Zeke thanked him and led Indian along a pathway around the edge of the lake to the huge mound of piled boulders. He tied Indian, then hesitated. Was he crazy to be doing this? He walked around the boulders to see five men and a woman working along the base of a mountain that jutted upward hundreds of feet higher than he had just climbed. Its face was much too steep for anyone to scale, but it sloped just enough at the bottom for Georgeanne and the others to dig into it.
Zeke did not recognize two of the men, and guessed they were only there as guides. “No public allowed here, mister,” one of them told him.
“I’m not public. I’m just here to see one of the geologists,” Zeke answered.
Higgins spotted Zeke when he heard the voices. He left his dig and approached him. “Mr. Brown.” He nodded, irritation obvious in his eyes. “If you’re here to see Georgeanne, she is very busy right now. She’s—”
“Zeke!” Georgeanne spotted him then. “Come over here!”
Zeke couldn’t help giving Robert Higgins a wry grin. “I guess she’s not too busy to see an old friend.” He watched the jealousy flare in Higgins’s eyes. “A friend,” he repeated, leaning a little closer when he said it. He couldn’t help enjoying the fact that he towered over Higgins and was half again as wide in the shoulders. He walked past him to where Georgeanne was working, wanting to laugh at seeing the dirt on her cheek and the rumpled, wide-brimmed canvas hat she wore. The knees of her split skirt were filthy, her leather boots were badly scuffed. She wore a pair of scraped-up leather gloves, and her hair was pulled straight back and tied with a ribbon at her nape. She wore no makeup of any kind, and he was struck by how pretty she was even when she was as plain as could be.
“You came!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad! Did you have any trouble finding us?”
“Not really. Why isn’t the public allowed?”
“Oh, they might step on something wrong or walk around and inadvertently destroy objects we’ve already dug up. You have to be very careful with things like this. Old skeletons can fall apart from being suddenly exposed or handled wrong, things like that.” She looked him over. “Well, I guess it’s the reverse today. You’re the one looking clean and handsome, and I’m the one who’s a mess.”
“I figured I’d catch you hard at work—like you caught me last week,” he teased. Why was he here? He knew damn well it wouldn’t take much to want her again, get involved again. He should have stayed at the ranch and gotten his own work done.
She laughed, looking down at herself. “Well, now you’ve seen me at my worst.”
You could never be anything but beautiful, he thought. “So show me what you’re doing,” he said aloud.
My God, you are absolutely the most handsome man who ever walked. She wanted to tell him so. The years had only enhanced his dark good looks and virile physique. Why had she invited him here? She knew good and well it only took the sight of him to bring back all the old desires, but there was so much to talk about, so much to explain. “That gentleman over there, the one you spoke to coming in, he’s the one who found the fish skeleton. We’ve found more. See?” She knelt down, pointing to a neat, square dig. On one side of it he could see a fish skeleton beginning to appear. She gently brushed away some dirt, exposing more of it. “You have to be very, very careful at these digs. Sometimes we spend days or even weeks or months exposing an animal’s bones, because it has to be done so gently, with brushes and such, so that nothing gets broken or mixed up. You can’t go into things like this with a shovel, or you’d destroy something valuable.”
Zeke knelt closer, studying the skeleton. “I’ll be dammed.”
“It’s wonderful, fascinating work, Zeke. I love it. Finding things like this makes me feel so small. It makes me realize that one human’s lifetime is like a breath of wind, so short compared to the millions of years this earth has been forming, and makes me aware of how foolish we are to waste what little time we have.”
He met her eyes, their faces close. “I suppose,” he answered.
“I’m going back to town tonight for the weekend. Men will stay here and guard the dig. Robert and the others decided to camp here. Will you come back down to Masonville? Stay the weekend there so we can talk?”
How could he refuse? “I’d planned on it, if it worked out all right for you. In fact, I’ll watch the dig today and take you back down myself.”
She smiled. “I’d like that.”
He was sorely tempted to lean closer and kiss her. “You look pretty this way.”
She blushed. “I look terrible!”
“I don’t think that’s possible,” he told her. “But I do hope you’ll wear a decent dress tonight when I take you to dinner.”
She laughed again. “I’ll try not to embarrass you.”
He grinned, loving the sincerity in her brown eyes, eyes that reminded him of Grandma Abbie’s. Everything she was feeling was written right there to see. He lowered his voice then for his next remark. “What about Higgins? He seems a little possessive of you. Are you two … you know … seeing each other? Is this going to cause trouble?”
She scowled. “No. He’d like to think there is something between us, but there isn’t. We’re close friends with a mutual love for our work, and we’ve had to work closely the last year or so. He’s taken me out to eat a few times, but that’s all there is to it. He has voiced an interest in more, but I have never given him reason to believe there could be. As a matter of fact, I’ve told him on several occasions I have no interest in any man right now—just in my work.” She saw a hint of disappointment and questioning in his eyes. “You aren’t just any man, Zeke. You’re different.”
He sighed. “And I’m probably crazy.”
She smiled again. “Probably.” She sat down next to her dig. “Do you realize that we’ve dug up dinosaurs in Nebraska?”
“Dinosaurs? I don’t know much about things like that, except that they were huge creatures; some ate plants and others ate meat.”
“There are many different kinds, Zeke. I have a book about them I’ll show you. And yes, they were gigantic monsters compared to the biggest buffalo or even to an elephant. They were here long before any of your Indian ancestors, and no one knows why they’re extinct now, what it was that killed them off. It might have been a tremendous volcanic eruption that spread ash over the entire western half of the continent; or it might have been an earthquake, or a sudden change in climate. Now the winters in the Dakotas are bitterly cold, but we believe at one time this whole area, including Montana, was tropical. Then the glaciers came down from the north, scraping out canyons and rivers, leaving lakes in the low spots when they finally melted away again. The earth is ever changing, Zeke. It will change even more. Nothing is guaranteed. This work has made me realize how important each hour of each day is.”
He nodded. “You sound like my grandmother.”
She smiled. “I have to get busy right now. You can watch all of us, and if you get bored, you can walk around the lake. It’s beautiful, so peaceful and quiet up here, isn’t it?”
He stood up. “It sure is. I think I’ll take that walk first and then come back here and watch for a while. When will you leave?”
“By three o’clock. Otherwise we won’t get back down to Masonville before dark.”
He tipped his hat. “Whatever you say, Miss Temple.”
She kept her smile, but her eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. “I’m so glad you came, so glad we’ll get the chance to talk. You’ve been on my mind ever since finding you a week ago.” She sobered, standing up to face him. “Zeke, I never knew the truth of what my father did to you. He lied to me. I didn’t know until I went to see your parents, but you had already left home. I’m so sorry for what happened. I cried for a week after I found out. I told my father exactly what I thought of him, and then I left. I went to my grandparents in Pennsylvania, my mother’s parents. Father kept sending money, begging me to come back, telling me he needed me, that he was lonely; but I’ve never
gone back. I used his money to go to the University of Michigan, and I told him the reason I wasn’t coming back was because of school. I still haven’t been back to see him. I can’t stand the thought of what he did to you. He has no idea I’ve found you again, and I don’t intend to tell him. Has he left your parents alone?”
He nodded. “He has, so far. They have a deed to the land documented by an attorney in Denver. And my uncle, Jeremy, sent him a threatening letter, telling him if my folks had any more trouble he’d send a Federal Marshal. Ever since I left your father has minded his own business, other than buying up everything he can all around our place. I only know all that through letters from my mother. I’ve never been back myself.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you were close to your family. They must miss you.” She studied him closer, seeing the faint scar on his right cheek. “Is that scar from … ?”
He nodded. “I’ve got more on my chest and back, some on my arms.”
She blinked back tears.
“Don’t worry about it. Although I haven’t gotten over a need for revenge, which is part of the reason I stay away. If I ever see your father’s face, I’m afraid of what I might do to him, so I just stay away altogether. It’s actually been good for me. I have something of my own now.” He touched her arm. “Don’t be blaming yourself. Finish your work here and we’ll talk more tonight.”
She nodded, quickly wiping at her eyes. “Thank you.”
Zeke left her, stopping near Higgins on the way. The man had been staring at him and Georgeanne the whole time they talked. “I’ll take her back to Masonville myself this afternoon,” he told Higgins. “That way your guides can stay here and protect the place at night.”
Higgins looked him over. “Fine. I trust you will be a gentleman.”
Zeke couldn’t help a snicker. “I’ll try to control myself.”
Higgins stiffened. “I am only looking out for her well-being. I have come to admire and respect Georgeanne a great deal.”
Zeke grasped his shoulder, giving it a squeeze to remind the man that even if he were to bring Georgeanne harm, Higgins could do little about it. “I also admire and respect her. And I’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than you have. I told you she was a friend, so quit worrying. She’ll be fine.”
Higgins held his chin high, clearing his throat and trying to appear unimpressed. “I hope so. I suppose I should thank you for taking her back for us.”
“I suppose you should.” Zeke tipped his hat and left them. Already the old fire was creeping through his blood at the thought of being alone with Georgeanne that night, and this time free of the worry of being found out by his parents or her father. Never had they had such freedom to just be with each other. But then, it had been six years. He still could not be positive she felt the same way about him. She’d said she wanted to talk. Maybe that was all she wanted, but he already wanted much more.
Zeke felt awkward in a suit, but he wanted to look his best for this woman he’d loved since he was eighteen, this woman who had never seen him in anything but denim pants and dusty boots. There really was no place fancy to eat in Masonville, so they’d had to settle for the only restaurant in town, a small place where food was served on plain white plates by a woman with stains on the front of her dress.
“I wish I could do better by you,” Zeke told Georgeanne, a little nervous for the first time since he’d picked her up at the rooming house where she stayed. “There isn’t a place to take a real lady in this little town.”
Georgeanne looked him over, realizing why he’d worn the suit. He looked wonderful in it. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is we’re together at last. I enjoyed being able to talk on our trip down the mountain, learn about your dreams. I’m glad your family is well.”
Her brown eyes were accented with a little color on the lids, her rosy cheeks a bit pinker with rouge, her full lips kissable and glowing with lip color. He liked the way she had of dressing and wearing cosmetics in such a subtle way that they only made her more beautiful, not cheap looking like some women. Her yellow checkered dress fit her perfectly, falling straight in front in apronlike layers, full at the back. Against the chilly mountain night air she’d worn a soft, yellow, knitted shawl, and a yellow ribbon was wound through the long auburn tresses piled on top of her head with combs. It struck him again how educated and refined Georgeanne Temple was, well traveled, working at a job unusual for a woman but daring enough and intelligent enough to do so anyway.
Was he worthy of such a woman? He had no higher learning, nothing to offer her but a struggling ranch with a dilapidated one-room cabin. “I bought this suit in Fort Collins, figured I’d need it. I didn’t stop to think what a small mountain town Masonville was. The way I live, by the time I need another suit, this one will be outdated.”
He smiled nervously, and Georgeanne reached out to cover one of his hands with her own. “It’s a very handsome suit, Zeke. You made a good choice. But you didn’t need to wear it just for me. You know me better than that.”
He watched her eyes. “I couldn’t be sure—not after six years and all that college education you have.”
She smiled. “Education is just that—an education. It doesn’t have to change a person. I’m the same Georgeanne you knew six years ago, only more mature, more sure of what I want, just as I’m certain you are. You have so many admirable traits, Zeke, such strength and determination. Education isn’t everything.”
She let go of his hand when the waitress brought them plates of steak and potatoes, little bowls of corn and hot coffee.
“Enjoy,” the woman said, turning away.
Georgeanne looked down at the food and giggled. “Mine looks ready to get up off the plate and kick me.” She glanced at his steak. “Yours is cooked more. Would you rather have it a bit rarer?”
“Sure would.”
They traded plates, but Georgeanne ate only a couple of bites before putting down her fork. “Zeke, I can’t eat. Every time I think of what father did to you—”
“That’s not your fault, I told you. It happened, and it’s over.”
“It’s his fault we lost so many years.” She met his eyes. “Surely after six years you’ve met some woman you’re interested in. That’s all right. I’ll understand. You can tell me, Zeke.”
“Why? Because you’ve met someone else? Are you more serious about Higgins than you let on?”
“No! I’ve been courted by three different men, Zeke, but none of them lasted, and not one of them made me feel”—she blushed and looked down at her plate—“like you used to make me feel.”
“Used to?”
“You know what I mean.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “You still make me feel that way. And you haven’t answered my first question.”
“About a woman?” He cut into his steak. “No. There’s no woman. First, I just had to find my own way; then I worked hard for a logger. Oh, there were women who followed the logging camps—the kind a man stays away from if he has any common sense.” He put the steak into his mouth, watching her blush, and enjoying the hint of jealousy in her eyes. “I had common sense,” he added.
She grinned then, still blushing but looking relieved.
He chewed and swallowed the steak. “But I lost it in a tavern in Fort Collins a couple of times.”
She frowned. “Lost what?”
“My common sense.”
Her eyes widened then, and the jealousy returned. “I see.” She looked back down at her plate.
“A man can take only so much neglect, Georgie.” He found it so easy to use her nickname again. “It was just a woman who didn’t mind being there for lonely men like me, and it only happened a couple of times. I haven’t even been back there for a year.” He cut another piece of steak. “I don’t even know why it matters, unless …” He stopped cutting. “Look at me, Georgie.”
She met his eyes, looking confused and ready to cry.
“Are you saying you think we can pick up where
we left off six years ago?”
She studied his dark eyes, his handsomeness. He was so much more mature now, so sure. “I was hoping—”
“So was I. Why do you think I asked you about seeing other men?”
She took a deep breath, as though greatly relieved. “I don’t feel any different, Zeke. I wanted so badly to find you again, to be able to talk to you this way, apologize for what my father did, tell you I … I never stopped loving you. Is that terribly bold, after not seeing you for six years?”
He put down his fork. “Not if it’s true. I feel the same way.”
She smiled again. “I’m glad.” She drank some coffee. “Tell me about your family. How is your grandmother?”
“She’s fine—living in Denver with my uncle Jeremy. My aunt, LeeAnn, lives there, too, with her husband. He’s a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News. Did you hear about my uncle? Wolf’s Blood?”
“No. I left home not long after I spoke with your parents.”
“After the reunion, on his way home with his white wife, some men caused some trouble up in Cheyenne. There was an accidental shooting, and Jennifer was killed. My uncle, well, he’s mostly Indian, in the old sense. He reverted to his old ways without thinking—turned and killed the man who shot his wife, then killed two other men with him.”
Georgeanne gasped. “That’s terrible! Is he in trouble? Was he arrested?”
“He managed to get away, but he’s a wanted man now, lives somewhere in Canada. His kids, my cousins, Iris and Hawk, went to live with my uncle Jeremy. Iris is married now, and Hawk is in law school, so we’re going to have a lawyer in the family.”
Eagle’s Song Page 21
