“Doing okay?”
Mary acted as if she was scared to breath. “Y…yes.”
“Do you think she hurt the back of her ribs on her fall?”
“That’s always possible. By the bruise placement, the worst blow to her back was between her kidneys and top of her pelvis bone.”
“Breath in and out through your mouth, Mary. Take slow, deep breaths,” Doctor Pansy instructed.
A slight tint of color came back into Mary’s pale face.
“Move her to an upright position,” Doctor Pansy suggested, and then moved to the side of the table.
“Still feeling okay, Mary?” Kiowa asked as he slowly moved her upright, moving his left hand to the top of her chest in case she fell forward.
“Yes… I guess.”
“Move her sideways and we’ll move her legs over the edge of the table. Let us do it, Mary, nice and slow.”
Doctor Pansy slid her hands behind Mary’s knees and guided them to bend over the table, although Kiowa had a sinking feeling her legs would have flopped over the edge as limp as a cloth rag doll.
He sent a prayer of thanks toward heaven when her left foot twitched upward. Hopefully feeling and use would slowly return to both of her legs with time.
“How does that feel, Mary?”
“Strange. I feel like I can’t sit upright without support.”
“That might be the case until your back heals, so be prepared at all times. Pillows around you when sitting up. Don’t reach for something beyond your grasp, etc.”
Doctor Pansy went to the exam door and opened it. “Gabe, Tate, please come in here to help move Mary.”
Kiowa wasn’t surprised the Shepard’s hadn’t left the waiting room yet.
Doctor Pansy moved a wooden chair next to the table. “Gabe, get on the other side of Kiowa, reach under Mary and grasp Kiowa’s hands to make a solid bridge. Carefully lift Mary up and sit her onto the chair. Tate, be sure Mary doesn’t fall forward in the process.”
“Here we go, Mary. Cross your arms in front of your chest, if you can. We’ve got you,” Kiowa assured her.
Everyone sighed with relief, including Mary, when she was sitting in the chair. The doctor wrapped the sheet that had been on top of Mary’s body around her and the chair, tying the fabric ends together on the back of the chair to keep her in place.
“I assume the three of you can carry Mary and the chair a half block down the alley to Kiowa’s. Let’s go,” Doctor Pansy announced as she grabbed her medical bag and pointed for them to exit the room through the back hallway to the alley. Apparently, the doctor was going to lead the way to Kiowa’s home.
Good thing he’d gone home after Mary and Burdie’s accident to clean up, change clothes, and tidy up his dwelling. Doctor Pansy and the Shepards had never been past the front room of his place behind the blacksmith shop. Only Mary and the kids had ever been in his living quarters beyond the front room, usually sneaking in when no one else was in sight.
More secrets were about to be revealed to Mary’s family.
Chapter 4
“What the heck, Ki?” Gabe murmured as he glanced around Kiowa’s home.
“Don’t drop me as you gawk, Gabe!” Mary muttered through gritted teeth as the chair slightly dipped to one side.
“Oops, I’m so sorry, Sis,” Gabe said, as her brothers lowered the chair onto the black-and-white tiled floor of Kiowa’s bathroom next to the gleaming porcelain bathtub.
“Here we all thought you lived in that small room behind the blacksmith shop, Ki. I thought the building addition to the blacksmith was for raw materials storage for your business,” Gabe continued to say as he looked around the bathroom, and then stepped just outside the door to view the living area.
Why hadn’t anyone realized Kiowa had a home tucked behind his business? Because they didn’t expect a “poor half-breed” to have such a place?
The ire of it caused Mary’s shoulders to tighten up but she didn’t need more pain rippling through her body, so she tried to relax.
When Mack and Kiowa built the addition, the outside was finished to blend in with the rough siding of the original building instead of looking like a house.
Mack and her husband worked on the interior at night, so it didn’t interfere with their work, and so people wouldn’t be snooping.
Slowly over time Mary ordered furniture—a bedroom set, table and chairs, an upholstered settee and two matching chairs, etc.—for his home, and Angus Reagan, the depot manager, helped Kiowa bring the furniture over to his home after dark.
Good thing the Reagans were good at keeping secrets because of Mack’s and Angus’ help with the house. Oh, and their brother Cullen’s help with packages sent to Kiowa through the post office too.
“Wait ‘til Ma and Amelia see this place,” Tate added as he took in the wallpapered walls, the living room’s plush carpet and all the mahogany furniture in it.
The home wasn’t large—with only the living room, kitchen, one bedroom and bath—but the quality of the furnishings is what set it above a normal small town dwelling.
Mary could imagine her mother’s comments when she saw the place. She hated to keep secrets from her family, but she and Kiowa decided to keep their marriage a secret at first…and then never got around to sharing the news.
Even Burdette and Nolie enjoyed the secrecy, or so she thought. Now she realized the burden they had put on the children to keep their secret.
All their lives changed the instant she and Burdette took a nose dive down the stairs. Hopefully, her back would mend before Burdette’s leg and their lives would return to normal.
But, she and Kiowa would have to decide what to do going forward. Nolie’s question on when they’d be “a family” meant it was time for their marriage to become public. Or would Kiowa think it would be best to quietly divorce?
“Please don’t tell anyone about our marriage and Kiowa’s home for now, Gabe and Tate. And please pass my wish on to our parents and sister,” Mary pleaded.
“I’ll keep this to myself too, although I’m guessing Mack helped build your home?” Doctor Pansy asked.
Kiowa let out a long breath. “Yeah, he did. Sorry I asked him to keep it secret from you.”
“Doesn’t bother me a bit. I don’t tell him about my patient’s problems, and you know how the Reagan brothers were brought up not to say anything about the church parishioner’s either.
“For now, if you want, I can say both Mary and Burdette are convalescing at the Shepard’s home and not to have visitors,” Doctor Pansy suggested.
“Don’t you think someone saw us carry Mary like a float in a parade?” Tate asked with skepticism.
“Well, that’s always possible but that’s why we went down the alley,” Kiowa said.
“Our parents’ house is just beyond the blacksmith shop. Let’s pretend you took me there instead of Kiowa’s for now,” Mary suggested as she looked at her brothers.
She didn’t meet Kiowa’s eyes because she didn’t want him to be disappointed in her trying to hide the truth for now.
“Okay, it’s time to leave,” Doctor Pansy said as she motioned for Gabe and Tate to leave in front of her. “Mary, if it’s all right, I’ll go into your apartment and pack up things I know you’ll need for a while. I’ll slip over with things in an hour, to give you time to bathe and get settled in bed.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for Mary and Burdette,” Kiowa answered for Mary before she’d put the words together in her mind.
Mary’s stamina had rallied to be moved here, but now she felt herself drift back to the pain and exhaustion.
“Thank you,” Mary managed to say when Doctor Pansy studied her before leaving the room. Mary saw the worry in the doctor’s eyes, but this had to be a temporary problem. She would heal and get back to her dress shop in a week or two.
“Don’t move,” Kiowa told her as he pushed her chair solid against the wall, being sure she was safe from tipping ove
r. “I’ll be back in a second.”
Kiowa followed the doctor out the door, leaving Mary tied to the chair. Mary heard the front door lock, then after a few seconds, the thud of Kiowa’s boots as he took them off his feet.
Kiowa walked back into the bathroom. Mary watched as he turned the water faucet on to fill the bathtub. He had plumbing between the rooms where hot water from the kitchen stove reservoir automatically emptied into the tub. Depending on the temperature of the water, he may have to add cool water to the bath, but he had a hand pump directly from the cistern to the bathroom for that need too.
“I don’t appreciate being left tied up in the bathroom,” Mary mumbled as Kiowa pulled his shirt off his broad shoulders.
“I know, but I needed to lock the door. We don’t want any unexpected visitors while I’m giving you a bath,” Kiowa replied.
“And why are you undressing if you’re getting me the bath?”
“I might end up in the tub with you, Mrs. Jones,” Kiowa said, probably to lighten their serious mood.
“I like it when you call me Mrs. Jones, but I’d like to be clean and in bed first.”
“I agree. Try to stay upright while I unwrap the sheet.”
Mary tried to sit up straight in the chair, but she felt herself falling forward.
“Kiowa!”
“I got you. I’m going to ease you down on the floor to get your clothing off.”
Mary relaxed as best as she could as Kiowa laid her on her side while stuffing his balled shirt under her head for a little comfort.
“You sure you don’t want me to just cut off your clothing? You’ll have time sitting around to stitch them back up,” Kiowa said as he carefully unbuttoned the side buttons on her skirt.
“Just pull them off for now. But if they are badly soiled, you’re welcome to burn them in your fire forge. I smell like a baby with a full diaper,” Mary grimaced.
Her light slate blue skirt and cream-colored blouse had to be soiled with mud and blood too.
“Don’t get your pantaloons in a twist,” Kiowa teased her. “I’m just happy you’re talking to me after that fall.”
“I know. I hate Burdette broke her leg though, and I can’t be the one to take care of her.”
“Give yourself a few days, Mary. Your mother can handle it.”
Mary felt Kiowa’s hands push the clothing off her body but lost his touch as he moved past her right thigh.
Please let the feelings and movement return to my leg! Mary silently prayed. Surely it would return.
“Slowly ease your arms out of your shirtwaist without twisting too much.”
Mary complied but felt her muscles protesting. She must have bruised her whole body as she bumped down the stairs.
“Now I’m going to unlace and get your corset off.”
Mary bit her lip at the painful movement but had to smile too. Her husband thought the undergarment was a waste of fabric and whale bone.
“And your corset is not going back on until you’re healed,” Kiowa said, but he bent down to kiss the top of her forehead after he said it.
“We’ll see. It might give me support my back needs,” Mary said as she looked up into her husband’s concerned eyes.
“That might be, but it doesn’t have to be so tight then.”
Kiowa got up on his knees to lean over the tub and test the temperature of the water. “Feels about right, but I want to add a bucket of cold water just in case. I’d rather have the water warm instead of too hot.”
Mary wanted scalding hot to clean her stink off and burn the numbness out of her back, but she didn’t say anything to Kiowa, letting him take care of her.
“All right. I’ll pick you up and lower you into the tub. Grab the sides of the tub if you can to hold yourself steady.”
Mary gritted her teeth as Kiowa picked her up off the floor. Her back hurt like the dickens but Kiowa was being as careful as he could be.
“Ah! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!”
“Mary! Don’t startle me like that! I almost dropped you!”
“I just had a terrible shooting pain down my left leg!”
Kiowa hung half in and half out of the tub, still having his arms wrapped around her back and legs. Good thing Kiowa had taken his shirt off because otherwise it would be soaking wet.
“Okay, go ahead and let go of me.”
Kiowa slowly pulled his right arm away from under her knees and let her settle on the bottom of the bathtub. Then he eased his other arm from her shoulders and let her ease back in the water.
“How does that feel?”
“Like a warm heaven. I might stay here until I heal if you can keep adding hot water to the tub.”
“Glad to hear that,” Kiowa said with a sigh. “Actually, I’m just glad to hear you talk at all. When I saw you sprawled unconscious at the bottom of the stairs…I swear my heart stopped.”
Mary reached for Kiowa’s hand and threaded her fingers through his. “This accident may be the push we needed to become a family in public.”
Kiowa met her eyes, then blew out a slow breath. “You know why we kept our marriage a secret. I’m not the kind of man you should have as a husband and father to your children.”
“You are a kind, decent man, and I’m ready to thumb my nose to whoever thinks otherwise. And, the children need an example of us not being embarrassed of our marriage too.”
Kiowa dipped a washcloth in the water, rubbed a bar of rose-scented soap on the cloth and gently washed her shoulders. Her body relaxed at his touch, making her feel better by the second.
“People may think I’m living on your dress shop income rather than the blacksmith’s. You know I don’t have the large workload I should have because I’m a half-breed. Lots of people take their buggies and implements elsewhere to be repaired.”
“Which works out since you need your time for your real profession,” Mary pointed out as she stretched her neck upward as Kiowa washed her neck and chest.
“I’m not sure if I want the good residents of Clear Creek to know what I do in the back of the smithy. It would be too tempting for some fool to think he could break in and steal my work.”
“One option then is to move to New York to be near your business,” Mary challenged Kiowa.
He stared at her a long moment, apparently thinking of her suggestion.
“I’m still a half-breed to people wherever we live,” Kiowa said as he shook his head. But we’re near your family here, and I need the open spaces of my Native ancestry.”
“Then as Burdette and I heal, let’s make plans for our future. Will you move into the apartment with us? You can keep your home a secret workplace.”
Kiowa didn’t answer her right away. What was mulling through his mind?
Chapter 5
Kiowa loved he could finally take care of his wife. Seeing her lifeless body, and Burdie’s broken leg had snapped Kiowa from his delusion that he couldn’t be a husband and father to them.
He’s taken vows to love and protect them and it was time he publicly proved it. Yes, there would be fallout and criticism, but they could stand together and weather the gossip and scorn.
“I’m going to lean you forward to wash your back now,” Kiowa said as he kept an arm around her chest. He swallowed hard when he saw the bruise in the middle of her back. It was a horizontal bruise across her lower spine where she landed hard on the edge of a step. It was a wonder she didn’t break her back. Maybe her whalebone corset that he disliked saved her life after all.
“How big is the bruise on my back?
“I’ll trace it,” and he did so. “Could you feel that?”
“I think so, but you didn’t make a whole circle did you? It felt as if you made the letter ‘c’ on my back.”
Mary didn’t feel his finger as he moved across the lower right of the bruise?
“Uh, I was touching pretty lightly so I didn’t hurt you.”
Please let the feeling return to her back and leg!
“Can you w
ash my hair too? I feel clumps of something on the back of my head.”
Her usual pinned updo was a lopsided mess with half the hair pins gone.
“Oh. And what happened to my hat? Did I ruin it?”
The woman seriously hurt her back and she was worried about a silly hat?
“I have no clue as I wasn’t worried one iota about it,” Kiowa grumbled as he plucked the remaining pins from her hair.
“Kiowa…”
“Well, sorry, but I wasn’t worried about the hat. I’ll buy you a new one then.”
“But it matched my outfit,” she whined but had a smile on her face when she said that.
Thank God for being able to talk about the hat at this moment, instead of thinking about burying his wife, who he hadn’t acknowledged in public.
“Besides mud, you’re feeling a little dried blood from where you hit your head on a step. Your scalp wasn’t cut enough that you needed stitches, but it still bled like a head wound will do. I’ll clean the rest of you first, then we’ll wash your hair.”
Kiowa slowly ran the washcloth over her arms, then stopped to stare at Mary.
“What is it, Kiowa?”
“What if your back doesn’t heal and it affects your walking? Those steep stairs might be hard for you to climb every day.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few days,” Mary brushed off his worry.
Mary sighed, and Kiowa changed positions to lean over the tub to wash her legs. She lifted her left leg, so he could wipe the washcloth underneath her leg, but she didn’t move her right leg at all.
Mary had laid back in the tub and wasn’t watching him.
Kiowa released the washcloth to float in the water above his hand. He poked, prodded, and pinched her leg, starting at the knee and worked down to her foot.
Watching Mary’s face, she didn’t feel his touch at all on her right leg.
“Mary…”
“What?” Mary looked down into the bath water, where Kiowa’s hand sat on her right knee.
“I’ve been pinching your right leg and you aren’t reacting to the sensation.”
Mary’s breath hitched as she reached under the water and dug a fingernail deep into her right knee, then on the inside and outside of it.
Kiowa's Oath Page 3
