The question made Jake’s insides tighten. But for the moment, he had enough to contend with just dealing with her feelings. His own could be addressed later. “I told you I would. Do you want it in writing?”
She shook her head. “You can’t afford to hire someone to clean. I can work at the mine and keep the house. You’ll see.”
Jake felt sure she would try. One day, she would realize he could afford far more than she thought.
In no hurry to let go of her, Jake simply held her for a while. When she finally began to fidget, he grinned and released her, confident that they would share other embraces, far more fruitful if he had his way.
“Are you about ready to go home?” He lifted her off his lap. “I have a little surprise for you when we get there.”
She cast an alarmed glance around the clearing, then fastened luminous eyes on his. “A thrashing?”
Jake followed the path of her gaze and remembered she wasn’t supposed to be out here. For an instant, he thought she was teasing about the thrashing business, but when he searched her gaze, he saw she wasn’t. It bothered him that she thought he might resort to striking her as a form of punishment, but what disturbed him far more was that she seemed to believe he’d lure her home, smiling and promising her a surprise, only to beat her. Did she trust him so little?
The revelation staggered him. The best husband in the whole world, was he?
“Are you angry?”
Jake was the one to break eye contact. He didn’t want to frighten her, but on the other hand, he didn’t want her thinking she could come into the woods any time she chose. “No matter how angry I might be, I’d never strike you,” he said softly. “As for your coming here, did you have a good reason?”
She took a long time to answer. Finally she shook her head. “No.” Her eyes darkened, and she lifted her chin. “I just felt the need to be here, and I came. I suppose you will think I’ve been a very bad wife.”
Jake’s throat tightened. Was that truly how she saw it? That she had no right to her own wants and needs. He knew damned well she hadn’t come here on a whim. The bedspread at home was damp from her tears. Was that her perception of marriage, that the husband was omnipotent and if his wife disobeyed him, he might resort to striking her? From what Jake had seen of her parents’ relationship, he couldn’t understand how she had drawn that conclusion.
“What do you think I should do about your disobeying me, Indigo?” he asked her gently.
A muscle at the corner of her mouth twitched. “You could take away my privileges. But you’ve already done that.”
“What would your father do?”
She looked startled by the question. “My father?”
“Yes, your father. Would he give you a thrashing?”
She seemed to ponder that for a moment. “I—I don’t know. I never disobeyed him.”
Jake watched her expressions closely. “So he never beat you?”
Her blue eyes widened. “My father? No, never.”
As far as he knew, Hunter was her only point of reference. If he had never beaten her, why would she immediately assume her husband would try? Jake had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer to that question. Piece by piece, the puzzle of Indigo was beginning to fall into place. He knew he was still a long way from completely understanding her, but day by day, the picture was coming clearer. What he had learned in this last few minutes made him ache for her. And for himself.
“What were you thinking when you decided to come out here?”
“About the wind in the trees and the taste of it here.” Her voice caught. “I was thinking of leaving, and I wanted one last time in my woods.”
“So you were feeling sad.”
“Yes, very sad.”
“And you had a powerful urge to come here alone, just one more time?”
“Yes.”
“I can understand that, I think.” He paused for effect. “Now that you know you don’t have to leave, you won’t have to worry about saying goodbye again. Right?”
“I didn’t know that when I came here, though.”
Jake cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her face. “Do I have your promise you won’t come into the woods alone again until I tell you it’s all right?”
“Yes.”
He searched her gaze. “You could come to serious harm out here, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. You understand?”
“Yes.”
Jake released her and stood. “Then let’s go home so you can have your surprise.”
Still looking unsure, she pushed to her feet. “You mean there truly is a surprise? What is it?”
Jake had a hunch Indigo’s life might be full of surprises over the next few months. He curled an arm around her shoulders and drew her into a walk. “Something almost as sweet as you are.”
Indigo said she couldn’t eat the peppermint sticks until she had fixed dinner and said her penance. It had been Jake’s hope that the sweets might stimulate her appetite, but she looked so convinced she shouldn’t enjoy the treat until later that he didn’t insist.
“Is it against your beliefs to have treats before you’ve said your penance?” he asked.
She turned from the stove to regard him, a thoughtful expression on her face. “No. It just doesn’t seem fitting to be glad when I should be filled with sorrow. I still have an entire rosary and a round of Hail Marys that I must finish.”
Jake leaned back in his chair, his coffee mug poised halfway to his lips. “How many rosaries did Father tell you to say, for God’s sake?”
“Three.”
He nearly choked on a sip of coffee. “Three? That seems pretty stiff. You just went to confession five days ago.” He was dying to ask her if she’d gotten all that penance for the measly little fibs she had told, but he couldn’t. He settled for saying, “You must have done something pretty serious.”
Her cheeks flushed a comely pink. “Yes.”
Jake watched as she turned the meat and clamped a lid on the skillet. Then curiosity got the better of him. “What on earth did you do? Rob a bank?”
She bit her lip. The flush on her cheeks deepened to a guilty red. “I lied.”
“And that was it?”
She looked scandalized. “I told several. More than several, actually. Lots and lots. Lying is a very bad thing.”
Jake took another sip of coffee. He knew full well that if he pressed, she’d tell him what the lies had been about and to whom she had told them. He didn’t want to put her in a spot like that. “You’d better watch it, so you don’t get in the habit.”
She returned her attention to the meat she had on the stove. “Yes. I must try very hard not to do it anymore.”
A smile touched Jake’s mouth. Little did she know that it was going to be a joint effort.
That night when Jake joined Indigo in bed, he sensed that she didn’t seem quite as tense. He lay beside her in the darkness and remembered the promise he had made to her about never making her leave Wolf’s Landing. God help him, somehow he had to find a way to keep it.
A gust of chill air came through the open window. Jake rolled onto his side, not at all surprised to find Indigo awake and gazing out at the moonlit darkness with a poignant expression on her face. Trading on the new-found feeling of friendship that was budding between them, fragile though it was, Jake touched her cheek and asked, “Can you tell me why you like to leave the window open every night?”
She drew the covers snugly to her chin, looking uncomfortable. “I’m afraid to tell you for fear you’ll laugh.”
Jake had long since guessed that she left the window open for Lobo. He considered her troubled profile, wishing she would trust him enough to tell him that. “I won’t laugh. I promise.”
Eyes shimmering like silver in the moonlight, she turned to regard him. “It’s just silliness, but I can’t shake the feeling that Lobo may be out there,” she finally admitted in a taut voice. “If he tries to find me, I don’t want him to be lo
cked out and think I’ve forgotten him already.”
The last thing Jake felt like doing was laughing. He slipped an arm under her and drew her head to his shoulder. Stroking her hair, he gazed out at the shadows and listened to the wind. At the Geunther cabin, she had told him it was her Comanche belief that wolves’ spirits lingered. He wondered why she seemed hesitant to come right out and admit that now. “I think Lobo knows how much you loved him,” he whispered hoarsely. “And how much you still love him.”
Indigo sensed Jake’s empathy in the way he held her and by the tone in his voice. She knew most white men would laugh at her. For an instant, she considered telling him the entire truth—that she believed Lobo was still alive, not in the flesh, but in spirit. The convictions of a lifetime held her tongue.
Until tonight, every time he had held her this way, she had been uncertain where to put her hands. Now she dared to rest a palm on his chest. Coarse, springy hair tickled her fingertips, and she could feel the steady beat of his heart under her wrist.
Though still afraid he might press her to perform her wifely duties, she closed her eyes and found a measure of comfort in his embrace. His warmth cocooned around her. A smile curved her lips as she drifted into the mists of slumber.
The next morning, Jake was nearly halfway to the mine before he dragged to a stop. He kept remembering how forlorn Indigo had sounded yesterday by Lobo’s grave.
A sudden memory hit him, and he closed his eyes. Damn, what a dimwit he was. In all the days since the wolf’s death, he had never once thought of Lobo’s pups.
Pulse quickening, Jake pivoted and headed back down the mountain. Pray God that Gretel’s owner hadn’t given the pup that resembled Lobo away yet, or worse, shot him. It was the perfect solution. Jake could have kicked himself for not thinking of it sooner.
When Jake knocked on the Wolfs’ door and told Loretta what he planned, she applauded the idea and gave Jake directions to Mr. Morgan’s farm. Jake made fast tracks to get there, only to discover that a farmer named Christian had already adopted the pup. Not to be beaten, Jake asked directions to Christian’s.
Deke Christian, a tall scarecrow of a man with a silver stubble of beard on his pointed chin, scratched his head and went tsk-tsk when Jake explained his problem to him. Pocketing a wad of chew inside his cheek, he said, “I reckon I can see you wantin’ the little fella. The thing is, I done give him to my kids three day ago. They’ve already taken a shine to him. You ever heard seven kids cryin’ all at once?”
Jake hated the thought of breaking seven little hearts. “I don’t suppose they’d be just as happy with another pup?”
A speculative gleam crept into Christian’s gray eyes. “Might could. Children can be fickle. Of course, a wolf cub ain’t easy to come by. His pappy was from way up north, you know. Not another one like him for hundreds of miles.”
Jake sensed a possible bargain in the air. “The children probably wouldn’t care about their pup being one of a kind.”
Christian scratched his head again. “Depends, I reckon.”
Jake slid his hands into his hip pockets. “I’m willing to make the trade worth your while. You got the wolf pup for free. As compensation, how does fifty dollars strike you?”
Christian didn’t look impressed. Jake narrowed an eye. “All right, I’m willing to go as high as a hundred. You could buy each kid a sack of candy to ease the blow, get them another pup, and have a wad of money left to console yourself. You have to admit, it’s a mighty fine price for a worthless mongrel.”
Deke smiled. “Triple that, and you’ve got yourself a wolf.”
Jake laughed. “That’s outrageous. Three hundred dollars?”
“Sounds fair for a one-of-a-kind pup you want mighty bad.”
Jake jerked his hands from his pockets. “There isn’t a dog on earth worth that kind of money.”
“I reckon you could get one like him cheaper if you was to go to the Yukon. Mighty long way, though.”
Jake shook his head and struck off down the rutted drive. There was no way in hell he would pay that for a dog. He was about halfway to the farmer’s gate when he drew to a stop. He would never miss the three hundred. Was he going to quibble about money when it came to Indigo’s happiness? Hell, he might as well spend three hundred as one. Either price was ridiculous. He trudged back up the hill.
“You’ve got yourself a deal,” he told Christian. “I’ll pay the three hundred for him.” Jake pulled out his money clip, counted off the bills, and handed them to the farmer. “Where is he?”
Christian grinned, revealing a set of snaggleteeth. “I got him in the barn.”
The farmer led the way, Jake on his heels. The pup was locked inside a stall. Farther down the center aisle, a thin boy of about ten was sitting on a hay bale, oiling a harness.
“I sold that pup,” Christian told him. “This fella here offered such a fine price that I couldn’t turn it down.”
The youth shrugged. “That pup’s so fightin’ mean it don’t make me no never mind.” He eyed Jake. “You bring a gunnysack?”
That was Jake’s first indication of what he was getting into. “No, why?”
“You’ll be needin’ one to carry him,” the boy replied.
Christian smiled and gestured for Jake to open the stall door. “He’s yourn, and we wish you happy.”
Jake looked over the door. In the dimness, he could see a ball of fluffy silver-and-black fur huddled in one corner of the stall. Jake grinned with excitement and unfastened the latch. “Oh, he’s a fine- looking little fellow, isn’t he?”
“Yep.” Christian smirked. “Wolf to his core, though.”
Jake drew the door open and stepped into the stall. He was about to bend over to coax the puppy forward when the fur ball cannoned from the corner, snarling and snapping. Before Jake could dance clear, sharp little teeth snagged hold of his jeans. He stared down, scarcely able to believe his eyes. If not for his high leather boots, he felt sure he’d be sporting fang marks.
“Hey, little guy,” he soothed. “Don’t be afraid.”
The pup braced his feet and leaned back, straining the denim of Jake’s pants. Glowing golden eyes sparked in the dimness.
“I knew your papa.” As Jake spoke, he slowly inched a hand downward. “I’m a friend.”
When Jake’s fingers were within jumping distance, the pup abandoned the britches and went for blood.
“Son of a bitch!”
Jake tried to jerk his hand back. The cub locked its jaws. Pain shot from Jake’s thumb to his wrist. With his free hand, he grabbed the pup’s jaws, dug in with his fingers, and forced his razor-sharp little teeth to give. The instant Jake’s thumb was freed, he caught the cub by his ruff and held him at eye level.
“You ornery little bastard.”
“That ain’t sayin’ it by half,” Christian said.
Jake knew when he had been had, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “Do you have a spare gunnysack?”
Christian rolled his chew. “For two bits, I do.”
Jake swore and dug in his change pocket. Christian caught the dollar and pocketed it. “Don’t got change.”
“Just get me the damned gunnysack,” Jake said.
Chapter 17
AN HOUR LATER, JAKE ENTERED THE HOUSE, holding the gunnysack at arm’s length. He found Indigo lying across the bed, her gaze fixed on the wall. He could scarcely wait to see the expression on her face when she saw what he had brought her.
“Indigo?”
She started and sat up. “Jake? What’re you doing home?” Her gaze shifted to the wiggling sack. “What is that?”
“A little something I got for you,” he replied. “Move back. Instead of you biting into this surprise, it may bite into you.”
She bounded off the bed and watched in bewilderment as Jake upended the sack. The pup rolled out, found his feet, and whirled to snarl at them. It was like looking at a miniature of Lobo. Jake grinned and turned to see the expression on Indigo’s face,
expecting rapturous pleasure and hoping for a little adoration as well. For him, not the puppy. Instead, she acted as if someone had struck her. After a horribly long moment, tears filled her eyes, and she averted her face.
“Get him away from me!”
Jake stared at her. “What?”
She turned her back to the puppy. “You heard me.”
“Indigo.” Jake gave a soft laugh. “Honey, you don’t mean that. Lobo’s puppy? I thought you’d be pleased.”
She dragged in a ragged breath. “How could you?” she cried. “How could you bring him here?” She cupped a hand over her eyes. “Do you think I loved Lobo so little that I could let a puppy replace him? Never, not as long as I live.”
“Honey, just look at him.”
“Please don’t ask that.” She heaved a ragged sob. “Take him away! Please, Jake? Take him away . . .”
Reclaiming the gunnysack, Jake grabbed the puppy by its ruff. Anger flooded through him as he strode from the bedroom. He came to a stop in the sitting room and stared at the snapping, snarling ball of fur in his hand. Three hundred dollars, and she didn’t want it? Well, Jake sure as hell didn’t. He had no idea what to do with the nasty little cur. He was tempted to stomp him into a grease puddle and wring Indigo’s neck.
Golden eyes agleam with vicious intent, the cub grew tired of flailing and finally hung still in Jake’s grasp. Jake sighed and stuffed him in the gunnysack. Maybe Loretta would take him. Jake doubted it, though. Only Indigo would be able to tame a pup like this. No one else in his right mind would even want to try.
The thought made Jake recall his first night in Wolf’s Landing and Loretta’s concern that no one would adopt a wolf cub. He glanced over his shoulder toward the bedroom, and a grin settled on his mouth. In a voice that he intended to carry, he said, “You poor misbegotten little fellow. I gave it my best try. That’s all I can do.” Jake cocked an ear. He heard nothing but silence. Indigo was listening, all right. “Maybe if you didn’t look so much like your papa, somebody else would take you. As it is, all I’ve done is prolong the inevitable.”
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