by Jae
Without words, Luke tugged her down. Her lips found Nora's. Teeth clashed for a moment; then Luke tamed her despair and gentled her touch. She slid her tongue against Nora's, wanting to drown in her heat as if it were the last time.
Nora drew back. She whispered kisses against the corner of Luke's mouth. "I'm warning you," she said. "If you're thinking of doing the honorable thing and keeping your promise to Bernice..."
Many years ago, Luke had promised Bernice that she would never shame Nora by staying around if her secret was revealed. The thought of losing Nora, leaving her family and her home, took away her breath.
"If you run, I'll come after you." Nora pressed her finger to Luke's chest and tapped a few times as if to drive home her point. "I'll follow you to the end of the world if need be."
A lump formed in Luke's throat, and she swallowed it down. "What about the ranch?"
"My home is with you."
It was the same for Luke. Losing the ranch would hurt, but giving up Nora and their daughters would shatter her heart in a million little pieces. "And the girls?"
"That's why I'm telling you not to run. Running away won't let Amy know that loving a woman is all right. Now it's time to face our fears, not to run away from them."
"I'll stay," Luke said, her voice rough. Her promise to Bernice still held true. She would never let Nora and the girls live in shame. But maybe it was time to find other ways to keep her promise. Leaving wasn't the solution.
Her promise to Bernice had been well-intentioned, but it had been made by a younger Luke, who hadn't yet fully trusted Nora's love. Part of her had still believed that Nora might be better off without her. Now she understood that her promise to love Nora forever and Nora's promise to love her was the most important thing in her life. "What about you? If we tell the girls that I'm a woman, they'll want to know who fathered them."
Nora pressed her lips together until they blanched. "We're both risking a lot, but it'll be all right. It'll be all right," she repeated as if willing herself to believe it.
"Let's wait a while longer," Luke said. "Maybe there's another way. I'll try talking to Amy again tomorrow."
Hamilton Horse Ranch
Baker Prairie, Oregon
June 24, 1868
LUKE HESITATED outside the tack room, one hand extended toward the door. Under normal circumstances, she didn't disturb Amy when she was in her hideaway. This time, she couldn't allow Amy to run or hide from her fears or she'd be running for the rest of her life.
"Amy?" she called through the door before she opened it.
Amy sat on a barrel, not looking up from the saddle in front of her. She hadn't heard Luke. She also wasn't alone.
Leaning against the barrel, watching Amy work, was Hendrika.
"You put some saddle soap on the cloth and then work it into the leather," Amy said.
"Like this?" Hendrika took over the cloth.
"Circular motions." Amy covered Hendrika's hand with her own and showed her.
It seemed like yesterday that Luke had taught Amy how to clean tack. She still remembered how she had guided her little hands. Now those hands were all grown up and guided Hendrika with confidence.
And with tenderness, Luke realized. Pausing in the doorway, she squinted at Amy and noticed the flush on her cheeks.
"Make sure you get the underside of the fenders and the cinch," Amy said, her voice husky.
Oh, no. This isn't good. Was Amy smitten with Phin's bride? Maybe Amy really was too much like Luke. At Amy's age, Luke had thought she had feelings for every girl she met. Every rancher's daughter and every sister of an officer made her blush and her heart race. It took her a while to figure out that physical reactions didn't equal love. If she could teach Amy that, it would spare her daughter a lot of heartache and save her from potential danger. The starry-eyed adoration of youth wasn't worth risking her life if the object of her affection ran away screaming and told the rest of town. It certainly wasn't worth ruining Amy's friendship with Phin.
Luke cleared her throat.
"Papa!" Amy wrenched her hands away from Hendrika's.
"I didn't mean to interrupt, but I'm about to head out and check on Lucky, get her used to a halter. Wanna come?"
Amy slid from the barrel. Her gaze flicked to Hendrika, and she hesitated.
"Can I come too, Mr. Hamilton?" Hendrika asked. "I'd love to see Lucky again. I promise not to get in the way."
That wasn't part of Luke's plan. She wanted to talk to Amy alone, but with the gap-toothed smile directed at her, she found herself unable to say no. "Can you ride?"
A long glance passed between Amy and Hendrika.
"I'm still learning, but Amy is teaching me, and she said I'm doing well," Hendrika said. "I'm trying to spend as much time in the saddle as I can."
"You can come," Luke said. "On one condition."
Hendrika shifted and eyed Luke. "What?"
"Call me Luke. No one ever calls me Mr. Hamilton."
"Oh." Hendrika's wary stance relaxed. "Thank you."
Luke waited for an offer to call her Rika, but it didn't come. Seemed that privilege was reserved for Amy.
When they saddled the horses, Hendrika nudged Amy. "I'm almost afraid to ride out with you."
"Afraid?" Luke asked, frowning.
"It seems every time we leave the ranch together, something happens," Hendrika said. "First, we cross paths with a wild mustang, then we find a drowning foal." Instead of looking fearful, she was smiling, though.
So much had happened in the nine weeks Luke had been away, and now she was desperately trying to catch up and make sense of what was going on with her daughters.
She watched Hendrika mount. In one of Nora's split riding skirts, the young woman cut a fine figure in the saddle. Her transitions were still a little rough, but her touch on the reins was light. "You taught her well," Luke said.
The compliment stained Amy's cheeks red.
How much time did she spend with Hendrika, teaching her how to ride? Luke wondered.
She had thousands of questions, but no answers — and she knew she wouldn't get answers from Amy as long as Hendrika was with them. And here I thought being a parent would get easier over the years.
Hamilton Horse Ranch
Baker Prairie, Oregon
June 25, 1868
RIKA DROPPED HER brush into the empty bucket of paint. "Done." She stepped back to look at the newly painted line shack.
Amy wiped her hands on a rag. "Looks good. Thanks for helping me."
When Rika turned toward her, she noticed that splashes of reddish-brown paint dotted Amy's shirt. A broad stripe across her forehead made her look like an Indian on the warpath. Rika laughed and pointed. "Lord, you're a sight." She lifted a corner of her apron to wipe the paint from Amy's face, but Amy backed away.
"Oh, and you aren't?"
Rika looked down at herself. Reddish-brown dots on her forearms and down the front of her dress made her look like one of the Hamiltons' Appaloosas. "Oh, my. I think we should wash up before we ride back." She glanced at the nearby Pudding River, which sluggishly meandered through the valley next to the line shack. "In fact..." She looked from the river to Amy. "I could teach you how to swim while we're here."
Maybe for once, she could be the one to teach while Amy learned from her instead of the other way around.
"We don't have the time to —"
"Yes, we do. We thought painting the line shack would take us all afternoon. No one will expect us back before supper."
Amy hesitated and looked around as if searching for another reason to refuse.
"This is important, Amy," Rika said. "You almost drowned because you can't swim. If I hadn't been there..." She snapped her mouth shut, not wanting to finish the sentence. Some nights, she still had nightmares about Amy being swept away by the raging river. "You live right between two rivers, and I don't understand why your parents never taught you how to swim." She tilted her head and took in Amy's pale face. "You're n
ot afraid, are you?"
Amy lifted her chin. "Of course not."
"Then come on." Rika took a step toward the river. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you." She felt Amy's gaze on her as she slipped off her skirt and her petticoat. Just in her chemise and long underdrawers, she finally stood by the riverbank and looked back at Amy, who still hadn't undressed.
"You're not shy about undressing in front of me, are you?"
"No," Amy said, but her tone lacked conviction.
"Come on, Amy. We're both women."
Instead of encouraging Amy, her words made Amy blush.
Heat crawled up Rika's neck too when she remembered that their gender no longer meant they wouldn't look at each other with desire. Finding out about Tess and Frankie's relationship had changed things Rika had taken for granted. "Let's get into the water." Mud squished between her toes as she waded into the river. With her back turned, she waited for Amy.
Clothing rustled; then water splashed.
Rika turned.
Knee-deep in water, Amy paused with her hands on her hips.
"Come over here, where the water's deeper."
Water sloshed as Amy waded deeper into the river, drenching her thin undershirt until it clung to her body. Droplets of water gleamed on her bare arms.
Rika curled her toes into the muddy river bottom and forced her gaze away. "Now push off with your feet and let yourself sink into the water."
Amy tried and immediately started to dog-paddle, barely staying afloat.
"Oh, no, no. Not like that. Watch me." Rika sank into the cool water and swam back and forth in front of Amy. "See? You pull your arms and legs toward your body, then kick them out, like frogs do. Here, let me help you." She stepped next to Amy and put her hands on Amy's hips.
"Um..."
"Try again. I'm gonna hold you up," Rika said. "Move your arms and legs in a circle and push at the water with your hands and feet."
Amy shifted her weight forward, into Rika's hands, and calmed her frantic paddling. "Don't let go," she sputtered into the water.
"I won't." Rika didn't remind Amy that the water was only hip-deep. She trusts me to keep her safe. The feeling humbled her and made her feel powerful at the same time. She tightened her grip around Amy's hips. "Put your fingers together and push with your legs. Yes, yes, like that."
After a few minutes, Amy found a rhythm with her arms and legs.
"All right, now try on your own." With an encouraging squeeze, Rika let go and stepped back.
As soon as Rika's hands vanished from her hips, Amy began to sink and she lapsed back into her dog-paddling technique.
Rika grasped her hands and pulled Amy against her body. "I've got you."
Amy's arms instantly wrapped around her neck. Her breath washed over Rika's bare shoulders, and Amy's body heat seemed to warm up the water around them. It took a while for Rika to remember that the water wasn't deep and Amy didn't need her to hold her up.
"Hold..." Her voice sounded breathless, and she cleared her throat before she tried again. "Hold on to my hands. I'm gonna drag you through the water to let you practice how to move your legs."
Their fingers entwined in a strong grip.
Rika walked backward, pulling Amy after her. "Move your legs in circles."
Water splashed as Amy kicked powerful legs.
"Steady. Keep your feet in the water." After a while, Rika slowed and let her momentum propel Amy past her. She put her hands around Amy's hips again. "All right, let's try this again. Ready?"
Amy turned her head and peered up at Rika through copper strands that clung to her forehead in wet ringlets. "Yeah."
This time, when Rika let go, Amy continued to move her arms and legs in circles. After swimming a few feet, she sought the river bottom with her feet and straightened. She stared down her body, then up at Rika. Water dripped into her face, but it couldn't extinguish Amy's grin. "I did it. I can swim!"
Managing to stay afloat for a few moments didn't exactly make her a champion swimmer, but Rika didn't say that, not wanting to spoil Amy's joy. She grinned back. "You sure can."
She wasn't sure who moved first, but within seconds, they came together in a fierce embrace.
"Thank you," Amy whispered, then let go and stepped back.
Rika shivered. She could still feel Amy's wet body plastered against her own. "You're welcome."
* * *
A horse whinnied a greeting, and several Appaloosas lifted their heads and answered.
Luke looked up from the three-year-old gelding she was training.
A gray mare loped down the hill toward the ranch, moving smoothly under Frankie. When the horse stopped in front of Luke, she reached out and let the mare sniff her hand. "So this is the famous Mouse. Nora told me about her."
"Yeah. That's her." Frankie patted Mouse's neck. "Your daughter worked miracles on her."
"Want to come in for a cup of coffee? Nora's in the garden, but I can let her know you're here." Being alone with Frankie still made her slightly uncomfortable. She never knew whether she should treat Frankie like a pal or a lady.
Frankie swung down and landed lightly on her feet. "It's all right. I'm actually here to see you. Mouse needs new shoes, and I don't like the blacksmith in Baker Prairie. He's too rough with the horses."
Ah. She could handle this. "I can shoe her for you, no problem."
"Oh, no, that's not necessary. If you would just lend me your equipment, I can do the rest."
"Let's do it together," Luke said. She led Frankie over to the ranch's small blacksmith's shop. While she worked the bellows and fired up the forge, she watched Frankie pick up Mouse's left front leg and cradle it between her knees. With practiced movements, Frankie cleaned out the hoof. Then she removed the old shoe and trimmed the hoof walls before she smoothed the ragged edges with a file.
"You've done this before," Luke said.
"Many times," Frankie answered. She looked up at Luke. "Surprised?"
Luke shrugged.
"I bet people take it for granted that you can shoe a horse," Frankie said.
"Yeah." No one blinked an eye when Luke shoed a horse, but she knew Frankie got different reactions. A sudden realization came to her. "You enjoy this."
"Shoeing a horse?"
"Surprising people by being unconventional."
"Guilty as charged." Frankie's grin made her look more like a mischievous boy than a middle-aged woman.
Maybe this was the biggest difference between them. Luke had never wanted to stand out. All she wanted was to fit in and be seen as just another rancher.
Luke heated a new horseshoe and then hammered and shaped it on the anvil until she thought it would fit Mouse's hoof. Mouse held still under Frankie's steady grip as Luke placed the shoe on her hoof.
"I just saw Amy and Hendrika," Frankie said over the sizzling sound.
"Yeah, they're painting one of our line shacks." Luke drove the first nail into the wall of Mouse's hoof.
"Um... That's not what they were doing."
With the second nail clamped between her lips, Luke looked up and lifted an eyebrow.
"They were standing in the middle of the river in their underwear, hugging each other," Frankie said.
Luke nearly swallowed the nail, then spat it out. "What?"
Sudden lines of concern appeared on Frankie's brow. "Nora told you about..." She hesitated. "...about Amy, right?"
"Yes, but I didn't think there was anything going on between Amy and Hendrika." Was there more going on than just infatuation? Did Amy have deeper feelings for Phin's bride? And did Hendrika return those feelings?
She couldn't ask Amy. Fathers didn't ask their daughters that kind of thing. How ironic. Luke was trapped by the lie that had always given her so much freedom.
"I don't think there is," Frankie said. "After a second, they quickly let go of each other and Amy backed away. She's not ready to accept that part of herself."
Luke pounded in the last nail, care
fully channeling her frustration into the physical work. "Was it easy to accept for you?" Luke asked.
Frankie filed off the nails' sharp edges, set down Mouse's foot, and straightened. "Lord, no. After my father died and my brothers chased me away, telling me they hated me..." She shook her head, her gaze searching the horizon. "For a while, I didn't care if I lived or died."
