Surrogate Escape

by Jenna Kernan

  Lori thought back to the conversation, and the ache returned to her heart.

  “She said it was about time I snagged a man.”

  Kenshaw nodded. “Unfortunate. She should be proud of you. It’s an honorable thing you do, to care for a child who is orphaned.”

  Her mother did not care much for honor. Mostly she cared for herself and her bottle. All else took a back seat.

  Kenshaw was looking through the window at the men and women on the porch. “It is possible that they will choose just one of you, because you are not married.” Kenshaw was ordained as a minister by the state. He had once agreed to perform their marriage ceremony.

  “We’ll see,” said Lori, but the panic was back.

  “Are you willing to take custody from Jake to have her?” he asked.

  “No, of course not.”

  “What if they say that a child should be raised by a woman?”

  “That’s sexist.”

  “Still, there is a reason that women bear children and men protect and provide. I know that the council leans toward one guardian. My feeling is that it will be you, Lori.”

  She swallowed her dread at this. She couldn’t let them take the infant from Jake. It would kill him.

  “Hard to lose two baby girls,” said Kenshaw.

  “Yes.”

  Kenshaw cocked his head but remained sitting forward, giving her his profile as he spoke.

  “Have you two considered marriage?” he asked.

  “He hasn’t asked me,” she said.

  He shifted, finally looking at her, showing his dark, perceptive eyes. “Maybe you ask him this time.”

  “Is that what the tribe wants?” She forced a smile. It would make their decision easier, of course, if she and Jake were engaged.

  He smiled. “No, Lori. It’s what you want.”

  “He doesn’t love me, Kenshaw.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “He’s never said so.”

  Kenshaw sat back. “Some men say so in words, others in actions. I think he has been telling you that he loves you for a long time now, if you would only listen with your heart instead of your ears.”

  Was it true? She looked at Jake through the windows, now standing with the council on the porch.

  Kenshaw lifted his medallion and then let it thump back to his chest. “Of course, even if you ask him, maybe you can come see me a few times to talk.”

  “About what?”

  “Whatever has kept you stuck like a vein of turquoise in rock for five years.”

  Now Lori half turned to face him. “I’d like that.”

  Kenshaw reached out a thick, gnarled finger and offered it to Fortune, who clasped hold. Lori smiled down at the girl, who was yawning and blinking wearily. She released Kenshaw.

  “Nothing like a baby to make you stay in the moment,” he said.

  That was very true.

  “My wife is also a good listener. Psychologist, you know.”

  Lori nodded. “Yes, I’d considered seeing her once. I actually canceled three appointments.” He smiled. Perhaps he already knew that she had done that. But now she felt ready to go back and then forward. “I won’t cancel the next one.”

  Kenshaw smiled and turned toward the sound behind them. The council was arriving, filing in and taking their seats. Jake came back to his place, and she stood to meet him.

  “Can I speak to you?” she said.

  He glanced toward the council. “Now?”

  “Do you trust me?”

  Jake smiled. “Yes, I do.”

  She tugged him toward the door. He used his palm to set his hat on his head and followed her out to the porch. The night was cool, and she tucked Fortune inside her coat as she stopped to speak to Jake.

  “Kenshaw says they are leaning toward one guardian.”

  * * *

  IT WAS AS if she had thrown a bucket of ice water in his face.

  “Did he?” asked Jake. His heart was hammering now, and he was sweating despite the chill in the air. Was Lori going to fight him over custody?

  “He also said I should go speak to his wife about, you know, my feelings of loss.”

  “That’s a good idea. For both of us.” He glanced back through the picture window. The council members were all settling into their seats and he wanted to get back in there, but he sensed Lori wasn’t finished. “What else did he say?”

  “He also suggested that I ask you to marry me.”

  His smile dropped away, and his gaze flashed to hers. Was she asking? His heart seemed to stop as he tried to read her expression.

  “Because of the custody for Fortune?” he asked.

  He hated the thought that they were right back where they’d started and that Lori was trapped once more, having to marry him instead of wanting to marry him. Did she understand that he loved her?

  He had a crashing realization. He’d been so busy seeing Faras and speaking with Ty, Bear Den, Tinnin and then with Kenshaw that he had not had a chance to speak to Lori, to tell her that he loved her.

  Why did the universe keep doing this to them? “Lori, I don’t want you to have to marry me to have Fortune.”

  “There are lots of good reasons to marry you, Jake. Fortune is an important one, and it would make the council’s decision simple. It would almost guarantee you custody of this baby. It would make it easier for us to care for her, and it would give her a home with two parents who both already love her.”

  All of that was true. So why was his heart now aching with each damn beat?

  “Yes,” he whispered, feeling the leaden certainty sinking farther down in his stomach.

  “But that’s not why I’m asking you to marry me.”

  He peered at her from under his eyebrows as a trickle of hope slipped over the ache.

  “I’m asking you, Jake Redhorse, because I love you. And I’d like to try again, as grown-ups this time.” She took hold of one hand and squeezed his cold fingers. “So, Officer Redhorse, will you be my husband?”

  He reached with his free hand, took hold of the back of her neck and pulled her toward him.

  “Yes,” he said against her lips and then kissed her with all the hope and joy that now pulsed through his heart.

  They would be a family together, and with the grace of the universe shining down upon them, there would be more children to follow. Jake wrapped his arms around Lori and Fortune, knowing that he was finally in the right place at the right time—and, most important, with the ones he loved.

  Epilogue

  Lori opted for a traditional wedding dress of white, with white lilies pinned in her dark hair. She carried no bouquet but instead baby Fortune, also dressed in white, the long hem of her baptism gown trailing over Lori’s arm. As a Catholic, she wished to be wed in a church while including one of the traditional blessings of her people.

  The music was supplied by Jake’s brother Ty, who was a talented flute player. The quavering sweet notes of the bridal march signaled her time to begin. The guests all rose as her sisters, Amelia, Jocelyn, Rosa and Dominique, preceded her down the aisle. She clasped her mother’s arm with her free one and set them in motion, walking down the aisle of the Catholic church in Koun’nde. Her mother wore a lily pinned to her yellow dress and seemed sober, though Lori recognized that vacant smile and unsteady tread well enough to know otherwise. She understood now that many of Jake’s mother’s concerns came from Lori’s mother and Lori’s upbringing. And Jake’s apprehensions came from not wanting to disappoint his mother.

  She could not see Jake yet but knew he was there, waiting for her. Maybe it was all necessary, the time and the pain, to help her appreciate what she now had: a career that gave her life meaning, the beginning of a family to love and support, and a good man whom she had loved since he was a boy. And he loved her, had alway
s loved her.

  She passed her friends from high school, from college and from her job. Nina cast her a little wave, Verna gave her a thumbs-up and Burl cried. She saw Jake’s coworkers now, Jack Bear Den standing a full head taller than anyone near him, and Chief Tinnin beside Carol Dorset, who wept a steady stream of tears.

  Jake’s mother came into view, in a pink dress that fell to the floor and covered the healing sore on her ankle. She met Lori’s gaze, and though she did not offer a smile, she did incline her head in a nod of approval. Lori acknowledged that neither she nor any mortal woman would ever be good enough for May’s favorite son. But May accepted this marriage, and Lori took her at her word. She would not come between them again. And Lori knew why.

  Beside May was her new husband, Duffy Rope, whom Lori was just beginning to know. Duffy had made a point of telling Lori all about a certain conversation that Jake had had with his mother when he had told her that their early pregnancy was his fault for not using protection, and that if she didn’t lay off this topic and treat Lori with respect, he would stop coming around.

  Lori offered Duffy a bright smile as she passed, which he returned.

  On the opposite side of the aisle stood Lori’s mother’s newest live-in boyfriend, whose eyes seemed glassy. Her mother waved to him as Lori’s sisters continued steadily on before them down the aisle, where the priest and their shaman both waited to perform the ceremony. Unfortunately, they blocked her view of the priest, the shaman and Jake.

  Her smile brightened as she anticipated the blessing that Kenshaw would speak and that Lori knew by heart because she had heard it at her older sisters’ weddings. Their shaman would ceremonially tie their wrists together to symbolize that from this day forward she and Jake would be two people with one life. It was a tradition of her people but also of her father’s people called handfasting,

  In Tonto Apache, the shaman would tell all gathered here that from this day forward this couple would feel no rain or cold or loneliness for each would bestow the other with shelter, warmth and comfort. Then Kenshaw would bless them and ask that their days together be good and their time on this earth be long before turning the sermon over to the priest.

  Lori reached the end of the rows of guests and finally saw Jake’s groomsmen. Both Ty and Kee faced her, standing side by side. Ty held the flute to his lips, continuing to play as she neared her place. Unfortunately, Jake’s youngest brother, Colt, could not be coaxed down from his isolation to see his brother wed. So Jake had chosen two of the men from the tribal police force, Daniel Wetselline and Harold Shea, selected to balance her four sisters and bridesmaids. Her sisters looked so beautiful in their full-length red dresses as they filed into their places opposite the men. Kee stood still as a statue beside Officer Wetselline, grinning broadly at her. In sharp contrast, to Kee’s right, Ty swayed as he played his flute, looking out of character but very handsome in his dark suit and multiple strands of long, beaded turquoise necklaces. And finally Dominique stepped aside, allowing her a view of her handsome groom.

  The smile Jake gave her bathed her in joy and hope. She stood a moment to gaze at him, trying to fix the memory in her mind for always. He stood waiting, but she would make him wait no longer. He had given her his trust and defended her from both their enemies and his family. Now she looked forward to today and tomorrow and all the tomorrows that came after that.

  Today they married, not for the baby or their tribe or to please their parents, but because when you loved a man as she loved Jake, that was simply the only course.

  Together, she and Jake and baby Fortune would become the family they were always meant to be.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from STRANDED WITH THE SUSPECT by Cindi Myers.

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  MILITARY K-9 UNIT

  These soldiers track down a serial killer with the help of their brave canine partners!

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  Tracking Danger by Terri Reed

  Sheriff’s Deputy Serena Evans knows her trusty K-9 partner Ginger can track down the serial killer who is tormenting her Texas town...if only her boss would give her the chance. When they trace him to Jason Hargrove’s land, Serena and Ginger will have to team up with the reclusive rancher in order to get their man.

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  Stranded with the Suspect

  by Cindi Myers

  Chapter One

  “I’m sorry, we don’t have any messages for you, Ms. Daniels. I promise to put any calls or other communications through to your room at once. Is there anything else I can do for you?” The desk clerk at the Brown Palace Hotel smiled as she spoke, as if she really was concerned that Andi have everything she needed.

  “No. Thank you.” Andi tried to return the smile, but it wasn’t something she was used to doing anymore. The past year hadn’t given her much to smile about.

  “Did you enjoy your visit to our spa this morning?” the clerk asked, after a quick glance at her computer screen, which no doubt showed every spa treatment, room service meal and other amenity Andi had enjoyed during her stay at one of Denver’s oldest luxury hotels.

  “Yes, it was lovely.” Everything about the Brown Palace was lovely, from the richly patterned carpet beneath her feet to the stained-glass skylights in the main lobby. Towering fresh flower arrangements and elegant artwork shared space with photographs of the many celebrated personages who had stayed at the hotel, from the Beatles to US presidents. But none of it impressed Andi. For one thing, she had seen it all too many times before, when she stayed here with her father, Senator Pete Matheson.

  That seemed a lifetime ago. Now all of this—the opulence and grand sense of history—wasn’t her world anymore. She craved simplicity over elegance, r
eality more than comfort. This felt so phony.

  “If you need anything at all, please let me know, Ms. Daniels,” the clerk said.

  Andi nodded and turned from the desk. Her name wasn’t even Daniels—it was Matheson. But Daniel Metwater had thought it amusing to register her under a variant of his Christian name when he had brought her here three days ago. He was supposed to have contacted her before now, to let her know he was coming to get her and take her home.

  She reached up and put her hand over the pendant at her neck, the rose-cut diamond in the old-fashioned gold setting a comforting weight at the base of her throat. Daniel didn’t know that she had taken it before she left to come to Denver, but after all, he had promised it to her baby, so why shouldn’t she have it now? If he asked about it when he arrived, she would tell him she had been keeping it safe for him. He might not be pleased with that explanation at first, but he would come around. Daniel wanted her to be happy.

  She waited for the elevator, her ankles swollen, feet hurting. Absently, she rubbed at the bulge of her abdomen, the baby kicking inside her. She tried to imagine what the little one looked like right now, recalling pictures in the tattered copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting that one of the women in camp had loaned her. She had no idea if she was carrying a boy or a girl. It didn’t matter—she would be happy with either. Part of her was anxious for the child’s arrival. Another part of her wanted to put it off as long as possible. She hadn’t seen a doctor since the public clinic had confirmed her pregnancy months ago, so she had no idea of her due date. But the other women in camp had assured her that the baby would come out when it was ready, and that she would be ready then, also.

  Since she wasn’t ready for the birth, the baby must not be either, which was reassuring in a way. She didn’t want to have her child alone in this city that no longer felt familiar to her. She wanted to be back in the camp in the wilderness in southwest Colorado, with the women attending her and the men waiting outside, chanting for her and the baby’s health.

  “Ms. Matheson? Andi Matheson?”