Chapter 3 Cabin Fever
“I t’s a miracle!” Annalee sank onto the sofa beside her daughter, raining happy-sad tears all over her. Yes, the two of them tended to think alike, so it wasn’t too surprising that they’d both decided to hightail it to the Comanche rez for help. However, the odds of them finding each other so quickly while being brutally targeted could only be described as a miracle.
Miley finally gave her a gentle push to give them both more breathing room. “I’ve already had a shower,” she joked, despite the fact that her own eyes were brimming. “You, on the other hand, look like you could use one.” She beckoned imperiously for her frappe, and their tall Native American host dutifully returned it to her.
Boy, did she have the man wrapped around her pinky finger! Annalee watched her daughter sip ravenously on it before tearing open the bag on her lap and pulling out the bottle of antibiotics.
She used the frappe to wash the first dose down. “What’s up with the tacky dry cleaning uniform?”
“It’s a long story.” Annalee stretched her legs out in front of her to grimace at the dusty galoshes. She was more than ready to see the end of her horrendous outfit.
Miley pointed imperiously across the living room. “Do us all a favor and tell us everything after your shower.”
“Miley!” Annalee wasn’t sure how she felt about taking a shower in the home of someone who’d been a complete stranger to her an hour ago. “Don’t you think we’ve imposed long enough on the hospitality of Mr. er…?” Her face grew warm at the realization that she hadn’t bothered asking the name of her daughter’s rescuer before climbing into his pickup truck. She shot to her feet to correct the oversight, thoroughly embarrassed by how distracted she’d been up to this point.
“Hawk,” the owner of the cabin drawled, looking highly entertained by her flusteredness. “Hawk Chesney.”
Wow! His name was as hot as the rest of him. It wasn’t the most appropriate thought for a recently widowed woman to be having, but it was kind of his fault for looking like a walking commercial for bodybuilding. He was all bulging shoulders and chest with well-corded, coppery biceps stretching the short sleeves of his black t-shirt. One side of his shirt was loosely tucked into the waistband of his jeans. Though he was wearing black cowboy boots, he didn’t have on a belt or one of those ridiculously large belt buckles that so many Texans favored.
“I’m really glad we ran into each other at the diner today, Hawk.” He reminded her of her husband in so many ways, except he was bigger. Taller. More imposing. “I’m so grateful for everything you’ve done for my daughter. I—” She bit off the rest of what she’d been about to say, wondering why he was reaching for her elbow again.
“You’re about to fall over, Mom.” Miley’s voice grew anxious. “Were you hurt during your accident?”
Annalee blinked at her. “I didn’t stick around the hospital long enough to find out, but I feel okay.” She was mostly just achy and weak from being bed-bound for three weeks.
Hawk directed her attention to a basket resting at her daughter’s feet. “A friend of mine dropped off some clothes and supplies for Miley last night.”
“Your girlfriend?” The question slid out of Annalee as she scooted to the floor, where she was less likely to topple over in exhaustion. As badly as she wished she’d kept her mouth shut, his expression didn’t change.
“Don’t have a girlfriend.” The way he was sizing her up gave her a heightened sense of awareness of, well, him . “You look about the same size as your daughter, so the clothes Caro brought over might fit both of you.”
Caro. His friend now had a name. Annalee couldn’t help wondering if this “friend” of his wanted to be more than a friend. Lending a basketful of clothing and toiletries to a teenager she didn’t know felt awfully personal. Maybe her generosity had been more about impressing him than helping Miley.
Another thought struck her, bringing with it a fresh round of worry. “Who all knows my daughter is staying here?” She cast a longing look at the basket of clothing, hating the thought of passing up a warm shower. It would feel like heaven to be clean again, but did they truly have time for that? It was probably wisest to scoop up her daughter and her bottle of antibiotics and keep moving.
“Don’t worry, Mom.” There was a laughing note in Miley’s voice. “We’re safe here. All of Hawk’s friends are cops.”
“Says who?” Hawk rounded on her.
She jutted her chin at him. “Did you really think I was sleeping the whole time y’all were in the kitchen last night jawing about me?”
“She’s a brat,” Annalee said quickly. “If I’d made it into town sooner, I could’ve warned you.”
Hawk curled his upper lip at her daughter. “Only one of them was a cop, Miss Nosy Pants. Past tense. Her husband works at Lonestar Security with me. The other woman used to be an FBI agent, but now she’s an events planner. She switched careers to marry a dairy farmer.”
Annalee absorbed his latest revelations about himself. “You work for a security firm?” That could prove useful.
“Bodyguard.” He playfully flexed his arms for her.
“Nice.” His bodybuilder bod was starting to make a lot more sense.
“Is the friend who works with you a bodyguard, too?” She relaxed, feeling safer already.
“Nah, he’s a private investigator. Different department.” He pointed toward the hallway. “The bathroom is the first door on your right. You’ll find clean towels and wash cloths in the cabinet beneath the sink.”
She wanted to accept his offer — badly — but she still hesitated. “Like I said, we have family here on the rez.” Granted, Uri Dakota was a distant relative by marriage whom she’d never met in person. A man who might have no interest in getting to know her and her daughter, much less helping them find a place to live.
“Do you really want to meet him before squeezing in a measly shower?” Hawk’s dark gaze coaxed her to reconsider.
A snicker escaped her as she sent a mock accusing look at her daughter. “Are the two of you trying to say I stink?”
Her daughter gave an innocent shrug. “If the rain boots fit…”
“Yep, you’re still a brat.” Annalee leaned over the basket, intending to rummage through it. To her dismay, she kept going and would’ve face-planted inside the basket if Hawk hadn’t caught her arm again.
“Easy there, cowgirl.” He helped her regain her balance. “You’ve been through a lot.”
She gripped the sides of the basket, hating her current state of weakness. “I’m sorry to be such a burden.” She wasn’t normally in constant need of assistance.
He moved to the kitchen and returned to press a chilled bottle of water into her hands. The kind gesture made her want to weep. For the past twenty-four hours, she’d been utterly dependent on the kindness of strangers. It wasn’t a feeling she liked. “Thank you,” she whispered, uncapping the bottle and tipping it up.
The water tasted so good. She hadn’t realized how parched she was. She closed her eyes and sipped on it until the dizziness faded. When she reopened her eyes, Hawk had left the room.
She remained seated on the floor while poking through the basket for a change of clothing. She found a white cotton blouse and jean leggings with plenty of stretch in them that should fit just fine. Glancing toward the bathroom, she tried to decide if she had the strength to make it all the way there on her own.
“Come on, Mom. I’ll help you.” Miley shrugged off the blanket, still shivering with a fever as she pushed herself to her feet and held out a hand.
Annalee swallowed a sob as she allowed her ill and injured teenage daughter to haul her to her feet. “What a scraggly pair we make!”
“So? We’re still standing.” Miley’s expression was stubborn.
“Barely.” Tears of shame slid down Annalee’s cheek. “In the past month, I managed to lose our family farm, total my truck, and misplace my only child.” She had a little money left in the bank, but it wasn’t enough to buy another vehicle.
Miley grunted. “You know what they say about hitting rock bottom?”
“Only way is up, or so we’ve been told.” Annalee sniffed back more tears, knowing there was no way to explain to an eighteen-year-old how much of a failure she felt as a parent right now. Starting over probably felt like one big, exciting adventure to her. For a woman of thirty-five, however, it was a terrifying prospect. Annalee was supposed to be providing for her daughter, not the other way around. At the moment, however, Miley was the only one with a job.
Despite her injured arm, she also managed to help her mother reach the bathroom. She gently kicked the door shut behind them and guided Annalee to the toilet seat. “Keep drinking water,” she commanded while bending over the faucets to draw a warm bath — so warm that steam rose from the water.
“You’re going to scald the skin right off of me,” Annalee protested.
“It’s not that hot, Mom!” Miley turned on the exhaust fan. Then she knelt in front of her mom to help tug her rubber boots off with one hand.
“Eww!” She wrinkled her nose. “Mind if I throw these out?”
“Oh, please do!” Annalee nearly gagged at how much dirt was between her toes. “Though I was raised on a farm, I’ve never been this dirty in all my life.”
Miley helped her tug off the uniform shirt next. “Your back is a million different colors,” she squeaked. “Are you sure you didn’t break anything?”
“Pretty sure I’d know if something was broken.” She must’ve gotten banged up pretty severely for the bruises to still be healing three weeks later. It was no wonder she was still sore. “Sorry you had to see that. I’ll, um…” she shooed her daughter toward the door, “take it from here.”
“Are you sure?” Miley looked reluctant to leave her alone.
“I’m sure.” Annalee rolled her eyes. “I’ll leave the door unlocked to make it easier for you to come scrape me up if you hear a thud.”
“That’s not funny,” Miley grumbled as she stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her.
Annalee gritted her teeth from the effort it took to finish undressing and step into the tub. The water quickly turned cloudy from all the grime she scrubbed off. After draining the water, she turned the shower spray on and remained sitting beneath it to wash her hair. Admittedly, she enjoyed the warm water a little longer than it took to rinse the suds from her hair.
She didn’t want to even think about what she and Miley were doing to Hawk Chesney’s water bill. Her daughter had never been one to take short showers, and their host probably wasn’t accustomed to having two women in the house. She made a mental note to contribute to his water bill just as soon as she could log into her bank account online.
Boy, but it was going to be a job to replace her driver’s license, social security card, and debit card! Her throat constricted at the possibility that someone might’ve gotten their hands on her wallet while she was in a coma and drained her bank account.
Please, God, don’t let that be the case. What little money she had left in savings she desperately needed to help get her and her daughter through the next few hours, days, and weeks.
To her enormous gratitude, the white bohemian blouse she’d picked out fit comfortably. The leggings were a little long, but she fixed them by rolling them up at the cuffs. She took a minute or two to scrunch her damp hair so it would dry in blonde waves. Then she hung up her towel and padded barefoot from the bathroom, feeling like a new person.
Hawk was in the kitchen, warming and setting out the food from the to-go boxes he’d brought back from the diner.
“Wow!” He gave her an admiring look. “Should I reintroduce myself?”
“Annalee Gilbert.” She stuck out a hand. “The clean version.”
His warm hand curled around hers and gave it a hearty shake. “Hawk Chesney. The luckiest guy in Texas to have not one, but two lovely guests for breakfast.”
Miley gave a happy laugh as she plopped down on one of the bar stools. “Being your guest sounds a lot better than being a pesky trespasser. Or a squatter.”
“You did what was necessary. I won’t be holding it against you…much,” Hawk teased as he pulled out a stool for Annalee. Bowing his head, he said grace over their food. Then he angled his head at Miley, exchanging a silent message with her.
Miley promptly lifted the electronic device beside her to-go box of breakfast and set it closer to her mother. She tapped on the screen to pull up a photograph. “This is what Running Bear looks like.”
Annalee eyed the stoic-faced man. “How long has Uri Dakota been a councilman?” Her late husband hadn’t mentioned his position in the tribe. Maybe it was a recent development.
Hawk lifted his burrito to his mouth. “For as long as I can remember.” He took a bite. “A few decades, at least.”
It wasn’t a recent development then. Annalee wondered if Uri Dakota’s status as a leader on the rez would make him more or less likely to help her and Miley.
She toyed with the breakfast burrito in front of her. “I don’t know what all Miley has told you, but we’ve never met him before. We’ve only been told about him.”
Hawk didn’t look surprised. “I happen to know him very well. We even attend the same church. If you and Miley attend the Sunday service with me in the morning, I could introduce you to him then.”
“Tomorrow?” Annalee’s voice rose uncertainly. “I was hoping to make his acquaintance today.”
“Nope. That’s the soonest I can make it happen.” He shook his head. “He’ll be impossible to reach before then.” He didn’t say why as he pointed at her breakfast. “You might as well eat and rest up.”
There was nothing she’d rather do than rest right now, but there was so much to do before she could climb into bed again. “Is there a hotel or motel around here that you’d recommend?”
“Oh, I can do better than that.” He crinkled the corners of his eyes at her. “I have a fishing buddy with a travel trailer he’s been trying to unload. It’s actually one of those tiny houses you see in magazines. I called him while you were in the shower, and he assured me it’s still available.”
“A travel trailer,” she repeated slowly. “I’m afraid that’s not in my budget.” Nor did she have a vehicle to pull it with.
He snorted. “It wouldn’t matter if you were as rich as the prince of Wales, because I already purchased it. He’ll be delivering it in the next few hours.”
“Oh.” She blinked in confusion, not sure why he was telling her this.
“It’ll serve as your room and board in exchange for helping me with a little project.”
“How little?” A project that came with room and board sounded like a pretty big deal to her.
“I’ve been wanting to transform a few acres behind my cabin into something the whole neighborhood could enjoy.”
“Oh, wow!” She was intrigued. “What do you have in mind?”
“A little bit of everything.” He went on to describe what sounded like a mini paradise to her — complete with a walking path, playground, vegetable garden, berry patch, and fruit grove. “Not only will it serve as a recreation area, it’ll also help supplement the grocery bills of those struggling to make ends meet.”
She studied him in amazement. “It sounds like you’re gunning to become a tribal councilman yourself.” He already possessed the heart of a community servant.
“Eh, maybe someday.” He didn’t sound too concerned about it. “Any chance you’d be interested in serving as our resident master gardener of the project I just described?”
“Interested is an understatement. It sounds like your project is right down my alley!” She was embarrassed to admit what she was about to say next, but someone as generous as Hawk Chesney deserved to know what he was getting into before hiring her. “In the spirit of transparency, you should know that Miley and I don’t have any place else to go. A squatter claiming to be me is currently in possession of all my earthly possessions.” Or what was left of them. She’d managed to sell off the biggest pieces of farm equipment to square up their debts.
“I’m not so sure that’s the case.” He sounded cautious.
She frowned at him. “What do you mean?”
He exchanged another knowing look with Miley. “There was a fire,” he said slowly. “At the farmhouse.”
Annalee felt the blood leave her face. “How did you find out? Did it happen while you were there, baby girl?” She turned impulsively to Miley.
Miley reached for her hand. “It’s okay, Mom. I made it out in time.”
Mercy! “Tell me again how you got that cut on your arm,” Annalee implored.
Miley filled her in on the details. By the time she finished, weakness was coursing through Annalee’s limbs. The smallest puff of air could’ve easily blown her off the stool where she was seated.
“Someone is trying to kill all three of us,” she wheezed. “First Chayton and now us.”
“Looks like.” Hawk’s voice was grim.
She shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know what we did to bring this on ourselves...or what to do next.” She felt like a sitting duck, exposed and waiting for her evil imposter to take her next shot.
“No one besides me and a few others you can trust know you’re here,” their host reminded. “You’re in the perfect position to launch an investigation into your husband’s death, along with the attempts on your and Miley’s lives.”
“True.” She eyed the e-device longingly. “As soon as I log on to my bank account, I’ll freeze my debit card and have it reissued. Only then will I be in the position to hire Lonestar Security.” She also needed to have her driver’s license reissued, her old cell phone contract discontinued, and a new one activated.
He waved at the tablet. “It’s yours and Miley’s to use as long as you need it. I’ve got a laptop you can borrow, too.”
“Oh, this will be enough,” she assured hastily, not wanting to become a nuisance.
The three of them munched on their burritos for a minute before he started speaking again. “Not to make light of anything that you and your daughter have suffered, but I’m old-fashioned enough to believe everything happens for a reason.”
She wanted to believe that. “I’m not sure I’m there yet,” she confessed softly. It was difficult to think clearly while her family was still in danger.
“That’s understandable.” His voice was kind. “Like our pastor says, it’s always easier to pray for the other guy when he’s in trouble. It’s a lot harder being the one in the hot seat.”
“Well said,” she murmured, practically squirming from the discomfort of being in the hot seat. Very well said .
* * *
Miley’s fever got worse before it got better. When Hawk’s newly purchased tiny house on wheels arrived, he didn’t have the heart to relocate her to it. He parked it beside his rawhide workshop out back and carried a few armloads of his belongings out there.
Annalee watched him from the open back door of his cabin with her arms crossed in protest. “I feel awful about running you out of your home.” The wind blew a few tendrils of hair into her eyes that he longed to reach out and brush away for her. He was forced to watch her do the deed herself.
“You’re not,” he assured gruffly as he jogged back up the porch steps to face her. “I just really don’t think it’s a good idea to move Miley tonight, and it would be an even worse idea to separate the two of you. She needs you right now.” Normally, Johnny asked him to work at the dairy farm on Saturday evenings, but he’d called him a few minutes ago to explain that he was needed at home this evening. It had been a long time since he last felt this needed.
“Why are you helping us?” she bleated, looking even more stressed.
“Because I can.” He’d been on his own for so long that he wasn’t accustomed to explaining himself to others.
“There’s gotta be more to it,” she pressed. “We’re imposing on you. No way around it. And you’re just taking it on the cheek. I want to know why.”
He leaned back against the porch railing, facing her. “You know how I said I believe things happen for a reason?”
She nodded.
He pointed at the floor of the porch. “This property once belonged to Running Bear, which means you and Miley have already arrived at the place you came looking for.”
“I don’t understand.” She wrinkled her forehead at him. “We didn’t come looking for a place. We came looking for Uri Dakota.”
“And you found him.” He rushed to explain. “Running Bear was born with an old-school mentality. He believes in living off the land, so he pitches his tent wherever the wind blows. When he heard I was looking to buy my own place about ten years ago, he offered to sell me this one real cheap. His only condition was that he would continue to live off the land.”
She dropped her arms and stepped up to the railing near where he was standing, gazing out over the empty, overgrown acreage behind the cabin. “You’re saying he’s out there somewhere right now?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She didn’t seem to realize how close they were standing. “He doesn’t own a cell phone, though. He says being out there makes him feel closer to God, and he doesn’t wish to be disturbed while spending time with his Maker.”
“How long have you known him?” She spun his way, looking so delicate and wind-tousled in her borrowed white shirt and jeans that he fought the urge to sweep her into his arms and just hold her. “You and he seem…close.”
They were, and he liked the fact that she’d picked up on that detail. “He and my dad grew up together. They were friends for years.”
“Were?” She worriedly scanned his features.
It hit him like a ton of bricks that no woman had ever looked at him like that before — like she genuinely cared about what he said next. Sure, women had flirted with him in the past. Quite a few of them, actually, but Annalee wasn’t flirting with him. She was seeing him. The real him.
He shrugged again. “I’m pretty sure my dad made Running Bear promise to look after me when he was gone. Since the day we buried my dad, Running Bear has treated me like the son he never had.” His mother had died when he was much younger.
“Oh, wow!” She sounded surprised.
“Until you came along, I was all he had.” He hoped she intended to stick around long enough to pursue a meaningful relationship with Running Bear. It would mean the world to the guy to have someone in his life again who actually wante d to be his family.
Another gust of wind blew her hair back into her eyes. This time, he reached out to help her smooth it back. “He’s gonna be tickled to pieces to meet you.”
She grew still beneath his touch. “You sound so sure about that, but what if you’re wrong? What if he wants nothing to do with me and Miley and the trouble that followed us here?”
“Impossible,” he scoffed, reluctantly dropping his hand. “Number one. You and Miley are worth knowing. Number two. As far as I can tell, your troubles haven’t followed you here.”
“Yet.” The look she gave him was full of angst.
“ So don’t worry about tomorrow ,” he quoted, “ for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. ”
She looked arrested. “Matthew chapter six, verse thirty-four.”
“Yep.” Her ability to snatch the exact chapter and verse right out of the air fascinated him. Most folks nowadays didn’t bother memorizing scriptures. Whether she realized it or not, she was a rare treasure.
“I’ve been quoting it to myself every day since our farm went into the red,” she confessed wryly. “I pray The Lord is my Shepherd passage every morning when I wake up, but it’s been harder to believe those promises lately. A lot harder.”
The grief in her voice tugged at his heart. “No judgment,” he assured huskily.
“It feels like we’re being punished,” she sighed. “Not that I blame God for flaying me to pieces for the imperfect life I’ve lived, but Chayton was good. He didn’t deserve to have his life cut short, and our daughter certainly didn’t deserve to nearly be burnt alive in her bedroom.” Her voice grew choked. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make things right for her again, but I can’t seem to push away from rock bottom.”
As much as he sympathized with her, his gut told him she wasn’t looking for sympathy. “Fortunately for all of us, God’s not in the business of flaying people.”
Her lips curved into a faint smile. “I know you’re just being nice, and I appreciate it, but you’re looking at a complete failure, Hawk.” Her voice grew sad. “I lose or destroy everything I touch.”
Indignation on her behalf churned in his gut. “Again, I can understand how it feels that way right now, but that’s far from the truth. Miley is proof that you did something right. I’ve met the kid, remember? So don’t bother trying to talk me out of that statement.”
“Okay.” Her expression softened. “Maybe I’ve done one thing right, but is it enough?”
“Yeah, it is.” He reached out to tap her chin higher with one finger. “As one very wise person recently said to me, quit asking God why things are happening to you and start asking Him what He’s trying to accomplish in your life through those things.”
The mist in her eyes cleared, and her expression grew thoughtful. “Are you saying that all I need to do is change my perspective?”
“Bingo.” He lightly tapped the underside of her chin. “It’s easier than it sounds.”
“But I’ve lost so much.” Agony stained her gaze, making her eyes appear bluer. “So much that I’ll never get back. My husband. Our farm. Our home.”
“You still have the breath in your lungs.” He wanted to trace the curve of her chin, but he forced his hand back to his side. “And you still have Miley. Think of this like a fork in the road, one that brought you to new friends, new experiences, and a family member you’ve always wanted to meet.”
“I’m trying, but my heart is broken, Hawk.” She closed her eyes as if no longer able to endure the sunlight.
“You’re gonna have to give yourself time to heal.” Something elemental stirred in him at the realization that he would get to watch her heal. If she let him, he’d be with her every step of the way.
“When will I find time for that?” She gave him an exasperated look. “We have a would-be killer to catch.” Her voice cracked. “A killer who may have already killed once. A killer who could return any day to finish what she started.”
“I’m confident you can do both, Annalee Gilbert.” He meant it, too. He already admired her determination, grit, and close relationship with her daughter. She was a fighter. They both were. “For what it’s worth, I’ll help.”
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.”