Gray, Ginna

by The Witness

  Sam turned his gaze on the old woman with remarkable calm. "Hello, Grandma. It's nice to see you, too. This is Lauren Brownley. Lauren, this little whirlwind is my grandmother, Annie Zah."

  Lauren opened her mouth to greet the other woman but before she could utter a sound Annie Zah switched to the Navajo language and cut her off.

  "Don't get smart with me, boy. You haven't come to see your family in over a year, and now you show up in the middle of the night all shot up. That is bad enough, but you have offended our people by bringing this white woman with you. You know that only our people are allowed here."

  "I'm sorry, Grandma, but it was necessary," Sam replied, switching to his grandmother's native tongue as well. "Lauren is a witness in an important case, and I was assigned to protect her. There are men in the white man's world who are trying to kill us both. Last night, had it not been for Lauren, they would have succeeded. She saved my life."

  Surprise flashed across Annie's wrinkled face. Previously she had barely spared Lauren a glance, but now her dark eyes zeroed in on her, assessing intently. When she turned back to Sam, however, she shook her head. "For that I am grateful, but it does not change things. She must go, before others know of her presence."

  Confused and curious, Lauren looked back and forth between Sam and Annie, but they continued arguing in Navajo and paid no attention to her.

  "If she goes, I go with her."

  "Do not be foolish, my grandson. I have spoken to Dr. Sani. You are in no condition to go anywhere. You must stay here and rest and let your body heal."

  Sam's unwavering gaze never left the old woman. "Not without Lauren."

  "She cannot stay."

  "If she becomes my wife she can."

  Annie's eyes widened. She looked at Lauren with new interest. "She means that much to you, this woman?"

  "Yes."

  He expected an argument and braced for it, but to his surprise his grandmother nodded. "I will arrange it."

  Sam's eyes narrowed. "That's it? You don't object?"

  "Why should I object?"

  "I thought you wanted me to marry a Navajo woman. Willow Sani, to be exact. You've been pushing her at me since she was about fourteen."

  "I merely put her in your path so that you might notice her." Annie declared with the haughty dignity of a matriarch. She crossed the room and sat down on the side of the bed beside Sam and took his hand. "I admit, I would not object if you chose a wife from among our people, but more important to me is that you are happy.

  "All of your life, I have watched you struggling to find your place, moving back and forth between your father's world and this one, never quite belonging to either. What? Did you think I did not know? That I am blind?" she demanded when she saw his startled look.

  "You never said anything."

  "It wasn't my place. You had to decide for yourself in which world your spirit truly belonged."

  Annie sighed heavily. "It is past time that you took a wife, my grandson, but I always knew that you would not do so until you found your place. I think Augustus knew that, too." She glanced at Lauren, and when her gaze met Sam's again, she smiled. "I think now you have."

  Sam looked at Lauren, too, staring at her for so long that she began to fidget. "I think you're right."

  He met his grandmother's gaze again and was surprised to see her wrinkled face stretched in a smile. "You don't mind?"

  "No, I do not mind." She patted his hand. "It is probably for the best. The difference between our worlds are not so great now as they were when your parents met. Our people are picking up more and more of the white man's ways all the time. It saddens me, but what can an old woman do? Still there are differences. Important ones that will never change. In the end, those things destroyed your parents' marriage.

  "Your father is a good man. He loved my daughter very much, and she loved him, but not even a love that strong was enough to overcome her need to be with her own people. I don't want that to happen to you. If your spirit belongs in the white man's world, that is where you should be." She patted his hand again and smiled. "But no matter which you choose, you will always be my grandson, and as long as the sun rises you and your wife will be welcomed here."

  Sam stared at her, his chest tight, so tight he forgot about his aching shoulder. He knew that this conversation marked a momentous turning point, that what he said next would alter the course of his life and in some ways change forever his relationships with the people who lived here. A part of him wanted to take it back, to say he'd changed his mind and cling to the familiar. But in his heart, he knew his grandmother was right. He had to make a choice.

  "You're a wise woman, Grandma," he said quietly.

  She nodded, and if there was a hint of sadness in her eyes, it only made him love her more.

  Bending forward, Annie kissed his cheek. "I will go now and make the arrangements."

  "What was that about?" Lauren asked when she had gone. "Do I have to leave?"

  "No."

  "Oh, thank goodness." Lauren exhaled a long sigh and put her hand over her heart. "That's a relief. What did you say to change her mind? And what about the others? Won't they object?"

  "No. In a few days, there won't be any reason. We're getting married."

  Eighteen

  "We're what?"

  "I said we're getting married."

  Lauren stared at Sam. He'd made the statement so matter-of-factly she thought surely she'd heard him wrong, but apparently not.

  She couldn't breathe. Shock, excitement, hope and a host of other emotions careened through her, threatened to overwhelm her. "You... you're asking me to marry you?"

  "It's the best solution. I'm in no shape to leave here right now and I doubt that Annie would let me if I tried. And I'm sure as hell not going to let you leave without me. If you're my wife, no one will complain. Nor will anyone be tempted to notify the authorities that we're here. Navajo people protect their own.

  "Anyway, this is the safest place for us to hide out until the trial."

  "I...I see. Then you, uh...you don't intend for this marriage to last?" She did her best to keep her expression neutral and her tone merely curious, but inside she felt as though a giant hand were squeezing her heart.

  For several seconds Sam stared at her in that intent way he had. Finally he shrugged his uninjured shoulder. "It doesn't have to be."

  What did that mean? Lauren wondered. That he was willing to give marriage a try if she was? Or that it didn't matter to him, one way or the other? She didn't know whether to be insulted or hopeful.

  "What about Willow?"

  "What about her?"

  "She's in love with you."

  "She may think she is, but that's only because she's been pointed in that direction by my grandmother. I've never encouraged her."

  Lauren sighed. "It will still break her heart."

  "I'm sorry for that, but she'll get over it. She's just a girl." He waited a beat, then asked, "So? Are we getting married or not?"

  "I..."

  "Look, the way I see it, we don't have much choice," he insisted in a voice edged with impatience. "Even if we could stay here a few days while I healed without anyone objecting, I guarantee you that as soon as we left the reservation those guys would be on us like a duck on a June bug."

  "You think they know we're here?"

  Sam hesitated. "Maybe. Maybe not. Not yet, anyway. They'll eventually put two and two together and get suspicious, but without a court order they won't force their way into this area."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "The Bureau has received a lot of bad press in recent years. The last thing they want is more. You need evidence, or at least strong probable cause, to get a search warrant. No judge is going to issue one on an agent's hunch.

  "Actually I doubt they'd even try for one. They know that to search an area of this size would take an all-out army invasion, and that's not going to happen."

  "How can you be so sure?" Lauren asked.
"We've been the target of a full-scale manhunt for a week. Why would they back off now?"

  "A couple of reasons. First of all, we're no longer in the wilderness with no witnesses around. I'd bet good money that every one of those guys who flew to the crash site were on the take from Carlo. That's why their ringleader picked them for the assignment.

  "It should've been easy. They fly in and verify the kill. If we'd survived the crash they take us out however they can, and no one's the wiser. Now that we're back among people, they have to watch their step.

  "Second, up until now the handful of agents on Giovessi's payroll have been agitating the brass and feeding them false information so that they could keep up a full-scale hunt for us, but I think my friend Edward has enough clout to put an end to that. He's given his personal guarantee to the brass that I'll have you at that courthouse for the trial."

  "I hope you're right," Lauren said, though she did not sound convinced.

  "I won't lie to you, babe. Giovessi's guys will keep looking on their own. You can count on it. They have no choice. If they don't shut us up, they go to prison. But at least with Edward vouching for us they won't have the full might of the Bureau behind them anymore.

  "So you see, if we get married we can just lay low here until you have to show up for the trial."

  Lauren twisted her hands together, and gazed at Sam, torn.

  Though they hadn't known each other but a short while, the time she and Sam had shared had been packed with more intensity and horrendous experiences than most people go through in a lifetime together. Under such conditions, with all the polite veneer of civilization stripped away, you learned more about a person in one week than in a year of socializing.

  Yes, Sam was tough and taciturn, a remote loner who guarded his heart by keeping his thoughts to himself and his emotions under wrap. She suspected that was the result of a lifetime of being torn between two cultures, of never feeling completely accepted by either, never sure of exactly who he was or where he belonged. In spite of all that, as Lauren had learned firsthand, he was a man of strength and character, dedicated, honest and absolutely reliable.

  In the beginning she had bitterly resented being dependent on Sam, but during the past week he'd taught her the true meaning of self-reliance, and that some situations required cooperation and trust.

  Gradually she had come to realize that behind that remote, sometimes forbidding face he presented to the world, Sam Rawlins was a man with a surprising capacity for tenderness and caring, a man of unshakable loyalty. Sam would never use a woman to gain social status and wealth, then abandon her when she was no longer of any use to him—the way Collin had. Lauren was sure of that.

  She knew with absolute certainty that she loved this difficult, complicated man. Deeply and irrevocably. She would like nothing better than to marry him and spend the remainder of her life with him...but not this way.

  Still, what choice did she have? She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "All right, Sam. I'll marry you."

  Lauren thought she saw something flash in Sam's eyes, but then he blinked, and it was gone, and she told herself that she had probably imagined it.

  Sam nodded matter-of-factly, as though they had just decided something as mundane as what to order for dinner or what movie to see. "Good. Now, if you don't mind, I think I will take some breakfast."

  "Oh. Yes, of course. You must be starving. I'll be right back."

  She hurried from the room, but when she stepped out into the narrow hallway she came face-to-face with Willow Sani. The young woman's expression revealed that she had been eavesdropping and stopped Lauren in her tracks. Her heart clinched at the pain in the girl's eyes. "Oh, Willow, I'm so sorry."

  "No, do not be." Willow met Lauren's gaze. "You are the one he wants."

  "Oh, but you're wrong. You heard him. He's just trying to protect me. Really."

  A small, sad smile curved Willow's mouth. "No, it is you who are wrong. Sam would never marry a woman he did not love. If all he wanted was to keep you safe, he would find another way."

  Lauren's heart skipped a beat. Was it possible...? No, of course not. It couldn't be. Yet...he had told her that he loved her, but she had chalked that up to feverish delirium.

  Willow turned to leave. "I must go now. I just stopped by to see how Sam was doing."

  "Willow—"

  "No, please. Do not concern yourself with me," she insisted. "I will be fine." With painful dignity, she walked back down the narrow hallway with her head held high.

  Lauren and Sam were married at sunset the next day. Sam was still weak, and she worried that he was in no condition to be out of bed, but he brushed aside her concerns. Though unsteady on his feet, with the help of his cousin Larry, he walked the hundred feet or so to the spot beside a spectacular sandstone formation that his grandmother had chosen for the ceremony.

  Twenty or so of Sam's Navajo family and friends had already gathered there by the time the wedding party arrived, including Willow Sani and her brother. Sam was shocked when his father emerged from the group, followed by Eunice and Walter.

  "Dad! What are you doing here?"

  "You're my son. Where else would I be?"

  "That goes for your aunt and me, too," Walter said as Eunice hugged Lauren.

  Augustus gave Sam a quick once-over, frowning as he took in his son's pallor and the sling that held his right arm immobile. "Anyway, I wanted to see for myself how you were doing. Larry telephoned and told me what happened, and assured me that you'd live, but ever since I picked up my truck, all shot to hell and gone, I've been worried sick."

  "I'm sorry about the truck. I'll pay to have it repaired."

  "To hell with the damned truck!" Augustus thundered. "It's you that I'm worried about. Dammit, son, don't you have any idea how much you mean to me?"

  Sam's face remained immobile, but as he and his father regarded each other Lauren saw his throat work, and she knew he was fighting to control his emotions.

  Finally he muttered a "Thanks, Dad" and reached out with his good arm to initiate an embrace. Augustus reciprocated with alacrity, wrapping his son in a bear hug, his eyes squeezed shut.

  When the two parted, Augustus gave Sam another once-over. "How are you really doing, son?"

  "I'm fine. Give me a week, and I'll be good as new. But how did you know Lauren and I were getting married?"

  "Your grandmother sent a message through mutual friends, bless her."

  Sam, who seldom showed a reaction to anything, looked so shocked his expression was almost comical. "You're kidding. Grandma Zah invited you?"

  "That's right. She knew we'd want to be here."

  "But this area is off-limits to everyone but Navajos."

  "Do not concern yourself. Your father and aunt and uncle are here as my guests."

  Sam turned to find his grandmother standing behind him, dressed in her best, red-velvet gathered tiered skirt and hip-length blue overblouse, cinched at the waist with a belt made of silver discs. Around her shoulders was a brightly colored blanket.

  He shook his head. "I didn't even know you were on speaking terms with Dad and his family."

  "Our paths no longer cross, but your father and I are not enemies. Why would we be? We both loved my daughter."

  Sam cast a worried look around. "Look, I'm happy you came, Dad. I really am. But I'm not sure it was such a good idea. You may have led Carlo's men to us. I'm sure they've got both ranches staked out."

  "Oh, they do indeed. But give me some credit, son. Those guys are watching the entrances to the ranches right now, sitting in their cars drinking bad coffee out of a thermos and freezing their arses off. There are more ways in and out of there than through the gates. We drove out through the back pastures onto federal land, then took a series of Forest Service roads to the highway. We'll go back the same way. Trust me, they'll never know we were gone.

  "Now step aside and let me see my soon-to-be daughter-in-law."

  Augustus took both of Lauren's ha
nds in his and looked at her admiringly. "Welcome to the family, Lauren."

  "Thank you, sir."

  "No sir. Call me Dad."

  He looked her up and down. Dressed much as Annie was, in a borrowed, swirly green velvet skirt, white, full-sleeved blouse with a colorful Navajo blanket wrapped around her shoulders, Lauren felt self-conscious and not in the least bridelike. However, when Augustus's gaze met hers once again his eyes were misty and his craggy face, so much like Sam's, had softened. "Ah, just look at you. Child, if you aren't a sight for these tired old eyes. You remind me of my own beautiful bride."

  Though touched by the compliment, his obvious delight made her feel incredibly guilty. "That's very sweet of you, Mr. Rawlins, but I feel I should tell you—"

  Sam clamped his hand around her elbow. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

  The following few minutes seemed surreal to Lauren. Just a little over a week ago her life had been so predictable. Monday through Friday she taught music to bored college students, Wednesday nights she gave a private concert for her boss and Friday and Saturday evenings she played piano at Club Classico. It was ordinary and uneventful, and not at all the life for which, up until two years ago, she had seemed destined, but she had adapted.

  Now, here she stood, feeling like an insignificant speck in this vast land of harsh, untamed beauty, surrounded by people she didn't know, whose culture was foreign to her, pledging her life to a man who hadn't even said he loved her. Not when he was awake and coherent, anyway.

  A light snow had fallen the previous night, and it covered the desert in a veil of white and lay on the red sandstone formations like frosting on a cake, adding to the unreal feeling that enveloped her.

  Lauren didn't understand a word of the Navajo ceremony, nor the significance of the rituals, but she muddled through with a bit of prodding from Annie and Sam. Before she knew it, everyone was crowding around, thumping her and Sam on their backs and congratulating them.

  Then they all crowded into Annie Zah's small house to celebrate.