As she worked, it seemed like some long-dry part of her brain started perking up, as if there were a bunch of little girls in her brain saying to each other, “oooh, we finally get to play again!” She wove green and black beads in circles and it seemed to make it easier to see her own life, circling wider and wider, away from the knotty core of her beginnings. With needle and thread, she had created order for herself, had shaped the future she wanted with her own hands.
As she wove a new hope for Michael, she began to wonder what that future might look like now.
What if?
On cue, Jessie raised her head. “Where Michael?”
“He’s outside.”
“See him?”
Sunny looked through the window and saw him in the corral, grooming the beautiful mane of the horse he’d called Two Moon. He’d taken off his hat and hung it on a fence post, along with his shirt. Sunlight streamed down on them, horse and man, accenting the smooth sleek muscles of both, creatures at home in this harsh land. Jessie said, “There he is!” and pointed. She looked at her mother hopefully. “See him?”
“Maybe in a little while,” Sunny said, and went back to the amulet. It was nearly finished now. Another hour should do it.
Michael stayed out of the house all afternoon, finding a hundred things to do so he could sort out his feelings away from the narcotic influence of the two women who’d somehow managed to steal his heart in three days flat. He couldn’t stand to think of them leaving, and all day he tried to think of ways to convince Sunny it would be safe to stay.
But a cynical voice in his head wanted to know if he’d lost his mind. A woman like that, a city girl? What makes you think she would stay any better than your wife?
He didn’t know, but there was something so sure and strong about Sunny Kendricks that he felt he could trust. That rooted strength. That depth of conviction. If she gave her word, she would keep it.
He thought of their joining last night, of that sense of jubilant blessing he’d felt, the absolute rightness of it, of the two of them being in his house. The prairie had delivered him a great gift, and he did not intend to let it go.
In late afternoon, he’d finally run out of things to do. Supper smells came out of the house, and his stomach growled gratefully. She was also a great cook—almost reason alone to convince her to stay. He quirked his lips and thought maybe that wasn’t one to add to his list.
His list. He realized, putting the shovel away in the shed, that he’d been out here all afternoon making up a pitch, a campaign designed to reveal his truest heart so that she would be able to let down her guard. He didn’t need to have her love just yet, though his heart had soared when she’d said she would love him. It would be enough just to convince her to stay long enough that he could show her that he was a man of his word and a man of honor.
From behind him came a baby chortle, a scream of laughter, and, smiling at the joy of that sound, Michael turned to see his girls coming across the yard toward him. Jessie was bouncing in her mother’s arms, and his heart squeezed when she cried, “Hi, Michael! Hi!”
Sunny smiled as she approached. “She wanted to come see you right now. No more delays.”
He took the baby and gave her a kiss, nuzzling against her neck with little growls. “Whatcha been doing?”
“Beads,” she said, pointing to her mom.
Sunny nodded. He noticed that her nose, which had sunburned a little this morning, was already turning tan. “Supper’s almost ready if you want to come eat. Nothing fancy, just a meat loaf and some carrots and potatoes.”
“Your nose is already tanning,” he said. “You look like you’d burn like a lobster.”
“I know,” she said, “but I don’t. Never did. Neither does my Jessie-girl, thank heaven.”
“Sunny,” he said, “I want to—”
She smiled at him. There was a strange mischief in her eyes. “I made you something,” she said, and opened her hand to reveal a turtle amulet, almost perfectly shaped, with a little open pocket. “I wasn’t sure what the rituals were, but you can see here—” she pointed to a spot across the turtle’s back where a sheen of glittery something shone in the lowering light “—that I used some of Jessie’s hair to bring that baby energy back.”
He swallowed, holding it in his palm. An arrow of sunlight struck the glittery hair woven into it, and Jessie said next to him, “Pretty!” and put her finger on it.
“Thank-you,” he said, and closed his hand over it. He had some sweetgrass and sacred tobacco. Maybe she would participate in blessing it. For now, he took a breath, settled Jessie more firmly on his hip and said, “Sunny, I want you to listen to me. I know this land is hard and I know you’re afraid of being hurt, but I really don’t want you to go.”
“I don’t want to go,” she said.
“I know it’s crazy that you could fall in love in three days, and I know that scares you, but I swear, if you’ll give me a chance, I’ll make you believe. Jessie can grow up here, in the fresh air, and learn to ride horses and go to 4H, and you can turn one of those rooms into a sewing room, and I’m not saying it’s always gonna be easy, but this is the hardest season we’ve had in twenty years, and you’ve gotten through it, and I just—”
“I love you, Michael,” she said.
He had more reasons, but he said, “What?”
She moved forward, put her hands on his chest, and raised up on her tiptoes to kiss his mouth. “I know it’s crazy, but it’s also true. I love you. And there isn’t a bad bone in your body, and if you’ll have us, we’ll see to it that you have what you need. We’ll take care of you.”
Light blazed up in him, golden, overflowing, and he grabbed her with his free arm, baby on one hip, amulet in his fist, and kissed her, hard. Kissed her mouth, kissed her again, raised his head to look down in her eyes to be sure it was real. “Wow,” he said.
“Wow,” Sunny said, and touched his face. “You’re a miracle, you know that? An answer to a prayer.”
He closed his eyes, put his forehead against hers. “So are you, Sunny. A ray of light in my dark world.”
She kissed him. “A poet.”
Jessie laughed and put her head in between them, an arm around each neck. “Aw. Love you!”
Michael kissed the little girl, and her mama. A family. It was all he’d ever wanted.
As they walked up the porch steps, Jessie said, pointing toward the prairie, “Pretty!”
They stopped. “Oh, my gosh!” Sunny breathed.
Michael squeezed her hand.
Because there, across the open fields, watered at last by the great, ferocious storms, were cacti in bloom. Hundreds of them, thousands, maybe, all a vivid magenta that seemed to vibrate in the gentle sunlight slanting over the plains. A brilliant display of tenacity, he thought, and kissed Sunny’s hand. She raised his and kissed it back, and they went inside to supper.
LAKOTA LEGACY
Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN: 978-1-4603-1101-1
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
WOLF DREAMER
Copyright © 2003 by Madeline Baker
COWBOY DAYS AND INDIAN NIGHTS
Copyright © 2003 by Kathleen Eagle
SEVEN DAYS
Copyright © 2003 by Barbara Samuel
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all i
ncidents are pure invention.
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