Authors: Rosanne Bittner
He smiled nervously, and Georgeanne reached out to cover one of his hands with her own. “It’s a very handsome suit, Zeke. You made a good choice. But you didn’t need to wear it just for me. You know me better than that.”
He watched her eyes. “I couldn’t be sure—not after six years and all that college education you have.”
She smiled. “Education is just that—an education. It doesn’t have to change a person. I’m the same Georgeanne you knew six years ago, only more mature, more sure of what I want, just as I’m certain you are. You
have so many admirable traits, Zeke, such strength and determination. Education isn’t everything.”
She let go of his hand when the waitress brought them plates of steak and potatoes, little bowls of corn and hot coffee.
“Enjoy,” the woman said, turning away.
Georgeanne looked down at the food and giggled. “Mine looks ready to get up off the plate and kick me.” She glanced at his steak. “Yours is cooked more. Would you rather have it a bit rarer?”
“Sure would.”
They traded plates, but Georgeanne ate only a couple of bites before putting down her fork. “Zeke, I can’t eat. Every time I think of what father did to you—”
“That’s not your fault, I told you. It happened, and it’s over.”
“It’s his fault we lost so many years.” She met his eyes. “Surely after six years you’ve met some woman you’re interested in. That’s all right. I’ll understand. You can tell me, Zeke.”
“Why? Because
you’ve
met someone else? Are you more serious about Higgins than you let on?”
“No! I’ve been courted by three different men, Zeke, but none of them lasted, and not one of them made me feel”—she blushed and looked down at her plate—“like you used to make me feel.”
“Used to?”
“You know what I mean.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “You still make me feel that way. And you haven’t answered my first question.”
“About a woman?” He cut into his steak. “No. There’s no woman. First, I just had to find my own way; then I worked hard for a logger. Oh, there were women who followed the logging camps—the kind a man stays away from if he has any common sense.” He put the steak into his mouth, watching her blush,
and enjoying the hint of jealousy in her eyes. “I had common sense,” he added.
She grinned then, still blushing but looking relieved.
He chewed and swallowed the steak. “But I lost it in a tavern in Fort Collins a couple of times.”
She frowned. “Lost what?”
“My common sense.”
Her eyes widened then, and the jealousy returned. “I see.” She looked back down at her plate.
“A man can take only so much neglect, Georgie.” He found it so easy to use her nickname again. “It was just a woman who didn’t mind being there for lonely men like me, and it only happened a couple of times. I haven’t even been back there for a year.” He cut another piece of steak. “I don’t even know why it matters, unless …” He stopped cutting. “Look at me, Georgie.”
She met his eyes, looking confused and ready to cry.
“Are you saying you think we can pick up where we left off six years ago?”
She studied his dark eyes, his handsomeness. He was so much more mature now, so sure. “I was hoping—”
“So was I. Why do you think I asked you about seeing other men?”
She took a deep breath, as though greatly relieved. “I don’t feel any different, Zeke. I wanted so badly to find you again, to be able to talk to you this way, apologize for what my father did, tell you I … I never stopped loving you. Is that terribly bold, after not seeing you for six years?”
He put down his fork. “Not if it’s true. I feel the same way.”
She smiled again. “I’m glad.” She drank some coffee. “Tell me about your family. How is your grandmother?”
“She’s fine—living in Denver with my uncle Jeremy.
My aunt, LeeAnn, lives there, too, with her husband. He’s a reporter for the
Rocky Mountain News
. Did you hear about my uncle? Wolf’s Blood?”
“No. I left home not long after I spoke with your parents.”
“After the reunion, on his way home with his white wife, some men caused some trouble up in Cheyenne. There was an accidental shooting, and Jennifer was killed. My uncle, well, he’s mostly Indian, in the old sense. He reverted to his old ways without thinking—turned and killed the man who shot his wife, then killed two other men with him.”
Georgeanne gasped. “That’s terrible! Is he in trouble? Was he arrested?”
“He managed to get away, but he’s a wanted man now, lives somewhere in Canada. His kids, my cousins, Iris and Hawk, went to live with my uncle Jeremy. Iris is married now, and Hawk is in law school, so we’re going to have a lawyer in the family.”
She leaned back in her chair. “I’m glad. And I’m glad your uncle got away. That must have been terrible for your grandmother, and for his children.”
Zeke nodded. “Grandma is handling it okay now. On top of that, her second husband, my great-uncle, Swift Arrow, was killed at Wounded Knee.”
“I
did
hear about Wounded Knee. The whole country heard about it.”
A deep bitterness came into his eyes. “They thought it was a great battle, I suppose, a wonderful victory for the army. Most people don’t know the real truth, but we’ll talk about that another time. No more talk of sad things. My brother—Nathan—is married. I haven’t met his wife yet, but I’m happy for him. And my little brother, Lance, he’s eleven years old already. Oh, and my grandma is working to raise funds to build another orphanage in Denver. There’s a lot of unemployment
there now, what with the silver crash. A lot of needy families, and most of them are immigrants with no relatives here. If something happens to the parents, the kids turn to the streets.”
“Yes, I stayed in Denver for a while. I read articles in the paper about that. If I had known your grandmother was there, I would have gone to see her. I always wanted to meet her.”
He pushed his plate aside. No more hungry for the greasy steak than she was, he rested his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Well, maybe you’ll get that chance, if we don’t lose track of each other again.”
She shivered with joy and relief at having found him again. “I don’t intend to ever lose track of you again, Zeke Brown. God surely meant for this to happen. And out here, my father will never know we’re together. He doesn’t need to know. If God helped us find each other, then there must be a way we can work out that part of it.”
“What about your work? Looks to me like it takes you all over the country.”
“I’d give it up if I had to.”
“You love it.”
“I also love you.”
The words momentarily stunned him. It seemed incredible they could so quickly fall back into those old feelings. “Think about what you’re saying, Georgie.”
“I’ve thought about it for six years, dreamed about being able to tell you in person.”
He slowly nodded. “I love you, too.” He stood up. “Let’s get out of here. He walked over and paid a surprised waitress for the uneaten food, took Georgeanne’s arm and led her out. “If you get hungry later, you tell me. We’ll come back.”
She did not reply. She only knew what had to be. As soon as they were out the door he pulled her into an alley and swept her into
his arms, crushing her against his powerful chest, his lips meeting hers in a fiery kiss that left her breathless. She threw her arms around his neck, returning the kiss with equal hunger. How wonderful it tasted! How glorious it felt to be held in these strong arms again, to feel his hard body pressing urgently against her, to be with her Zeke again!
“I’m camped outside of town,” he groaned. “All I have is a tent.”
“That’s good enough for me.” They continued kissing hungrily throughout the conversation.
“You deserve better, a fancy hotel room or something.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She gasped. “I’ve waited six years for this. I’ve never taken another man, Zeke.”
Those were the only words he needed to hear.
There was no stopping what had to be. Georgeanne had not one doubt that what she was doing was right. She soon found herself inside Zeke’s tent, and without question or conversation, deep kisses led to a tumble against a thick bed of blankets. Georgeanne, her clothes coming off, enjoyed the ecstasy of Zeke’s big hands touching the part of her revealed as each item was removed.
How many nights had she tried to imagine what it would have been like if they could have stayed together? He cupped her breasts so gently, tasted of their fruits, and she gladly offered herself to satisfy that hunger, straining against him eagerly.
She was hardly aware he’d taken off his own clothes until he moved his powerful, naked body against her own, hot skin against hot skin. There was a power about him that made her weak, made her want to give herself to him without reservation; and when his fingers trailed over her flat belly to that private place no man had ever touched, she almost wept from the joy of it.
His fingers explored, moving in little circles, touching her magically, making her ache to have a man inside her. He smothered her with kisses while he caressed secret places until she felt the most wonderful sensation throughout her entire body, a deep pulsating
that made her cry out his name and press against him for something more, something to satisfy this terrible hunger to be a woman.
Zeke seemed to be everywhere at once, her lips, her throat, her breasts, her belly; kissing her lovenest so that her desire was almost painful. In the next moment his magnificent body hovered over hers, and he used his knees to push her legs apart. She knew then what would happen, and she welcomed it. How long had she wanted only this man to make a woman of her?
“It’s going to hurt,” he whispered. “That’s what I’ve always heard. Don’t be afraid, Georgie.”
“I’m not … as long as it’s you.”
She gasped when he filled her with his hard shaft. The tearing pain was almost unbearable at first, but still she had no doubts. She had waited … for this one man. This was right, and she had no doubt the act of love could be quite delightful once the initial pain of it was done. How could it not be wonderful with a man like Zeke?
She became lost in him then, and he in her. He moved in quick rhythm, groaning in his own pleasure. She leaned up and kissed his chest, dug her fingers into the hard muscles of his upper arms, gasping for breath from both ecstasy and pain. She felt the surge then, knew it was his life pouring into her. She didn’t even care if that life took hold. Zeke Brown would never leave her now. They would marry. It was understood. And she would live in whatever way was necessary in order to be with him. Her father needn’t know for now. But someday … someday he would discover his cruel efforts at keeping her from Zeke had failed. Zeke Brown was ten times the man her blustery, braggart of a father thought him. And he would never treat her as her mother had been treated.
Zeke let out a deep gasp with one last thrust, then relaxed on top of her.
“I can’t breathe,” she whispered.
Zeke moved off her chest, but kept her in his arms. It was dark inside the tent, as he had not wanted to cast shadows with a lantern. “I wish I could see you better,” he told her.
“This is enough for now,” she said softly.
He kissed her hair, now atumble. “Did I hurt you bad?”
“I’m not even sure.”
“I’ll get us a pan of water and we can wash. Will you sleep here with me tonight?”
“I was hoping you’d ask.”
“I’m sorry this is all so crude.”
“I told you it doesn’t matter.”
He rolled her against him, running a big hand over her bare bottom. “God, I love you, Georgie. I can’t believe this.”
“I feel the same way. We might as well find a preacher.”
“Might as well. What will Higgins think of this, and the other men you work with?”
“I don’t care what they think.”
“What about the dig?”
“We have all weekend. We can get married and be together like this until Monday. I’ll go back up to the dig then and finish with the skeleton I’m working on, and you can go back to your ranch. I know you need to be there. I’ll be finished within a week or so. Then I will announce I have to quit for the time being because we are married.”
“Georgie, you love that work. I’m afraid you won’t be happy on the ranch.”
“We’ll take one thing at a time. As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter.”
“You’re sure?”
She laughed lightly. “I just gave myself to you in the most intimate way a woman can show a man she loves him. What more proof do you need?”
He found her mouth again, kissed her deeply. “I don’t know,” he finally answered. “I just find this all so hard to believe. What about your father?”
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him for now. We probably shouldn’t even tell your parents. We’ll figure all that out eventually. All I know is I love you, and I want to wake up to you in the morning, make love again. Sometime tomorrow I’ll get dressed, and go to my boarding house and clean up and change. Then we’ll find a preacher. There’s a little church in this town, so there must be a preacher.”
He sighed. “You’re used to a pretty fancy life, Georgie, with rich, educated friends.”
“And I’ve been around people like that long enough to know how shallow they can be. You’re far above them, Zeke. Stop judging yourself by your heritage and how much money you have. And stop judging
me
by the same standards.” She kissed his cheek, realizing that in the darkness she could not see the scars left by her brutal father’s act of violence. “And just think … just think, Zeke. Someday, if we handle this right—if father doesn’t know I’ve married you—I will inherit all that he has … all that land. Just think about it. Maybe I can talk him into giving me a good share of it before he dies. What better vengeance than for him to discover that you, Zeke Brown, own most of the Temple ranch by way of marriage to me?”
He remained quiet for a moment. “I never even thought about that.”
She smiled. “That’s what I love about you. You just love me, not my money or what you might gain.”
He sighed. “No matter. When your father discovers the truth, he’ll disinherit you anyway.”
“Let’s just think about you and me for now. This is the first chance we’ve had to do that. In another week or so I’ll come by the ranch on the way back and I’ll stay there, as Mrs. Zeke Brown.”
He kissed her again. “I love you, Georgeanne Temple. I am a happy man again.”
She nestled against him. “I’m happy, too, Zeke. This is all I’ve really wanted since we lay together in that grove of pines before my father came and tore me away from you. Nothing is ever again going to separate us. God means for us to be together, or He never would have let me find you again.”
He kissed her hair, her eyes, her mouth. Neither of them wanted to think any more about an unknown future. This was the present, and she was here in his arms. She would stay until sunrise, and they’d damn well find a way to share
all
their sunrises.
“I can’t believe she’s done this!” Robert Higgins fumed. “Gone and left the dig! Gone off with that … that man she hasn’t seen in years and married him—just like that! It’s preposterous!”
“He seems like a nice enough fellow, a hard worker,” James Dillingham said as he brushed dirt from his pants. “There was never anything serious between you and Miss Temple that I noticed. She’s a grown woman who has made a choice to marry and settle. What’s so unusual about that?”
“She’s born to better things than a dirt-poor rancher who owns land that will be worthless for some time to come!”
Dillingham chuckled. “You’re just jealous, Higgins. She’s in love and she got married. Personally, I liked
her very much, but it bothered me a little, working with a woman. She’s where she belongs now.”
Higgins waved him off. “Georgeanne isn’t like other women, and you know it. She won’t be happy with that man in the long run. She’ll miss her work, and she’ll miss the luxury she’s accustomed to. She mentioned to me once that she has a trust fund she can draw money from, in Denver. That’s probably why he married her, for her money! He probably figures he’ll get her father’s ranch one day. Well, he’ll find out he won’t!”
Dillingham frowned. “How is that? You don’t even know her father.”
“Well, I intend to
get
to know him! I know where his ranch is—somewhere east of Pueblo. I intend to find the man and let him know what has happened! Maybe
he
can find a way to put a stop to this before the woman ends up pregnant and poor!”
“You’d best stay out of it,” Albert Moser put in. “The whole thing is none of your business. They are adults, and Miss Temple, or rather, Mrs. Brown, seemed very happy when she left here. Why try to mess things up for her?”
“Because she’s lost her mind!” Higgins answered. “And I don’t like his looks!”
“His
looks?
” Dillingham laughed. “He’s one of the best-looking young men I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s too dark! He’s got Indian blood or something like that, maybe Mexican.”
“So what? Half the people out West have Indian or Mexican blood. It’s a different country out here,” Moser told the man. “People live by different standards. Even the women do. Seems like out here the women are more independent, stronger. I’ve heard tell some single women have come West and settled under the Homestead Act. I’ve grown to like it out here myself, thinking of bringing out the wife.”
Higgins waved him off in irritation. “The fact remains Georgeanne Temple has done a foolish thing, something she’s going to regret one day, mark my words. And I believe her father would want to know about this. She’s been estranged from him for a long time, but she never told me why. I’m beginning to think it had something to do with Zeke Brown. I intend to find the man and learn for myself what the trouble was, find out what he thinks about his daughter getting married behind his back!”
“If you really care about her, you’d leave it alone,” Moser warned.
“I care about her enough
not
to leave it alone!”
Moser sighed, looking at Dillingham. “All I care about is finishing this dig. That’s going to take a few more weeks.” He looked back at Higgins. “Will you at least finish this with us before you go gallivanting off to find her father?”
“It might be too late to do anything about it then.”
“You’ll finish this dig with us, or I’ll report you to Taylor Mining and get you fired! Taylor is paying you well for this, that I know. We’ve lost Georgeanne, so we need you here with us! Are you willing to give up your job and the money over this?”
Robert sighed, turning away to think for a moment. “I’ll stay,” he said, kicking at a rock.
“Good!” Moser replied.
“Just as I thought,” Dillingham muttered. He liked Georgeanne. He hoped that after the passage of a little time Robert would forget about all this and stay out of her business.
Georgeanne took a stagecoach back down from Masonville, since the other men would need the company carriage. She had more belongings at a rooming house
in Fort Collins, but she would get those later. All she cared about now was seeing Zeke again.
She looked down at the plain gold wedding band on her hand. It was all they had been able to find in Masonville. Zeke had promised a much nicer ring as soon as he was able to afford one. He’d refused her offer to use some funds from her trust account in a Denver bank, too proud to “live off” his wife. That was part of what she loved about him, that he truly had not even considered inheriting her father’s ranch. As far as the trust money went, she decided that she would eventually be able to convince him there was nothing wrong with using it to help build the ranch.
Things would be hard for a while, but she was prepared. She had waited for this man for six years, and she would do whatever was necessary to keep him. Recognizing his stump-filled land then, she put her head out the window and shouted to the driver. “Stop here!” The coach came to a halt, and she climbed out. As the driver handed down her three carpetbags, already she could see Zeke riding toward her. He must have been waiting all day, watching for her to come!
“Thank you!” she told the driver.
“Good luck with your new marriage, ma’am,” the man replied with a grin. He snapped the reins and the coach clattered away in a cloud of dust.
Georgeanne turned, smiling, then laughing when Zeke rode closer and dismounted before his horse even came to a halt. He swept her into his arms in a tight embrace.
“Part of me was afraid you wouldn’t come after all,” he told her.
“Zeke Brown! You are my husband.”
He kissed her cheek, her mouth. “I was afraid I’d dreamed all of it,” he told her then, grinning.
She leaned back, noticing he was clean shaven and
wearing a clean shirt, his dark hair neatly combed back in soft waves. “Did you let your work go all day just so you’d stay clean for my arrival?”
“Something like that.”
He smiled, his teeth even and white, his dark eyes dancing with love.
“I love you so much, Zeke.”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure why, but I’m certainly glad. I just wish I had more to offer you, Georgie. I’ll start on a bigger cabin right away. I hate making you live in that sorry shack. In fact, maybe you should go on down to Fort Collins and stay at a hotel until I can have something better for you to live in. A couple of my logger friends who are out of work right now came by, and they said they’d help me build a place. They’re at Fort Collins, but they’ll be back.”
“I am not letting you out of my sight, Zeke. This last week has been awful, wanting you so, worrying that for some reason you’d change your mind.”
“You worried about that, too?”
Her arms went around him. “Don’t make me go to Fort Collins. I can adapt, Zeke, I promise. I just want to be with you.”
He kissed her again, a lingering kiss that turned from a welcome to an I want you. “Come on then,” he said when he pulled away. He turned and picked up all three of her bags. “Lead my horse, would you?” He nodded to a small building in the distance. “That’s it. Just one room and a sagging roof.”