They walked up the steps. “She was happy for the first time since her parents died, and I took it away from her because of my hate and jealousy. I want Joy to be happy. You make her happy.” He stopped outside of the door. “I snapped at you back there, out of reflex. Joy was unconscious, and I didn’t think. I just protected her. I’d understand if you never forgave me for all I’ve done. Either way, I’ll make sure you and Joy are married.” They went into the house.
Soaring Eagle was sitting on the couch, waiting for the shaman to finish. “I sent Samson home. I’ll let him know how she’s doing later.”
“You three seem to be doing fine now. I’ll be at the store. Let me know how she’s doing.”
Lucas left out with Pops, so Soaring Eagle caught Jared up on Joy’s condition. A few minutes later, Lucas returned with Reverend Richardson.
“Lucas, I can’t do this.”
Lucas sat with the others. “Yes you can and yes you will. Reverend, this is Jared, Joy’s fiancé.” They shook. “Have a seat, Reverend.”
“I can’t marry her if she doesn’t want to be married.”
Lucas sat back. “She’s pregnant and in love with Jared. She’s also emotional right now and won’t marry him. Now the way I see it, I can say her vows and they can be married.”
Soaring Eagle couldn’t believe his ears. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea Luke.”
“What do you mean? It’s perfect and will work.”
“It isn’t that simple, Lucas,” the reverend said. “She has to sign the marriage license.”
“Soaring Eagle can convince her to sign it.”
“Me? No.”
“Do this for Joy. You know how hardheaded she is.”
Lucas had a point, but he wasn’t happy about this. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
Lucas smiled. “Looks like we’re having a wedding. Would you get the license, Reverend? Feel like getting married, Jared?” Lucas pushed the Reverend out the door. “Hurry back with the license.” He returned to Soaring Eagle and Jared.
“I’m not sure about this, Lucas,” Jared said.
“Do you know how stubborn she is? She’s worse than I am. She won’t marry you on general principle. You two need our assistance.”
A few minutes later, Reverend Richardson returned with the license. He showed Soaring Eagle where she needed to sign. Soaring Eagle went into Joy’s room and leaned on the bed. “Wake up, Joy.”
Eyes wild, she stirred. “Soaring Eagle, I saw him. He’s here. How did he get here? What does he want from me? Make him go away?”
He smoothed her hair behind her ear. “If you marry me, he’ll go away for good. I asked the reverend for a marriage license. Just sign on this line.” He handed her a pen and placed the license on a book so she could write easily.
“I don’t want to marry you.”
“It’s in name only.” He tapped the area for her to sign. “It’s the only answer.” The look of doom on her face as she signed bruised his ego, but this wasn’t about his ego. “Good, girl. Now go to sleep, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
Soaring Eagle returned to the others with the signed license in hand. Jared took the license. “How did you get her to sign?”
He grinned. “I told her if she married me, you’d leave her alone forever. She jumped at the chance to sign.” Lucas nudged him. “Well, maybe not jumped.”
May had to be Joy’s favorite month of the year. All of the flowers were in full bloom, the weather was perfect outside and the days had lengthened. On this particular morning, she walked extra far to gather her thoughts. Had she actually married Soaring Eagle, or was it part of her bad dream? Lucas, Soaring Eagle, and Jared were all asleep in the living room when she snuck out of the house.
“Samson, what are you doing out so early?”
Samson walked beside her. “I had a feeling you’d be walking. I just wanted to keep you company.”
“I’m heading home. Would you like to eat breakfast with us? Pops always cooks. I’ve never seen anyone eat as much as that man.” They walked back to the cabin, laughing and making fun of each other.
“Try not to wake them. I can hear Pops in the kitchen.” They snuck past the three sleeping men and found Pops in the kitchen as Joy had said. They greeted each other, Samson took a seat at the table, and Joy started shelling pecans.
“Pops, I had the most God awful dream last night.”
Samson snickered. “Yeah, tell him, Joy.”
She glared at Samson, then turned her attention back to Pops. “As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I had the most God awful dream last night. I dreamt I married Soaring Eagle”
Soaring Eagle stood in the doorway, stretching. “What’s wrong with that?” He sat at the table.
She hugged him. “You know I love you, but we’d drive each other crazy by the end of the week,” she teased.
“Come here, wife.” He pulled her down into his lap.
“Why is Jared still here?” Samson asked. “I’d thought Lucas would have thrown him out by now.”
Pops set the food on the table. They all sat, said grace, and began eating. “I thought I’d come home to a war. What’s going on?” Pops asked.
Soaring Eagle grinned at Joy. “I think I’ll let Lucas tell you.” As if on cue, Lucas entered the kitchen with Jared close behind. “Speak of the devil.” He moved to the other side of the room.
Joy didn’t look at Jared. “Well, Lucas, why have you allowed this…this…yuck to foul the smell of Pops’ house?”
Lucas knelt in front of her chair. “Don’t be like that, Joy.” He gazed into her eyes and grinned. “You know you love Jared.” She turned away from him, away from the truth. He turned her chin back toward him with his fingers. “I set things straight yesterday, Joy.” Soaring Eagle left the room.
“What are you talking about, Lucas?”
Soaring Eagle returned and handed Lucas the marriage license. “You were married yesterday.”
Joy’s face fell into her hands. “Oh, no, please tell me you’re joking. I love Soaring Eagle as a friend. I don’t want to be married to him. I was upset yesterday and didn’t know what I was doing. Please tell me you’re joking. Please.”
Lucas looked around at Soaring Eagle, Jared, then back to Joy.
Jared stepped behind Lucas.
Lucas cleared his throat. “You didn’t marry Soaring Eagle, Joy.” He handed her the marriage license. “You married Jared.” He reached back for Jared to take his place.
As they switched places, he whispered to Jared, “She is yours now.”
Jared knelt and placed his hands on her knee to balance himself. She was reading the license. There was no way this was happening. She wasn’t married. This was a fake license. It had to be.
“I love you, Joy. We can move somewhere in the area if you wish to stay near your family.”
Her gaze slowly moved from the license to Jared’s big green eyes, then her gaze continued on to Lucas and Soaring Eagle. Very calmly she asked, “You tricked me into signing this?” Soaring Eagle half-nodded. “But what about my vows? I didn’t say any.” Lucas raised his hand slightly. She looked at Jared. “And you said your part?”
Pops and Samson both jumped up from their seats to do what, Joy didn’t know, but she wouldn’t allow them to fight her battles. She stood, saying, “Pops, Samson let me handle this.”
Jared stood beside Lucas and Soaring Eagle. She went to them, and pointed at Lucas, “You said my vows,” pointed at Jared, “you said your vows,” pointed at Soaring Eagle, “and you had the license signed.” She plopped her hands on her hips. “Congratulations! You three are married to each other. I hope you enjoy your lives together. I’m going home.” She calmly picked up her bowl of nuts and berries and walked out with Samson following close behind.
Once outside, and seeing no one following besides Samson, Joy fell apart. She dropped the bowl, wrapped her arms around Samson, laid her head on his broad chest and cried.
; He caressed her back. “It will be all right, Joy. We’ll think of something.” He wiped the tears from her face. “Let’s get you home.” He took her by the hand and led her to Lucas’s place.
Chapter Twenty
Joy threw the last of her clothing in a satchel to load on the wagon. She yanked the zipper and headed for the bedroom door, but Lucas wouldn’t let her pass. “Get out of my way, Lucas.” She packed as fast as she could, hoping to be gone before Pops finished with them. While she packed, Samson loaded the wagon with her crib and other baby accessories.
Blocking the doorway, Lucas refused to allow her to leave the room. “You can’t stay there alone. It’s too dangerous. Anything could happen. I know you’re mad with me, so stay with Pops. I’m not about to permit you to stay alone. That’s just not going to happen, and you can throw as many fits as you want.”
Soaring Eagle and Jared flanked him for support. Joy glared at the trio. “So it’s like that, is it?” She dropped the satchel to the floor and backed away, seemingly puffing up larger than the three oversized men. “You think you can make me stay against my will? You honestly believe that?” She laughed so hard a tear dropped from her eye. “You are really funny.”
“Joy, I love you, but there is no way I’m allowing you to return to the mountain in your condition. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“You don’t get it, do you? You really just don’t understand the words coming out of my mouth.” She started pacing. “I hate you. I hate them, but I hate you the most. You said you’d never abandon me again. You said you’d love the baby. You said you accepted the baby, even though his father is white. When Ma died, you couldn’t deal with her death, so you abandoned me, giving me to the Garcias. Now you can’t deal with me having a half-white baby, so you’ve abandoned me again. This time giving me to a white man.”
“Joy, it isn’t like that,” he said. “I was wrong to break you two up. I want for you to be married to Jared.”
“Poppycock! You…hate…white…people. You have never said one good word about a white man, and now you expect me to believe you had an epiphany and want for Jared and me to be married. I’m not stupid. You don’t want my baby because his father is white, that’s why you want me and Jared to be married.”
Lucas crossed the room to Joy. “You don’t understand.
She began swinging at him. “Don’t come near me.”
Soaring Eagle grabbed him. “Leave her be, Lucas. You don’t want to harm the baby.”
Jared slowly approached Joy. “I’m sorry for taking so long to come for you. I know you’re upset. I don’t blame you. Let’s go home, Joy. We can come back next summer and show everyone our baby.”
Joy cocked her head to the side and stared at him. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m going to my home. What is the matter with you three? You were all so intelligent at one point in time.” She picked up her satchel to leave. “When you sold me, you also sold the baby. Now, it is my baby, not our baby. I don’t know why you are here. Did you run out of money already and came for another payment from Lucas?”
“Wha…what are you talking about?”
Joy smirked. “Humph, the way I see it, you must have figured out I was pregnant just as the others did, and now you want my baby. What are you planning on doing, selling it back to me?”
“Joy!” Soaring Eagle chastised.
She turned her fury on him. “And don’t get me started on you. How could you betray me like this?” She stormed out of the room, leaving all three men behind, staring at each other.
Lucas slumped to the bed in defeat. He’d lost his only family and couldn’t win her back. She’d never forgive him. He lay on the bed fully and hugged a pillow as memories of her face when he’d left her alone on the mountain as a child flooded his mind’s eye. The guilt of what he’d done came to the forefront and tore at his soul. “I’m sorry, Joy.”
Not only had he turned Joy against him, but he’d ruined any chance at her finding happiness with Jared. He looked over at the beaten man.
Jared sat in the rocker with his face in his hands. “She thinks I sold her.” He shook his head. “She thinks I sold her like a slave.” He leaned back in the rocker and ran his fingers through his hair. “What have I done? Oh, my God, she thinks I sold her.”
Soaring Eagle bumped the side of the bed with his leg. “Get up, Luke. This is no time to feel sorry for yourself. We have to help Joy.”
Lucas heard, but couldn’t hear.
“Women are already irrational,” Soaring Eagle continued. “Add onto that she’s angry, hurt, and pregnant. Her emotions are running on high. If you give up now you will be abandoning her for real. You can’t forfeit just because she fights you. That’s what you did when she was a child. Don’t make the same mistake twice. Don’t give in.” He held his hand out to Lucas.
Lucas drew in a deep breath. He’d given up when she was a child, but not this time. This time he would do right by Joy, whether she liked it or not. He sat up and embraced his friend. “Where were you nine years ago?” He turned to Jared. “Get up, man. You ready to win back your wife?”
Jared laughed hysterically. “I’m an idiot. Why did I think she was mad at me for taking so long to come for her? I didn’t even think about the gold. I’m rich. I just needed the gold until my money arrived. I have never sold a human being in my life.” He lowered his head into his palms. “I love Joy, and she thinks I sold her. She’ll never forgive me.”
Soaring Eagle went to his side. “This isn’t about her forgiving you. Right now we need to protect her from herself. I don’t know who’s more hardheaded, Joy or Lucas. At this point in time, it doesn’t matter. She’s returning to the mountain to live alone. There is no way we can stop her. There is also no way she can stop us from following her and making sure she’s safe.”
Jared rose from his seat. “I have to go alone. She’s my wife, and that’s my baby. Give me time to work this out with her.”
“I can’t abandon her, Jared. She’ll think I’ve left her again.”
Jared put his hand on Lucas’s shoulder. “With Joy and me it is a misunderstanding. With you and her it is much deeper. I’ll work my way back into her life, then I’ll work you in. It’ll take time though.”
Lucas peered into Jared’s sincere green eyes. Talking about irony. He would have to trust a white man to save his most valuable possession—his relationship with Joy. Joy had spoken the truth when she said he’d never said a kind word about a white man. Yet here this white man stood before him, helping to save his family. He held out his hand to Jared. “You’re a good man.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Six weeks later, Samson and Joy arrived at her mountain cabin. Finding the Miwok region of the mountains took two weeks. Their territory was vast, and Samson traveled slowly for Joy’s benefit. Once in their region, it took a little longer than Joy thought it should to find her way home.
Samson took every opportunity to show Joy she could count on him. He led them off track purposefully several times in order to spend more time with her. They became very close friends and had a bond he knew would never be broken, but she still insisted on him leaving once they arrived at the cabin. He loved her, and there was no way he would leave her on the mountain by herself.
He stood in the middle of the cabin, taking in the beauty of the craftsmanship. “I’ve never seen anything so…” He couldn’t place the word. The beauty sat beyond comprehension.
“It’s a work of art, isn’t it? My father and Lucas did this. Would you please bring the crib and bassinet in my room?”
Samson finished unloading the wagon then began putting the crib and bassinet together while Joy sat on her bed watching. “I feel guilty for keeping you from Lucas so long. I think you should head back tomorrow.”
He glanced up momentarily from his work. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“Lucas needs you at the shop. It’s been at least a month, and he’ll be angry because you helped me. Yo
u have a glorious future ahead of you, Samson. Don’t waist it on another man’s wife.”
He knew her tactic of angering him so he’d leave. It just didn’t work. He set down his tools and leaned on her lap. He’d gradually been working his way closer into her comfort zone, talking to the baby as if it was his, trying to show her he accepted it. He would give her massages to alleviate some of her discomfort and get her used to his touch.
He placed his hand on her belly, rubbing the baby as a tiny foot poked out. He glanced up and smiled with her. They loved feeling the baby move. He put his ear to her belly. “He knows I’m here. He’s telling you not to send me away.” He took her hand, brought it to his lips and closed his eyes. “Don’t make me leave, Joy.”
Joy didn’t want to be alone again, but wouldn’t ask Samson to stay because she knew he’d stay. “You need to return to Lucas. I want you to have everything you want. You’re an excellent catch. Someday you will fall in love and marry the right woman for you.”
He sat on the bed beside her and cupped her face in his hands. “I’ve already found the right woman.” He bent and kissed her lightly. “I love you, Joy.” He kissed her deeper.
Joy returned his kiss, dying inside. She would break the heart of her one true friend. She pulled back gently, trying to figure a way to let him down easily. “I love you so much, Samson. I don’t want to lose you, but I can’t marry you.” Realizing there was no easy way to break a heart, she said, “I’m in love with Jared, and I love you too much to use you. You deserve to have someone who is in love with you.”
“Your honesty is one of the reasons I admire you. I know you want love. Give me a chance. Jared…”
She put her hands on his. “Jared is out of my life. I know that, but I won’t lie to myself. I’m still in love with him. I’m moving on with my life, Samson.” She leaned on his shoulder. “A life without Jared. He is dead to me.”
“But you can’t stay here alone, think of the baby.”
“I’m not staying alone. I’m sure one of my brothers will come any day now.” Thoughts of her Indian family made her laugh. She could always depend on them. “I think Roaring Thunder can sense when I’m around. He loves to torment me, so he’ll be around.”
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