Mariah and Katelyn and I worried.”
    â€œAnd all for nothing.” There was so much she couldsay, but she was ashamed to have come out of the ordeal with nothing more than a few bruises and scratches. “What about you? How are you feeling?”
    â€œI hate to speak too soon but, knock on wood, I think my morning sickness is finally over.” Rayna set the basket she carried on the seat of the empty chair and wrapped Betsy in an exuberant hug. “It is so good to see you.”
    â€œMe, too.” Warmth coiled tight in Betsy’s chest, making it hard to breathe. To think all this—her life, her friends, her pleasant days—could have vanished in a blink of an eye. She held on extra tight for a moment longer, grateful.
    Rayna stepped back, her voice choked. “Oh, we were so scared when you didn’t show up. And then, when your horse came in with a lather, with broken traces and his reins dangling and no buggy, why, we all feared the worst.”
    Betsy saw the genuine fear in her friend’s blue gaze. “I hate that anyone became so worried over me. I didn’t look beyond taking care of Mr. Hennessey. Rayna, he was incredible.”
    â€œI heard what he did. Your brother told my husband last night.”
    And that’s why Rayna was here bright and early with muffins and her comforting presence. “Any spare good wishes and prayers you have, please send them his way. I don’t even know how he’s doing.”
    â€œYour grandmother’s taking care of him, isn’t she? Hasn’t she sent word with one of your brothers?”
    â€œI don’t know because Mother thinks hearing anything about Mr. Hennessey will overset me. I justwish—” She couldn’t rid her mind of the images of him lying there in bed, his unblinking gaze like a lasso trying to pull her back. “I should have stayed with him.”
    â€œBut what about your reputation?” Rayna asked quietly, so different than her family’s boisterous concern. “What about your safety?”
    â€œNo, he’d never—”
    â€œYou don’t know him. You were alone with him out there in the wilderness. The few folks who know about him say he’s no gentleman.”
    â€œNo. He certainly isn’t.” She couldn’t imagine Duncan Hennessey in a jacket and tie. She couldn’t picture him as the local banker. Duncan Hennessey was everything that ought to be bad in a man—except he wasn’t a bad man. She’d never thought so. “There have been plenty of respected men in this town who have been less than gentlemanly since I’ve been widowed. You know how it can be.”
    â€œI do.” Rayna, after her first husband’s sudden death, had had her share of troubles from a neighbor. So it was with honest empathy she said, “You enjoy your independence from your family. Staying with them after Charlie died was one thing. But it’s been, what, five years?”
    Betsy nodded. She missed so many things about Charlie and being married to him, but time had dulled the ravaged edges of her grief. When she looked back, it was the good memories she felt. Their happy times together as man and wife, and there were so many. “I know what I’m doing, Rayna. This makes me happy. You don’t agree with my mother, do you?”
    Rayna looked stricken. “No! Of course not. But thereare bad men out there. We like to pretend that’s not true, but it is. And you can’t always tell. A man who behaves decently in public, in private may be completely different.”
    â€œI can take care of myself. It wasn’t the man I had problems with. It was the bear! Goodness.” There she was, thinking of him again. And not just thinking—picturing him. The hard plane of his chest, the horrible wounds, the way he’d acted as