Sleepless in Montana (47 page)

Jemma helped Mrs. Coleman to stand. With
tears shimmering in her faded eyes, Mrs. Coleman used her cane to
walk to a carved Buddha. She stroked it lovingly. “I knew when he
brought this home... it was Harry Medford’s. Poor Harry’s place was
burned the night he died. Harry always loved me, you know. He was
such a sweet man. He was going to help me. I wanted to live with my
sister, Anna, and Richard wouldn’t hear of it. Don’t expect me to
cry. I can’t. He probably gave the girl the same medication he used
on me.”

“Maybe you could live with your sister now,”
Jemma offered gently, searching Carley’s pale face and the way she
hugged Hogan tight. Jemma knew how safe Hogan could make her feel,
and that was important now, when she was still trembling.

Hogan turned Carley’s face up to his,
studying it. “He’s given her something— probably to allow him to
dress her and prepare for the grand event.”

Carley shuddered. “He wanted to get something
here first, before we took that hike. He offered me a glass of
lemonade, and then I couldn’t hold my eyes open. I woke up,
and—”

Jemma placed her hand over her racing heart,
fear still racing through her. She stood looking at them, trying to
subdue the fear that her best friend and Hogan could have been
wounded or killed.

They were beautiful, standing like that—
Carley’s fair hair against Hogan’s dark skin. Perfect parts of
Jemma’s heart were all safe and living for tomorrows. Carley would
marry Mitch and have children, and Hogan would— be Hogan....
strong, safe, enduring.

Carley looked so safe now as Hogan gathered
her closer. “It’s over now. For good. Jemma, take Mrs. Coleman
upstairs and make some calls, okay?”

Jemma couldn’t move, still locked in fear,
her cold body beginning to tremble. “It’s over?”

Hogan’s expression was grim and frustrated,
yet he spoke gently. “It is. Jemma, you’ve come this far. You’ve
saved Carley’s life. You’ve done everything right, and everyone is
safe. Take Mrs. Coleman upstairs and make those calls, okay?”

Moving mechanically, doing what she must,
Jemma seated Mrs. Coleman in her rocking chair near the telephone.
Still icy-cold and locked in the terrifying scene, Jemma made calls
to the police, and Savanna came to take Mrs. Coleman to a friend’s
home.

Mitch had skidded to a stop, flying to hold
Carley tight against him, tears running down their cheeks. He’d be
angry later, telling her how foolish she’d been, but for the
moment, Mitch had his love safely in his arms.

“We’re getting married,” he’d ordered
shakily, “and no buts about it.”

“Not now, Mitch,” Hogan had said quietly.
“Try her again when she’s up to it.”

Jemma had stayed with Hogan through the
police questioning, gripping his hand like a lifeline.... and then
she fainted.

That night, they rode Moon Shadow to the top
of a knoll overlooking Kodiak land, the big Bar K iron gate visible
in the moonlight. Jemma sat behind Hogan on Moon Shadow’s bare
back, her arms around the man she loved.

She held him tighter, and Hogan placed his
hand over hers, one finger smoothing Willow’s wedding band. Jemma
did not want to return it, not just yet, because part of her was
still locked back in the terrifying scene in the Coleman basement.
Hogan took her hand, kissed it, and placed it over his chest.

He was wearing the shirt she’d made, marking
a special occasion. Hogan treated everything she did for him with
reverence, as though he couldn’t believe she would think so
carefully of him. In quiet moments, when he thought he was alone or
unnoticed, he often smoothed the fabric in a treasuring caress.

After the police questioning, Jemma
remembered Hogan carrying her to his pickup and locking one arm
around her as he drove. When they arrived at the Bar K, Hogan
carried her into the house.

Mitch arrived minutes later, also carrying
Carley into the house. They sat in silence, Carley’s terror
silently vibrating through the sunlit room. Dinah, Ben, and Aaron
had arrived from branding and the three had looked like a family,
Aaron’s arm draped casually around his mother, Ben’s face
aglow—

That happiness died when they saw Carley and
Jemma, and Mitch and Hogan’s grim expressions.

Three hours later, Ben hadn’t wanted Hogan
and Jemma to leave, but they’d needed the healing time
together.

Now, on the moonlit knoll, on a ride like any
other, they were silent. Hogan’s storms seemed to settle on their
midnight rides, and Jemma enjoyed them, too. It was as if Moon
Shadow carried them into one life— together, without words or
explanations.

The solid beat of Hogan’s heart beneath her
palm reassured Jemma that life would go on. “Carley is really safe
now, isn’t she?”

“I should have seen it. The way Richard
looked at her. He’s always looked at her like that, as if she
were—” Hogan’s jaw locked, his features hardening in the moonlit
night. “But then, I love Carley, too, and I— I should have paid
more attention.”

Jemma rubbed her cheek against Hogan’s back.
“It’s all over now. Tell me what you see when you look out there at
the moonlit pastures and foothills and the mountains?”

“Images, blending together, colors and form
separate and yet one within a concept.... Peace. I’ve found peace.
Here with you.”

Because her heart was so filled with love,
Jemma could only snuggle closer.

Later, in bed, Hogan held her close after
lovemaking, as though he’d never let her go, as though his
heartbeat needed hers to survive.... She smoothed his hair and
sighed, the motion bringing her breast closer into his hand.
“You’re a good man, Hogan Kodiak....”

“I’m staying here,” he whispered drowsily in
the aftermath of lovemaking and the terrifying, stark painful day.
“Make this your home, Jemma. Here with me. Come and go as you like,
but always remember that I’m here for you. I love you.”

Jemma wondered briefly how she could ever
leave him, this wonderful loving man, who would give his life for
his family. She continued smoothing his hair, listening to his easy
breathing, and knew more deeply than ever how much— “I love you,
too.”

He was sleeping now, and she drifted along,
unable to sleep. “I’ve always loved you, Hogan Kodiak. You’ve
always had my heart. Just maybe I will marry you and maybe— just
maybe we’ll make a family.”

Hogan sighed and stirred, his hand sliding
down to cover her lower abdomen, opening upon it. Before Jemma slid
off into sleep, she wondered how she could be so blessed to know
and love Hogan, a beautiful man, inside and out.

She never felt the curve of Hogan’s pleased
smile and kiss against her throat.

*** ***

Epilogue

The
healing time

Hogan sat on his front porch, untangling
Jemma’s usual mess of leaders, lures and fishing line that lay on
the rough wood table in front of him.

At the beginning of September, a chill had
settled onto the land, foretelling of fall, when the fur would be
thick upon bears in the high country.

With the aspens turning fiery yellow, frost
would be touching the small grave by Willow Creek, soon to be
covered by snow, driven by the haunting winds. Hogan had come home
to find his peace, his soul, and he’d found love.

It was a healing time, the cycle of ranch
life holding a steady thread through lives that were changing and a
family mending. Carley was now impatient for marriage; Dinah and
Ben had been remarried quietly, immediately.

Mrs. Coleman was financially independent and
wanted nothing from the Coleman house. She’d signed all her goods
to Mitch with the condition that he sell them, and use the proceeds
to build a boys’ ranch for inner-city children. Carley had set her
mind to be Mitch’s partner in the venture, helping him in his
unique talent for saving children.

Aaron had started to build on his land
nearby, and he’d settled in for a long, determined, romantic
pursuit of his Savanna.

As for Jemma: She still wore Willow’s ring,
and Hogan wasn’t pushing any plan now. Every day brought them
closer, and the images moved more surely within him now. They’d
come to him at first in sketches and then in watercolor. But they
were still his secret, buried deep. He was coddling them until he
was certain they would satisfy his artistic spirit—

Jemma.
He treasured every day that she
stayed, slept with him, and rode the moonlit pastures at night. She
filled his heart and gave him peace— even when they were fighting.
He’d learned to battle her outright, just to stir her up, to watch
her ignite, his fire woman.

He’d found what he sought, as an artist, and
as a man. He needed this balance in his life: Jemma, the land that
he loved, and the discovery of the images in his life, the sketches
that settled his need to create, to blend colors and shapes.

Inside the house, Jemma stood in the shadows,
watching Hogan survey Kodiak land, seemingly at peace with
himself.

She turned Willow’s ring on her finger and
slashed away the tears dripping from her cheeks. She loved him so,
this gentle, caring man. He’d fought his past and won, he’d tried
to understand Ben, and that breach was mending every day.

But could she give him what he needed and he
deserved?

Hogan turned to look at her through the
glass, placing his large hand against it; Jemma matched it with her
trembling one on the pane.

He seemed to sense her moods and fears, and
Hogan was always so safe. While they argued, they also shared quiet
times, like now, their hands matched on opposite sides of the
window pane.

Hogan had let her grow into him, and they’d
blended together into an easy schedule. At times he cooked and
cleaned, and they shared household duties. She helped him on the
small ranch, and the nights were long and tender, each day better
than before.

Jemma allowed Hogan his private cave, of
course. He spent the afternoon hours sketching away in his studio,
and she enjoyed sharing her business deals with him. A quiet
evening, sharing the lush rug in front of his fire, brought her
more peace than she’d had in her lifetime.

They were a family, she thought, a tiny
perfect family. She wasn’t ready yet, but she did want Hogan’s
children— glossy-haired little miniatures of him— to nestle within
her. She’d found the end of her quest. She’d found her love.

They were already a part of each other, in
their hearts, and after that, all else would settle into place. The
healing time had begun— a quiet acceptance of life’s unending
circles.

*** ***

Savanna’s small car pulled into the dirt
driveway of Aaron’s new home place.

The entire Kodiak family was racing against
winter. Jemma was happily giving orders; Hogan walked by to kiss
her mouth closed, then place her firmly aside as he and Mitch
lifted two-by-fours and carried them to another section of the
stark framework with rough flooring.

Aaron had been very good to Mrs. Coleman,
relocating her with her sister, taking care of her paperwork and
handling her finances.

On the other hand, he’d been too proper with
Savanna, his body shaking, but controlled each time he kissed her
good night. Their relationship and her frustration had deepened. He
was very careful of her— and very proper, giving her flowers,
small, unique gifts, and taking her shopping and picnicking.

Savanna took off her sunglasses and frowned.
But no sex, no pushing, no seduction. He’d been very careful,
though her body recognized the heat within his.

Aaron had changed, and Savanna enjoyed him as
a man and as a friend.

She found him high on the newly shingled
roof, his shirt open, his chest gleaming, and a carpenter’s tool
belt slung around narrow hips.

“You’re drooling,” Jemma whispered next to
Savanna, as Aaron spied her and swung down from a rafter. He
vaulted over a stack of boards and swaggered toward her, a boyish
grin on his face.

“Click,” Savanna whispered to Jemma, then
strolled off to kiss the man she intended to marry.

“Hello, honey—mmft!” Aaron gave himself to
Savanna’s scorching kiss.

She pushed him back and held his shirt with
her fist. “Tonight. My house. Topics: sex and marriage. Sex first.
I want to get pregnant right away, and I’ll want my baby wearing an
Aaron Kodiak name. Got it? Oh, and one more thing— just so you
know.... Click.”

Then she strolled away, hips gently swaying
in her tight red dress. She winked at Jemma.

“Click,” Savanna said again with a low,
sultry laugh, and bent to kiss Jimmy’s cheek as she passed.

The boy flushed, made yucking noises, and
tried not to look full of himself. “Women,” he said to Mitch, who
had just adopted him. “Weird.”

Aaron stood for a long time, clearly
confused, frowning, and his hand rubbing his heart as though it had
just left his keeping. Then he blinked and grinned.

“Yahoo! I am getting married!” he yelled, and
spread his arms wide to the blue sky of Montana.

Two days later, Ben, Aaron, and Mitch sat
under the Bar K’s big metal gate and faced Hogan’s house. With a
long, doomed sigh, Hogan swung up on Moon Shadow’s bare back and
rode to meet them. They glowered at him.

“Do something with Jemma,” Aaron ordered.

“She’s going to kill us,” Mitch grumbled.

“Take her off someplace until all the
weddings are done,” Ben added darkly. “She’s got the womenfolk all
worked up into a frenzy. She has me, walking Dinah down the aisle
in full wedding garb. Hell, we’re already married. Caterers,
engagement parties, showers—”

“We’ll stop work on my house and make your
cabin ready for winter. We’ll chop wood and put in a stove and
running water. We’ll build a warehouse to store her business deals.
Take her up there—”