Leoti (18 page)

“That’s not true, I’m in love with you. We can figure something out. I mean I can do both, or you can come with me. Po should see the city,” she wiped at her tears. “Po?” she stooped down, tears falling. “Po?”

The dog walked over to her. He licked at her face and she hugged him around the neck. “I love you both. I just need a little time to figure it all out.”

She looked up. “Elu, please don’t give up on me.”

He reached down for her and made her stand. Drawing her up into his massive arms against him her feet lifted from the ground. She held on to his neck, kissing him softly, kissing him long.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Josie,” he said using her name. She felt such a relief in her heart when he said her name. “I’m going to go to Libby. I will file the appeal. You may need to come there when I call you. I’ll get you an attorney, and we’ll stop them. Don’t worry. And I’ll call you. I promise,” she said backing away from his embrace.

He said nothing.

“Aren’t you proud of me? No more running right?”

He nodded. “I am proud of you.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow. No. I’ll call you tonight. I’ll call you every minute okay?”

He just watched her.

“I love you too, Po,” she said to the dog who wasn’t as strong as his master. He turned away and walked off. “I love you both. I’ll be back.”

Elu watched her. When she turned and hurried into the cabin to collect her things he shook his head. “No you won’t.”

Chapter Nine

“You’re mighty quiet.” Tiffani glanced from the road to her sister. The car coasted at a moderate speed. John Legend serenaded them softly, but Josie’s melancholy wasn’t from his sultry voice. She could have been listening to hard rock and felt the same way. Her focus remained trained on the trees that zipped by. Driving out of the mountains was as scenic as driving into them. Picture perfect, like the two weeks she’d spent with Elu. Josie had gathered her things and left the cabin. Elu never returned. She wrote him a brief note, promising to call as soon as she got home. Leaving every number she knew of for him to reach her. She had to call her own cell phone from his house to record his number.

“Josie?”

The way her sister spoke her name stilled her. Was she ready to be honest with any of them when she struggled with her feelings? Could she verbalize how torn apart she was inside? A deep intake of breath and a slow exhale released her. She needed time, and she wanted to be alone. How on earth could she get her family to release her after what she’d put them through?

“Wonder what Carlton and Madeline are talking about?” Josie said.

Tiffani laughed softly, and then fell silent.

Carlton was such a sweetheart. He sensed her needs without her telling him. He offered to drive Madeline back while she and Tiffani rode together. Her mother protested immediately, but Carlton was firm. Madeline just wasn’t used to so many being firm with her. She gave in with a pout. That was the kind of guy he was.

Tiffani increased speed, and their car swerved around a camper to take up right behind Carlton. “He loves you a lot to put up with Madeline.”

“He does love me. I know.” Josie answered.

“Do you love him? That’s the question.” Tiffani glanced over then returned her gaze to the road.

“Whose question is that?” Josie asked frowning at her sister’s tone. “Did Carlton say something to you?”

“Mine.” Tiffani said refusing to look over again.

“I see. Well the bigger question, Tiffani, is am I in love with him still?”

“Still? It’s only been two weeks.”

“Trust me, it feels like a lifetime.” Josie mumbled under her breath.

“Okay, then are you?”

“I don’t know.”

“And the Indian?”

“He’s not an Indian. Stop calling him that. He’s Native American. Elu. Call him Elu, okay?”

“Elu, sorry,” Tiffani said with an eye roll. “What about him? You in love?”

Josie smiled sadly. “Yeah, I am in love with him. That came out easy, huh?” She dropped her head back against the seat. She pressed the bottoms of her palms against her eyes. “I really screwed this one up. Two weeks ago, Carlton was all my heart could manage. Now Elu and Po are all I can think of.”

“Po?”

“The dog.”

“I thought you hated dogs.” Tiffani frowned.

“No, I don’t.” She chuckled. “I love Po. I have from the first day I saw him.”

“You seem different.” Tiffani’s eyes cut from her to the road and then back again. “What was it like, not knowing who you were?”

“Scary, confusing, simple. I think the word for it is
simple
.”

“Simple? How could memory loss be simple?”

Josie smiled. “Imagine a chance to step out of your life and live everything differently. No fear of being a failure. Like having a clean slate.”

“Sounds like a nightmare.” Tiffani frowned.

“I got a chance at just being Leoti.”

“Leoti? What is that?”

“Long story. Elu and Po took care of me, I wanted to stay. I could have stayed there and had babies and lived off the land, hell we could’ve lived in a teepee, girl, it was soooo peaceful, less stressful and simple. I can’t describe it better than that. I’ve been in overdrive since college. My career and writing the book, the activism, I haven’t taken a breath. Here in Montana life is so easy, I could stay here forever.”

Tiffani laughed. “Yeah right. You’d miss a pedicure, and spa treatment in a week.”

Josie smiled. “You have no idea how liberating it is be loved by a man like Elu Takotie.”

Tiffani cringed. Carlton was the dream. Not some man that turned her sister’s head. How could Josie be so disloyal?

“Tiffani?”

“Yeah,” Tiffani said, sucking in a breath and holding the steering wheel tight.

“Where did you go?”

“Nowhere, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

She shot her a piercing look. “You know, Josie, you talk about Elu the Native American like he’s some
angel of mercy
. But do you even consider how much that man in the car ahead of us loves you? What you put him through? He walked off his tour to find you. He’s ready to give you everything. Hell, there are women out there dying to be his.”

“Wait a second.”

“Carlton’s been sick with worry. He cried last night. I was there when you weren’t.”

Josie narrowed her eyes on her sister. “Really?”

“I would give my right arm to have a man care about me half as much. And you get it twice, then sit here and whine like you’re the victim. It would serve you right if they both left you.” Tiffani said it all in a single breath, she felt exhausted from holding her true feelings back this long, and freer now that it was off her chest.

“How close are you and Carlton?” Josie asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You have feelings for my boyfriend. That’s what I’m talking about.”

“Carlton isn’t that type of man!” Tiffani snapped.

Josie smiled sadly at her sister. “I know that, Tiff, and I know you aren’t that type of sister. Right?”

Tiffani cut her eyes over at her. She blushed. “I would never betray you like that. No matter what.”

They rode for the next hour in silence listening to John Legend’s bluesy voice. Tiffani felt so guilty over her crush she was beginning to itch with hives. Her nerves, set on edge, she tried to move them past it.

“What about Ma? You plan to tell her you don’t want to practice law anymore?”

“I want to talk to you about her. I asked her to go home, back to New York. But I don’t think she’ll do it. Would you consider taking her and leaving?”

“She’s worried about you, we both are. Carlton said you wanted to stay in Libby for a few days so Mom and I were going to stay too.”

“I know. I’ll come home soon. But right now I can’t take the stress. I have to help Elu and I need some time with Carlton. Please. Talk to her Tiff and take her home. Give me a break.”

“If you’re sure that’s what you want.”

“I am.” Josie tried to gauge her words carefully. She didn’t want to overstep her boundaries but she needed Tiffani’s help. “Can you tell me more about Crescent? Why they contracted with the government with this deal in Mission Creek?”

Tiffani shrugged. “I’m just an architect. They don’t let me sit in on the board meetings.” Tiffani glanced over at her. “Is there something going on in Mission Creek I should know?”

Josie ignored the question. Turns out she never put her cell phone in her purse on that fateful day. Carlton said he found it stuck between the sofa cushions in the cabin. If she had, had it days ago her and Elu probably would have never happened. That nugget of truth felt like destiny. She reached between her knees and fished out her cell phone from her purse. She punched up her recent call display and found his number. She’d tried to call him twice before but got no answer. It was getting late in the afternoon. He should be in. She let the phone ring, over and over. Nothing.

“Elu not home?” Tiffani asked with an edge to her tone.

“He won’t answer.” Josie said.

She felt her sister’s critical stare and ignored it. She wouldn’t cry about it. Be weak about it. But the silent way he was pushing her from him burned. If he loved her he’d fight harder. Wouldn’t he? “He’s so stubborn.”

“Then he’s met his match.” Tiffani smiled.

Mission Creek

Elu stared out across his land. Po lay at his feet; the silence was only disturbed by the ringing phone in the house. It was her. He was sure of it. But what could they say? What was left to say? He knew the risk, he knew it then, he understood it now. Still he was human and what man gives up on a dream?

He closed his eyes. He rocked, and waited. And time passed. Meditating silently, his mind replayed every minute he’d shared with her. From her stubborn wit, to her tender touches, to the soft fragrant smell of her skin. Every single minute played over and over. When he opened his eyes again, the sun had set. The moon was now clear in the sky. Her moon.

“Look at that, Po.”

Po lifted his doggy brows and peeked at the moon. The pooch got up to his feet and barked at it. He barked and howled.

Elu smiled.

“It’s a sign, should we trust it?”

Po barked again sniffing, circling, and then running off the porch into the night. Elu couldn’t decide, but his heart was clear.

Libby, Montana

“Full moon tonight?” Carlton said coming out on to the balcony of her hotel room. She felt him draw closer and then his arms went around her. Josie leaned back into what was familiar. Carlton was still very much in her heart and it only made her sad. He kissed the side of her neck and pressed his scruffy jaw against hers. “I’ve missed you, babe.”

Josie closed her eyes. “I hurt you so badly.”

“It’s cool. You weren’t yourself. I’m trying to understand.” Josie turned in his arms and let him pin her against the hotel balcony. He was close. His gaze intensely focused on her face as if he could read her discomfort. “I want you to answer a question, Josie. Did you sleep with him?”

She could lie. He would be better served if she lied. But it wasn’t who they were. “Yes. I did.”

Carlton dropped his head and shook it. “Maybe you didn’t know yourself, but he damn well knew. He shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like this.”

“Wait? Maybe? Are you saying you don’t believe me?”

His gaze lifted and the raw hurt and anger blazing in his stare chilled her. “I’m trying to believe you. But I’m a man. A man who has held back on kicking that creep’s ass a hundred times because of my love for you. Just saying it’s hard to understand how you could not remember our love and sleep with another man.”

She shoved him back. “How dare you? Held back? Right, all the groupies I watched throw themselves at you time and time again. The ones you told me meant nothing. You saying it was restraint and not me that kept you off them?”

“Not what I mean.”

Josie put her hands to her face and tried to calm herself. “I slept with Elu because I had no memory of you or us. I did it because I was different, I felt different, and I needed, no, I wanted him. That’s the truth.”

Carlton stared at her long and hard before he spoke. “I forgive you.”

She opened her mouth to tell him to shove his forgiveness but thought better of it. He was betrayed. And she couldn’t blame him for his feelings. She turned away from him and the argument and looked back up to the moon. “Let’s change the subject. Did Mom put up much of a fight?”

“She refused to go.”

“What?”

“I got her a room. You need to deal with your mother and not send her away. If you’re staying in Libby then so are we.”

Josie sighed. “I have so many things to do to help Elu, I don’t have time to fight with any of you.”