“Sky!” She sighed in exasperation. In the last three days he had not let her out of bed, except to use the necessary. He insisted on walking with her every time she needed to go outside and even made her take her meals in the bed while the rest of the family ate around the table. He fussed over her like a mother hen, making sure she was warm enough, had enough of this and not too much of that, until he was driving her crazy.
“Come here.” She patted the edge of the bed, and he came and sat down.
Placing his hands on either side of her and leaning in, he eyed her questioningly. “I am feeling much better, Sky. By tomorrow I plan on being out of bed and doing the things I normally do. And,” she held up a hand to stop his protests, “you are driving me crazy.” She punctuated this last statement with a sharp jab to his shoulder and did a double take when he jerked and sucked in a breath of pain. “Skyler Jordan! You’re hurt, aren’t you?”
Gingerly, he rubbed the spot she’d just jabbed. “Uh, yeah.”
“How? What happened?”
“I was shot after I found you at the cave.”
For the briefest of seconds, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Her mouth dropped open in shock.
He rose quickly and headed for the door. “I’ll give you a minute to get dressed and then bring Jenny in.”
“Sky!” she cried. She meant for him to stop.
He merely winked at her and kept going.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to discuss it with her right now, she conceded and let the matter drop. This confrontation would have to wait. Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him a little. “My, but you suddenly changed your mind about letting me up, didn’t you?”
He gave her an impish smile as he stepped outside.
“That man!” she muttered under her breath as she tossed back the covers and rose to dress.
A few minutes later Sky showed Jenny into the house, and Brooke’s heart went out to her friend. Jenny’s face appeared worn and haggard, and her usual smile was not in place.
“Jenny.” Brooke held out her arms for an embrace. “I’m so sorry about Lee.”
Jenny nodded against her hair, her plump arms pulling Brooke into a gentle embrace. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Brooke said with a pointed look at Sky, who hovered just behind her as though he thought she might fall over at any moment. “Can I get you some coffee?”
Jenny nodded. But as Brooke turned toward the stove, she found Sky already refilling her own cup and pouring a fresh cup for Jenny. She smiled to herself, having to admit that she really enjoyed his attention, even if it was making her crazy.
Turning back to the table she sat down across from Jenny. Sky eyed her critically when he set the cups on the table, as though assuring himself that she would really be all right. She set her mouth and raised her brows at him, cocking her head toward the door. He rubbed one hand across his jaw, looking her over one more time before he made his way out the door.
Jenny smiled sadly at her, taking in her features. “You look better. I see you first day. You not look so good then. I give Rachel herbs to put on cut. They help it heal.”
“Thank you, Jenny. I feel much better.” There was a short pause as Brooke reached across the table to take one of Jenny’s hands in her own, then asked, “What are you going to do now?”
Jenny rubbed her finger around the rim of her cup. “I go back to China. See my family.”
Brooke’s eyes misted. “I will miss you so much. We must be sure to write each other.”
“I like that.” Jenny smiled.
They talked for a long time about Jenny’s upcoming voyage, about all the events that had transpired in the last couple of weeks, about their friendship. They reminisced about how they had met that day at the berry patch. Brooke had begun to feel fatigued when Jenny finally rose, saying she must be going.
“Thank you so much for coming, Jenny. When do you leave for China?”
“I already packed. Jed Swanson, he buy store from me. I go tomorrow. Take stage to coast and sail from there.”
At the news her friend would be leaving so soon, Brooke’s heart sank. She couldn’t stop the tears as she hugged her friend for one last time. “I will pray for you often.”
“And I pray for you, too.”
25
Standing on the porch, Brooke waved to Jenny until she turned the corner and disappeared. She sighed. After Rachel left, she would have only male company again.
She was about to go in search of Sky when she saw a stranger approaching. Then she recognized him and blinked in surprise.
Jason rode into the yard. Only he didn’t look the same. He had unmistakably taken a bath. His clothes were clean. The red, stained shirt had been replaced with a fresh blue one, and his hair had been cut. With surprise, Brooke noted how handsome he was; she had never noticed before.
He grinned sheepishly at her astonished face. “Is Sky around?”
Brooke snapped her gaping mouth shut. “Yes. I’ll go find him.”
Jason stepped his horse forward and held out one hand. “Don’t bother yourself. How are you feeling these days?”
She paused, surprised by the genuine caring she heard in his voice. “I’m just fine.”
Jason raised one eyebrow as though to question the truth of that statement but merely turned his horse toward the barn. “Glad you’re feeling better,” he called over his shoulder.
Brooke smiled softly, amazed by the change in the man.
Sky was in Geyser’s stall giving him a good currying. “Sky?” Jason called as he entered the barn.
“Yeah, Jason, I’m in here. How are things going in town?” He bent and lifted the horse’s back hoof to pare and clean it.
Jason’s saddle groaned as he dismounted and his spurs jangled with each step that brought him closer. “Not good, I’m afraid. It looks like they’re going to drop the investigation. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence to show exactly what happened. Some are saying, though, that maybe the Nez Perce are responsible; that they hung Chang to take revenge for the times he cheated their women.”
Sky snorted. “Didn’t the guards say the man who spoke to them talked in clear plain English? The Nez Perce can speak English, but I never met one who didn’t have an unquestionable accent when he talked. I’m not even convinced there was a group of vigilantes. The only tracks anywhere near those bodies were those of Percival Hunter.”
“Yeah I know. I scouted around. They’ve sent for the federal agent in charge of Chinese affairs in this area to come look into the situation, but he won’t be able to get here for a couple of months. By then you and I both know there won’t be any evidence left to find. Nobody wants to believe it was Percival. Everyone who ever met the fellow seems to have genuinely liked him.”
“Not me.”
Geyser shifted and allowed his weight to rest on Sky’s shoulder. Sky grunted and gave the horse an elbow.
Jason chuckled. “You didn’t like him because the first time you met him he made you jealous.”
Sky gave a quiet laugh. “Look who knows so much!” Done with the hoof, he dropped it and turned in Jason’s direction. He froze and blinked in shock at the transformation. “Jason?” He raised hope-filled eyes to his cousin’s face.
Jason shrugged and smiled. “I gave my life back to the Lord, Sky. I want to thank you for not giving up on me all these years.”
Sky stepped out of the stall and had his cousin wrapped in a bear hug before he had even finished speaking. He tried to think of something to say, but his throat closed tight with emotion so he contented himself with thanking his Heavenly Father for this new miracle.
Jason pulled back. “I’m going home, Sky.”
Sky nodded. Suddenly the thought of home grew very appealing. “Home sounds good. There won’t be anything keeping Brooke and me here with you gone.” Sky got a faraway look in his eye. “Who would have thought that I would meet and marry the most wonderful woman in the world? And all because of you?
”
Jason looked askance. “Yeah...well...that reminds me of something else I wanted to talk to you about.” He pulled a small pouch from his pocket and handed it to Sky.
When Sky opened it, he looked up at Jason. “I can’t take this.”
“Sure you can. It’s the money you paid me for Brooke. I can’t keep it.”
“She was worth every penny.”
“Sure, don’t you think I know it? Go ahead and rub it in.” He tried to sound angry but at Sky’s quick look, he grinned. “I want you to have the money back. You have a family to look after now; you’re going to need it.”
Sky decided to give up the fight and compromise. “Will you at least take the eighty dollars that you paid to bring her out here?”
Jason looked momentarily embarrassed. “Maybe someday, Sky. Right now I don’t want any more money in my pocket than I am going to need to make it back home.” He hesitated. “I’m afraid I might be tempted to buy myself a couple of drinks along the way. I never imagined giving up something could be so hard.” His shoulders slumped in despair.
Sky laid a hand in sympathy on Jason’s arm. “I’ll pray for you.”
“Thanks. I have a feeling I’m going to need a lot of prayer in the future. You might as well practice praying for me now.” A smile played across his cousin’s mouth, but Sky knew he was serious.
“When do you leave?”
“I thought about going home with Uncle Sean and Aunt Rachel.”
“They would like that. They’ve probably prayed for you as much as Gram and I have.”
Jason scuffed an arc in the dust with the toe of his boot. “Do you think Gram is going to...?”
“Gram was heartbroken when you left, Jace. Nothing will make her happier than to see her prodigal son coming home.”
Jason sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
“I know I’m right.” Sky clapped him on the back.
“Do you know where your mother and dad are? I’d like to talk to them.”
Sky nodded. “They took a walk over that direction. They will be so happy to hear about your decision.”
He watched until Jason crested the small rise he’d indicated, then glanced at the cabin. “I have someone I need to talk to myself,” he mumbled.
Grimacing, he headed for the house. Brooke wouldn’t like his confession.
The longer Brooke had to think about Sky’s injured shoulder the more frustrated she became. He had to have been shot when he came to rescue her! He had told her Percival shot at him, but not that he had actually hit him! He could have been killed! Why wouldn’t he have told her such a thing? Here he had been waiting on her hand and foot, and he had a bullet hole in his shoulder! By the time Sky walked into the house, her frustration had bubbled over into anger.
Sky eased himself into the chair across the table from where she sat fiddling with her cup of cold coffee. She refused to look at him. Fixing her eyes on some unseen point outside the window, she pretended to be enjoying the cup of coffee she hadn’t touched in the last half hour.
When they had sat in total silence for a full minute and she still hadn’t met his eyes, he reached across the table and tried to take one of her hands in his own. She pulled away from his touch and turned blazing eyes in his direction.
“Here I’ve been feeling so bad that I didn’t tell you about Percival Hunter being the one in that alley that night. And now I find that you lied to me as well! I had begun to think we might be able to make this marriage work, but—” she choked back a sob—“you don’t even care enough about me to tell me when you’re hurt!”
Sky blinked, taken aback. “Brooke, that’s not fair, and you know it! I didn’t tell you about my injury because I didn’t want you to worry about anything but getting well. This,” he indicated his shoulder, “was not life-threatening like your injury was!”
“You were shot, weren’t you?” Then her eyes widened in dismay. “I didn’t shoot you, did I?”
Despite himself, Sky chuckled. “No. Although for a minute there I thought you might.”
“How can you laugh at a time like this?” She glared at him. “Did Percival shoot you?”
He nodded.
“Let me see it.”
“Brooke, it’s only a flesh wound. Nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious? You were shot, Sky!” She stood abruptly, pushing back her chair, and suddenly her anger gave way to its root of fear. She continued in a choked voice, “Shot coming to save me, and I wouldn’t have needed saving if I had been honest and told you the truth in the first place.”
She folded her arms and stared out the window, tears streaming down her face. Sky stood and reached for her. She moved without hesitation into his arms, sobbing against his broad chest.
“Shhh, Brooke honey, it’s all right. Everything’s all right.” He rubbed her back and rested his chin on top of her head.
After a moment, she pushed back, staring up at him. “What if you had been killed?”
He lifted one eyebrow and asked quietly, “Am I to understand that you would have missed me if I had died on that hill?”
“Missed you? Oh, Sky…” Her eyes dropped to his mouth and, in answer, she lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly.
Sky lifted his head, both eyebrows winging upward. His eyes twinkling, he tucked her closer and whispered, “I’ll take that as a yes, Mrs. Jordan.”
She nodded, her eyes never leaving his face.
With a sigh of satisfaction, he lowered his mouth to hers once more, and Brooke pressed into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He kissed her gently, but when he finally pulled away, Brooke was breathless.
She rested her cheek against his chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Percival, Sky. I was just so scared. He said he would kill you if I told, and I already loved you so much that I couldn’t stand the thought. Now I know he intended to kill us both all along.” She lifted her face to his.
Bending down, he rubbed the tip of his nose against hers. “Say it again.”
“He intended to kill us both all along?”
He chuckled, pulling back. “The part about loving me.” She smiled innocently. “Did I say that?”
His eyes sparked with amusement. “Why, yes you did, Mrs. Jordan.”
She raised one finger to trace his lips and gazed into his eyes as she said in a whisper, “I love you, Sky, but there is so much about my life that you don’t know.”
“We have all our lives for you to tell me about it.”
Taking his hand, she led him to the couch. “I’d like to start now, if you want to listen.”
Reaching up, he tucked a stray curl of hair behind her ear. “I’ve wanted to know more about you since the moment I first laid eyes on you.”
She searched her memory. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“Tell me about your mother and sister. You spoke of them once. You miss them very much, don’t you?”
Brooke nodded and began there. She left nothing out and didn’t stop until she came to the part about God convicting her to tell him of her past. When she looked over at him, tears shimmered in his deep brown eyes.
He picked up her hand and played with her fingers. “You have been through more than I ever imagined.”
“Yes. But you showed me the way out of the desert. I know that, no matter what the future holds, I will always have an oasis to turn to, because I’ve finally figured out that this is not a mirage.”
He grinned. “I don’t know. I keep thinking you’re going to disappear right out of my arms.” He winked at her. “Maybe I need to kiss you again to make sure this really is real.”
She smiled and leaned closer. As Sky’s lips moved across hers, heart-jolting tremors raced through her chest. She suppressed a moan of pleasure as she slid closer to him. She leaned into his strength, her fingers entwining themselves in his hair.
Sky had accepted her without reservation; loved her despite her past. Her fears and em
otional uncertainty about their relationship, which had already been dwindling, now vanished like morning mist in the desert, and she thanked God for bringing her home. Home to her oasis.
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Shiloh, Oregon
Brooke stood in the middle of the kitchen and ticked off all the things she still needed to finish on the tips of her fingers. “Rolls in the oven. Butter in the ice-house. The potatoes are mashed. Sky will slice the roast. Oh—” she slapped a hand to her forehead—“I almost forgot the pies!” She started toward the pantry, but two strong hands slid around her from behind, stilling her progress.
Sky chuckled and kissed her neck as he pulled her back firmly against him. “Don’t worry. I’m not likely to let you forget about those pumpkin pies.”
“Sky!” Brooke spun and peeked around him toward the large open archway between the kitchen and the dining room of their home. “Your family will all be here at any minute!” She could see the front door propped open to welcome the family inside when they arrived. Sunlight from the unseasonably warm day streamed in through every window, and the red tablecloth on the polished plank table Sky had given her as a housewarming gift billowed softly.
He nuzzled her ear. “So? All they will see is a man who’s smitten with his wife.”
She planted her palms firmly in the middle of his chest and pushed. “Later. I want this first meal with all of us in our home to be perfect.” Her push would have had about as much effect on a rock wall.
Leaning in, he gave her a quick kiss, tucking her nearer. “My family loves you just the way you are.” His gaze roved over her face.
She grinned. “And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“And I’d like to keep you this way.” He gave her a squeeze and stepped even closer.
“Sk—”
The cajoling press of his lips stole her protest and her breath. Her resistance flew out the open door and she gave in, wrapped her arms around his neck, and stood on tiptoe to meet him kiss for kiss.
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