by Linda Bridey
Jamie sat on the porch swing waiting for Luke to come get her. He’d told her to wait there because he didn’t trust himself alone with her in the bunkhouse. She’d smiled and agreed to wait there for him. It wasn’t long until she saw him coming over to her.
“Ready?” he said.
“Ready.”
“Let’s go have some fun then,” he responded.
“Come in!” Seth yelled in response to their knock.
They opened it and went in.
“In here,” Seth said.
They followed his voice into the parlor. Jamie smiled as she took in the muted crème walls and strategically placed pictures and artwork. “You have a beautiful house, Seth.”
“Yep. The credit goes to Maddie. She told me what to do and I did it,” he said. He was rosining his bow. “Ok Luke, get that fiddle out so we can make sure we’re in tune.”
“Ok, move your ass over so I can sit beside you,” Luke said.
Seth complied and resettled himself. Luke sat down and straightened his back until several popping noises filled the room. Then he rolled his shoulders a little to loosen them up.
“That always creeps me out,” Seth said and shivered a little.
“Me too,” Jamie said.
Luke laughed at them. “I was a little stiff.”
Seth didn’t reply. He waited for Luke to rosin his bow and then they started to tune their fiddles.
Marcus came bursting through the door as they finished. “Oh, good. I didn’t miss anything.”
Seth eyed him and said, “I didn’t think you were gonna show.”
“I always put my money where my mouth is,” Marcus said.
Seth grunted. “If that was true you’d be rich by now, because your mouth flaps like a duck’s ass.”
Jamie and Luke laughed, but Marcus scowled at his brother. “What’s the first song?”
“Jamie, do you know Boatin’ Up Sandy?” Luke asked.
“I sure do,” Jamie said.
“Ok. There’s your answer Marcus,” Luke said.
“Ok. Just give me the first couple of notes of the tenor line,” Marcus said.
Seth was surprised that Marcus even knew those terms.
Marcus gave Seth a wolfish smile and slapped a five-dollar bill down on the coffee table. “Let’s make it interesting, Seth. There’s my money that says that I can sing.”
Seth took out his wallet and put his five down on top of Marcus’. “It’s a bet.”
Luke played the first five notes of the song and then said, “That enough, Lakota?”
“Yep. Play on,” Marcus said.
“Jamie, do you need a couple of notes?” Seth asked.
“Nope.”
Marcus said, “Ok, Jamie, you start off, I’ll join in and then these guys can chime in. That’ll give us a good idea if we’re blending properly.”
Luke frowned at him. “Who made you boss of this outfit?”
“Not boss, I just understand music theory very well.”
“Ok, fine,” Seth said. “Can we start?”
Seth and Luke counted off together and started the song. Jamie waited for her cue and started on time. All three men got smiles on their faces as her sweet voice filled the room along with the fiddles. Marcus counted off the bars and then joined her. Seth almost faltered as Marcus’ resonant tenor blended with Jamie’s soprano.
Damn, he thought. There goes my five bucks.
Luke laughed at Seth’s displeased expression. Then Seth and Luke joined in but Luke decided to see if he could pick up the bass line to make it a four-part harmony instead of three. Jamie got goose bumps as the sounds of their voices swelled and mixed in perfection. Marcus smiled and pointed to his arm. Jamie saw the hair on it standing up on end and nodded a little to let him know she felt the same thing.
Seth and Luke decided to play the song through a second time to give them all a chance to warm up thoroughly. At the end of it, they were all silent for few moments as awe settled over them.
Then they heard applause and looked to see a whole group of people standing in the dining room. Trouble bounced around barking his approval.
Tessa said, “I have never heard a finer grouping of musicians. For four people who have never performed together before, I’d say you have excellent chemistry.”
Dean went over to Marcus and clapped him on the back. “I had no idea you could sing like that.”
Marcus smiled a little bashfully. “I don’t often have the chance to since I need accompaniment.”
“You coulda sang with me and Luke a long time ago,” Seth said.
Marcus just shrugged. He was plainly uncomfortable with all the praise, which was odd for him.
Jamie said, “Well, let’s keep it going,” to help detract attention from him.
They played everything from Cotton Eyed Joe to Chilly Winds. At the end of two hours, Marcus announced that he’d had enough. His throat wasn’t used to such a workout and it ached. Luke agreed, saying that they didn’t need to wear out his voice right away. The group was dispersing when Maddie suddenly stopped in midstride and grabbed onto a chair.
Seth went to her. “Are you ok?”
Another pain constricted around Maddie’s abdomen. “I think I’m having contractions. I’ve been having them for a little while now, but not like this.”
Seth looked at Marcus. “Good thing for us the doctor is already here.”
Marcus smiled. “Good thing I took to keeping some medicine in my saddlebag. I’ll be right back. Take Maddie to lie down. Jack, I need you.”
“Me? Why?” Jack said.
“Because you’re a cook and I need this stuff prepared to my specifications,” Marcus said and went out the door. Marcus also figured it would be good for Jack to get comfortable around this type of thing so he wasn’t scared to death of childbearing later in life.
Seth got Maddie settled in bed and sat beside her.
“I’m scared, Seth,” Maddie said as another contraction hit her.
Seth kissed her forehead. “It’s going to be ok. I’m right here and Marcus knows what he’s doing.”
Maddie nodded and moaned. Seth held her hand and tried to quell his own fears.
Marcus came back in the house and asked Luke if he would go tell Claire what was happening. Tessa and Dean had taken their children over home. Dean was going to help get them in bed and then come back over. Jamie offered to stay with the kids so that both Tessa and Dean could be at Seth’s house.
Tessa hugged her and said, “You are a godsend.”
Luke knocked on Claire’s door. She opened it and he said, “Maddie’s having the baby.”
Claire held Aiyana, who was struggling to get down. She wanted to be on the go. Claire handed her to Luke and went to get the cradleboard. She was back quickly and put Aiyana in it.
Luke said, “Should you be lifting that?”
Claire said, “You sound like Marcus.”
“How about if I carry it?” Luke offered.
Claire smiled. “All right. Thank you.”
Luke turned around and Claire settled the straps over his shoulders. “How’s that?” he asked.
“Perfect,” Claire said remembering the first time that she’d worn the cradleboard. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twelve
Claire and Luke arrived and heard Maddie cry out loudly. Claire tied Rosie’s reins to a post of the paddock and ran inside Seth’s house. Luke wondered what he was going to do with Aiyana. Then he decided to take her over to Dean’s house with the rest of the kids.
Jamie met him at the door and smiled. “That cradleboard looks awfully small on your big shoulders.”
Luke said, “I can imagine. She hardly weighs anything.”
“Let’s get her out of there,” Jamie said.
Once free of the cradleboard, Aiyana toddled around and said, “Mama.”
Jamie picked her up. “She’s over helping your cousin be born. You’ll see her after a while.”
“Dink
?” Aiyana said as she played with Jamie’s hair.
Jamie said, “Ok. We can do that.”
Luke said, “Boy she’s cute. She looks like Marcus.”
“Yeah. She sure does with those beautiful gray eyes,” Jamie said.
Aiyana wondered over to Luke and said, “Horsey.”
Luke looked confused.
Jamie laughed. “She wants to play horsey, Luke. You know, like she’s riding a horse.”
“Oh. Ok.” Luke tried to figure out how to get her on his back and then decided to lie on the floor. Aiyana knew what to do from there. She sat on Luke’s back and grabbed his shirt. Aiyana kicked him and said, “Go!” Luke got up on all fours and began crawling slowly across the floor. He was ready at any time to catch her if she were to slip.
He was surprised that she kept hold of his shirt as tightly as she did as he made a trip around the kitchen table. Jamie watched him and laughed at the sight he made crawling around with a baby on his back. Luke was getting a crash course in childcare, and it amused Jamie no end. Aiyana kicked her little legs against him and laughed. Luke kept it up until his knees protested too much and then he lay down.
Aiyana must have been used to this cue and she climbed off with Jamie’s help. Then she ran into the parlor and wanted to see the twins. Jamie picked her up so she could look at them.
Mikey was playing in his room and she wiggled out of Jamie’s arms and went in to see what her cousin was doing. Luke and Jamie watched as Mikey patiently showed her his toys, and she laughed when he made a toy horse run and made whinnying noises. Jamie surmised that Mikey was used to playing with her. She grew bored with that and wanted to play horsey again. This time Luke picked her up and put her on his shoulders. Then he ran outside and made several running trips up and down the lane. Aiyana’s laughter could be heard the whole time. Dean and Tessa came out of Seth’s house to see what was going on and laughed as Luke ran and Aiyana laughed.
Dean said, “He’s getting broken in to entertaining kids in a hurry.”
“I’d say so,” Tessa agreed.
Luke came back and slowed to a walk. He was out of breath.
“Way to go, Hercules,” Dean said.
Luke panted, “You might be my boss, but you don’t get to call me that.” Up on his shoulders, Luke heard Aiyana yawn. He pulled her from his shoulders and held her against his chest. She rested against him and yawned again.
“Looks like you tired her out,” Tessa said.
“I’d say we tired each other out,” Luke said.
Dean and Tessa laughed as Marcus came out of the house. “It’s a boy!” he said loudly.
Cheers went up and Marcus went back inside to finish up with Maddie.
Seth was no stranger to holding infants so he took to holding his son with aplomb. But there was something different about holding his child. His eyes stung with tears of happiness as he looked down at the tiny bundle in his arms. He looked over at his wife and fell even more in love with her. She was tired but her smile was still bright as she watched Seth hold their son for the first time.
She tried not to cry as Seth said, “Well, Jeffrey Ralph Samuels, welcome to our crazy family.”
They’d decided to name him after both of their fathers and use the American spelling of Maddie’s father Geoffrey. They would call him J.R. to avoid confusion when Geoff was around.
Maddie giggled and said, “Our wonderful, crazy family.”
“Yep. You ok, good-lookin’?” Seth asked. He was incredibly relieved that the delivery had gone so well, and was going to get Marcus something special for helping them.
“I’m fine. Tired, but fine,” Maddie said.
“Why don’t you rest for a little while and I’ll go introduce him to everyone,” Seth said.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Maddie agreed.
Seth kissed her and left the room with their son.
Little J.R. was carefully passed around and exclaimed over. Seth knelt so that Trouble could see the baby. The little dog cautiously sniffed at J.R and backed off. He wasn’t quite sure what to think. Then Seth took him back so Maddie could feed him. Tessa helped Maddie for the first time, but J.R. got the hang of it quickly.
Luke went over to Tessa’s house to give Jamie the news.
“Yay!” she said and hugged Luke. “I can’t wait to see him. I’m so happy for them.”
“Me, too. I’m getting used to this taking care of babies and kids thing,” Luke said as he looked at Aiyana. She was almost asleep.
“By the time ours come along, you’ll be an expert. You’re already good at it,” she said. “Now we just have to teach you how to change diapers.”
Luke made a face of distaste. “I am not looking forward to that job.”
“No one really does, but it has to be done,” Jamie said.
Luke nodded and yawned.
Jamie smiled and said, “Somebody else sounds tired.”
“Mmm hmm,” he responded.
Marcus came into the kitchen and smiled at them. “Thanks for taking care of Aiyana for me.”
“You’re welcome,” Jamie said.
“No problem,” Luke said.
Marcus said, “I hear that you make quite the horse.”
Luke smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Aiyana heard Marcus’ voice and held out her arms to him. “Pa.”
Marcus responded in Lakota as he took her. He and Claire were teaching her in both English and Lakota so she would be fluent in both languages. She gave him a smile and rested against his chest.
“She’s tuckered out. Me, too,” Marcus said. “We’ll be back in the morning, or I should say, later on this morning. Claire is staying in case Maddie and Seth need anything.”
Jamie said, “I don’t know how you do what you do, Marcus.”
Marcus shrugged. “It just seemed to come naturally to me and I like helping people.”
Luke said, “We’re lucky to have you.”
“Thanks. Well, I’m heading home. Have a good night,” he said, and winked at Luke as he went out the door.
Luke turned his dark eyes on Jamie and said, “Do you think he knows?”
“I don’t know,” Jamie said. “I don’t really mind if he does, do you?”
“I guess not,” Luke said. “As long as he doesn’t get drunk on moonshine and blab to everyone.”
“What?” Jamie asked.
“Seth says that when Marcus drinks Lakota moonshine he flaps his gums too much and you never know what he’s going to say,” Luke said.
Jamie laughed. “That’s good to know.”
Luke nodded. Tessa and Dean came home and relieved them. Luke and Jamie stepped outside.
Jamie said, “Would you like some company tonight?”
Luke said, “Yeah, but what about Dean and Tessa?”
“I’m an expert at sneaking out. Besides, I’m a grown woman and you’re a grown man. We plan to marry. I don’t see the problem,” Jamie said.
“I know.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Jamie said.
“Sure.”
“Did you and Charlene wait?”
Luke looked down and said, “No.”
“So then what’s different?” Jamie said.
Luke cupped her face in his hands and said, “The difference is that I don’t want you to think that I don’t respect you. I think you’ve probably come across some guys that haven’t, and I don’t want to be one of them.”
Jamie said, “I already know that you respect me. I’m good at reading people, and from the first moment I met you I could tell that you were one of the good guys.”
“You could? How?” Luke asked.
“Call it a feeling, or maybe it’s just something about those big, beautiful, brown eyes of yours,” Jamie said.
Luke said, “You like my eyes, huh?”
“Yeah. And your mouth and your chest and your arms,” Jamie said. As she spoke, she touched each place she mentioned.
Luke captured her
sweet mouth with his and kissed her ardently. Abruptly he stopped and said, “Come to me when you can,” and left her.
Jamie’s lips tingled from his kiss and she pressed her fingers to them. She smiled as she thought about what awaited her. She watched him walk away until the darkness swallowed him.
The next morning Luke was instantly woken when Jamie bit his earlobe and blew into his ear.
“Holy crap!” he said, and groaned as she did it again.
“Good morning, Hercules,” she said with a naughty grin. “It’s time to go to work.”
“Not just yet,” he said and rolled her over.
Luke found Dean in with the dairy cows.
“Hey, cuz,” he said.
“Good morning, Luke,” Dean replied.
“How heavy is the workload today?”
Dean stopped what he was doing and said, “Not terrible. Why?”
“I was wondering if you could go to Wolf Point with me. It’s time I get that ring. I don’t know anything about buying one.”
Dean smiled. “I’m really happy for you, Luke. She’s a good woman.”
Luke frowned. “I just wish Ma could see that. She really hurt Jamie the other night when I took her to meet them.”
“Aunt Pricilla didn’t like her?” Dean said.
“No. Ma said that she wanted me to marry a nice girl. She pretty much meant that Jamie is not a nice girl. Jamie was scared of going anyway and Ma did a number on her. Jamie refuses to go to their house now,’ Luke said.
“Damn. That’s tough. I’m sorry,” Dean said. “I’ll tell you what; you get one of the buggies ready. I’ll finish here and then we’ll go, ok?”
“Ok. Thanks, Dean,” Luke said, and left to hitch up a buggy.
Luke put the diamond ring in his chest of drawers and smiled. He couldn’t wait to propose to Jamie and make things official between them. Luke couldn’t imagine his life without her now and was eager to wed her. He was getting ready to go find her when there was a knock at his door. He opened it and saw his best friend Joe Dwyer on the porch.
“Joe! How the hell are you?” Luke said. “C’mon in.”
Joe came in and gave Luke a slap on the back. His hazel eyes roamed around the bunkhouse. “Not bad, Luke. This is a pretty nice place.”
“Yeah. It was Seth’s place for a long time and he really fixed it up. I’m glad you came by. I didn’t know you were back in town,” Luke said. He motioned for Joe to sit down.
