Silk and Stone (77 page)

“J
ust where do you think you’re going, Bob ‘Clark Kent’ Freeman?” Charlotte blocked the hospital corridor like a small defensive tackle.

The reporter didn’t look too menacing, but her nerves were frayed. It had been the longest night of her life, followed by a sleepless morning that was now moving into a sunny, sleepless afternoon.

“Just a couple of questions,” the man implored, looking past her to Ben, who lay on a gurney the nurses had allowed him to commandeer. Ben said darkly, “Don’t eye me for help. I’m in charge of guarding the door to the room. I have no jurisdiction over the hallway.”

Charlotte nodded. “Why should I talk to you again, Freeman? I don’t even know how you’re going to use what I said last night.”

“I’ll use it just the way you told it to me. Fair enough?”

“Maybe.”

“How’s your sister?”

“You can get that information from the hospital.”

“Yeah, but it’s about as useful as a laundry list. Broken leg, broken arm, cuts, bruises. I’d like to know how she felt when her husband rescued her.”

“She wasn’t surprised. He’s still the best tracker in the state. She knew if anyone could find the crash site, it’d be him.”

“I’d say he has a remarkable talent.”

“I’d say he knows how to read maps. And he never gives up.”

“Come on, give me some heart to go with the facts.”

“Tell me what ‘facts’ you mean.”

“Your aunt was dead when he got there. Your sister had managed to crawl out of the wreckage before it broke up.”

“Well, that’s the truth. Jake wrapped Sammie in a blanket and built a fire. The rescue teams found them a few hours later.”

“Is Jake with her now?”

“Of course. He hasn’t left her for a minute.”

Joe walked out of the hospital room. “They’re ready.”

“Bye,
Bob
. Just tell the truth. That’s all we need.” Charlotte pivoted and strode away, then halted abruptly. She looked back at the reporter. “Wait a minute. All right. Come and see something for yourself. Tell people about it. You want ‘heart,’ I’ll show you heart.”

She and Joe wheeled Ben into the hospital room. Jake was seated beside Sammie’s bed, on the side next to the arm that wasn’t in a cast. He looked like hell. So did she. But he was holding her hand, and their eyes were locked in a poignantly intimate gaze. Clara sat in a chair in one corner. Hoke Doop stood by the window.

A minister stood at the foot of the bed. Charlotte waved for the reporter to take a place just inside the door. His eyes wide with curiosity, he did.

And then, with everyone who mattered sharing the blessing, Jake and Sammie got married all over again.

Memories and angels. The room was full.

A small brown mule was tied to the porch rail. A small, brown mule decked out in full harness attached to a two-wheeled cart.

It was an unexpected homecoming present, to say the least. Sam peered out of the car from her throne of pillows, then gingerly swiveled her head toward Jake. “Bo’s changed while I’ve been in the hospital.”

Jake smiled—one of the satisfied, easy smiles that were becoming part of their life again. Bo crawled out from a cool spot under the porch to disprove the rumor he’d grown hooves. He was waiting by the car’s passenger door as Jake opened it. Sam stroked his grizzled head. “I am really home,” she whispered.

Jake bent over her. She stroked his cheek with the backs of her fingers. “Really home.”

He carried her to the porch and set her gently on the steps. “Why do we have a discount-size mule and kiddie wagon?” she asked.

He walked over to the fat, sleepy creature and scratched it behind one ear. “She’s old. She and Bo ought to get along together pretty well. Do you remember the stories I told you about Grady?”

“The pony you and Ellie had? How could I forget? He sounded like the stuff of legends.”

“He was. This is his daughter. He had a passion for donkeys. One wandered away from a farm at Cawatie and paid a visit to the Cove. She had a smile on her face by the time we hauled her home.”

“So their love child has always lived with her mother’s people at Cawatie?”

“Hmmm. Until now. I bought her.” He looked at Sam tenderly. “I want our children to have what Ellie and I had.” He hesitated, then added solemnly, “Except for the bite marks and stomped toes.”

Sam studied him through a sheen of tears. “This is an old mule. We’d better start making babies soon.” She looked away, struggling with shadowy regrets. “I can’t even make love to you right now. Everything’s either
sprained, sore, or covered in a cast.” She nodded at the arm and leg on her right side.

“We’ve got time. A lot of time.” He came over and kissed her. “But it’s not just your body. You’re not letting go of that night on the mountain.”

“It’s hard to believe she’s gone.”

“I know.” He went into the house and returned a few seconds later with an armload of sofa cushions. Without a word he arranged them in the cart then tucked Sam’s pillows on top. She looked up at him in puzzled wonder as he lifted her onto the soft bed. “I’m taking you on a trip,” he explained. “There’s something we need to do.”

They were headed to Sign Rock. Jake led the way with one hand on the mule’s bridle. When the trail became too narrow and steep for the cart he hitched the mule to a tree then carried Sam the rest of the way up. His mission was still a mystery to her as he stepped onto the wide, windswept stone ledge with its ancient carvings. He put her down carefully and sat beside her for a while. Content with the silence and the serene vista in front of them, Sam held his hand.

“I told her the truth when I said I didn’t want the stone,” he said finally. “I found you. That’s all I care about.”

Sam closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of gratitude. When she looked at Jake again, he was studying her, a troubled and loving expression on his face. “It belongs here,” he told her. “We don’t need it.”

“You want to just leave it for anyone to claim?”

“It ends up where it’s supposed to be. It always has.” He took the ruby from a pocket of his trousers and held it out. “Letting go is easy, if we do it together.”

Sam touched the stone with a fingertip. A pledge to the future and a good-bye to the past. Jake rose and crossed the broad ledge. A narrow crevice cut through the rim of the ancient rock platform. He opened his hand. The ruby disappeared into the mountain’s secret places.

He met Sam’s adoring gaze. There was peace in him, and she shared it.

A multiple-award winner for her novels and contemporary romances. DEBORAH SMITH lives in the mountains of Georgia where she is working on her next novel.