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As desperate as he was to get his revenge, to make these forests safe for Jennifer, Arabelle, and one day for any children he and Jennifer might have, he needed patience. Anything less would be throwing his life away.

With another growl, he tamed his less-logical wolf self by pawing at the ground, and then steering himself back around the edge of his property, back to the spot where he'd left his clothes.

The goblins were preparing to attack. Mark would be ready for them.

Chapter 9 – Jennifer

The machines around Arabelle were much quieter than the ones back at the hospital in Oregon, but they were still machines. They gave off a sense of eerie uncertainty, at least to Jennifer, who associated them with the passing days toward death.

That wasn't the case anymore, at least, but Jennifer still couldn't help thinking of that awful year in the hospital. Across on the other side of Arabelle's bed, Dr. Variety flipped through several pieces of paper attached to her clip board.

"All right," she said. "Everything is looking good so far, Mrs. Wright. Just two days in and your vitals have improved; blood pressure decreased, steadier breaths, stronger overall. Your first two doses seem to be performing nicely so far, but we will have to keep monitoring you twice daily in case of any unexpected changes."

Arabelle sat up. "Oh yes, it was the medicine that reversed the near heart-attack-inducing stress of finding that my daughter moved across the country without a word, that she went off and got married without so much as a ceremony ..."

She looked like she was joking, but Jennifer sensed a hint of seriousness, and she felt guilty. Of course her mom had been stressed about Jennifer's disappearance without so much of an explanation, she was just glad she hadn't made things worse.

"Well," Dr. Variety smiled, "after your third dose, assuming your progress looks favorable still, we will begin mental stimulation exercises—your brain health is just as important as your physical health."

"Is that your special touch, hm, doctor?" Arabelle said.

"In fact, yes. All of my patients find it quite effective, and I'm sure you will, too."

Arabelle mumbled something incoherent, but Jennifer figured it was her cursing under her breath. Taking care of her health, mental or otherwise, had never been a huge priority of her mom's ... but now she had little choice in the matter. For Jennifer's sake, Arabelle had already said that she would do everything the doctors told her if it meant she would get better quicker.

Even quit smoking, which was a miracle in itself.

"You're free to go, if you'd like," Dr. Variety said. "I'll just finish up recording the results."

With a grateful nod, Arabelle took the monitoring bracelet from her arm, and Jennifer helped her up from the bed. Despite Arabelle's mumbling and grumping, it was undeniable that Dr. Variety was right: back in Portland, there were times where Arabelle was so weak she couldn't stand even with Jennifer's help; she needed a wheelchair just to get around. As much as it stung Arabelle's pride, it was sometimes her only way of getting around. But after only two days of being at Mark's place, Arabelle seemed so much stronger.

Once Arabelle was on her feet, she could stand and walk on her own again without issue. The machine made an irritating buzzing sound to indicate that it wasn't receiving Arabelle's vital information anymore, and Jennifer hit the button to quiet it.

"I'd be glad to get out of the house for a bit," Arabelle said as they moved into the hallway. "Is there somewhere outside that we can sit?"

Jennifer immediately thought of the gazebo where she and Mark first made love, but hesitated to tell her mom about the location. The spot was special because of how it drew the twoof them together ... and as selfish as it was, she wanted to keep it that way.

"There are small stone benches hidden amongst the trees," Jennifer said. "We can find a spot if you'd like."

"That will do nicely," Arabelle said, and then started humming as if she was the happiest and healthiest woman in the world. "So, tell me more about you and Mark. How did you hide him for so long? Without saying a word about him to Lily or me, hmm?"

Jennifer gave a shy smile. She didn't want to tell her mom the whole truth about the mail order bride part, but there were enough details she could reveal. "We met online. That was really the only way for me to get to know anyone over the last year, you know. But he and I ... it happened fast. After Dr. Carlton told us that chemo wasn't safe anymore, and you talked about 'being realistic' ... I panicked."

"Trust me, Jenny, neither of us took that news well," Arabelle chuckled. "You ran off to be with your secret lover."

"I came here to be with Mark, yeah. I didn't realize just how wealthy he was at the time," Jennifer said. "All I knew was that I needed a different way to pay for the new medicine, as trying to work a third job wasn't going to work. I thought maybe coming here, I could find something new. But then Mark ..."

"Whatever you're worried about, stop. It's clear just how much you two care for each other. That's all that matters to me in the end, you know. I've always wanted you to find love, it hurt me more than you know to watch you work so hard for my sake, giving up so much ..."

Jennifer bit her lip. "You know I didn't mind, mom."

In the end, she was just happy that now, neither of them had to stress about what they did or didn't have to do in order to pay for the treatment. Mark was single-handedly responsible for lifting that worry from their shoulders, and Dr. Variety would be the one to make sure it stayed that way.

Nothing Jennifer could do would ever repay him for saving her mom's life. She was indebted to him forever ... and now, she found that this didn't bother her at all. Mark was, without a doubt, the man she would spend the rest of her life with. Out of choice. She was more than happy to spend the rest of their time together, being an attentive and loving wife.

But for now, she wanted to find a way to surprisehim. Although she didn't have any way to surprise him the same way he did for her, she would find a way to make him smile.

Jennifer pointed to one of the benches. "Just over there."