After the Storm: Clean Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 2) (16 page)

              Mitch listened to Switch and Renee the next morning and agreed that they were on to something, but the problem was that Renee hadn’t actually seen their faces.  The fact that she’d been so dazed at the time also compromised the case and they couldn’t just go around accusing every man who matched her and Switch’s descriptions.  Although they understood his point of view, father and daughter were disheartened.

              Just as they were about to leave, Mitch said, “Where are you going?  There’s still something we can do, but it depends on whether you’re willing to do it.”

              They sat back down.

              “Since Switch saw these two men at the bar, I’m inclined to agree with you that they probably frequent the place.  Your working there would give us a great advantage, Renee.  If you encounter them and you’re positive that it’s them, don’t react to them.  You let me know and we’ll set up a trap.  I know all about the stunts you pulled at Christmas and I think you have the talent to do this, too,” Mitch said.

              Renee jumped at the chance to help apprehend her assailants.  “Whatever it takes to catch them and tell the whole world what they did, I’ll do it.”

              Mitch smiled.  “I’m glad you’re willing to testify.  A lot of women won’t take the chance of public humiliation if the verdict doesn’t go their way.”

              “Who do you think I’m doing this for?” Renee said.  “I’m not only doing it for me, but for every woman who’s ever been a victim of such brutality.  I’m giving those women who can’t speak for themselves a voice.  I will have my day in court, but I’ll be doing much more than testifying against two rapists; I’ll be showing women everywhere that they need to stand up for themselves because sometimes no one else will stand up for you.  I’m very fortunate to have family and friends who love and support me, but not all women do.”

              Switch gave her a sideways squeeze.  “That’s my brave girl.  Well said, honey.”

              Mitch said, “I agree.  We’ll keep you completely safe, Renee.  I guarantee that.”

              “I have every faith in you, Sheriff,” she said, smiling.

              The Kellers left, Renee’s spirits high as she anticipated exacting revenge.  It was time that the hunted become the hunter.

*****

              “Damn it, Hailey!” Art complained laughingly.  “That ain’t fair!”

              She grinned at him as she pinned him down.  “A warrior uses all of the weapons at their disposal.”

              He grinned.  “So braves make a habit of kissing other braves to distract them?”

              She laughed.  “I haven’t heard of that, but it worked on you.”

              Hailey made the mistake of relaxing a little and Art turned the tables on her, flipping her over and putting her in a loose chokehold with his legs wrapped around her midsection.

              “Ok, Pocahontas.  What’re you gonna do now?”

              If anyone else had called her the Indian names he did, she would have been highly offended, but Hailey knew that Art respected her and her heritage.  They weren’t meant to disparage her people; they were said in fun and made her laugh.

              “I’ll think of something,” she ground out between clenched teeth.

              Art soon found out what that something was when he felt her unbuckle his belt.  “Hey!  Don’t do that unless you mean it.”

              Hailey broke out into loud laughter as she slid his belt from the belt loops.  Art growled and let her go, snatching the belt from her hand.  Quickly he secured it around his waist again. 

              “You’re the sneakiest female I’ve ever come up against,” he said, rising.

              “I learned that from my cousin, Reckless.  He did that one time in a fight against Dr. Walker when they worked as bouncers together at the bar.  He won the fight,” Hailey said, brushing the dust from her leggings.

              Art smiled.  “I would have enjoyed seeing that.  All right.  I gotta get to work.  Where’s my friendly kiss?”

              Hailey wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes.  “Are you coming to play cards tonight?”

              “Of course I am.  I’m not gonna miss the chance to beat you again.”  She scowled, making him laugh.  “You’re the only woman I know who even looks beautiful with her face all scrunched up like that.”

              “Shut up and kiss me.”

              “I do love a bossy woman,” Art said before complying.

              Hailey giggled against his mouth until he put his hand on the tie that would release her leggings.  She stilled and pulled back from him a little.  He smiled at her.  “Now, you did say that a warrior uses all the weapons at his disposal, so you can’t be mad at me.”

              She laughed again and he embraced her before giving her a real kiss.  Hailey felt the familiar rush of desire and happiness she experienced whenever she kissed him.  It didn’t matter how he kissed her, softly lingering over her lips or fierce and wild, he always left her wanting more.

              Art also wanted more—more of Hailey and to make her his wife, but he didn’t know how that would be possible with the law against whites and blacks marrying.  It was muddled by the fact that both of them were biracial.  Would the law swing in their favor or would one or both of them wind up in jail?  There were some judges who felt the whole matter was ridiculous and refused to give anyone jail time.

              Then there was the fact that Matt, or any other preacher for that matter, couldn’t perform the ceremony without getting in trouble.  The marriage wouldn’t be valid even if they did.  His mind turned the problem over all day, but he didn’t come up with a solution.  When he arrived in camp that night, he found Raven at the central fire.

              “Can I talk to you?” he asked him.

              Raven rose and walked with Art to a private spot. 

              “I’ll get right to it, Raven.  I love your girl.  I lost my heart to her in France and what I feel for her gets stronger every day.  I want to marry her, but I can’t because of that damn law,” Art said.  “I wanna do right by her, but how can I do that if I can’t marry her?”

              “Have you asked her to marry you?”

              “No.  I don’t think she’s ready for that yet, but even when she is, I can’t ask her.  No pastor is gonna perform the ceremony,” Art said.

              A sly smile spread across Raven’s chiseled features.  “There is one way, but it won’t be recognized by the law.  How do you feel about having a medicine man marry you?”

              “You mean Mike?”

              “Yes.  He can marry you and Hailey when the time is right.  I know it won’t be a Christian ceremony or binding by law, but it will be binding in your hearts.  Will that be enough for you?”

              “You mean the way Minx and Sonny got married?”

              “Yes.”

              “And that would be enough for you and Zoe?”

              Raven nodded.  “Yes.  It’s the way our people have done it for thousands of years.  There were no pieces of paper to be signed or any priests or pastors.  Our medicine men performed the ceremony, joining the two people together for as long as they wished to be.  In most cases, it was a lasting relationship.”  He stepped closer to Art, his expression turning slightly threatening.  “I’ll be blunt.  If you take Hailey’s virginity, you will automatically become her husband and I will expect you to take her as your wife and take care of her.  If you aren’t prepared to do that, don’t cross that line.  Are we agreed?”

              Art didn’t back down from very many people, Raven included, but he respected Raven’s right as a father to be worried about his daughter being disrespected.  “Yes, sir.  We’re agreed.”

              They grasped arms and then Art went to find Hailey.  Raven gazed wistfully after him, thinking that he was losing another daughter.  Now he knew how his father felt over not only losing Winona to marriage, but to her choice to stay on the reservation with her new husband.  Looking across the clearing to where Winona sat with Brown Otter, her second husband, he thanked Wakan Tanka for bringing her back to them. 

              His son, Dusty, walked across the clearing to him.

              “Did he ask you for permission to marry Hailey?” he asked in Lakota.

              Raven met Dusty’s dark gaze.  “That is none of your business.”

              Dusty grinned.  “Which means that he did.  What did you say?”

              “You are as bad as Aunt Tessa,” Raven teased.  “I gave him permission.  He is a good man and he loves her.  I do not know how many other men would because she is so fierce.”

              “I think they are a good match, too,” Dusty said, brushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes. 

              It was still growing out from his time in the army and it was an annoying in-between length.  He’d been proud to serve his country, but he’d hated having his hair so short.  He also would have preferred to have been in battle, but Dusty was a realist and knew that while he was a good fighter, his clumsiness would have tripped him up somehow.  When he was sparring at home, it didn’t matter, but in war there was no room for klutziness.

              Walking could be a challenge to him some days and Raven suspected that Dusty needed glasses like Zoe did.  However, he knew that Dusty didn’t want to be the only Indian wearing glasses.  He was going to talk to him about it again, but not just then. 

Raven looked up at the stars, wondering if he and Zoe’s youngest child, Runner, was doing the same thing.  The boy had had a bad case of wanderlust and had taken off two years ago on his own version of a vision quest.  He’d only been sixteen when he’d run away.  He’d left a letter saying that the
Paha Sapa
, the Black Hills of South Dakota, had called to him and he needed to go see the ancient, sacred lands there.  They’d searched for him, but Runner was as wily as a fox and if he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be. 

They didn’t speak of Runner very often since they didn’t know where he was or even if he was alive.  There’d been a few postcards from him, but they’d eventually stopped.  He’d gone before the draft had been expanded to include men in Runner’s age group.  They didn’t know if he’d joined the military or if he’d hidden out of defiance.  One never knew which way Runner would turn.

Although they hoped for the best, it was entirely possible that Runner had met with disaster due to his reckless nature.  Speaking his name too much would bind his spirit to the Earth instead of letting it go on to the next life if he no longer lived.  Raven had decided that if Runner hadn’t returned by the end of June that he and a few others would go searching for him again.  Even if Runner wouldn’t come home, at least they would know if he was all right.

Coming out of his depressing musings, Raven said that he and Dusty should join forces against some other card players since Dusty was skilled at gambling.  It would be a good distraction.  They walked across the clearing with Raven steadying Dusty when he tripped.

*****

              Tim twirled Renee around out on the Watering Hole’s dance floor once she was off for the night.  He was glad that she loved her new job so much.  She had fun every night and she was making good tips along with a good salary.  She’d informed him that she still intended to work after they were married—that was, until he was elected to congress. 

He loved the way she believed in him and wanted to work together to make things better for others.  There were a lot of men who didn’t want a feminist for a wife, but not Tim.  He wanted better opportunities for everyone, women included.  He wanted the daughters he and Renee would have to be able to pursue their dreams without being discriminated against.

Their wedding was set for the end of June.  They were anxious for the time to pass quickly and yet enjoyed their time together.  They’d agreed on no more intimacy until they were married, neither of them wanting an eight-month baby.  After having known that kind of passion, this wasn’t easy, but they’d remained steadfast in their decision.

The next night, Friday, was the high school graduation and they were both proud of their brothers and Snow Song for graduating with good grades.  A big graduation party was planned at the community center for all of the graduates so Jake had given her the night off to celebrate with her family.

As they danced, Tim kept glancing at the ring on her finger and smiling as he thought of the night of their engagement.  He’d enjoyed the look of happy surprise on her face and the way her eyes had sparkled.  He forced his thoughts away from the memory of what had occurred next between them.  When he took her home and kissed her goodnight, he smiled inside as he thought that they were one day closer to their wedding.

*****

              Skip sat in between Joey and Lyla Samuels, who was also graduating.  He was nervous about walking to receive his diploma because he didn’t want to trip or do anything stupid.  There were ten other kids graduating including Sam Wild, Moose and Katie’s second child, Jeff Samuels, son of J.R. and Chloe, and Olivia Taylor, Mason and Aiyana’s daughter.