by Gigi Moore
Dakota vowed if it was the last thing he did, he would make things up to Lily and Wyatt and reunite them with their son.
Chapter 15
“Wyatt, you old sodbuster! You actually made it!”
Wyatt spotted Brand and Rusty across the floor of the town’s church, Brand with his hands cupped around his mouth and Rusty wildly waving at him.
“Looks like you’re being summoned,” Lily said.
Wyatt glanced at her, catching the frown and feeling her tense up beside him as if she was girding her loins for battle.
Was she so jittery because she hadn’t been out and about with so many of the townspeople in one place, at one time, in so long, or was she nervous about something else?
Wyatt was inclined to go with the former, but instinctively scanned the brightly decorated room for any possible threats to his Lilybelle. Finding none, he wondered about her enmity toward Brand and Rusty.
He never had understood her disapproval of Brand and Rusty. She’d never been vocal about her aversion, but she let it be known by her facial expressions, tone, and the stiffening of her body whenever one or both of the men were in the vicinity.
Wyatt reckoned it had something to do with Brand and Rusty playing a hefty part in his footloose and fancy-free bachelor days, an ignoble history of carousing and liquoring better left in the past as far as Lily was concerned. He reckoned he didn’t blame her.
He did, however, want to spend a little time with the boys. That was, after all, what the night was about, that and spending time out with his Lilybelle, of course.
Wyatt glanced over at Dakota standing beside her like a trusted sentry…and something only Wyatt, Dakota, and Lily knew was much more.
He wondered if any of the other partygoers had noticed the something more, if they had noticed how comfortable the three of them were around each other, like a family unit rather than a homesteader and his wife and the injured man they had graciously taken in to help heal. He wondered if anyone knew the real truth behind their coziness.
So far, no one had made a ruckus about Dakota’s presence, but Wyatt wasn’t going to make the mistake of letting his guard down. He knew better than to think that because no one had objected to Dakota’s presence at the shindig no one would object eventually. Dakota was half-Indian after all, and the implications of that would follow him wherever he went—in the white man’s world or the Indian’s world.
For the first time since Dakota had come into their lives, Wyatt wondered what that must be like for him, for anyone born of two races, yet not belonging to either. That had to be hard on a person, especially someone as intelligent and well-bred as Dakota who, were it not for his Indian blood, would be welcomed anywhere in town like any of the other cowboys now traversing the floor of the church. He would be considered just as fine a man around as Wyatt or any of his compadres enjoying the food, drink, and dancing at this pre–cattle drive shindig. When he thought about it, it was a shame that Dakota couldn’t be judged on his character rather than the color of his skin and where he came from.
Wyatt’s face heated at the memory of the way he had treated Dakota when he and Lily had first encountered him. Admittedly, the Indian hadn’t deserved his hatred or wrath. If it weren’t for Lily and her kind heart and levelheadedness Wyatt would probably still be playing the surly oaf to her Florence Nightingale.
Since Dakota had joined them in their marriage bed, however, Wyatt had come to see the other man for who he was and not what he was. Dakota was a man who cared deeply, a man Wyatt respected and trusted. It took a lot for him to trust anyone and a lot for him to admit he trusted Dakota, with Lily no less, but it was true.
As he watched Brand and Rusty weave their way through the crowd on the floor over to the punchbowl where he, Lily, and Dakota were standing, he didn’t for a minute believe that most of the town would see past Dakota’s copper skin to the man that Wyatt had come to know.
It was for this reason he felt himself closing ranks, not only around his wife, but Dakota, as if to protect them from the approaching censure.
“Well if it isn’t sweet Lilybelle Baldwin!” Brand greeted once he and Rusty made it over.
“Well if it isn’t Brand Westyn.” Lily politely proffered her hand and tolerated the kiss Brand placed on the back of her wrist.
Rusty soon replaced him, mimicking Brand’s actions. “I was just telling Brand here it’s been more than a coon’s age since we seen you and I can appreciate why Wyatt keeps you locked up so tight at the homestead. If I had a wife as pretty as you I wouldn’t want no one else looking at her but me either.”
Wyatt watched as Brand elbowed Rusty in the ribs. He chuckled at his friends’ antics, unsurprised by Rusty’s enthusiasm, though. He’d always known Rusty, Brand, and more than a few of the other cowboys in town had a sweet spot for his Lily. He didn’t blame them, but just for good measure he slid an arm around Lily’s waist and drew her close to his side.
“So, uh, you haven’t introduced us to your and Lily’s friend, Wyatt,” Brand said, giving Dakota a sideways glance.
Wyatt put a hand on Dakota’s shoulder, instinctively claiming him. “Brand, Rusty, this is Dakota Cooper. He’s been staying out at our place for a spell, healing up after an injury on the road. Dakota, this is Brand Westyn and Rusty Carmichael.”
Dakota offered his hand, shaking each of the other men’s in turn.
“Yeah, we heard about a shooting out by your way,” Brand said to Wyatt then turned back to Dakota. “Glad you’re all healed up.”
“I am, thank you,” Dakota said in his usual cultured and staid tone.
Wyatt held in a laugh at the expressions on Brand’s and Rusty’s faces. They looked as if someone could about knock them over with a feather.
“I am actually searching for someplace to stay in town,” Dakota added.
Wyatt and Lily both snapped their heads around to look at Dakota.
“This is the first you’ve mentioned leaving…the farm,” Lily said, and Wyatt could hear the disappointment in her voice. He felt a little let down at the news himself. Had anyone told him a few weeks ago that he’d be feeling so dejected at the prospect of Dakota leaving his house, he would have told them they were plumb loco.
“It is something that I have been considering for a little while now. I am well thanks to you and Wyatt and should not be taking any further advantage of your hospitality.”
“Dakota…” Lily started then looked at Brand, Rusty, and Wyatt before turning her attention back to Dakota and continuing in a murmur. “You’re not taking advantage of us. It’s been our pleasure having you.”
Wyatt heard so much more, the words Lily didn’t say but that she wanted to. Since they had all bonded now inside as well as outside the bedroom, it probably had never occurred to her that Dakota would eventually leave, that he would want to leave. It actually hadn’t occurred to Wyatt either, though he reckoned it certainly should have as they still hadn’t categorized exactly what they were all doing together besides…comforting.
He met Lily’s stare, saw the plea in her eyes as if she wanted him to pipe up and corroborate her claim.
Wyatt cleared his throat, reckoning he had already publicly declared his support of Dakota with his actions. He might as well do it with his words, too. “You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you want, Dakota. It’s been Lily’s and my pleasure having you.”
Wyatt saw the blush rise to Dakota’s already reddish cheeks, but otherwise he didn’t react, his expression remaining stony. Lately, it seemed like the nicer Wyatt and Lily treated him the more distance Dakota wanted to put between himself and them.
Had he and Lily got it wrong? Did Dakota want to leave them? Had they been too welcoming, too accommodating to the point that he felt smothered?
The idea of any of these bothered Wyatt more than he could explain.
When the band struck up a slower tune than the jaunty song they had been playing, Wyatt watched Lily take Dakota by the hand.
Dakota hesitated for as long as it took him to glance at Wyatt for his silent approval before nodding and following Lily out onto the dance floor.
Wyatt watched them, grinning as Dakota took Lily into his arms, maintaining a fitting distance between them while still giving the outward impression of intimacy. Evidently, the distance wasn’t fitting enough to everyone and the impression of intimacy was a little too much for some to handle, for when Wyatt turned back to Brand and Rusty he saw the shocked looks on their faces.
“I understand he’s your guest and all, but do you think it’s right and proper to let your wife…dance with the Indian like that?” Rusty asked.
Wyatt frowned before answering. The man just had no idea and Wyatt was fixing to school him. “If he’s good enough to work alongside me out in my fields and sleep in our guest room for his convalescence, then I reckon he’s good enough for Lily to dance with.” Rusty exchanged looks with Brand as if searching for approval, but Brand just shrugged.
Wyatt didn’t think either man would back down so quickly if they knew that Dakota didn’t always sleep in the guest room and that his stay hadn’t only been about his convalescence. That was Wyatt, Lily, and Dakota’s business alone and not anyone else’s, so Wyatt didn’t say anything.
Despite their silence, he noticed Brand and Rusty exchanged looks of disapproval, however, and glared at them hoping to head off any further criticism before he turned back to the dance floor.
He watched Dakota and Lily move around the room among the other partygoers and admired Dakota’s skill, the way he seamlessly coordinated his moves to Lily’s. They were by far the smoothest, best-looking couple on the dance floor, if he said so himself.
Wyatt had to stop himself from smiling with pride, but couldn’t help the heat rushing to his face at the thought of how well Dakota matched his moves to Wyatt’s when it came to them both pleasing Lily in the bedroom.
Once the initial barrier had been broken and the three of them had been together at the same time, they had managed to work out a rhythm over the last several days, instinctually knowing what the other wanted and needed at any given time of day. It was weird when he thought about it, so Wyatt tried not to think about it too much. Like his daddy used to say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Since Dakota had woven himself into the fabric of their lives, Wyatt just decided the best thing to do was let nature take its course.
By the time Wyatt turned back to his friends, they seemed to have gotten over their initial shock and were each nursing a cup of the punch. Brand even held out a cup for Wyatt, which Wyatt took with a grateful nod.
“So, you and the Indian seem to get along well,” Brand observed.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t.” Wyatt grimaced. He thought they had gotten past this already, but he reckoned not.
“It’s just the way he’s looking at Lily…” Brand shook his head, tsk-tsking before he continued. “I’d be a little worried about him if she was my wife.”
“She’s not your wife,” Wyatt said and didn’t miss the scowl that Brand gave him.
He and Brand and Rusty had been friends since they’d been kids, but at that moment, he thought he trusted Dakota quicker with Lily than any other man at the party, including his two best friends. Wyatt wasn’t sure if that said more about himself and his friends, or more about Dakota, but he thought on a soul-deep level, he knew where Dakota stood. He knew what kind of man Dakota was.
Wyatt reckoned if he died tomorrow, he’d be at peace knowing that Lily would be taken care of. He didn’t think he could trust another man in Elk Creek to take care of Lily the way Dakota would. He didn’t think anyone in the town, besides himself, cared about her the way Dakota did and not just for the pleasures her body could provide, but truly cared about Lily as the vibrant, beautiful soul that she was—inside and out.
When had he become so attached to Dakota? Had it been that first time they had both been with Lily together, or had the bond been simmering long before that, and Wyatt had only been in denial and fighting the inevitable?
“That may be so, Wyatt, but I’d watch my back with him around if I were you,” Brand said, refusing to let things go. “I’m just looking out for you, pardner.”
“Thanks, pardner, but you’re not me.” No matter how much you want to be.
The thought shocked him for its suddenness, but Wyatt didn’t doubt its truth. He knew as much as Brand was the life of any party, an outgoing person everyone automatically flocked to, his friend also had a jealous streak as deep and wide as the Grand Canyon.
Despite all the things that Brand’s wealth and last name could buy and had bought him, including friends, despite Brand being raised an only child with a silver spoon in his mouth, it never escaped Wyatt that Brand envied him. It was just another feature of their relationship, like Brand’s self-importance, for example, that Wyatt had learned to put up with. Wyatt, on the other hand, had never envied Brand. He’d never had any reason to as far as he was concerned. Over the years he’d seen the price Brand had had to pay for his last name and access to his father’s wealth. He’d seen the moments of abuse Brand endured when Avery constantly compared him to Wyatt, holding Wyatt’s accomplishments and character up as ideals for Brand to shoot for.
The more Wyatt thought about it, he pitied Brand rather than envied him.
It was for these reasons that he decided to cut his friend a little slack…this time anyway.
“Hey, why don’t y’all boys excuse me? I’m going to go cut in with our Lilybelle before the band strikes up a square dance.” Wyatt handed over his punch to Brand, thankful that neither he nor Rusty had caught his “our Lilybelle,” or if they had, they’d chosen to ignore it. Good thing, because there was no other man on this green earth he was willing to share his wife with than Dakota Cooper.
Chapter 16
“So when were you going to tell us?” Lily asked, still shocked and hurt by Dakota’s earlier news, and unwilling to hide her feelings on the matter.
She’d told him she loved him. She knew he loved her. How could he want to leave?
Dakota instantly blushed and his body stiffened, so in her arms she felt like she was dancing with a two-by-four. She wondered if more than his springing that news on her and Wyatt in mixed company was going on. Or had he guessed that she knew exactly who he was?
Lily felt his inner struggle to remain nonchalant, felt it the instant he relaxed in her arms to smoothly lead her through the dance again. “Were you planning on not telling us at all?”
Dakota took a deep breath before fixing her with an unwavering stare. “I was waiting for the right opportunity.”
Didn’t he know there was no right opportunity to tell her he was leaving? Didn’t he know there was no right way to leave? The idea of his departure alone left her breathless with grief. She didn’t want to lose yet another person in her life she cared about. Yes, she had Wyatt, would always love him, but she didn’t feel whole without Dakota. It was as if the night he’d found and rescued her in those woods, she had been reborn. She had discovered her soul mate, for the second time in her life, feeling whole and complete with another person in addition to Wyatt.
Lily hated sounding so melodramatic and tragic like a character from one of her favorite romantic novels, but she couldn’t help herself. Her judgment was clouded with desperation.
Should she ask Dakota to stay? Was that what he wanted her to do?
After several long heartbeats had passed, she finally rasped, “Why?”
“Why was I waiting?”
“Why are you leaving?”
“We both know there is no future in what we are all doing…back at the farm.”
“The future is what we make it, how we shape it, Dakota.”
“Naw tane…” He paused and cupped her face before he must have realized where he was, how his actions might have looked, and dropped his hand back to her waist.
�
��You called me that before when we…the first time we were all together. What does it mean, Dakota?”
He shook his head. “Lily—”
“Tell me.”
“My heart.”
“You and Wyatt are my heart. If you leave you’ll rip out part of it.”
“I do not wish to hurt anyone.”
She frowned. “Don’t you know you’ll hurt me, both of us, more if you go?”
“I have thought about this for a long time and I think it is best that I leave.”
Lily held his gaze, refusing to make it easy on him. Not that her attempt at shooting him a withering look did much good.
He held his ground, returning her gaze without flinching or fidgeting.
Lily knew the look, the stance. She had seen it enough times on Wyatt. “Well, I guess if your mind is made up…”
Dakota nodded but didn’t say anything.
He had mentioned to Brand and Rusty earlier that he was looking for someplace to stay in town, so Lily assumed he meant to stay in Elk Creek and not leave the region altogether. If he meant to stay in town, that meant only one place to Lily—Sabrina’s boarding house.
The idea filled her with hope.
Sabrina’s was just a little more than an hour’s ride by horse and wagon, and less than that on a horse like Gambit.
“I suppose I could talk to Sabrina for you if you like.” Her heart skipped a beat between her last word and Dakota nodding his agreement. “Then it’s done,” she said and felt like she had a purpose all of a sudden. She felt like she’d been given a second chance…yet again.
The idea of approaching Maia again about giving her a job at her and Sabrina’s shop—an idea that had never been far from her thoughts—rushed to the forefront. She realized, however, that it might look improper to ask the women about a job for her and boarding for Dakota at the same time or even the same night.