Apache-Colton Series

by Janis Reams Hudson

  He needed a drink.

  Where had that interfering but well meaning stepsister of his hidden his bottle? She probably put it back in his saddlebag when he was asleep. But now his saddlebag was on the other side of the room. With the shape he was in, he wasn’t sure he could make it that far, but he was damn sure going to try.

  He rolled over and pushed himself up on all fours, then cursed fiercely. His stomach hurt so bad he’d forgotten about his broken leg. Pain throbbed from his toes to his hip. He crawled to the wall, then braced himself and managed to stand on one leg. The rough adobe felt cool where he leaned against it to regain his breath. This was going to be harder than he’d thought.

  Trembling, sweating, and aching something fierce, he managed to work his way around the wall to his saddlebags, then slumped to the floor, his injured leg sticking out in front of him. His breath came in harsh gasps. He fumbled with the buckles and searched first one bag then the other.

  Damn. They were empty.

  He glanced out the open door to make sure Serena wasn’t standing there watching him and sagged with relief. Not three feet outside the door stood a flat-topped boulder about two feet high, and on that beautiful rock sat his bottle.

  Just then his luck ran out. A wagon creaked and rattled its way into the clearing and Kali called out a greeting. Serena ran from behind the house to meet her.

  Matt struggled back up and, with the help of the wall, hopped back to his bed. Christ. He needed a drink so bad he could cry. Men don’t cry, you jackass. But then, it wasn’t too long ago he would have sworn a man wouldn’t crawl around naked on the floor trying to find a drink of whiskey, either.

  Shit, Colton, you’re a sorry mess.

  He pulled the blanket across his lower half just as the two women walked in. Resentment clenched his jaws. Look at them, he thought with disgust. Acting like they’d known each other all their lives and were the best of friends, running off at the mouth like a couple of jay birds while he lay there with rats gnawing at his gut.

  “Matt, Kali’s here,” Serena announced gaily.

  “I never would have known,” he mumbled.

  “My, my.” Kali smiled and clicked her tongue. “Testy this morning, aren’t we? You may not think you feel any better, honey, but you sure do look better. Imagine that. Shaved and bathed, and all in the same month. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

  Matt’s hand automatically went to his smooth cheek, then grasped the blanket again to hide his trembling. He’d forgotten Serena had shaved him yesterday. He glanced at her, then narrowed his gaze on Kali. “Just keep it up, girl.”

  “Girl? Honey, I haven’t been a girl in years, and you know it.”

  “Don’t pay any attention to him, Kali,” Serena said. “He still thinks I’m twelve years old and don’t have a lick of sense. He’s just mad because I took his bottle away.”

  “Speaking of my bottle, it’s outside there on that rock. Would you get it for me, Kali? And did you happen to bring me any pants?”

  With one brow raised, Kali mouthed the words pants. Serena grinned. Kali smiled and shrugged at Matt. “Sorry. No on both counts, sweetie.”

  Serena stirred the coals in the fireplace. “As a matter of fact, you can take that bottle when you go, Kali.” She hung the coffee pot over the small fire she had stirred to life. “If you don’t, I’ll just have to pour it out, and then we’ll have a bunch of drunk birds flapping around the door.”

  She put a small chunk of wood on the fire. “Wait till you see what Kali brought, Matt. A table and chairs, and a tub.”

  A bleating noise blasted through the open door.

  “What the hell was that?” Matt asked.

  “That’s the best part,” Serena answered. “A goat.”

  “A what?”

  “G-o-a-t. Goat. As in nanny. As in fresh milk. It’s about time you had something in your stomach besides rotgut whiskey.”

  Matt glared at Serena then Kali. His friend seemed to find it difficult to hold back her laughter.

  “No offense intended, Kali,” Serena continued. “I’m sure the Last Chance Saloon serves fine liquor, but man cannot live by booze alone. Now. Why don’t we bring in that table and those chairs, so we can sit down to drink our coffee?”

  When the women left, Matt closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. They were having one hell of a damn good time at his expense. The more he thought about their nasty remarks, the madder he got. He heard one of them lead that damn goat around the side of the house. Goat’s milk, my ass. I’ll show them.

  Adrenaline got him to his feet. Then he scooped up the blanket and wrapped it around his hips and hopped along the wall to the door. He leaned against the frame, then moaned when he saw what Serena and Kali were doing. They were unloading a crate of chickens. Goddamn chickens. What the hell were those two doing? Setting up permanent residence?

  Anger at their highhanded treatment of him got him out the door and to his destination. He grabbed up the bottle and took its place on the rock, his back to the women.

  Fifteen feet. That’s how far he’d made it. Fifteen lousy feet, and he was so weak he was afraid he might pass out. But it was worth it. With trembling hands, he pulled the cork and raised the bottle to his mouth.

  That was as far as he got.

  The bottle flew from his lips and out of his hands like it had wings. It sailed through the air and crashed—painfully, Matt thought—against the hard adobe wall of the house, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. Shards of glass and amber droplets of liquid sparkled in the morning sun as they bounced off the wall and showered to the ground. A brown stain ran down the adobe, trickled into a puddle, and quickly disappeared into the thirsty earth, leaving nothing more than a spot of mud at the base of the wall.

  Matt felt that overwhelming urge again to cry. He took a deep breath and forced it down, then glared at the source of his present troubles.

  Serena stood before him with her feet spread wide, her hands on her hips, and her eyes matching him glare for glare.

  “Damn you, Rena.” Matt squeezed his eyes shut. The pain in his gut was worse than ever now. He rubbed at it with an unsteady hand.

  “No. Damn you, Matt Colton,” Serena said with a hiss. She grabbed his bare shoulder and shook until he opened his eyes and looked at her. “If you think I’m going to stand by and watch you slowly kill yourself, you’re crazy.”

  “You don’t understand, Rena.” Each breath came hard and triggered another wrenching spasm in his stomach. It was all he could do to keep from doubling over.

  Serena dropped to her knees in front of him and cupped his sweat-streaked face in her small, cool hands. Her pale blue eyes turned soft and liquid. “I do understand, Matt, at least some of it. Why can’t you just tell me your stomach hurts so bad you can’t stand it?”

  Matt clenched his teeth and closed his eyes. Who was he trying to kid? He knew his misery was obvious. He certainly wasn’t handling himself well. He wasn’t handling himself at all.

  “Let me help you, Matt. Don’t shut me out. Talk to me. Tell me how you’re feeling. Let me help you.”

  He sighed and opened his eyes, ignoring the gnawing pain in his gut. He stared at the ground. “Just…help me back to bed.”

  She sighed with what was surely relief. “Wait here a minute.” She ran to the wagon and came back with a pair of crutches. “Try these on for size.”

  Serena helped him stand, then he tucked a crutch under each arm. A couple of awkward steps took him to the door where he paused and looked back over his shoulder. He allowed a wry grin. “Thanks.”

  Just then he felt the blanket start to slip. Panicked, he hurried through the door.

  When Serena was halfway back to the wagon, she heard a loud clatter followed swiftly by a muffled curse. “Matt?” she called. “You all right? Need any help?”

  “I’m just fine!”

  Realizing he must still be embarrassed over that scene just now at the rock, Serena ignored his harsh tone and res
olved to take it easy on him for a while. His ego was definitely bruised and in need of a boost. She eyed the contents of the wagon thoughtfully.

  “What’s that gleam in your eye for?” Kali demanded.

  Serena grinned. “I’ve got an idea.”

  A few moments later two giggling females paused outside the door and set the table on the ground. The table wasn’t large enough to take up too much space in the tiny hut, but it was obviously too big around to simply carry through the door.

  Matt watched with a mixture of disgust and amusement as the women tried to maneuver the table past the narrow opening.

  “I think it’s too big, Kali.”

  “Hmmm. Looks like you’re right.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know. Do you have a saw? Maybe we could cut it down some.”

  Matt groaned and tried to control his laughter.

  “No, we don’t have a saw. I guess we could just leave it out here. That way Matt could take in the fresh air and sunshine when he eats. Except when it rains, though.”

  “You can’t do that, Serena. There’s not a level spot on the ground. Your food would slide right off and you’d both starve.”

  Matt couldn’t stand it any more. “Turn it on its side.”

  “On its side?” Serena whirled around to look at him. “Of course. Thanks, Matt. We should have thought of that ourselves. How silly of us.”

  Matt rolled his eyes. Females.

  Serena and Kali managed, with several grunts and giggles, to get the table on its side. Now the entire surface of the round table faced the narrow doorway.

  “Turn it to face the other direction,” Matt said with ill concealed laughter at their inept maneuvering.

  They laughed and groaned, and turned the table until all four legs pointed at the door.

  “Well, what good did that do us?” Kali called to him. “It still won’t fit.”

  “You turned it too far. Point the legs across the damn door, not at it.” Matt directed, waved his arms, laughed and swore, until they finally had the table inside. “You two should never hire out as furniture movers.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Kali said. “With a little more practice, I think we could get the hang of it. Right, Serena?”

  “Maybe, but it’s not my idea of a good time. That thing was heavy.” She braced her hands on her lower back and arched to relieve an ache.

  Matt watched, dumbfounded, as the material of Serena’s white blouse stretched tight. The third button, the one between her breasts, popped through the buttonhole and showed a brief flash of a white, lacy chemise. She turned until her profile was outlined against the open doorway and stretched her arms over her head. The silhouette of her breasts stood out sharply before Matt remembered just who he was staring at. He tore his gaze away.

  She was right. He had been thinking of her as a child. He realized with a start that she wasn’t twelve any more. She wasn’t even sixteen any more. She had done some growing up while he’d been gone. He swallowed. Hard.

  Serena and Kali went back out for the chairs, then finally, the bathtub. It didn’t require nearly as much maneuvering as the table had. When the tub rested alongside the fireplace, Serena began scrubbing the table while Kali carried in plates, sheets, and a second mattress so Serena wouldn’t have to sleep on the straw.

  Matt paid scant attention to Kali’s comings and goings. His gaze kept straying to Serena as she stretched, bent, and stooped, cleaning every inch of the table, including the legs. He was fascinated by the way her blouse stretched and tightened over her shapely shoulders, narrow ribs, trim waist.

  He could just picture his father standing at the front door of the house turning away suitor after suitor. There were surely dozens of men from Tucson trying to court Serena. She was a truly beautiful girl. No—young woman.

  The thought of her getting married stung. She’d leave home then to live with her husband. That old ranch house would never be the same without Serena’s laughter trailing down the halls.

  And who would look after Joanna for him?

  Damn. Maybe that was why Rena had come. Maybe she wanted him to go home and take care of his own daughter so she could marry some man and have a home and a family of her own. She was…how old? Nineteen? Most girls her age were married and had one or two babies of their own.

  He tried to picture the kind of man Rena would marry, but couldn’t. No man was good enough for her. Who would understand the two very different heritages that meant so much to her? To retain her ties to the Chiricahua, would she have to marry into the tribe?

  Matt shuddered. In the old days, even with the raiding and killing, the running and hiding, constantly fighting for mere survival, Serena might have found happiness with the Chidikáágu’. Matt might have been able to be happy for her.

  But not now. Not today, with a people imprisoned on that hellhole of a reservation. Hell. San Carlos. They were the same in Matt’s mind. No. Serena couldn’t live like that. No one should have to live like that. Not the proud, freedom loving Apaches, and most certainly not Serena.

  So who, then, might she marry? Certainly not a man from Arizona, not unless she was prepared to deny her Apache heritage, which Matt knew she could never do, would never consider. But there weren’t even a handful of white men in the territory who would understand the Apache side of Serena. No man he knew would even try. Apaches, Chiricahua in particular, were feared and hated with a vengeance.

  A man from back East, perhaps. One who hadn’t grown up watching his friends and family killed in Cochise’s raids, Nana’s raids, Chihuahua’s, Juh’s, Golthlay’s raids. A man with no hatred for Apaches.

  Serena, in a city? No. Not his Rena. She was strong enough to survive anything life threw at her, and she could survive life in a city. But away from the desert and mountains where she was raised, her soul would shrivel and die. Matt knew, for it was true of himself, also.

  No. No man was right for Serena.

  The thought did nothing to comfort him.

  He watched as she finished cleaning and Kali finished unloading. He let the activity wash over him and lighten his mood.

  Serena poured coffee first for Matt, then for Kali and herself.

  “What, no goat’s milk?” Matt taunted.

  “Don’t worry,” Serena replied sweetly. “Tomorrow you’ll have more goat’s milk than you know what to do with.”

  Matt rolled his eyes and groaned. “Kali, please give me a ride back to town. She’s trying to kill me.”

  Kali laughed. “It’s a crying shame she’s your sister, Matt.”

  “I’m sure Matt agrees with you, but why is it a shame? Am I such a bad sister?”

  “No, no. You’re a great sister. I just happen to think you’d make him an even better wife.”

  Matt choked on his mouthful of coffee. “Kali!”

  “Well, it’s true. She’s the only woman I know of, besides me, that is, who can ignore that pleading look in those big brown eyes of yours and stand up to you. That’s just the kind of wife you need.”

  “I don’t need any kind of a wife,” Matt bit out.

  Serena managed a composed smile despite the rapid pounding of her heart in her throat. “I think you’re embarrassing him, Kali. You see, I’m not really his sister. Not the way you mean.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m his stepsister. My mother was already carrying Pace and me when she met Matt’s father. He married her anyway, then when Pace and I were born, he adopted us.”

  The only sound in the room was the faint crackle of burning mesquite root in the fireplace. Kali studied Serena’s tight expression, then Matt’s furious one.

  She grinned slowly. “His stepsister?” her chuckle started deep and low, then grew until it filled the room. “Oh, that’s rich. It’s perfect.”

  Matt glared at her. “Kali…”

  Kali slowly calmed and pursed her lips. “All right, I’ll shut up. Bit it really is too perfect. Sh
e’s not your sister at all. I should have known.”

  When Kali stood and left the room, Serena followed to see her off. Kali paused before climbing onto the wagon. “If I was out of line in there, Serena, I’m sorry.”

  Serena forced a small laugh past the lump in her throat. “Don’t worry about it. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Oh, but I did. You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

  Serena sucked in her breath sharply. “D-Don’t be silly. He’s my…brother.”

  “Sure he is.” Kali stared at her until Serena felt like fidgeting. “Look,” Kali said finally. “If I’ve made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. But a blind man could see how you feel. If you ask me, which you didn’t, but if you did, I’d tell you to take advantage of the situation.”

  “What do you mean?” Dear God. Why had she said that? Kali was going to think…she’d think…what was the use? Kali already thought.

  Was it true, Serena wondered frantically. Had her childhood infatuation and hero worship turned into something more, something bigger? Did she love him? Her mind skittered back to the night before when she’d touched him and experienced that burst of fire in her blood. There was certainly nothing sisterly in that.

  Oh, God, it couldn’t be true. No. She couldn’t be in love with him. Matt would never understand. He would be appalled.

  Her heart beat faster as she tried to force such dangerous thoughts away. She would find a man she could really love someday, then she’d get over these confusing feelings for Matt. She’d even be able to laugh about them. Someday.

  But the mere thought of spending her life with another man, accepting his love, his touch, having his children, left her cold and empty, as though she’d lost something precious.

  “What I mean, honey,” Kali said, “is that right now he’s vulnerable. He needs you. He needs somebody he can love, who’ll love him back. Somebody who’s good and sweet and kind, but who’s also strong enough to stand beside him, not behind him like most of these prissy faced girls around here. Coddle him and scold him. Tempt him. Tease him, show a little skin now and then. Keep him off balance. Make him want you.”