Chapter 77

HARPER

I got up early leaving an exhausted Jasper to rest a bit longer in bed. He was sleeping so peacefully I didn't want to disturb him. We stayed up until the early hours of dawn talking. He told me stories of his mother and the many things they did together. He told me about the apple tree she took him to for picnics. I made him promise he would show it to me before we left the property this weekend. I hoped seeing it one more time would bring him some closure. We talked about all the good memories he had here in this house, the ones he kept sacred that weren't tainted by his father's horrible upbringing after her death.

He wouldn't talk about his father, and I didn't push him. When he's ready, he'll tell me, until then I'm happy to blindly sit by and offer any support I can, just like he has done for me.

I opened the refrigerator to see it was fully stocked with all my favorite things. My eyes were drawn to the entire shelf of pastries and fruits. I grabbed the carton of eggs and a package of bacon. I rummaged through the cupboards to find the pans I needed to whip up a meal that Jasper would like.

While rummaging, I found a bag of gourmet coffee beans. I squealed excitedly and quickly turned around to look for the coffee maker. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I ran into a solid chest. I didn't have to look to know who it was, his scent was one I could pick out every time.

Jasper with his stealthy abilities had woken up and came searching for me. He startled me so badly that I dropped everything I was holding. The bag of coffee fell, emptying every bean onto the tiled floor. I let out a disappointed huff and stuck out my bottom lip.

"I'm so sorry, Doll, I didn't mean to startle you," he tilted his head as he kissed my forehead and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into him.

"I wanted that coffee," I playfully whined. My breath hitched when I stood back to get a better look at this specimen of a man in front of me. It should be a crime to look that good just waking up and wearing nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants that hung low. He smirked when he caught me admiring the view.

"You like what you see, Doll?" he teased.

I shrugged my shoulders pretending to dismiss him and started to walk away with a giggle. He caught my wrist as I passed him,

"Don't be sassy or I'll have to teach you a lesson." He raised one eyebrow. My cheeks flushed thinking of what that lesson might intel.

One corner of his mouth gradually lifted as he tried to hold back laughter at the obvious expression on my face.

Get a hold of yourself, Harper.

Jasper and I prepared breakfast together and sent out for coffee, despite my argument against it. I didn't want to come across as a spoiled brat who throws a tantrum when she can't get what she wants, but Jasper is completely responsible for the monster he's creating; he always leaps at any chance to help me, so I try not to ask for much unless it's something I truly need.

"Oh my god, this coffee is so smooth. It's the best coffee I have ever tasted." I said in between moans.

The rich flavors and the perfected sweetness took over my tastebuds. I looked over to see Jasper watching me intently with an unreadable expression.

"What?" I said, suddenly feeling my cheeks grow warm with embarrassment from my excessive reaction over coffee.

"Nothing, I just love watching you enjoy the little things. I like it, and I love you." He said, before getting up from the table and taking our emptied plates with him as he did.

I walked over to the sink, rolling the sleeves of my sweatshirt up to my elbows, preparing to clean the kitchen from our little cooking excursion.

"Don't worry about that. I hired someone to take care of that while we're here."

I gave him a look of disapproval.

"That is such a waste when I have capable hands." I rolled my eyes at the thought of wasting money like that. I know it isn't mine, I hated the idea of paying for such frivolous things when we are two healthy and capable human beings.

"I get that you're not into spending unnecessarily, but these women, they are dealing with tough times. They've both taken on extra work to cover expenses since they lost their dad recently. Getting them to do the cleaning isn't just about the job, it's a way to help them make ends meet."

A rush of pride came over me as I closed the distance between us, I threw my arms around his neck completely satisfied with his reasoning.

"This right here is why I love you. You get me." I turned to face the sink and started rinsing dishes and stacking them.

"I told you Doll you don't have to do that." He said confused.

"Just because you are helping them by paying them to do a job, it doesn't mean we can be slobs." I smiled sweetly over my shoulder.

I sensed the intense scowl he was likely directing at me.

"Um, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I want to make sure I get my…"

Before he could finish, I interrupted,

"Jasper, if you're about to say, ‘get your money's worth,' I just can't even deal with you right now," I said, throwing my head back to laugh, drenching my shirt and the floor from the water in the sink. I picked up a dish towel and threw it at Jasper's head.

"You dry this up while I get changed, I wouldn't want to be indecent when the housekeepers show up." I looked up to Jasper who had at least a foot on me in height, "please." I added at the end innocently. I headed to our room to freshen up and dress for the day. Glancing back, I noticed Jasper gaping at me with his mouth wide open.

I didn't find it necessary to put a bra on this morning when I threw on Jasper's white button-down dress shirt. Since he is tall it hung low enough to cover me, but now I had water dripping down the front of it the shirt pressed against me exposing all my curves, and my nipples that peeked through the fabric were now puckered from the cool fall air, it didn't leave much for the imagination. I would die if anyone other than Jasper saw me this exposed. Suddenly thinking about the guards outside, I picked up my step.

I was thankful that none of the guards were in the house, all but one man who had been placed on gate watch, Jasper met them at the front door when they returned with our coffee, he first handed out tasks and sent them away.

I was nearly in my room when I spotted a door open. Through that door was a set of stairs going straight up to what looked like a third floor. So, I walked that way out of curiosity. I didn't notice the door opened when I got up this morning and no one had been upstairs since Jasper, and I had been in the kitchen.

I took the stairs one at a time, curious about where they led. Once I reached the top, it opened to a large room with only one tiny triangular window. In the middle of the room, was an old-fashioned hope chest, and a little wooden desk. Next to it were boxes that seemed to be stuffed with diaries or journals. Each one was labeled by a year. The first one was from 1990 and went through to 1998.

I picked up the last journal and rubbed my hand over the dust caked on it from years of storage. I didn't notice at first but the design on the cover wasn't printed, it was hand-drawn. The design was little doodles of hearts, flowers, and swirls. It looked like something a teenage girl would do when she had a crush on a boy. Very adolescent.

I looked around the room, it was cold and vacant of anything other than the items in the center. No photos or decorations, nothing to personalize the space. It was strange, something about the placement was off setting, there was so little up here in such a large space when the rest of the house was fully furnished and decorated so elegantly.

lost in thought, I sat at the old desk, the chair creaked as I put my weight on it. I opened the top drawer not really looking for anything specific. In it were several pencils, and a pen set that had initials on it. The other drawers were locked. I'm sure I could have managed to open them if I tried, but it wasn't appropriate for me to do that. I picked the journal back up debating on peeking inside when a deep voice startled me causing me to drop it. The journal echoed loudly across the empty room as it fell to the dust-covered floor.

"What are you doing up here?" Jasper demanded in a tone I didn't recognize. His eyes were dark and confused. His expression was blank.

"I.I… I was looking. The door was open. I was curious… I'm sorry. I can go." I got up terrified of the angry man that took over the Jasper I knew so well. He grabbed my wrist as I tried to walk by him, squeezing harder than necessary causing me to wince at the pressure that nearly caused pain.

He must have read the fear in my expression because he immediately softened, and his grip loosened.

"Did I hurt you?" He looked down at my scarred wrist, then brought it to his lips to press a small kiss on it before releasing it.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect to find anyone in my mom's personal space," he said, sounding regretful. I gave him a nod and instinctively rubbed my wrist, holding it to my body for comfort. I turned to walk back down the stairs when Jasper's voice rang in my ears with so much emotion that it stopped me in my tracks.

"Stay, please don't go. I don't think I can do this alone."