Forever Angels

by Simmons, Trana Mae

  Yesterday and last night could not have been a dream. She'd had her share of erotic dreams, but none of them had ever been as realistic as what happened between her and Stone — or lasted that long.

  Tess looked up at Sateen. And her horse was here, too. How had that happened?

  Tess frowned and tried to concentrate. She'd been climbing down the back of Saddleback. She'd heard a chitter, and looked up, thinking it was a pair of birds in the sky, even though it had almost sounded like human voices murmuring words she couldn't quite make out. She'd broken her ankle when it twisted on that rock she hadn't seen, because she'd been looking at the sky instead of the trail. She'd fallen and grabbed that bush. The backpack had started dragging her downward, and the roots had started to pull loose from the mountainside. Then a sneeze.

  Then she'd been on the hillside above Stone's cabin, and in Oklahoma ever since.

  Tess shook her head. Even her logical mind, used to dealing with all the intricacies of the law, couldn't figure this one out. All she knew was that she would fight with everything in her to keep from making that time trip in reverse.

  Suddenly Tess clapped a hand over her mouth, then leapt up and ran over to her backpack. She dug in and pulled out the little laptop computer from its nest in the side pocket and opened the disk slot. Oh, dear. There it was — the disk that contained her brief — the brief that had all the information in it to clear Robert of the charges of violating his noncompete agreement against the new owners of the company he had sold.

  The brief was so sensitive and confidential that the senior partner of the firm had ordered Tess to delete it from her office computer and only work on it at home. She had shredded all the hard copy drafts after revision and only kept a backup disk each time. She reached into the pocket on the leather laptop case and pulled out her backup copy.

  Possibly the senior partner could reconstruct the brief from the scanty case law Tess had given him in the staff meeting, but she really didn't think so. The case cites were on yet another disk, filed there in the leather case with her backup disk. Besides, it had been years since a senior partner had had to do legal research. They always depended on the associates to do that boring work.

  Tess shook her head, then laughed. There weren't even any phone lines here, where she could hook her little modem up and transmit the information to New York — the information she alone had in her possession. Even if there was a phone line, how could she key in modem commands that would transmit a hundred years to the future?

  Too bad. Maybe Robert would just have to live with the consequences of his actions. Maybe some of his old, moldy money would have to be used to pay off his contract violation, as well as any other civil fines. Golly gee, was there a prison term connected with that sort of white collar crime? Tess couldn't really remember — she'd had a meeting set up with another branch of the firm to discuss that the following Monday after she had stormed out of her office.

  She'd had good intentions — even as angry as she'd been when she went home and loaded her backpack, she'd remembered to pack the little laptop. She could have worked on the brief a little more — refining it and correcting grammar — at the camp site Saturday evening. It was to have been filed in court two weeks later.

  Two weeks were past now. Well, they were past back in her other life, weren't they? Wonder what had happened? Without that brief, the new owners had a good chance of winning a summary judgment.

  Tess realized she didn't really give a diddly squat. Granny had always said what goes around, comes around. She had no idea how much money Robert controlled, but she bet a $50 million dollar noncompete contract violation might just put a slight hole in it. And the resulting publicity in the business section of the newspaper would definitely hurt Robert's business reputation.

  Nothing she could do about it, though. Tess zipped the little computer back into its case and shoved it in the backpack. Rising, she grabbed the towel she had hung over a bush to dry, picked up the rifle and headed for the creek to wash off the sunscreen. She'd better change out of the bikini and see what she could scrounge up for supper. Stone had said something about there being trout in the creek and left her a handline, in case she wanted to go fishing.

  ~~

  Stone returned just before sundown, with six Cherokee men and a smoked venison haunch to supplement the trout Tess had caught. Tess sighed a little in disappointment after they ate and she unrolled the sleeping bag and bedroll, placing them side by side instead of arranging them together. She crawled into her sleeping bag fully clothed, then lay watching the men sit around the fire and discuss the plans to move the herd the next morning. Her eyes drifted shut, but sometime later she stirred briefly when she felt an arm drape around her waist and pull her close.

  "We won't have to sleep apart much longer, darlin'," Stone whispered.

  Tess murmured a muffled "love you" and sank back into slumber before she could ask him what he meant. She woke to the smell of coffee and frying bacon. Opening her eyes, she saw Stone watching her from where he squatted over by the fire. He slipped her a wink and mouthed his morning "love you" before he turned his attention back to the skillet of bacon.

  How wonderful it felt to wake up with Stone near. Her lips curved into a contented smile and she stretched herself to full waking, then climbed out of the sleeping bag. She frowned for just a second as she recalled Stone whispering something to her after he lay down beside her last night, but the words seemed to have escaped her memory. Oh, well. She could ask him later.

  By the time the men checked the area to make sure the stallion wasn't lying in wait to cause them trouble with the herd, several hours had passed. They also worked the mares for a while in the valley after they opened the gate, until they became accustomed to to being herded by the men. After that, they cut out the mares with small colts, leaving them to find their way back to the stallion. Still Stone had over three dozen mares to send to the Army post — some suitable for saddle mounts for the soldiers and others for the Army scouts. He picked out one sorrel mare for Jasper and, following a brief tussle, tied her to the gate.

  Stone found three mares with ranchers' brands on their haunches and made a list for the men to give the Army commander. The commander would notify the ranchers by telegraph, and they could pick up their horses at the post.

  At last the herd moved out, and Stone slipped his arms around Tess and nuzzled her ear.

  "Now, where's my morning kiss?"

  "Right here."

  Her arms went around his neck, and Stone kissed her deeply. Then again and once again. Tess finally leaned her head back, hoping he would continue his kisses down her neck, and even lower. The bedroll was still laid out....

  But Stone pulled back and shook his head slightly. "Huh uh," he murmured. "The next time I make love to you, you're going to be my wife."

  "Your...what?!"

  ***

  Chapter 28

  Stone stepped back, tipped his hat up an inch, then stuck his fingertips in his back pockets.

  "My wife. You didn't think we were just going on like this, did you? Even a hundred years from now I reckon women know what can happen when a man and woman make love. I won't have a child of mine born a bastard — whether it's in nine months or a hundred years."

  "But I won't...won't get pregnant, Stone."

  "Sure," Stone said with an almost sneer. "Look, I know there's a couple ways to make sure I don't plant a baby in a woman, but we didn't do that. My child could be growing in you right now."

  "No, it couldn't," Tess denied as she glanced at her backpack.

  "I suppose you're gonna tell me you've got some magic pill in there that will keep you from getting with child."

  Tess reluctantly nodded her head. When she saw a thunderous scowl start crawling over Stone's face, she quickly backed away.

  "It's not what you think," she said with a gasp as she tried to defuse his anger. "I started taking those pills for a...a woman problem. I had a lot of pain every month,
and it was getting worse. The doctor said...."

  "I suppose those are the damned pills you were talking about at the cabin! Are you telling me that we could've been making love all this time, instead of me havin' to go out to that well and pour a bucket of cold water over me every night?"

  Tess plopped her hands on her hips and leaned toward him, until her nose was a bare inch from Stone's.

  "You just hold your damned wild horses, Stone Chisum! I told you — I wasn't taking those pills to keep from getting pregnant. I don't sleep around. To me, making love is a commitment, not a sexual release. I was saving my virginity for the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with!"

  "Exactly," Stone said with a smirk. "And that's why we're going to get married."

  "You said you wanted to get married because you were afraid I was pregnant!" Tess fumed.

  "Did I say that? I seem to recall sayin' we weren't going on like this — that the next time we made love, you were gonna be my wife. If that's not a commitment, I don't know what the hell else you can call it."

  "You haven't even asked me yet!"

  "Oh. Is that what you're waiting for?"

  "No! I mean...darn it, Stone, marriage should be a mutual decision. We should discuss it. You can't just come up and tell me that we're going to get married, without asking me how I feel about it."

  "So tell me."

  "Tell you what?"

  "How you feel about it. How you feel about becoming my wife."

  Stone ducked his head and stared at the ground. Tess's jaw dropped when he stuck out a boot toe and started shoving a small rock around, refusing to glance at her. She wished she could see his eyes, but he kept his head turned a little, just far enough for his hat brim to shadow his face. But she could see his lower lip, barely protruding.

  Suddenly it dawned on her that he wasn't nearly as confident as he'd tried to appear. He couldn't force her to say "I do", she realized at the same moment she also realized she wanted to say those words just as much as she wanted to say "I love you".

  She really ought to make him sweat a little bit more, though. After all, she wanted her marriage to be a partnership, not a one-sided dictatorship, with her on the receiving end of the orders.

  "Well," she mused, and Stone's head jerked up. She tilted her head sideways and chewed her bottom lip for a second.

  "Well," she repeated. "I did promise Granny that I'd only make love with my husband. And I've broken that promise, unless I do marry you."

  "Is that the only reason, darlin'?" Stone whispered.

  "No," Tess admitted. "I love you. That's the real reason."

  Stone reached out and pulled her against his chest. "Then — will you marry me, Tess Foster? Be my wife in every way and share everything with me?"

  "Yes," Tess murmured. "Oh, yes."

  Stone kissed her until she was breathless — until Tess pulled away with a gasp for air.

  "You...you better stop now," she said with a small laugh. "Unless you want me to do my darndest to make you break that promise not to make love to me again until I'm your wife."

  "Insatiable," Stone said with a groan. "I knew it."

  "And who made me that way?" Tess teased.

  Stone stepped back and frowned at her. "What about the guy with all that moldy money?"

  "I told you that was over. I hope you're not going to be one of those men who think what's past has any bearing on the life two people plan to have together. Do you want me to start questioning you again about how many women...?"

  "Shush." Stone clapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again. But you have to realize, honey, that I don't have much right now. I've got plans for the ranch, but...and there's Rain and Flower. You'll be their mother."

  Tess's lips curved into a smile. "I already love them, Stone. You know that."

  "And...." Stone glanced at her pack. "And I want children of my own. How long do you have to take those damned pills?"

  Tess laid a finger beside her mouth and pretended to think. "Oh," she finally said. "The doctor did say that my first pregnancy would probably take care of all my problems. He said he'd seen it happen with other women. After their first child, the monthly pain subsided."

  Stone gave a growl and swept her up into his arms. Whirling her around, he threw back his head and shouted, "I'm gonna be a father. Hear that, everybody? Tess and I are going to have babies together — lots of them."

  Tess giggled and pushed at his shoulders until Stone set her down again.

  "That lots will be something else we'll discuss together," she said. "And I thought you wanted to get married first."

  "I do," Stone agreed. "Come on, let's get moving. We can be married by tomorrow evening."

  "But you said we were going to the Cherokee camp."

  "We are. That's where we'll get married. I've already talked to Silver Eagle, and he'll do the ceremony."

  "Silver Eagle? Silver Eagle's going to marry us?"

  "It's legal, it that's what's worrying your lawyer mind," Stone told her. "Oklahoma's still a territory and Indian marriages are recognized. Hell, that and just living together were all a lot of people had for years out here, what with travelling preachers only showing up now and then. I suppose we could wait until we get back to Clover Valley, if you want a minister to marry us. But Flower and Rain are already pretty excited about the whole deal, and we'd have to wait until they got done with their visit and could be there. If you want, though...."

  "I think an Indian ceremony will be perfect," Tess broke into his babbling. "Absolutely, utterly perfect."

  And it would be, Tess thought to herself as she helped Stone break camp. What else could fit in so perfectly with this entire, fantastic episode in her life?

  In an unguarded second, Tess started to unzip the pocket in her pack where she kept her pills, then hesitated. In the flurry of packing at her apartment that night, she hadn't taken time to separate the things in the drawer where she kept her extra supplies for backpacking — spare deodorant, toothpaste, bandaids, vitamins, and so forth. She'd tossed the year's supply of birth control pills she had picked up the previous week at the pharmacy in that drawer, since there wasn't room in the medicine cabinet. In a hurry to be on her way, she'd dumped the entire drawer into a case and shoved the case into her pack, not stopping to consider that she wouldn't need the pills until she returned.

  In the deepest part of her heart, she wanted to scatter those pills here in the valley — the valley where she had truly become a woman in every sense of the word — Stone's woman. To start trying to get pregnant tomorrow night. Her hand fluttered to her stomach, imagining Stone's child growing there.

  But her mind reminded her that she had no assurance she would still be with Stone nine months from now — or even nine days from now.

  So what? That had to be her heart, Tess thought with a smile. So what? She could support a child herself, if she had to. She had money saved — good credit to get a loan and start a practice of her own in a small town, where her child could grow up wrapped in an atmosphere of love. And she would be married, even if the ceremony had taken place a hundred years earlier.

  She shoved aside the hurt that accompanied the thought of giving birth to a child brought into being from the all-encompassing love she shared with Stone and not having its father to help raise it while she reached for the zipper.

  "Stone?" Tess called. "Could you come help me here?"

  Stone walked over to her. "Sure. What do you need?"

  Tess handed him a package of pills. "This." She started punching pills through the foil covering, flicking her wrist to scatter the pills as they fell.

  "Your turn," she said when her package was empty. "We've got ten more packages to get rid of."

  Stone stared at her for a second, then whispered, "I love you, Tess. Are you sure you want to take this chance? Maybe we should wait a while."

  Tess lifted her face to his, and the breeze feathered through her hair. "No," she said in a determi
ned voice. "I'm scared, too, that I might not be with you when I give birth. But I promise you with everything in me that I'll give our child a good life, Stone. I want our commitment to each other to last forever. And it will be forever for both of us, if I have a part of you with me, wherever I am."

  Stone took a deep breath and started punching out pills.

  ~~

  "A church pew. How nice, Michael," Angela said the next evening after Michael rearranged their cloud.

  "It's a holy occasion, Angie. And I'm feeling awfully spiritual right now, even for the state I'm in. After all, I had a little something to do with this wedding that's getting ready to take place down there."

  "A little something? I'd say you had quite a bit to do with it. They wouldn't even have met if not for you."

  "Yeah," Michael said with a satisfied smile.

  "Now, Michael," Angela cautioned. "Too much pride is a sin, you know."

  "How about just a smattering of pride then, huh? Part of doing a job well is the pride you have in doing it so good."

  "I guess that makes sense," Angie said, smiling tolerantly at him. "And they are so right for each other."

  "I suppose," Michael said, though he couldn't quite keep a frown from his face. "If you believe that old adage about opposites attracting."

  "Oh, Michael. Just because Stone's an old-fashioned, laid back...."

  "...my wife belongs in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant sort of guy," Michael broke in. "And Tess believes a woman has a right to a life of her own, as well as being a wife and mother."

  "Well, they will have to make some adjustments. But that has to happen in any marriage. Stone's going to have to realize that Tess hasn't given up her own identity just because she took his name."

  "I agree," Michael said. "But you know what else happens sometimes. People get married and forget they fell in love because of the way that person was while they were courting. They set out to change the other one into someone else. It don't work that way."