Forever Angels

by Simmons, Trana Mae

  "Since I haven't been able to get close enough to claim that dance, maybe I can escort you out to get your supper basket, Miss Foster."

  Tess rose to her feet and took Doc Calder's proffered arm. "I'd be delighted, Doctor," she said with a smile. "But I wouldn't want your wife to scratch my eyes out when she finds me with her handsome husband."

  Doc Calder chuckled and patted Tess's hand. "Mandy's helping the women set things up. And she knows I've been wanting to talk to you. In fact, she's the one who saw you going into the newspaper office and mentioned it to me. We have our living quarters above my office. Let's stop a second so you can meet her."

  Doc Calder steered Tess to the far end of the tables now lining one wall toward a petite, gray-haired woman. The moment the woman turned at her husband's greeting, Tess could feel the love flowing between the two people. Mandy Calder had no reason to doubt her husband's fidelity, and Tess immediately regretted her flirtatious remark to the doctor.

  "I'm so glad to finally get to meet you, Miss Foster," Mandy said as she took Tess's hand. "Ed's told me so much about you, and we think the world of Stone and the kids. Maybe now that your ankle's healed, you can ride in for a visit once and a while. I don't get out much while Ed's off here and there tending his patients. Someone has to keep the office open."

  "I'd really enjoy that," Tess agreed, feeling an instant liking for the doctor's wife. "And please call me Tess."

  "Of course. Now you two better go get Tess's basket in here. The men need to put something in their stomachs to counteract that whiskey they've been sneaking outside to sample."

  Doc Calder took Tess's arm again and led her toward the doorway. Though Tess caught a flash of pale blue at the edge of her eyes and saw Rose unloading her picnic basket onto the already fast-filling tables, she gratefully realized Stone was no longer at Rose's side. She and the doctor threaded their way through wagons and buggies until they reached Stone's wagon, but Tess didn't see Stone anywhere. Maybe he was visiting that hidden whiskey keg, she mused.

  She hadn't caught any hint of whiskey on his breath the one dance they had managed to steal for themselves, though. As always, there was a tang of mint intermingled with the smell of his aftershave. She had noticed that his evening beard already shadowed his face, but it only made him that much more handsome.

  Too bad the dance had been a fast-paced square dance. The only time she could properly touch those broad shoulders in that perfectly tailored black coat was during the swing your partner calls. She really needed to remember to tell him how wonderful he looked in that white shirt and string tie. Of course, he looked just as good without any shirt at all. And she preferred him in the snug fitting denims he wore at the ranch to the looser dress pants he wore with his jacket.

  "Uh...."

  Doc Calder cleared his throat and Tess shook herself back to reality when she realized they had been standing by the wagon for at least a minute. She started to reach for the picnic basket, but Doc Calder spoke again.

  "Like I mentioned, Tess, Mandy saw you go into the newspaper office. I guess maybe you were checking out that little matter we started to discuss in my office."

  "I was," Tess said. "And I intend to talk to Stone about it just as soon as I can."

  "Let me explain to you what it means...."

  "I'm perfectly capable of understanding that report from the territorial legislature," Tess interrupted. "A first year law student could read that legal mess."

  "But most women couldn't."

  "This woman can," Tess replied with a grim set to her lips. "The bottom line is that all the previous homesteads have to be proved up before the new land rush next month if they're in the last year of their five-year period. And they've slapped a new tax on the lands that has to be paid on prove up."

  "That's right," Doc said admiringly. "And the prove up is...."

  "Stone doesn't have any problem complying with that. He has a home built and a barn. He even has most of his acreage fenced, though I can't recall if that was one of the old prove up clauses."

  "Old?" Doc mused with a quirked eyebrow.

  "And he certainly has enough stock on the homestead," Tess hurried to say in an attempt to distract Doc from her slip of tongue. "All he has to do is pay that tax assessment."

  "That's where the problem might be," Doc explained. "Not only to Stone, but to some others in the territory. You see, a lot of the settlers are land rich and cash poor. Most of them, though, have had a chance to be forewarned of the new laws and plan for the tax. Since Stone doesn't even know about it yet, and since the deadline's coming up pretty fast...."

  "If you two are done discussing my private business, I think we better get back in there and eat before we start home, Tess. Flower and Rain have to be up early."

  Tess's eyes flew to the shadowy figure she now saw standing beneath a nearby cottonwood. Stone stepped out into the moonlight, and she stifled a gasp as she caught the deadly glint in his eyes and the strained line of his normally full lips.

  "Stone, we...." She lifted a hand toward him, but Stone turned abruptly away.

  "I'll see you inside," he tossed over his shoulder.

  "Darn his masculine pride," Tess muttered. "He could at least discuss things with me."

  "Men's business," Doc Calder informed her. "We don't like to worry pretty feminine heads with financial matters."

  "Yeah," Tess said as she turned her blazing green eyes back on the doctor. "Women in this time are just supposed to be pretty ornaments that drop a baby for their men at least once a year. Well, let me tell you, Doctor, one of these days women are going to vote and hold down a hell of a lot of jobs you men seem to think they're not smart enough to do now. They'll run some of the biggest companies in the United States!"

  "Mandy and I never could have any children," Doc said in a soft voice. "Even with all I learned about healing to become a doctor, I never could give her that."

  The fire died in Tess's eyes, and her anger diffused. "I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't know."

  "No reason you should." Doc Calder gave a shrug and picked up the picnic basket. "And, unlike most men in this time, I make sure Mandy knows all about my finances. She keeps the books for my practice and knows to a penny how much we owe and who owes us what — not that a lot of it will ever be collected. However...." He patted his pudgy stomach. "We never worry about food. Even if a lot of people are short cash to pay for their doctorin' care, they make it up by sharin' their gardens with us — and meat at butcherin' time."

  Somewhat abashed, Tess slipped her hand beneath Doc's elbow and walked with him back toward the schoolhouse. "It's different with you, though, Doc. You and Mandy are man and wife. I guess Stone had a right to be angry about me discussing his private affairs, but surely he'll accept some help from me if it becomes necessary."

  "Don't count on it. Man like Stone's got too much pride to let a woman bail him out of a jam."

  "That's not pride — that's muleheadedness," Tess said with a snort. "But...maybe there's a better way."

  Doc gazed down at her with a questioning look, but Tess only winked at him and urged him on through the door. She took the picnic basket from him and headed for the end of the table where Mandy stood. While she shoved aside dishes to make room for her own food, Tess whispered to Mandy and received the elderly woman's agreement to slip away for a private talk as soon as the men were fed.

  "I'll take Pa's plate to him, if you want, Tess."

  Tess turned at Flower's voice to find the young girl standing at her elbow. "I thought you might be planning on eating with that young man who bought your dinner, Flower," she teased. "What was his name? Jess? Jeff?"

  "Johnny," Flower said with a laugh. "And I am, but I thought it might mellow Pa a little if I took him his plate like a dutiful daughter first. Then maybe he wouldn't glower at Johnny and me while we ate."

  "Well, I've got a little making up to do to your pa myself. So I hate to disappoint you, but I really wanted to be the one to wait on S
tone for this meal."

  "All right. Johnny and I'll just pretend we don't see Pa glaring. By the way...." She leaned forward. "Pa likes the white meat best."

  "Gotcha," Tess said.

  A few minutes later, Tess carried the brimming plate in both hands as she skittered between the other diners in search of Stone. When she passed the end of the line at the table, she turned to look behind her and saw Rose picking up a heavily laden plate. As well as she knew her own name, Tess was convinced that Rose intended to be the one to get to Stone first. Whirling around, she ran into an unyielding chest and barely managed to keep the food on the plate from sliding to the floor.

  "Whoops!" she said with a gay laugh when she looked up into Stone's face. "I'd sure have hated to offer you your meal off the floor!"

  Stone's lips curved into a smile as he stared down into Tess's twinkling eyes. Darned if he could stay mad at her when she looked at him like that. Besides, there would still be a few dances after the meal — slower and lazier dances — and he couldn't ask her for one of those dances if he was pretending anger at her for sticking that cute nose where it didn't belong.

  "I'm glad you remembered your place," he told her in a semi-stern voice. "The boss always gets fed first."

  Tess managed a slight curtsey, executing it as she imagined the ladies in a romance novel might, and offered him the plate. "Your meal, my lord," she said with a simper.

  Stone laughed and shook his head as he accepted the plate. "You don't fit the pattern of an obedient servant, Tess, honey." He slipped his free hand around her waist. "Come on. I'll explain the rules to you a little better while we eat."

  "But I should be helping the women feed the men," Tess said, saucily tilting her head. "Isn't that one of the rules — the men eat first? I should be standing in the serving line. Besides, I didn't bring a plate for myself."

  "We'll share this one. And you need to rest your ankle before the last round of dancing."

  Stone led her to a corner of the room and settled her on a vacant bench. Tess instinctively looked around for Rose and saw her glowering at them from near the serving tables. As soon as Rose noticed Tess's glance, she turned a brilliant smile on the nearest man and walked toward him, the plate in her hands extended.

  "Maybe we should check on the kids first," Stone said as he set the food down between them.

  "They're fine. I just saw Flower, and Rain's over there with that bunch of boys his own age, waiting to go through the serving line."

  "Who's Flower eating with?" Stone asked with a frown.

  "Johnny, of course. Stone, you've got to realize she's growing up. There's going to be a lot of young men paying attention to her."

  "Johnny's all right, I guess," Stone grumbled. "At least his family's not bigoted about anyone with Indian blood. But I'm gonna be damned careful who I let come courtin' Flower. There's still a lot of whites who think an Indian woman is only good for one thing."

  Tess gasped as a flash of anger stole through her. "That's ridiculous! Why, if I hear anyone talk like that, I'll...I'll...."

  "You'll hear it," Stone promised. "And probably a lot worse. Hell, we fought the Indians for two hundred years. I was in a few skirmishes myself when I was leading wagon trains. You don't think that kind of enmity is going to just disappear, do you? Just because the slaves were freed in the South didn't assure them a a comparable standing with the whites. And we've stuck the Indians on reservations, kept them separate from us. How can we ever hope to integrate the two cultures that way?"

  "In my time we've got laws against prejudice."

  Stone quirked an eyebrow. "And can your laws legislate a person's mind and emotions? I suppose everyone stops and pages through his non-prejudice handbook before he makes a crude remark to someone of another race."

  "No," Tess admitted. "We've still got a lot of disparity among the races, and even hate groups. I don't know if it will ever get wiped out. Oh, Stone, I don't want Flower to have to go through that."

  "Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing, taking Flower and Rain to raise," Stone mused. "But the alternative wasn't much better. There's prejudice among the Indians, too, that the kids' white blood would bring out, and Silver Eagle's getting up there. He couldn't protect them forever. And I sure as heck wouldn't want my kids in one of the schools springing up for the reservation kids. They cut the kids' hair — stick them in white men's clothes — insist they speak English and pound every bit of their Indian beliefs out of their heads. The damned fools in Washington think the only way to blend the Indians in with us is to make them as white as they can."

  "There's a way to fight things like that — by sending people to Washington." Tess leaned forward. "You'd make a good advocate for the Indians, Stone, especially since you're familiar with the Indian culture. You could make a difference."

  "And who'd run the ranch while I was gone — the ranch that supports me and the kids? The ranch that...."

  Stone abruptly shoved the plate of food toward Tess and stood. "I'm not really hungry. I'm gonna get some air before the dancing starts again."

  He started to turn away, then glanced down at Tess with a wry grin. "Sorry. I didn't mean to spoil our meal. Save me at least one dance, will you?"

  Tess nodded dejectedly and watched him walk away, hands thrust into his pockets and shoulders slumped. She yearned to follow him and share his worry over losing the ranch. Sure as heck that was what he would be thinking about as he paced out under the stars. But she had her own plan. Hopefully, it would be a much more sensible solution to the unfair law threatening Stone's ranch than just stewing about it.

  Picking up the chicken breast, Tess ate it, then stood and carried the still full plate over to set it with the growing pile of dirty dishes the men were leaving for the women to wash. She caught Mandy's eye and nodded toward the back door of the schoolhouse. The elderly woman immediately rose and followed as Tess walked out the opposite door from where Stone had gone.

  An hour later, Angela gazed down at the scene below her. Sleeping babies lay on blankets spread near the walls. A few of the older children still clung drowsily to wakefulness, determined to take advantage of their parents' tolerance for their delayed bedtimes on this one night. More children were already curled up in wagon beds outside. Worn out from their active day, they would wake in their own beds in the morning, never even remembering being carried into their homes.

  A few of the lanterns had been doused so the babies could sleep in the shadows, and Angela watched Tess float around the floor in Stone's arms, a dreamy expression on her face. The square dance caller's voice was silent now. Instead of the energetic, foot-stomping music earlier in the evening, the fiddler gently plied his bow, accompanied by two guitar players, strumming quiet chords.

  One more dance, probably, Angela thought. A goodnight dance to finish an evening everyone hates to see end.

  She'd always loved to dance. In fact, she and her fiance had met at a dance much like this one, held at the school where she taught. Almost from the first step of the Virginia Reel, they had both known they had stumbled onto something special.

  "I suppose you're still too danged mad at me to dance," Michael said in a gruff voice.

  Angela slipped a look at him, where he stood as far away from her as he could on the other edge of the cloud. A mixture of a pout and a little hope filled his face.

  "I don't know if guardian angels are supposed to dance," she said softly.

  "Well, if you don't know for sure, you can't know if there's a rule against it," Michael said, the pout giving way to the hope. "Listen, they're going into the last dance."

  Somewhat shyly, Michael held out his arms, and Angela glided across the cloud. "I guess just one dance wouldn't hurt," she said as he drew her into the first waltz steps.

  A second later, she looked up at him in wonder. "You're an awfully good dancer."

  "I wasn't always on the road in my truck, you know. And I wasn't always old. In my day, I could cotton-eye and two-step w
ith the best of them. But I've always loved a waltz."

  "Me, too. The slow dances always seem to survive, don't they? I mean, even when teenagers come up with all the different new dance gyrations that scandalize their parents, they always keep the slow dances, too."

  "Uh huh. There's just something about a nice, slow dance between two people that lets them show their feelings for each other in public in an accepted way. Look at Tess and Stone. Why, they're almost making love to each other with their eyes."

  "Michael!"

  Angela twisted out of his arms with a wrench, then clasped a hand over her mouth in horror when Michael teetered on the edge of the cloud. She quickly made a grab for him, but her hand feel an inch short. The pudgy little angel tumbled down among the dancers, and she knelt with her hand still extended, her blue eyes wide.

  Of course, no one on the floor noticed. The waft of breeze through the room stirred a few curls on the women's heads, but they attributed it to the open doors of the schoolroom. As soon as he gained control of his wings, Michael zipped back above the dancers and hovered against the ceiling, arms crossed as he silently glared at his companion.

  Angela rose to her feet. "Uh...I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean...." She dropped her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "Th...thank you for the dance, Michael," she murmured.

  Michael's defiant stance wilted. Good grief, he'd caught a catch in her voice. Surely she wasn't going to cry. Guardian angels didn't cry, did they?

  Slowly he drifted down to the cloud and settled beside Angela. "Oh, shoot. It's O.K. Look, it was an accident. Let's finish our dance. Please?"

  Tess lazily opened her eyes and glanced over Stone's shoulder. She saw Rain sitting in one of the chairs against the wall, but he wasn't watching the dancers. Instead, he gazed up at the ceiling, not a hint of the sleepiness she had seen earlier on his face.