by Susan Stoker
“Take a deep breath,” he ordered.
She did.
“Another.”
After she had, Chief hugged her to him and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me.”
Sophie could feel the warm air from Chief’s words on her cheek and shivered. He’d opened up to her about his childhood and even admitted that he didn’t bring women into his house. She felt a connection to the man holding her safely in his arms that she hadn’t felt with many people in her life. She wanted him to know. Wanted him to know more about who she was and why she worked so hard to get assistance for people like Diontray.
She continued where she’d left off. “He grabbed m-me and yanked m-me over to the gas s-stove. He turned it on and lifted m-me up, holding m-my arm above the flame. He told m-me to s-say, ‘m-my name is S-Sophie.’ I s-screamed at the pain. He was burning m-my arm and didn’t care. He kept repeating it. ‘S-Say m-my name is S-Sophie. M-My name is S-Sophie.’ I could s-smell the flesh of m-my arm burning, but he wouldn’t let go. Kept s-saying that s-speech therapy was crap and he’d m-make m-me talk right if it was the last thing he did. When I was about to pass out, m-my m-mom came in. Neither of us heard her come home because I was s-screaming s-so loud. S-She dropped the bags of groceries s-she’d been carrying in the doorway and grabbed a knife on her way into the kitchen. S-She s-stabbed him, once in the arm. He dropped m-me immediately, but the damage had been done.”
“Jesus,” Chief breathed.
Sophie smiled at his tone. He sounded pissed and worried at the same time.
“What happened to him?”
“M-My s-stepfather?” Sophie clarified.
“Yeah.”
“M-Mom called nine-one-one. We were both taken to the hospital, but as s-soon as Bruce was released, he went to jail. As I s-said earlier, m-mom called a lawyer that first night to begin divorce proceedings and pressed charges. Bruce tried to explain, s-saying s-something about how he was doing m-me a favor. That no one liked a freak and I’d never be normal if I didn’t learn to talk right.”
“Ass.”
“Yeah,” Sophie agreed. “I s-stopped going to s-speech therapy s-soon after that.”
“Why?” Chief asked.
“Every time the therapist tried to get m-me to practice words that began with an s or m, I’d remember Bruce yelling at m-me. Telling m-me the pain would s-stop if I just talked right.”
“Can I see it?”
“S-See what?” Sophie asked in confusion, half turning in Chief’s arms so she could look at him.
“The burn on your arm.”
“Oh.” She fingered the sleeve of her shirt and hesitated.
Chief’s hand covered hers. “It’s not going to make any difference in where we’re headed, Soph. I couldn’t care less if you were covered in purple polka dots under this shirt. I want to see where a relationship with us goes, and it has nothing to do with the way you talk or what scars you might have on your skin. You may or may not believe this, but when I was around ten years old, I was going through a phase where I was disenchanted about everything in my culture. I wished I was white and wanted to leave the Navajo Nation for the big city.
“One of our elders sat me down and told me he’d had a dream. And in case you don’t realize it, my people revere our older generation. We respect them and believe they hold many answers to life. He told me that he saw me as a mighty warrior who one day would save many lives. I had to believe him because he was an elder. He said that I would live in a big white man’s city, and while I would have many friends, I would meet a woman who had hair like an angel and was spiritually special. Our people often consider some people with disabilities or differences this way. He said she would be the other half of my soul.”
Sophie turned again to look up at Chief in disbelief. “I’m not s-special.”
“You are,” he insisted. “Are you saying the elder was wrong?”
“Oh…uh…” She hesitated. She’d heard Chief say his people respected their elders. If she disagreed with him, would that be rude?
His lips twitched as if he wanted to laugh, but he merely said, “I had forgotten about his premonition until right this moment.” He ran his hand over her hair. “Your hair is as soft as the wool from the lambs that we used in our rugs on the reservation. And the more time I spend in your presence, the more my heart recognizes you as mine. Show me what that skin-walker did to you, Soph.”
“There’s that word again. S-Skin-walker.”
He smiled. “I can’t talk about them, remember? You’ll have to look it up. It’s a cultural thing.”
“Oh. Yeah.” And without thought, Sophie pushed up the sleeve of her blouse and turned her arm over, exposing her scar. “It’s gotten lighter over the years,” she told him. “When I s-see it now, it’s almost hard to believe how good it looks compared to how badly it hurt at the time.”
Chief ran the fingers of his hand up and down her forearm, and Sophie shivered at his touch. Putting his hand under her arm, he raised it until he could touch the slight scar with his mouth. He gently pressed his lips against her skin. Sophie could feel the warmth of his touch spread down her arm and seep into her soul.
“Pain nourishes courage. You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you,” Chief said. “Mary Tyler Moore said that. It goes along with my belief that everything happens for a reason.”
Sophie nodded and relaxed into Chief’s embrace. She hadn’t been aware that she’d tensed up, but the second she let her muscles go lax, she felt as if a ten-pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Chief ran his fingers over her scar one more time, then pulled her sleeve back down and settled against the corner of the couch once more.
“I was s-sedated for a lot of the time I was in the hospital,” Sophie told him. “Every time I woke up, I’d s-start s-screaming. I think a lot of it was the m-memory of what happened and the feeling of helplessness I had. But the pain was real. Back then, treating burns was brutal. The nurses would come in with a s-scrub brush. Literally, it looked like s-something you’d buy at the hardware s-store. Then one would hold m-me down while the other s-scrubbed at m-my arm, removing the dead s-skin cells.”
She shuddered and closed her eyes at the feel of Chief’s arms tightening around her. “Anyway, because of what I went through, I wanted to find a better way to treat burns. There had to be one. I only had a burn on m-my arm. I couldn’t imagine what other people felt who were burned over m-more of their body. As it was, I wanted to die.
“I s-studied biomedical s-science in college, but when push came to s-shove, I liked the people aspect m-more than the s-science. The Burn Center of S-San Antonio hired m-me on a grant. Half m-my time is s-spent in the lab, researching, but the other half of m-my time, I talk to burn victims and find people to agree to participate in trials.” She looked up and caught Chief’s eyes. “You know all about that now.”
“Yeah, I do,” he agreed.
“S-So…that’s m-my s-story.”
“How’s your mom today?”
“S-She’s great. Never remarried. S-she lives over in Fredericksburg and owns a s-shop that s-sells knickknacks to tourists.”
“Good. I bet she’s proud of you.”
“S-She is. We didn’t talk about what happened for a long time. But before I went off to college, I s-sat her down because I didn’t want her to have any hard feelings about anything. Turns out, s-she was worried I had hard feelings. We s-should’ve talked it out before then, but the time never s-seemed right.”
“I’d like to meet her,” Chief said softly.
Sophie was quiet for a long moment before saying, “This is only our s-second date. Let’s leave m-meeting the folks for our third.”
He chuckled, and Sophie could feel his chest moving up and down under her.
“Deal.”
“I think that’s m-my cue to change the s-subject to s-something less heavy. How was work today?”
“Not too bad.
Although we did have a call to a house where a woman was unresponsive. When we got there, she wasn’t breathing and had no heart beat.”
“Oh no,” Sophie sympathized, putting her hand on his arm.
“Yeah. I did CPR, but after Moose talked to the husband, we realized that she’d most likely been dead too long to be revived. When the paramedics got there, they agreed and I stopped CPR.”
“That s-sucks.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, it’s a part of the job. We do actually save more than we lose. I try to remember that. We were also called to a couple car accidents, and one fire.”
“Was it the arsonist?” Sophie asked. They’d talked a bit about how frustrating it was for the firefighters to keep getting calls to recent fires that were being deliberately set.
“The chief isn’t sure. But it’s likely. The MO seems to be the same. Whoever it is targets empty houses and buildings.”
“At least that’s s-something, right?” Sophie asked.
“Yeah. Although, because so far it’s only been property damage, and damage to buildings that were most likely well on their way to being condemned in the first place, the investigators haven’t put as much energy behind finding out who’s been setting them.”
“That’s frustrating. Because today it m-might be an empty building, but tomorrow it could be one full of people,” Sophie observed.
“Exactly. Want to tell that to the cops?”
Sophie giggled. “But you have lots of friends in law enforcement. Didn’t you tell m-me you knew a few FBI agents who work in the city? Can’t you tell them to do s-something?”
“I wish. It doesn’t really work like that. Dax, who’s a Texas Ranger, knows about it, as does Cruz, who is FBI, but they aren’t in charge of the investigation. All they can do is voice their concerns and hope for the best.”
“Ugh,” Sophie commiserated, and snuggled farther into Chief’s arms. “Will you tell m-me m-more about Adeline and Beth?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“I’ll try. But before you fall asleep in my arms…you want to go to a barbeque next weekend? Crash, Adeline’s boyfriend, invited us.”
“Uh…who will be there?” Sophie asked nervously. She was okay for the most part being around groups of people, but she did better one on one.
“Nobody who will say one thing to make fun of you,” Chief told her. “Trust me.”
“I do.” And Sophie was surprised to realize that she wasn’t just saying that. Even after everything he’d said to her that fateful day in the bar, she did trust him.
“Good. I’ll let Crash know we’ll be there. Now, let’s see…you met Beth, but what she didn’t tell you is that Sledge, her boyfriend, once accused her of setting fire to her apartment complex.”
Sophie let Chief’s voice wash over her. She listened in fascination as he told her all about the two women, and then about the other firefighters he worked with. She would’ve been content to listen to him all night, but fell asleep when he was talking about his concerns about the female firefighter she’d met named Penelope, and how she seemed to be getting worse, rather than better, the longer time went on after her rescue from terrorists in Turkey.
* * *
Chief let his voice trail off when he realized Sophie was sound asleep in his arms. He leaned down and did something he’d wanted to all night—he smelled her hair. Her head lay against his shoulder and her hair was spread out over his chest. Using one hand, he brought a lock up to his nose and inhaled. He couldn’t place it, but it smelled divine.
He scooted down on his couch until he was lying with his head on the armrest. He turned Sophie until she was at his side, her back against the cushions. He positioned her cheek on his shoulder and felt his heart rate slow. Having her in his arms was the most relaxing feeling he’d ever had. If asked, he would’ve said this was the perfect way to end his first official date with Sophie.
Closing his eyes, he let himself go, secure in the knowledge that all was well in his world at the moment.
Hours later, Chief awoke when Sophie shifted over him. He opened his eyes to see Mósí lying on his chest and Sophie’s eyes on his.
“Hey.”
“Hey. What time is it?”
Chief picked up the arm that had been around Sophie’s waist and looked at his watch. “Two.”
“In the m-morning?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, Soph. I hope it’s not afternoon because it’s pitch black outside.”
“Right, s-sorry,” she said, then yawned. “I s-should go.”
“Don’t go on my account,” Chief told her. “Or Mósí’s. I think he likes you.” His cat had not only snuggled up on Chief’s chest, but tucked his head under Sophie’s chin as well.
“I’m s-sorry I fell asleep on you.”
“I’m not. I slept better than I have in a really long time.”
“M-Me too,” she admitted after a beat.
“You want to stay here?” Chief asked. “I’ve got a guest room.”
“I live next door,” Sophie said, informing him of something he knew.
“Right, but it’s allll the way across the yard,” he told her.
She chuckled. “I think I can m-make it.”
“Right,” Chief said, then carefully shifted out from under Sophie and his cat and stood. He arched his back, stretching out the kinks, then held out his hand. “Come on then. I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she protested.
“Yes, I do. What kind of date would I be if I didn’t make sure you got home all right?”
“Normal?”
“Then you’ve definitely been seeing the wrong kind of man, Soph.”
“Obviously,” she mumbled, but grasped his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Mósí meowed in protest at all the movement, jumped off the couch, and ran into the hallway off the great room.
Not letting go of her hand, Chief led her to the front door and their shoes on the mat. They slipped into them and he immediately grabbed hold of her hand again as soon as they were on their feet. This time he led them through the grass instead of walking around the long way on the sidewalk.
He reached into his pocket and took out her keys. He unlocked her door, but tugged her toward him instead of letting go.
“Another reason why I wanted to walk you home. The goodnight kiss.”
Sophie smiled shyly up at him and licked her lips.
Without another word, Chief leaned down and kissed her. It started out chaste, but their passion quickly blazed until not an inch of space separated them and their tongues were practically fused together. After several moments of the intense embrace, Chief pulled back. He rested his forehead on Sophie’s and put his hands on either side of her neck. They were both breathing hard, and neither made a further move to separate.
Finally, Chief said, “I work Tuesday through Friday. I know we’re going to the barbeque on Saturday, but can I see you Friday night?”
“Yes.”
Her answer was immediate and heartfelt. Chief smiled.
“Good.”
“About the thing on S-Saturday?”
“Yeah.”
“Would he m-mind…do you think…” Her voice trailed off.
“What, Soph?”
“Do you think I could invite m-my friends from work? I’m not s-sure if they can all come, but none of us get out m-much and I thought it m-might be s-something they’d enjoy.”
“And it would make you feel better to have some of your own friends there,” Chief concluded. “Great idea. Absolutely, invite them.”
“Don’t you have to ask your friend if it’s okay?”
“Nope. Crash won’t care. He’ll just say the more the merrier.”
“If you’re s-sure…”
“I am. Invite them, Soph. I can’t wait to get to know them better.”
“Okay.”
He leaned down, kissed her once more, a slow, lingering touch with
out tongue, and finally pulled back. Stuffing his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t be tempted to reach for her again, Chief took a step back.
“Let m-me know you got home okay,” Sophie teased as she backed into her doorway.
Chief grinned. “Thanks for coming over, Soph.”
“Thanks for asking m-me to. Bye, Chief.”
“Bye.”
He gave her a lift of his chin and then forced himself to turn and head back across the yard to his front door. Before he went inside, Chief looked up at the dark night sky and thanked the spirits for sending his angel.
Chapter 9
“Girl, you grin any bigger, people are gonna start askin’ what you’re up to!”
Sophie looked up from her phone at Traynesha. Diontray was sleeping after his treatment that morning. “S-Sorry, I’ve been on the go all m-morning and didn’t want him to think I was ignoring him.”
“Chief?”
“Yeah.”
Traynesha leaned forward and winked. “If I had me a tall glass of water like him, I’d want to make sure he knew I wasn’t ignoring him as well.”
Sophie knew she was blushing, but didn’t care. She’d spent part of the morning talking with Quinn, Tory, and Autumn, reminding them about the barbeque at Chief’s friend’s house the next day; unfortunately, only Quinn could go. Then she’d yawned her way through visiting a few patients, and now she was sitting with Traynesha, relaxing before heading into more meetings.
She and Chief had been texting all week. He’d also been calling in the evenings when he could. She sometimes felt like a teenager again, complete with the butterflies in her stomach every time her phone vibrated with a text.
“I have to admit, he’s pretty awesome,” Sophie told the single mother.
“He came in last night to see Diontray.”
“He did?” Sophie asked in surprise. He hadn’t told her.
“Yup. I guess he was here because they brought in a patient or something. He didn’t stay long, maybe ten minutes, but it meant a lot to Diontray.”
“How’s he doing?”
“Better,” Traynesha said. “Whatever they’ve been spraying on his burns before he has to get that godawful brush seems to be working. He’s not in as much pain and the doc said he should be ready for his skin grafts soon.”