His Medicine Woman

by Stella Bagwell

  Jamming his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, Johnny ambled across the room to where a wall of paned windows framed the distant mountain range. “How could you? You don’t know me.”

  Behind him, Doyle chuckled and Johnny looked over his shoulder at Bridget’s father. From the time he was old enough to understand about a man and his character, Johnny had admired Doyle Donovan. He was more than a successful rancher and racehorse breeder. He was a steady and loving father, husband and son. He wasn’t afraid of hard work. And in spite of having millions, he didn’t flaunt it. He mostly gave it away to charities and those who were less fortunate. The Donovan patriarch was everything Johnny’s parents hadn’t been.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Johnny. I’ve known you since you were born. And I’ve kept up with you all these years. What Brady couldn’t tell me, your grandfather, Charlie, filled me in on.”

  Amazed, Johnny slowly turned to face him. “You know my grandfather? I mean, personally?”

  Doyle nodded. “I met him before you were born. And down through the years, we’ve stayed in touch.”

  “I had no idea that you ever talked with him.”

  A wry smile touched Doyle’s face. “Your grand father is very much like you—he doesn’t do much superficial talking. But I can truthfully say he’s always been a good, hardworking man.”

  Johnny walked over to the other man and faced him head-on. “My grandparents are good and special people. I would do anything for them. But I— My mother—”

  “Ah, yes,” Doyle perceptively interrupted, “I’ve not forgotten about Scarlett Chino. Unfortunately, she was a troubled soul.”

  The moment the subject of Scarlett had come up, Johnny had expected to see a look of disgust, or worse on Doyle’s face. Instead, he could only see a strange mix of fondness and regret.

  “Troubled? Coming from you, I’d call that a meek description of the woman.”

  Frowning slightly, Doyle shook his head. “I have no idea what sort of feelings you have for your mother. I suppose, since she died when you were so young, it’s hard for you to have many feelings at all. But I can honestly say that I liked her.”

  Down through the years Johnny had seen and heard plenty of shocking things, but none of them came close to this. “You—liked her?”

  Walking back over to the armchair where he’d first been sitting, Doyle hitched up his jeans and took a seat. “Sit back down, son, I think you need to hear a few things about your mother.”

  Johnny didn’t know how he could sit when his thoughts and emotions were leaping around like an animal that had just been let loose from its cage. But out of respect, he made himself sink into the chair across from Doyle.

  “I’ve heard plenty, sir. And none of it’s been pretty. I know what she tried to do to you—your property—your family. It’s—well, after the grief she caused you, I can’t believe you would even tolerate having me in your house.”

  “Oh, Johnny,” he said with a measure of sadness, “I wish you’d come to me a long time ago. You would have learned then that I’m not a man who holds grudges. Besides, like I said, I liked Scarlett.” Pausing, he suddenly smiled with fond remembrance. “She was a beautiful little thing and a good worker, too. She had a dry wit that made all of us working around the barns laugh.”

  “But she’d been in jail for shoplifting,” Johnny reasoned. “And you hired her to give her a break, a second chance and she repaid you by—”

  “Look, Johnny, we all make mistakes. Some of us just make more than others. Down deep, I don’t believe your mother wanted to ever hurt anybody. Quite the opposite, in fact. She wanted to be loved and cared for by someone who could give her a better life than the one she’d known. I think that’s why she became pregnant with you. She was searching for someone to love her, genuinely love her. When that relationship didn’t pan out, she was scared. She knew she didn’t have the means to give you the sort of life she wanted for you. That’s why she wanted Fiona and me to adopt you. She knew we’d love you and give you the best of things.”

  Johnny’s lips twisted to a wry slant. “But you didn’t adopt me. And I can’t say that I blame you. I—”

  “Whoa right there, Johnny,” Doyle said as he suddenly scooted to the edge of his seat. “If you’re thinking that you being an Apache and Scarlett’s child had anything to do with our decision, you’re wrong. Fiona begged me to take the necessary steps to make you our child and I agreed. You see, she was pregnant with Brady at the time and we decided it would be grand to raise the two of you together. I told Scarlett that I would have our lawyer draw up the necessary papers, but that first I wanted to discuss the whole thing with Scarlett’s parents. After all, she was only nineteen at the time, and I wanted everything to be legal and proper.”

  Stunned with disbelief, Johnny could only stare at him. All these years, all the suffering and agony that he and Bridget had gone through had been for nothing. Nothing! He supposed the injustice of it all should have had him screaming and cursing. But amazingly, instead of anger, a sweet sense of acceptance was filling him up, warming the cold empty hole he’d carried in his heart for so many years.

  “So what changed things?” Johnny wanted to know.

  Doyle smiled. “Meeting your grandparents. They were warm, loving people. And they made me see that you needed to be raised with the traditions of your tribe. That later on, those traditions would be important to you and your children. I agreed. And though Fiona and I were disappointed, we realized we’d done the right thing. Scarlett didn’t see things that way, though. She got a little upset.”

  Upset? Vengeful was more like it, Johnny could have argued. But the more that Doyle talked, the more he realized how the man saw things in a pragmatic way.

  “Grandfather has told me the rest—about the barn. About accusing you of being the father of her baby—of me. I don’t understand, Mr. Donovan, how you can still speak of her fondly. She must have caused your family a great deal of hell.”

  An understanding smile crossed Doyle’s face. “Not really. Well, Fiona was extremely disappointed over the whole thing, because she wasn’t going to get another baby in the house. And I had to get a contractor out to repair the part of the barn that was damaged when your mother set the fire. But we dealt with all of that. As far as her accusing me of being the father, none of the family believed that. We all understood that she was hurting and scared and lashing out the only way she knew how. It made good gossip for the ranch hands, that’s all.”

  “Grandfather said you wouldn’t press charges against her for any of it.”

  “Oh, Lord no,” Doyle exclaimed with a shake of his head. “In fact, I tried my best to talk her into staying and working for us. Fiona and I knew she needed help. But she was full of pride and I don’t know—” Pausing, he sighed with regret. “There was something wild and lost and lonely in Scarlett. Something that none of us, even your grandparents, knew how to touch. We were saddened when we heard of her death.”

  Dropping his head in his hands, Johnny struggled to gather himself together and finally come to grips with the past. For so long it had controlled him. And now it was like the ghost that had trailed him, haunted him for so long was just a harmless vapor disappearing beneath a ray of golden sunshine. Bridget had accused him of not knowing how to be happy. And he supposed she’d been right. Because at this moment something new and warm and wondrous was spreading through him, something that had to be happiness.

  A hand on his shoulder brought Johnny out of his deep thoughts and he lifted his head to see Doyle standing over him. The understanding smile on the man’s face was exactly what he needed to see.

  “Johnny, I think you should understand that the Donovans forgave Scarlett a long time ago. Don’t you think it’s time you forgave her, too?”

  Forgive his mother? Yes. How easy it was for Johnny to now see that it was time to forgive and forget Scarlett’s mistakes and move on with his future.

  With a grateful smile, he nodded at
Doyle. “Thank you for—well, letting me know that there was a spark of decency in her. That’s the part I’m going to remember.”

  Patting his shoulder, Doyle’s smile deepened. “Now that we got all that settled, I think you’d better go find Bridget. If I know my daughter she’s probably out in the hallway waiting on you.”

  Yes, thank God, Bridget was good at waiting, Johnny thought, but now the wait was finally over.

  Rising to his feet, he shook Doyle’s hand and then hurried from the room.

  Hours later, after a celebratory dinner with the Donovans, Johnny and Bridget drove to the Chino home to give his grandparents the news of the rescue and the even bigger announcement that the two of them were getting married.

  Naomi had sagely commented that at least her bout with the flu had served a good purpose. As for Charlie, he’d stepped out of character and gathered Bridget up in an affectionate hug.

  After the elderly pair had gone to bed and left Bridget and Johnny sitting quietly in front of the fireplace, Johnny mused aloud, “You’ve changed things around here, Bridget. My grandfather sometimes holds my grandmother’s hand and once I saw him kiss her cheek. But I’ve never seen him hug her, or anyone, the way he hugged you.”

  Laughing softly, Bridget snuggled her head against his shoulder. “Just goes to show you that a man is never too old to learn a new way to show his affection.”

  “Hmm. This all makes me wonder what would have happened to us if Grandmother hadn’t gotten sick.”

  Sliding her arm across his chest, she hugged him close to her side. Earlier this afternoon, when he’d emerged from the family room, she’d been waiting for him. Afterward, they’d gone to a private spot in the house where he’d told her everything, even the part about his mother accusing her father of getting her pregnant. It had been a revelation for Bridget, who’d never heard a hint of the story before. But thirty-one years was a long time ago and her parents had swept the issue under the rug even before Bridget had been born. Unfortunately, some people on the reservation, who’d been acquaintances of Scarlett, had kept the story alive enough for Johnny to hear it.

  “Something else would have brought us back together. If things are meant to be—then they’re just meant to be.” Tilting her head upward, she pressed a kiss underneath his jawbone. “And I have to admit I’m very glad my parents didn’t adopt you.”

  With a puzzled frown, he twisted his face toward hers. “You are? Why?”

  The corners of her lips curved impishly upward. “If we’d been raised up in the same house as siblings, you would’ve never fallen in love with me. You would’ve thought of me as your bratty little sister with carrot-red hair and freckles.”

  Smiling, his fingers slid into her hair until they were cradling the back of her head and drawing her lips toward his.

  “Aw, Bridget. I would have fallen in love with you if we’d been in the same house or miles apart. Remember—we were meant to be.”

  Epilogue

  Nearly two months later, on a cold and cloudy December morning, Bridget turned away from the dressing table to see her husband standing out on the balcony beyond their bedroom door.

  He was already dressed for work in his Lincoln County deputy’s uniform and as she walked outside to join him, her gaze slid appreciatively over his broad shoulders, the shiny black tail of hair lying against his collar, then on to his trim waist and long, hard-muscled legs. To her, he was a bronze warrior, a masculine work of art that she would never tire of gazing upon.

  Shortly after he’d rescued Peter from the mountain cave, Johnny had accepted the job that Sheriff Hamilton had so eagerly offered him. Finding the lost child, coupled with facing his mother’s transgressions head-on, had given him a totally different outlook on life and himself. His self-confidence had soared and day by day he was learning that being a lawman suited him perfectly. Bridget couldn’t have been prouder of the contributions her husband was making to the department. And she couldn’t be happier to finally see him using his skills and talents to serve and protect the community.

  Tightening the sash of her heavy, dark blue robe, she stepped onto the balcony and quickly shut the sliding glass door behind her.

  “Brrr. It’s freezing out here!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing outside without your jacket?”

  Turning his head in her direction, he smiled. “Nag, nag. You’re turning into a regular little wife,” he teased.

  Once she reached him, she slipped her arms around his waist and grinned up at him. “I’m trying.”

  Wrapping his arms across her back, he gathered her close. “I was just looking at the mountains,” he said.

  “Mmm. You miss the reservation, don’t you?”

  “Yes. It’s nice living here with your family—for now. But I’ll be glad when we can be on the res and in our own home.”

  Shortly after they were married, Bridget and Johnny had picked out a home site not too far from his grandparents’ house and hired a building contractor. So far a foundation had been poured and studs for the walls erected for a modest little two-story house, but the winter weather was limiting the carpenters and bringing the whole process to a snail’s pace.

  “I’ll be glad, too,” she agreed.

  Bending his head, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “Will you really? This house has every luxury. Not to mention a cook and maids. With your job—well, it’s plain we’ll have to hire household help or you won’t be able to keep up.”

  “We’ve already agreed on this, Johnny. I’ve always loved the res and I want us to be by your grandparents for the rest of their days. As for my job—I’m going to be cutting down my hours just as soon as I choose a doctor to take up residency at the clinic. That will give me much more time for things like you—and—uh—a baby.”

  Easing his head back, he slanted a suspicious look at her. “Baby? Are you trying to tell me something, sweet wife?”

  Joy bubbled in her green eyes and glowed in her broad smile. “I’m telling you that our little visit to the cabin produced more than just a day in the woods. Leyla must have inspired us. Do you mind? I know we’ve only been married a few weeks. But in my heart we’ve been married for years. Having a baby now feels absolutely right to me.”

  A wondrous expression stole over his features and then with a choked little sound, he buried his face in the side of her hair. “Mind? Everything about you and a baby feels right to me. Do you know how much I love you?”

  Johnny didn’t say those three little words often, but whenever he did they were said with deep emotion and this morning they poured through her like warm golden rain.

  “How could I not know?” she whispered through happy tears. “You show me every day.”

  Suddenly he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the house. “C’mon. You need to get inside. I don’t want my son to catch cold!”

  Laughing, Bridget allowed him to lead her into the house and after she’d donned her work clothes, they hurried down to the kitchen for breakfast.

  When they entered the room, Opal was tending something on the griddle, but other than the cook, the only two people who’d beat them to the kitchen were Brady and Lass and they were already seated at the round dining table and Bridget and Johnny could clearly see that something was amiss with the couple.

  Brady’s chair was scooted close to Lass’s and he was making a gallant effort to console his tearful wife. “Come on now, Lass, and cheer up,” Brady said as he lovingly cuddled the petite brunette in the curve of his arm. “Dallas will only be gone for a week. And think of all the pretty mustangs she’ll bring back from Nevada. You two women will be in hog heaven.”

  Lass dabbed a tissue to her watery eyes. “Yes. But Christmas is coming and I’m—”

  “Pregnant and emotional,” Brady finished with a wink at Johnny and Bridget. “Uh, Dr. Chino, what do you prescribe for a woman in Lass’s condition?”

  Since Bridget and Johnny were hearing this news for the first time, they looked at each other
and burst out laughing. The sound shocked away Lass’s tears and both she and Brady stared at the pair as though they were crazy.

  “What’s the matter with you two?” Brady demanded, then pointed an accusing finger at Johnny. “Just wait, my friend! You’re gonna learn how it feels to have a pregnant wife who cries at the drop of a hat!”

  His grin wide, Johnny patted Bridget’s still flat tummy. “Sooner than you think, Brady. So I’ll take all the advice you can give me.”

  Her mouth falling open, Lass rose so quickly to her feet that her chair clattered to the floor. “Brita, does this mean what I think—that you’re pregnant?”

  Bridget nodded and her sister-in-law hurried around the table to enfold her into a tight embrace. As the two women hugged and cried and laughed over the fact that they would be having babies together, Johnny and Brady exchanged smug smiles.

  The two men had shared a friendship that had begun in childhood and would no doubt last the rest of their lives. Now their children were going to be growing up together as cousins.

  Quickly, Brady filled four glasses with orange juice and passed them around. “This calls for a toast,” he said. “To our children. May they always be as happy as we are at this moment.”

  The couples were clanking their glasses together when Kate suddenly entered the kitchen. The woman stopped in her tracks and stared at the unusual scene.

  “What’s this all about?” she asked loudly. “Dallas being gone for a week? Or a late celebration on Red Garland’s victory at the Breeder’s Cup?”