“It wasn’t about dicks. She admired Bridget because, well, she stayed single for a long time. Bridget got to do everything Charlene didn’t. Vacations. A Caribbean cruise. Skiing in Banff. A road trip out to BC. Dating. Her own circle of friends.”
“Friends? Bridget’s about as close to her friends as I am to mine.” Jude couldn’t help getting on the defensive. He’d given Charlene everything. “And we went on a cruise.”
“Uh...” Emery cleared his throat. “You took her on the Magical Castle cruise.”
“What’s wrong with the Magical Castle?” Jude threw out his hands. “The kids loved it. Water slides. Theme shows. Theme state rooms. Tons of Magical Castle animals running around.”
“Did Char?”
“Yes.” Or had she?
“They were all family vacations,” Emery said quietly.
Jude fisted his hands. Yes, he’d shelled out big bucks to take his family on great vacations, but he’d been so busy pleasing his kids, maybe he’d forgotten that his ex-wife had needed a good dose of romance. Date night didn’t cut it. Every man took his wife out to a favorite restaurant and then a movie on Friday nights. At least he’d assumed as much. Unexpected flowers. He’d done that, too. Jewelry. Chocolate. What more had Charlene wanted?
Of course they’d used the money from their wedding for a down payment on a starter home, because a house was more practical than wasting free cash on a honeymoon.
Stephen was probably going to take Charlene on a romantic vacation.
“Fine. Yeah. They were family vacations,” he huffed out.
“I’m not blaming you. Okay? I’m saying she has a side and you have a side. I know you did your best.”
“Guess it wasn’t enough.” Jude stared out at the blackness of the passenger window.
“What about Raven?”
“What about her?”
“Err... are you two... dating?”
Jude puffed out a good helping of air. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I’m Darryl’s campaign manager. Her brother’s running for chief. How do you think this’ll play out?”
Emery grimaced.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought, too.” The first time he’d taken an interest in a woman, and she stood behind enemy lines.
* * * *
They sat, as they always did, for Sunday dinner at Mom’s before everyone went to bingo. Kids ran around. Raven’s sisters, their husbands, and children took up every inch in the tiny house. Mom’s only great-grandchild occupied the highchair. Fawn’s son, Bryan, and his girlfriend, Yolanda, were in the living room, enjoying a break from their baby, who Fawn cooed over as a proud kokum.
“We owe it to Annie. She started the Traditionalists Society.” Mom offered a spoonful of mashed potatoes to little Brittany, passing on eating, as she’d done ever since Christmas, always complaining about a sore stomach, acid reflux, and indigestion whenever she ate. But she needed to eat. Mom had lost ten pounds on her already slim frame. “She’s probably turning in her grave over what Darryl’s done.”
Mom shook her head and shoveled another helping of mashed potatoes into Brittany’s waiting mouth. “Marrying a Matawapit.” The wrinkling of her nose matched the deep wrinkles around her eyes and lips. “He’ll probably start going to church again.”
“I’m taking care of it.” Clayton cut into his roast, a delicious smoked side of moose he’d hunted this fall. “I’ll win this election.”
“Have you heard if Darryl’s running?” Mom looked at her own food, made a face, and shoved away the untouched plate.
“I don’t need to ask,” Clayton said. “I know he’ll run.”
Fawn turned to Raven. “This is your chance to finally help your family.” Her hard stare said don’t screw it up. “She’s going to inherit what we leave behind after we’re gone.” Fawn used her chin to motion at her ten-month-old granddaughter.
The food sat funny in Raven’s stomach. She had to find a way to resist Jude. She wouldn’t screw up her campaign. The next time he came to the diner, she’d treat him as a customer, and only a customer. At school, she’d treat him as her teacher, and only her teacher.
Chapter Ten: Makin’ Time
For two weeks, Jude never had a moment alone with Raven. She was working hard on her lessons each time she appeared at class, offering him a mere perfunctory smile and hello. He’d been busy acclimatizing himself to the reserve and school. Work and kids were his life. Mom had offered to help, but Jude had said no. The children were his responsibility. He had relented and allowed Mom to watch Noah and Rebekah after school.
Seeing Raven Tuesday and Thursday evenings, knowing they couldn’t speak intimately, left an uncomfortable ache in Jude’s gut. Today, he’d find out if she felt the same way, since he was finally taking a well-deserved coffee break away from the school.
They needed to talk. Nominations opened Monday night at the community center, and once Jude started campaigning for Darryl, his schedule would double.
His ears seemed to smile at the crunch, crunch of snow beneath his boots. One of his favorite sounds. Even the smell of winter was a taste of heaven. Sure, he came from a city known as a big town deep in the Shield, surrounded by thick forests, swollen hills comparable to small mountains, and Lake Superior right there, but being isolated from the main world of traffic, stop lights, constant people, endless distractions was a welcome break. Maybe that was why he’d always spent a good two to three weeks of summer at the folks’ house.
At least the cold spell had broken. Minus twenty today. Freezing to most people, but in the northwest of Ontario, the temperature nipping at his exposed face was the average.
Someone drove by and tooted. Jude waved. The truck looked like Old Joseph’s from church.
Jude headed up the shoveled walkway and pushed on the glass door. All was quiet inside the diner. He’d timed his break perfect at eleven o’clock. The breakfast crowd was gone, and it was too early for the lunch crew. Only Hank Snowball occupied a table near the back next to the window.
Jude strode up to the counter. Raven appeared from behind the swinging doors, having probably heard the bell tinkling overhead when he’d first arrived.
“Hey.” He removed his parka, slung the coat over the back of the stool, and sat. “I guess those lessons are going well, hmm? I haven’t heard from you.” He set his cell phone on the counter.
“I haven’t heard from you, either.” She flipped over his mug and poured the coffee.
He’d itched to call, but the kids’ reaction had kept floating through his mind. Yes, they seemed fine, but he’d had to make sure they had his attention before he tried sneaking around again.
“Honestly, my paperwork’s this high.” He raised his hand off the counter to indicate a stack of work. “And I had to settle in my kids.”
“How’re they doing?” Raven’s dark eyes brightened with curiosity.
“Fitting in. They like school. They know a lot of kids from their visits here. Same thing at church.”
She set her hand on the counter. Another good sign. She hadn’t made an excuse of being busy.
“Becky has a sleepover at a friend’s tonight, and Noah wants to stay at his grandparents’. It’s a sibling rivalry thing. When one’s at a sleepover, the other has to sleep somewhere else, too. It’s not any different up here.”
Raven’s skin glowed. “Cute. My nieces and nephews are the same way.” She pushed the menu in front of him. “What can I get you?”
You. Yep, he’d missed her. Missed their talks. Missed the flirting. Missed the company of a woman as stunning as Raven. “A bagel. And...” He leaned in. “Seeing how I have the night off...”
She squared her shoulders, and her gaze darted about. Jude’s shoulders also tensed. Second thoughts? God, no. Please. Hopefully she hadn’t changed her mind.
“I... Gosh, there’s so much going on. Nominations are on Monday night...” S
he clicked her painted nails on the counter.
“I’m a dad. I don’t get nights off too often. Say yes. Please.” He kept his voice low. And he meant please.
Her deep gaze pierced his, searching. Deep enough that he held his breath while the seconds passed, seconds seeming to drag on long enough to punch his contracted abs. Finally, she nodded.
“Okay,” Raven whispered, leaning in slightly. “We... can. Where’re we going? I—”
“I’ll get you. Take a walk down Turtle Road.”
She folded her arms across her flat stomach and again nodded. “What time?”
“Seven. I’ll have the kids dropped off by then. You can show me the camp. Do they still keep the road plowed?”
A ride out to Geoff’s Camp was the perfect spot. The small resort closed for the winter, but people still used the road. At least Jude hoped so.
“Yeah. They do.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll bring along some hot chocolate.”
The bell over the door tinkled. Jude swiveled in his seat as two old women came in. When Raven dashed off, he couldn’t resist checking out her long legs and perfect ass. The minutes would drag until he saw her again.
* * * *
Raven should have held firm to the promise she’d made and told Jude no. She quickened her pace on Turtle Road. Jude should arrive any moment. Was he looking to get laid? In the past, she wouldn’t have cared, because sex was sex. Now? Apprehension tingled along her spine.
The twelve steps sat in her head, reminding Raven she must focus on what she could give, instead of what she could get. Did this mean her intentions to campaign for Clayton were wrong? But she needed some respect back, and that would happen through the diner. The members surrounding the big table at the recovery center would insist she put this in her higher power’s hands.
From behind her, headlights appeared on the road. Her limbs tingled.
The humming engine and tires rolling over snow carried to where she’d stopped. A midnight-blue crew-cab short-box truck pulled up beside her. Nice ride. Sexy ride. The big handsome truck suited Jude. Not a rebel bad-to-the-bone truck, but classy and striking, just like him.
The window lowered. “Hey, good-looking, need a lift?” Humor sparkled in Jude’s teasing question.
Raven giggled and opened the door. She sat on a welcoming warm leather seat. Such a gentleman, having turned on the heater button for her. “Sure could use one. Is this what you do? Ride around the rez rescuing damsels in distress?”
“Riiight...” Jude chuckled. “Only one in particular.” He winked.
She dug his wink. It produced a boyish glitter in his black eyes, a devilish smile to his red lips, and his devastating dimples made an appearance. “I guess it’s a good thing I decided to take a walk tonight, then, huh?”
“A very good thing.” He steered the truck off Turtle Road and onto Racoon Drive. “You ever go up to the camp?”
“When I was little. Mom worked there as a housekeeper. Sometimes she’d let me tag along. I played in the cabins while she cleaned. But most of the time Kokum watched me.”
“You and Emery have something in common, being much younger than your siblings.”
That was all they had in common. In high school, Emery had been a nice guy, quiet, and stuck to Darryl. As amazingly gorgeous as Emery was, magazine-cover-model stunning, she’d never desired to date him. Neither had her friends. Probably because Emery’s congenial disposition landed him in the category of guys girls dug as friends only. A great ear to blab to or a shoulder to cry on.
Now Jude, he might not have Emery’s devastating beauty, but big brother ranked higher because his handsomeness was stylish, classic—rugged, even, when he dressed down, passing on his usual business attire.
Tonight, he smoldered of ruggedness, from the teal sweater hugging his solid build to the black jeans clinging to his strong thighs. No parka, which he must have shucked in the backseat.
Raven removed her coat and mittens. She tossed them in the back, where there was a ton of room. Being the rez, she’d never made out in the backseat of a vehicle. Growing up, none of the boys could afford cars or trucks.
“When’d you get your license?”
“Sixteen, like any other teenager.” Jude guided them down Camp Road.
Oh boy, here they went. Alone and away from everyone. Raven’s heart rate matched the dribbling of a basketball. “I still don’t have mine.”
“What?” Jude sputtered. “But you drive.”
“It’s the rez. Our rules are different up here.”
“I know. I gotta get my brother and brother-in-law to start wearing helmets when they’re burning around on their four-wheeler. They only reason they wear helmets snowmobiling is so they don’t get cold.”
“Emery’s as rez as everyone else. Your kids will be, too. They’re the same age as him when he moved up here.”
“Rez...” Jude snickered. “And what is rez?”
“You should know. We ignore the rest of planet Earth and live by our own rules.”
“Very true.”
They were enclosed in bare brush resembling skeletons against the flash of the high beams. The road, mirroring a roller coaster, was only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle. They were climbing a hill on a turn.
“You should get your license, though. It’s good to have one.”
“I don’t have a vehicle to use.”
“What about one of your family’s?”
“They always fly into the ‘Peg or T. Bay.”
“I don’t blame them. It’s a long haul from the city to here.”
“And a lot of gas. Did you fill up in the city?”
“Yep. Then we refueled in Sturgeon Creek.”
“Big price jump, hey?”
“Was it ever.” Jude shook his head. “Why do you think I walk to work?”
“You’ll get used to it. In time, you’ll be driving everywhere like everyone else.” They were climbing another hill, this one straight up and no turn.
After a few more turns and hills, they pulled up at the main area. All was quiet, except for the light wind rustling through the spruce trees. Jude reached into the back seat and set a thermos between them.
“I thought you’d like some tea.”
“Awesome. Honey, too?”
“Already added.” He removed two small travel mugs from a cloth bag and set them on the console.
Once he poured, Raven took her cup and sipped. Chamomile. Perfect.
Jude switched off the high beams to the daytime lights.
“I hope you don’t waste too much gas.”
“I gotta run the truck or we’ll freeze.” He snickered. “As you said—I’ll get used to the prices up here.”
“You will. Each time you head for the city, you’ll feel like a big sale’s happening.”
“I won’t be going back for a bit. Too much to catch up on at the school.”
Raven worked off her mukluks.
“Did you make those, too?”
“Kokum did.” She sipped more tea. No stars. No moon. They were wrapped in the pitch-black night.
“Are you the kind of girl who knows how to hunt?”
“Of course.” Silly man. “I used to help Kokum check the trap lines. She taught me how to skin them. And cook them. When I was ten, she made me a rabbit coat. I loved it. Too bad everyone’s against fur now.”
“I don’t think the anti-fur movement pertains to Indigenous people.” Jude tilted the mug. “I’m assuming most of society knows a lot still rely on trapping for an income. Trappers bring their furs in for trade to make the trip into the city to buy Christmas presents. Food for dinner.”
“That’s what my dad did, I guess. Guided during the summer, hunted in the fall, and trapped in the winter, Mom said.” Too bad the bottle had sucked the life out of him. Maybe that was why Mom remained angry. The Indian Residential School had cost her a husband, forcin
g her to raise four kids on her own while pregnant with a fifth.
Would Jude understand? Probably not. He’d say his dad had gone to the residential school and had overcome his demons.
“I hope they do. This fall, I went out hunting a couple of times with Clayton and my cousins,” she said.
“Get anything?”
“A deer. Those mittens you saw came from that deer. Kokum taught me how to skin one when I was twelve.”
“You know so much. Why leave?”
Raven sipped more tea. The chamomile and honey warmed her limbs and chest. A man from a perfect family wouldn’t understand. It was best to lie. “I told you, I wanted to be like other girls. Makeup. Hair. Hip-hop. Dating. I loved Winnipeg. It was different from the rez, but in some ways not that different. Maybe it was the nabe? My cousin lived in Lord Selkirk Park. Y’see a lot of ‘Nish from the northern reserves there.”
Jude grinned. “‘Nish. My brother-in-law uses that a lot. Adam. Even Darryl the odd time. Is it a Winnipeg thing?”
“I thought everyone used it.” Raven chuckled, since ‘Nish was slang for Anishinaabe.
The tea deserved a vape. Her taste buds craved a taste of Totally Wicked, her favorite e-cigarette flavor. “Gimme one sec.”
Smoking was frowned upon nowadays. Was Jude one of those offended anti-smokers? Once she donned her mukluks and parka, she cracked open the truck door and got out. Maybe around minus sixteen. A welcome respite from minus thirty-seven. She withdrew her vape.
The other door cracked open just as she inhaled the delicious vapor.
“I didn’t know you vaped.” Jude’s boots crunched against the snow as he strode over. “My brother-in-law quit for the new year. Bridget bought Adam a vape.”
“I quit six months ago.” Raven held up her hot pink e-cigarette. “If not for this, I’d still be smoking.”
“Nicotine?”
“You betcha.” She took another puff.
“How do you get your e-liquid?”
“The mail. I order from a place in Winnipeg.” Raven puffed again. She sipped from the mug. The combination of chamomile and tobacco-tasting vapor was delicious.
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