Page 19 of Rawhide and Ransom

She glanced away from him. “I still don’t understand what’s in it for you.”

He studied her lovely profile. “You don’t have to understand everything, Annalee. It’s okay to just embrace what is.”

She returned her gaze to his. “I should go check on Miley.”

“Yeah.” He angled his head at the door. “You should.” He instinctively knew that spending time with her daughter was the one thing that would give her comfort right now.

He waited until the door shut behind her before addressing the man who’d been listening in on their conversation. “Evening, Running Bear. You still planning on heading to church in the morning?”

“Who is she?” The councilman stepped out from behind Hawk’s workshop. He was dressed in a heavily beaded cotton shirt, long deerskin shorts, and moccasins. His long, dark, silver-threaded hair was braided into two thick braids that lay against his shoulders.

“Chayton Dakota’s widow.” Though he and Running Bear had never been anything less than honest with each other, he braced for an outburst.

However, Running Bear simply nodded. “It’s about time.”

It was the last thing Hawk had expected him to say. “What do you mean?”

Running Bear’s dark eyes raked his face. “You aren’t the only one who’s been praying for the Lord to send you a wife.”

A lesser man would’ve choked, but Hawk had long since learned how to hide his emotions. “She’s not Comanche.” He was surprised the man wasn’t pitching a fit about that.

“Yet she pledged her love and loyalty to one before,” the councilman pointed out. “That counts for something.”

It counted for plenty with Hawk, but there was an even bigger matter at stake — one that could easily prove to be a show-stopper. “Her heart is broken.”

“It’ll heal.” There was little inflection in the councilman’s voice, making Hawk wonder if the man was thinking of his own dearly departed wife. She’d struggled with a number of health conditions, making it impossible for them to have children, but he’d remained devoted to her until the end.

“She has an eighteen-year-old daughter.” It sounded like Running Bear was already aware of her existence, but Hawk threw that detail out there just to be sure. “She’s inside on my couch, injured and sick. For reasons I don’t yet understand, someone has her and her mother in their crosshairs.” He quickly briefed Running Bear on Annalee’s hit-and-run accident and the fire that had temporarily trapped Miley inside her childhood home.

Running Bear stalked up the porch steps. “It sounds to me like the good Lord has some more plans for those bodyguard skills of yours.”

“I’ll do my best. You know that. Like I said, though, I’m not entirely sure what I’m protecting them from.” Though Hawk had done everything he could to assure Annalee she would be safe on the rez, he was wrestling with a few doubts of his own. For starters, he had a full-time job at Lonestar Security. He’d be reporting for duty on Monday morning like he always did. In the past, he’d always looked forward to heading in to work and receiving his next assignment. But right now, he was dreading the moment he’d have to leave Annalee and Miley behind in his cabin. The only way he could truly protect them was if he was present. Maybe he’d request a few personal leave days.

“God knows, and He’ll give you all the direction you need. All you have to do is ask.” Running Bear’s answer was matter-of-fact. “I’ll be lurking in the background like I always am, and we’ll let the rez police know what’s going on. We’re a tribe, Hawk. As a tribe, we’ll protect our own.”

“Our own?” Did his mentor truly consider two blonde-haired and blue-eyed women to be their own?

Running Bear met his gaze squarely. “I didn’t approve of my brother leaving the rez to find a bride, and I gave him an earful about it at the time. But what’s done is done. Chayton was my nephew by blood when he married Annalee Gilbert. In my book, that makes her and her daughter family.”

Hawk was glad to hear it. Very glad to hear it. “Understood, sir.” He was grateful to receive confirmation that his houseguests would have a solid ally in Running Bear.

Running Bear straightened to his full height. “Now take me to meet her.”

Chapter 4: The Test

“Annalee?” Hawk’s quiet voice cut through her fears, rousing the hyper sense of awareness she always seemed to get when she was around him.

Not wanting to make the effect he had on her too obvious, she took her time rocking back on her heels where she was squatted down beside the couch. She left the cool, damp cloth on Miley’s forehead that she’d been using to swab it. Meeting his gaze at last, she was surprised to discover he wasn’t alone.

The Comanche at his side was old enough to be his father. He brought with him the scents of the outdoors — clean earth, grass, and sunshine.

Instantly knowing who he was, she stood and faced him, nervously holding out a hand. “Mr. Dakota?” The design on his shirt had taken a skilled seamstress many hours to create. Tiny, seed-like beads had been painstakingly sewn into the shape of a roaring bear standing on its hind legs.

“Most folks call me Running Bear. And you must be Annalee.” Instead of shaking her hand, he cradled it between his hands with a reverence she’d not been expecting. “I’ve waited a long time for this day to come.”

“Me, too, sir.” His kindness tugged at her emotions. After fearing he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her and her daughter, she was relieved to learn the opposite was true. “I’ve always hated the rift in our family.” For years, she’d been praying they would be able to make it right someday. During the last twenty-four hours, she’d been praying that prayer more fervently than ever.

“It wasn’t a rift of your making or my nephew’s making.” His swift rejoinder laid to rest one of her biggest concerns. He glanced over her shoulders to give Miley an assessing look. “Or your daughter’s making.”

---