When Kat's Away [Sequel to Anna Doubles Down] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Missy Martine

Kat ignored the mosquito that bit the back of her neck and flexed her fingers before reaching for the door of the privy. She held her breath as she pulled open the door, her heart slamming against her ribs.

  “What’s the matter with me? There’s nothing to be afraid of.” As the door swung open, her breath caught. “Damn, I wish I had a flashlight.”

  There was barely enough light to see the wooden frame they used as a seat. Holding out her hands to ward off any unseen obstacles, she moved forward, grimacing at the feel of a cobweb brushing against her arm. Holding her breath, she finished her business and rushed back down the trail toward the house, leaves and twigs catching at her clothing while her hands slapped at the mosquitoes biting her exposed flesh.

  She pushed open the door and hurried back inside. Turning, she lifted the board to bar the door.

  “I’m guessing you found everything okay.”

  Kat squealed and turned to see David standing in the shadows at the end of the hall. He was wearing a pair of dark pants and nothing else. His chest was broad with a light covering of hair.

  “Yes, no problems.” She gave a little laugh. “I should have put on some shoes, though.”

  David moved forward quickly and dropped to his knee. He picked up one of her feet, causing her hand to land on the warm skin of his bare shoulder. Her breath caught at the electricity that shot up her arm from the contact. She held her breath as he rubbed his hand up and down the bottom of her foot.

  “I don’t feel any cuts. You were lucky.” He quickly examined her other foot and then stood. “Are you going back to bed, or could I interest you in some breakfast?”

  Kat swallowed hard.

  I wish he’d go put on the rest of his clothes.

  He was standing close enough to feel the heat from his body, and she inhaled his musky, pleasing masculine scent. “Uh, I could eat if you’re going to cook anyway.”

  He smiled. “I’ve always been an early riser. I was about to put the coffee on when I saw the door was open.” He turned and walked toward a darkened room. “Come on and keep me company while I cook.”

  She followed him silently and waited in the door while he lit several lamps. The first thing she noticed in the room was the huge, black, wood-burning stove that took up the area in front of one whole wall. The top was host to six round circles for cooking, each with a small hole to pull the cooking surface up. The front had one large door on the right that was obviously an oven and two smaller doors on top of the other beside it.

  She peered closer at the stove. “What’s that written on the doors?”

  David turned to look at her. “What door?”

  “The doors on the front of your stove.”

  He turned to look and grinned. “That’s just the manufacturer. It says Grand Camper. I guess this is not like any kitchen you’ve ever seen.”

  “That would be an accurate statement. I’m not the best of cooks in a modern kitchen. I’m afraid we’d starve to death if I had to tackle cooking on that thing.” She watched as David put several pieces of kindling in the stove and then took a match and lit a fire. A tall, black chimney rose from the back of the stove and disappeared into the ceiling.

  David grabbed the coffeepot from the cook surface and filled it with water from a sink with a water pump. He grinned over his shoulder. “We just put the pump in the house about two years ago. I know it’s a lot different from what you’re used to.” He laughed. “For one thing, there’s no hot water.”

  “How do you know so much about what I’m used to?”

  He shrugged. “Mom told us all about her other life and what we can expect in the future. She’s never kept secrets from us, at least none that I know of.” He measured out some coffee into the pot and then set it on the stove.

  “Does it bother you, knowing how much easier things are in the future?”

  “No, it’s kind of fun trying to find ways to make improvements that will help make her life easier.” He walked over to a shelf and pulled an egg from a basket. He cracked the egg into a bowl and then dropped the shell into the coffeepot.

  Kat cringed and looked away. A wooden butcher’s block stood in the center of the room, the top heavily scarred. A ceramic jar held various cooking implements, and a sharp-looking carving knife decorated the surface. One wall held a sink of sorts, with an old-fashioned water pump. Nails on the wall held skillets, towels, and cooking pans. A nicer table, with four matching chairs, set underneath the window. She walked past the stove to peer into another small room.

  “That’s the washroom. Although we bring the tub in here when we want to take a bath. It’s easier to fill with warm water if it’s near the stove.”

  The room was small and held another wood-burning stove that looked rusted over from disuse. Beside it stood a pair of round metal tubs in a frame. Each one held a scrubboard with the words Maid Rite across the top. The frame had a device between the tubs that held two rolling pins.

  “It’s easy to imagine scrubbing the clothes on the boards and then feeding them through the rollers to wring out the excess water.”

  David snorted. “I’d rather be imagining it than doing it. Laundry is my least favorite job.”

  A wooden beam ran the length of the room near the ceiling, with clothes drying from the last wash day. The other wall held another metal tub, this one elongated and big enough for a human body. One end was tall, like a backrest.

  “So, how often do you fill up this tub of yours for a warm bath?”

  “It can be filled anytime you want it, pretty lady.” David walked over and put his arm around her shoulder. “Win and I both take pan baths daily and soak in the tub a couple of times a week. I know Mom likes her baths daily, so all you have to do is say the word and I’ll fill her up for you.” He gave her a saucy wink. “I might even be persuaded to wash your back.”

  “Um, didn’t you say something about breakfast?”

  David grinned and went back into the kitchen. She took a moment to compose herself and then followed him. He was cutting thick slices of bacon and putting them into a frying pan on the stove.

  He looked up and smiled. “Is bacon and eggs okay with you? I was going to whip up a batch of biscuits as well.”

  Hearing her stomach growl, she frowned. “That sounds wonderful. Can I do anything to help?”

  He nodded toward a cupboard. “You can get some dishes out and set the table. Win will be down soon. The smell of bacon frying has never failed to get his butt out of the bed.”

  Win walked through the door, dressed only in a pair of denim pants. His smooth chest glowed in the lamplight, the dark-brown nipples standing at attention. “I resent that. I woke up when you hogged all the covers.”

  Kat’s mouth dropped open when he walked over and kissed the back of David’s neck.

  David turned and scowled. “I guess Mom didn’t tell you about us, huh?”

  She cleared her throat and swallowed. “We didn’t discuss you other than you are her son.” She took a shaky breath and sat down. “So, the two of you are a couple.”

  Win shrugged and took another chair at the table. “As much as we can be. We don’t let anyone outside the family know.” He glanced at David. “It could be dangerous if it got out. White men don’t like the idea of two white men together, much less an Indian and a white man.”

  “I’m the first to admit I don’t know my history as well as I should, even if I am a teacher, but weren’t your people living in reservations about now? I mean, you’re obviously Native American.”

  Win grinned. “Anna has told me that is what your people call us in the future. Here, and now, we’re just Indians. I’m from the Shoshone tribe.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat back down. “Most of my people do live on your reservation, but a few refused to be run off their land. There are so few of us the government leaves us alone as long as they’re no problems.”

  “How on earth did you and David hook up?”

  He frowned. “Hook up?”

 
“How did the two of you get together?”

  “Ah, Anna helped deliver me when I was born.”

  Kat sat up straighter in her chair. “She what?”

  “My mother was nearing the time of my birth, but they thought they had enough time to travel to her parents’ village.” He gave her a small wink. “I decided to come early. They came across a cabin in the woods near here and Anna was there. Even though they scared her badly, she took them in and delivered me. My mother told me that my father was terrified because there was so much blood, and he was intrigued by the woman who showed no fear.”

  David walked over and put his hand on Win’s shoulder. “She used some made-up sign language to get him to give her his knife to cut the cord.”

  “My father, Running Bear, knew some English and was able to understand her a little.”

  Kat leaned her elbows on the table. “What’s your mother’s name?”

  “She was called Moon Dancer.” Win looked down into his coffee cup. “She named me Winter Warrior because winter was coming and I was the first warrior born to her family. Before me there were only girl babies.”

  David put the bacon aside and began breaking eggs into a bowl. “Tell her about Mom saving your folks.”

  Kat leaned forward. “Yes, tell me.”

  “After I was born an evil man came to the cabin. Anna knew he would kill any Indians he found, so she hid my family in her cellar.” He looked down at his hands. “The bad man was really after Anna. He took her captive and carried her off.”

  “Anna was kidnapped?”

  “Yes, by a man who’d figured out she was from the future. He wanted her to tell him the secrets from her time.”

  “How did she get away?”

  David poured the eggs into the skillet. “Win’s father saved her. After he got Win and his mother to safety, he tracked her to a small cabin farther out that Bart Canders had her tied up in. He freed her and brought her back here.”

  Kat thought for a moment. “Canders as in Timothy Canders that your dad said was bothering Eva?”

  “One in the same. He’s his son.” David put a bowl of scrambled eggs on the table and went back for the bacon. “Win, get the biscuits out of the oven.”

  Kat watched Win get the biscuits and place them on the table. “What happened to Bart Canders?”

  Win looked up. “They hanged him. He not only kidnapped Anna, he set fire to the mill.”

  She gasped. “The fire. I remember reading about it in the book I bought on the history of this place.” She frowned. “I thought it said the fire destroyed everything around here, including the town.”

  David placed two biscuits on Kat’s plate. “It would have, but my mother stopped it. She was there when he set the fire, and they were able to get the town on alert fast enough to keep the blaze from spreading.”

  Kat looked down at her plate. “So she ended up changing history. I didn’t think that was even possible.”

  “She didn’t change history.” Win laid his hand on Kat’s arm. “Medicine man says future is already set. Nothing can change it. She was meant to come back and do what she did. Each of us has a destiny to fulfill, and nothing we do is going to change the outcome of that destiny.”

  “Do your parents live on the reservation?” She scooped some eggs onto her plate.

  “No, they live with the Great Spirit now. They’ve been gone twenty summers.”

  Kat looked at David and raised her brow.

  “They were killed along with some others of their tribe. They’d always told Win to come here if anything happened to them.” David touched his hand to Win’s cheek. “He’s been living with us ever since.”

  “Win, can I ask how old you are?”

  “I have passed my twenty-eighth summer.”

  “You’re pretty wise for such a young guy.” She took a couple of bites. “What are we gonna do today?”

  David poured her a cup of coffee. “I’m going to get some of my sister’s clothes so you can get out, and I thought we’d show you the town. It’ll give you a chance to get used to your surroundings, and then tomorrow we’ll ride up to Treasure City to get some more clothes.”

  “Did you happen to see my purse in the basement?”

  Win looked at David and frowned. “What is a purse?”

  “It’s a small leather bag that holds things.”

  He shook his head. “I have been to the basement several times since you arrived and there were no bags of any kind down there.”

  She sighed. “That’s okay. I was just hoping it made it through with me. I hate to lose it. It had the last bit of civilization left in my world.”

  Win bowed his head. “Then I am truly sorry for your loss, Kat.” He looked up at David. “If you and Kat would like to get dressed I’ll take care of cleaning up the breakfast dishes.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Kat said.

  Win looked at her quizzically, and she laughed. “It’s just an old expression from my time, Win. It means I agree to the plan.”

  He smiled. “Good, then let’s get through with breakfast and we’ll get out of here for a while.”

  * * * *

  Anna looked up when David walked into her sitting room, a bundle of clothes in his hands. “Did you get everything she’ll need?”

  “Yes, Eva gave me some of her pants and a shirt and vest. I figured it might be better to ease Kat into corsets and such.”

  Beau threw back his head and roared out his laughter. “It’s been twenty-eight years and your ma still won’t wear the blasted things.”

  Anna smirked. “It had to have been a man who invented a garment that squeezed us so tight in the middle our boobs popped out the top.”

  David groaned. “Mom, do you have to be so plainspoken?”

  She laughed. “If you think I’m bad, wait until you spend a little more time with Kat. I don’t think a little tumble through time will have mellowed her mouth any. There are times she can curse with the best of them.”

  “Well, it doesn’t sound so weird if it’s coming from somebody else’s mouth. It just shouldn’t be coming from yours.”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “You’re such a chauvinist.”

  “A what?” asked David.

  “You’re a throwback, David, a Neanderthal when it comes to women.” She walked over and took his hand. “You’ve got to back off, David. Kat just arrived and she’s not for you.”

  He took a step back. “Why do you say that?”

  She clenched her fists and tried to control her temper. “You just listen to me. I don’t have to explain myself. I’m telling you to back off. She’s not for you.”

  David walked toward the door and then turned back. “Mom, I love you, but you get no say in who I spend my life with. I’m a grown man and it’s up to me to make that decision.”

  Anna took a couple of steps toward him. “What about Win? Don’t you care what he thinks?”

  He put his hand on the doorknob. “We talked last night and he’s as taken with her as I am.” He stared at his mother. “Let’s just let things ride and see where they lead us. If it’s meant to be, it will be. You know what Win says about fate. We can’t change it.” He nodded at Beau. “We’re going to take Kat and show her around town. I’m gonna lock the place up since we don’t open until later.”

  “All right, son. Be careful and keep a watchful eye. If people ask about Kat, we want you to tell them that she’s our niece.”

  “No.” David opened the door. “I won’t say she’s related to us.”

  Anna sighed and ran her fingers through her long hair. “Then tell them she’s a daughter of a friend of mine from back East.”

  David nodded and then closed the door behind him as he left.

  Beau walked over and took Anna into his arms. “You’ve got to let up on the boy. You know how he’s practically drooled over that picture of Kat you had in your wallet. The boy’s been dreaming about her since he was eight years old.” He took a hold of her chin and brought he
r face up. “Is there a reason you’re so against it? Do you not think she’s good enough?”

  “No, of course not. She’s the finest person I know. It’s just weird to think about my best friend getting romantic with my son. I don’t think my psyche is up to that. Besides, I always pictured some nice, sweet, innocent girl for David just like any mother would. Kat’s a wonderful person, but she’s never been serious about any of the men in her life. I don’t want to see the boys get hurt if she moves on.”

  Beau chuckled. “Why don’t we do as the boy asked and let nature take its course? Who knows? She might not even want to be with them.”

  Anna slid her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his neck. “There’s no danger of that. She’s already hot for the pair of them.”

  Beau pressed his lips to her head. “Then, just maybe our boy can find the kind of happiness the three of us have had all these years.”

  * * * *

  Kat gazed at the buildings lining the long, winding dirt road. “So, what all do you have in this town?” She started down the wooden boardwalk that connected the buildings. Several horses were tied to hitching posts along the way, but only three other people were outside.

  David pointed to a huge building that looked like an oversized barn. If the double doors were open, a large wagon could drive right through. “We’ve got a livery over there.”

  Win pointed in the opposite direction. “Over there is the church, and down three buildings from that is the schoolhouse.”

  David took her arm and helped her step from the boardwalk into the street. “The place at the end of the street is a mercantile of sorts. They carry a small number of supplies. Anything bigger, or special, has to be ordered, and it’s delivered to Treasure City.” He took her arm as they crossed the street. “All the places on the right are houses where people live. They all work for the mill or the mine in some capacity.”

  Win took her other arm. “Anna told us you’re a teacher, so we thought you might like to see the school.”

  Kat smiled. “Sure, I’d love to.”

  She walked with the men down the street until they reached a small, white one-story building. She could see a privy out in the back. They climbed the two steps and walked inside. She looked around and promptly sneezed. “This place is a mess.”