by Linda Bridey
Marcus said, “I guess there’s a lot we’re going to have to get used to, huh?”
“I guess so,” Claire said. “So let me see if I have this straight; you’re half-Indian, a doctor of sorts, rancher, and incredibly smart? Does that about cover it?”
“Yeah, except the rancher part is now past tense,” Marcus said.
Claire could have kicked herself for bringing that up. Gone was the laughing, teasing man and in his place was a dejected man who’d been rejected by his family. “I’m so sorry,’ Claire said. “That was thoughtless of me.”
Marcus sighed and gave her a sad smile. “It’s okay. I have to face it at some point. Might as well start now. I do have to go back to the ranch, though. There are things there that are mine that I bought and paid for.”
“Then you should have them,” Claire said. She traced the line of his jaw with a finger. “They belong to you.”
Marcus caught her hand and kissed her palm. She shivered and Marcus arched an eyebrow at her. “Are you cold?”
Claire shook her head a little. “No.”
“Oh. So you don’t need a blanket?” he said.
“No.” She reached up and hooked a hand around his neck and pulled him down to her. Claire pressed her lips to his and shimmied closer to him.
Marcus helped her along and wrapped an arm around her as he came up on his elbow. Claire remembered his reaction when she’d tugged on his hair and did it now. Marcus growled and she took a fistful of it and pulled.
With difficulty, Marcus restrained himself and reached back and grabbed her hand. He stopped the kiss and said, “You keep doing that and things are going to happen, Claire. I can only take so much. Make up your mind.”
“Baby-making things?” she asked.
He nodded just as Aiyana began crying. Marcus groaned and laid his head on Claire’s chest. Claire felt his body start shaking with laughter then.
“I guess she made up your mind for you,” Marcus said, and rolled away from Claire.
Chapter Thirteen
Dawn broke over the camp and Claire slept soundly. Aiyana also slept. Marcus had been up for a little while, but he didn’t want to wake them. He sat Indian style with his elbows resting on his knees, just watching Claire. He remembered when they’d first met and he’d considered her an annoying, spoiled brat. At the time, he’d thought she was cute but nothing more. He hadn’t been attracted to her.
She’d known how to push his buttons and did so at every turn. Marcus had been relieved when she and her parents had left. However, the peace had only lasted until she’d sent him that first letter. He’d known she was expecting a response and he knew that she knew that if he didn’t write back he was going to be in trouble with both families.
With a wry twist of his lips, he realized that she’d outsmarted him from the beginning. All through the years they’d been writing, he kept picturing her as she had been then, not as the woman she’d become. Her smile captivated him and he liked making her laugh, something he didn’t think she did enough. Originally he had agreed to marry her out of desperation and because he’d promised her anything she wanted if she helped him.
Her idea about them getting married had taken him by surprise, but he’d known that she wouldn’t have helped him unless he acquiesced. After they’d kissed in the tack room, he knew that if they did get married, at least there was some attraction and so it wouldn’t be all bad. Marcus was grateful to her for trying to help him and even if she hadn’t completely succeeded, she’d given it her best shot.
Claire had outsmarted him again, it seemed. He knew she wanted to get married so she could stay in Montana, but it seemed like there was something else to it. She had him right where she wanted him and it did seem that she wanted him, he thought, as scenes from the previous night flickered through his mind. It had taken every ounce of restraint he possessed not to give in to her. Marcus wasn’t used to denying his physical urges and it didn’t come naturally to him.
He was going to have to watch himself around her. Marcus smiled as he came to the realization that he was going to have to keep her away from his hair. She’d discovered his Achilles heel and she wasn’t afraid to use it. He knew that if Aiyana hadn’t cried when she did, those baby-making things he kept warning her about would have happened.
Claire stirred. She’d been sleeping on her stomach. She looked around at her surroundings and tried to get her bearings. She pulled her hair back from her face and rolled over. She jumped a little when she saw Marcus sitting on the ground.
“Hi, Claire,” he said.
She gave him a sleepy smile and said, “Hi, dummy.”
Marcus crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Is that any way to speak to your future husband?”
She didn’t answer him. She crawled over to Aiyana’s cradle and peeked in at the baby. Marcus watched as she smiled and he knew Claire would make a good mother to Aiyana. It seemed that she didn’t mind either his or Aiyana’s Lakota blood. Marcus asked, “Are you hungry?”
“Ravenous. What do you eat for breakfast here?”
“Bear stew.” Marcus said.
Claire looked at him with wide eyes.
“Or deer stew, roasted buffalo, deer, or elk meat. Fry bread with berry sauce. Pretty much whatever you feel like or is left from the night before,” Marcus said. “The Lakota are primarily a meat eating people, but they do like potatoes and other vegetables. They also like Tessa’s peach cobbler. It’s Black Fox’s favorite dish except for roasted buffalo. Sometimes in the winter I give them one of my steer,” Marcus said.
“You give them your cattle?” Claire said.
“Sure. I eat and stay here a lot, so I should contribute. I’m not going to let them starve and they can always use the hides and every other part of the animal. There’s very little waste.”
“Yes, we studied about that in anthropology,” Claire said. “It’s fascinating getting to see it firsthand, though.”
“I’m glad you appreciate it,” Marcus said. “I only wish Dean and the rest would.”
Claire crawled to him and kissed his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too. But I don’t want to think about it right now. Let’s go eat,” Marcus said, and got up.
Claire rose and looked at Aiyana. Marcus said, “Bring our daughter.”
Startled, Claire could only stare at him.
Marcus shrugged. “You’re going to be my wife and you said you’d help me raise her, right?”
“Yes,” Claire said.
“Then you’re her mother now, the same way Tessa is to Sadie and Jack,” Marcus said, and left the tipi.
Claire looked down at Aiyana in a new light. Her daughter. She smiled as she picked Aiyana up and cradled the baby in her arms. The baby yawned and Claire laughed. Aiyana didn’t seem ready to wake up yet, though and settled back into slumber. Claire’s stomach growled and she quickly followed Marcus.
*****
After breakfast, they thanked Marcus’ family for the hospitality and left. Marcus felt it was time to show Claire his house and see what she thought about it. Plus, he didn’t expect her to live in a tipi all the time. She needed to be broken into the culture a little at a time. As they rode, Marcus started teaching her Lakota words by pointing to things and having her repeat their names.
She caught on quickly, as he’d known she would, and he made a game out of how much she could remember. He would rattle object names off in English rapid-fire and see how fast she could come up with the Lakota name. They laughed when she fumbled around or mispronounced one.
As they came out of the woods into the clearing where his house stood, Marcus abruptly stopped speaking and pulled Rosie to a halt. There was smoke coming out of his stove chimney when there shouldn’t have been. Cautiously, Marcus moved Rosie forward at a slow walk until he could see around the front of the house onto the porch.
Seth sat on the porch in one of the rocking chairs. His feet were propped up on the railing and his hat was slid d
own over his face. Trepidation bloomed in Marcus’ breast and he wondered what Seth wanted. Grim determination came over him and he rode Rosie up to the porch.
Seth tipped his hat back and smiled at Marcus. “There you are, little brother. Where’ve you been?”
Marcus smiled cautiously back at Seth. The fact that Seth had used his nickname was a good sign. “At my family’s camp,” he replied.
Seth nodded and said, “Hey, Claire. You doing okay?” He eyed her Indian dress with curiosity.
“Yes, Seth. I’m fine,” she said. “Are you here to insult him or fight?”
A broad smile broke out on Seth’s face. “No, Claire. Nothin’ like that, I promise.” Seth put his feet on the porch floor. “I made coffee if you want some.”
Marcus raised a leg and brought it over Rosie’s neck so he could slide off the horse. Marcus held up his hands to Claire, but she shook her head. “Let me get down on my own.”
Marcus gave her a doubtful look. “You do remember that you have a baby strapped to your back, right?”
“Yes, dummy, I do,” she said. Claire scooted forward and got herself over onto the saddle. It was easier in her Indian dress. Wind Spirit had repeatedly insisted she keep it. Then she put her foot in the stirrup, swung her other foot up over the horse, and slowly let herself down until her foot touched the ground. She slid her foot out of the stirrup and smiled at Marcus.
“I did it!” she said excitedly.
“Yes you did,” he said, and kissed her as a reward.
Seth’s surprise over this affectionate gesture amused Marcus. Claire began taking off the cradleboard and Marcus took it from her shoulders. Together they took Aiyana from the cradleboard and sat it to the side. Marcus carried his daughter up onto the porch and looked at Seth. “What do you want?” he asked.
“Answers. I have a lot of questions and I think I deserve some answers, Marcus. Now, you and Claire go get some coffee and I’ll hold my niece while you do that,” he responded. When Marcus didn’t relinquish his hold on Aiyana, Seth said, “Marcus, when have you ever known me to harm a child?”
“Never.”
“I’m not going to start now. Let me hold her.”
“Marcus, Seth isn’t going to hurt her. Let her uncle hold her,” Claire said, and walked past him into his house. The scent of coffee wafted in the air and she couldn’t resist it. She carried her regular clothes with her.
Marcus handed Aiyana to Seth and watched as Seth smiled at his niece. He looked her over and then sat her on his lap. “Damn, she’s cute, Marcus. She’s definitely got your eyes. How old is she?”
“Eight months,” Marcus said.
Aiyana spotted Seth’s hat and reached for it. Seth let her have it and laughed as it settled over her head and face. Seth picked the hat up and started playing peekaboo with her. Aiyana laughed.
Seth sat his hat off to the side and bounced her on his knee. “How long have you known about her?”
“Two days.”
Seth gave Marcus an incredulous look. “Two days? That’s it?”
“Yeah. She’s the only reason I told you and Dean all about me. I have a child to raise and I’m not going hide her,” Marcus said.
“I wouldn’t want to hide her, either. Where’s her mother?” Seth asked.
Marcus was getting tired of repeating himself about this. “Dead. She was killed in a raid about a week ago and so my brothers brought her to me.”
Seth’s lips pursed at the mention of Marcus’ other family. “How many do you have?” He couldn’t contain his curiosity, despite being jealous.
Marcus sat in one of the chairs. It was apparent that Seth wanted his answers now. “I have three brothers and one sister. Black Fox is my oldest brother and he and his wife Wind Spirit have a boy named Raven and a girl named Winona. He Who Runs is next oldest and is married to Eagle Woman. They also have a boy and a girl. Owl, who is only about a year older than me, is single and doesn’t have any children.”
Seth was fascinated. “Their names are interesting. Do you have an Indian name?”
Marcus nodded. “Silver Ghost.”
“Why?”
“My gray eyes and because I move silently when I want to,” Marcus said.
Seth said, “Come to think of it, you do surprise me sometimes. I turn around and there you are and I never heard you come up behind me.”
Marcus smiled.
Seth asked, “So that stuff you gave Maddie to drink? Was that a Lakota drink?”
“Yes.”
Marcus jumped as Seth grabbed him in a one-armed bear hug. “It worked! Maddie’s been sick in the mornings for about a week now and Dr. Turner just confirmed this morning that she’s pregnant!”
Joy overtook Marcus and he hugged Seth, slapping his back. “That’s fantastic! Congratulations, Seth!”
Seth released him, but his grin never diminished as he said, “We did what you said and did our homework every day.”
Marcus laughed and said, “Good boy! Damn, I am so happy for you. But as great as that is, guess what?”
Seth frowned. “What?”
“I still beat you in the kid department.”
“You’re an ass,” Seth said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, we’ll catch up. Just keep making that stuff.”
“It’s called a potion,” Marcus said.
“Okay. We’ll go with that,” Seth said. That was Seth’s response to something he didn’t want to bother to learn.
Claire came out onto the porch and handed cups of coffee to the men. Claire leaned down and kissed Seth’s cheek. “I heard what you said. I am so happy for you and Maddie. I know how much you want children and have been disappointed it didn’t happen before now.”
“Thanks,” Seth said. “Yeah, we were starting to think it wouldn’t happen, but you fixed that,” he said, looking at Marcus.
Marcus nodded. “I had to do something to help. I could have given it to her long ago, but I wasn’t sure if I should because it might reveal my secrets.”
“About that. How could you keep all this from us for so long?”
Marcus said, “Do you know about Dean’s reaction last night?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s why. I’ve never seen him like that. He threw all those dishes and stuff all over the place and if I wouldn’t have protected Aiyana, she could have been hurt. If that would have happened, I would have killed him,” Marcus said.
Seth saw the protective way Marcus looked at his baby and knew Marcus meant every word he said. “After the way you handled him yesterday, I don’t doubt you’re capable.”
Something fierce and wild flickered in Marcus’ eyes, and Seth felt a prickle of fear along his scalp. “You have no idea how capable I am.”
Seth said, “I think we’ve underestimated you about a lot of things.”
“Yeah, you have.”
Seth decided to change the subject. “When did you first meet your other family?”
It was amazing to Marcus that Seth seemed so accepting. He’d thought for sure that Seth felt the same way as Dean. He’d misjudged Seth’s capacity to be understanding.
“It was the following year after Ma died. I was too curious not to find them. I kept searching through the forest and ranged farther and farther.” Marcus smiled as he remembered the day he’d first met them. “I was headed down the trail to where their camp is now, and I heard a bird call. I didn’t think anything of it. The next thing I know, I’m surrounded by four Indians. I’d done some studying of the Lakota language and tried it out. I attempted to tell them that I was friendly. My accent was horrible and they laughed at me, but they got the point.”
“Seems like people laugh at you a lot,” Seth said smiling. “You bring it on yourself, though, you know.”
“I know. I don’t mind most of the time. I like making people laugh,” Marcus said, and then continued his story.
Claire stayed silent as Marcus spoke. She was as interested as Seth about all of it.
“So
they took me back to their camp and I thought they were going to kill me. They took me to the chief’s tipi and asked him what they should do with me. He told them to make me sit down. They weren’t gentle about doing it. His name was Brown Stag. For the longest time he just sat looking at me. Then he spoke to me in English, which shocked the hell out of me.”
“He asked me why I was looking for them. I told him about Ma being forced by one of their braves and that I was curious about my other family. I told him that I didn’t know the brave’s name and I asked if he knew who it was. Brown Stag nodded and his eyes were so kind. There was no animosity in them as he told me that one of their braves who had been killed some years before had bragged about it. His name was Little Crow.”
“Brown Stag said that Little Crow had other children by two different women. That’s common in their culture, and not thought of as something bad. Little Rabbit was one of his wives and she’s Black Fox and He Who Run’s mother. Owl and Squirrel, my sister, are Snow River’s kids. Squirrel has two boys. They’re very good people, Seth. You’d like them.”
Seth asked, “So did they accept you right off?”
“Yes, because Brown Stag was my grandfather.”
Claire said, “You are the grandchild of the late chief of the tribe?”
Marcus said, “Yes,” and then he looked beseechingly at Seth. “Can you see why I would be petrified to tell you guys? After a while, it just seemed easier not to tell you. I’m so sorry, Seth. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me some day. I know Dean won’t,” Marcus said.
Seth absorbed everything Marcus had told him. “I can’t speak for Dean, but I’m not going to turn my back on you. Pa didn’t. He knew that you weren’t his biological son, but he still accepted you and raised you as his own. You’re still my little brother and you always will be. It’s not your fault that Ma was attacked and got pregnant with you. I’m still pissed that you didn’t tell us, but I spent all night putting myself in your shoes and the more I’ve thought about it, I can understand why you did it.”
“Thank you,” Marcus said with tears in his eyes. “You don’t know what that means to me.”
Seth asked, “So you think I would like these people, huh?”
