Westward Dreams (7 page)

              The day had been long for Hannah.  There were so many people to treat that she hadn’t even really gotten to eat.  She’d seen Owl briefly and had apologized for not being able to spend more time with him.  He’d kissed her quickly and told her it was fine.  She’d gone back to work and had been on the go ever since.

              When she and Doc were finally through for the day, it was dark out and the wind had kicked up.  Owl was standing outside when she left the office.  As usual, there was a little thrill that ran through her at the sight of him.  She was surprised to see him dressed in black pants and a white shirt. 
He looks incredible.

              “Hi.  Have you been waiting long?” she asked as she drank in his appearance.

              “Not so long,” Owl said.  “You look tired.”

              Hannah sighed.  “I am.  It was very busy.”

              Owl’s expression turned concerned.  “Are you hungry?”

              “Yes!  Why did you cook again?” she teased him.

              Owl laughed.  “No, not this time.  Restaurant up the street?  My treat?”

              “Um, well, I’m not really dressed for going out,” Hannah said.

              “You look great,” Owl said and meant it.  “Do not worry about it.  Come.  We go eat,” Owl said and took her hand.

              Hannah didn’t resist anymore.  His touch was very nice and she curled her fingers around his hand.  He smiled down at her.

              The Grady House was fairly busy.  Alice, one of the waitresses, seated them.  She looked at them curiously as she gave them menus. 

              Owl smiled as she left and said, “I think she surprised to see me here.”

              “I think you’re right,” Hannah said.  “She’ll just have to get used to it.”

              Owl looked at the menu and concentrated on it.  Some of the words he knew and some he didn’t.  Hannah noticed his frown and guessed at the cause of it.  She wanted to help him, but didn’t want to embarrass him.  She perused her own menu.

              “Hmm.  I’m so hungry I can’t figure out what I want.  They have chicken pot pie.  I like that.  Or do I want the meatloaf?  Oh, they have ham, too,” she said.

              Owl heard “meatloaf” and decided that was what he would get.  He liked Jack’s meatloaf so he thought the meatloaf there must be similar.  “Meatloaf sounds good.”

              Hannah smiled.  “Thank you for helping me to decide what to have.”

              “You are welcome.  Thank you,” he said with a meaningful look at her.  Her kindness was appreciated.

              She smiled as Alice came to take their order.  When the waitress left, Owl began telling her amusing stories about when he and Marcus had been teenagers.  She laughed as he told her how they’d gotten in trouble for pulling pranks on their grandfather who was the chief at the time. 

              Hannah said, “You’re the grandson of a chief?  Wow.  I didn’t know I was dining with royalty.”

              Owl didn’t quite know what “royalty” meant, but he guessed it had something to do with being important.  “Yes.  I am big shot.  My brother Black Fox is chief now.”

              Hannah almost dropped her fork over that.  “He is?”  She got a little nervous about meeting an Indian chief.

              Owl laughed at her shocked expression.  “Do not worry.  He will like you and you will like him.  He likes Sammi.  We call her Warrior Woman because she fights like man.”

              “Warrior Woman,” Hannah repeated.  “Yes.  That fits her.”

              “She is great with guns and knives,” Owl said.  “Not someone to make mad.  Sometime we go to saloon and watch her bust heads.”

              Hannah laughed.  “I think I’d like to see that.  How did you two meet?  You seem close.”

              Alice came back with their meals and left.  Then Owl answered her.

              “Mitch hire me to protect her when she walks home late at night.  He did not want her to know, so I stay in shadows and hide.  Then stuff happen and she knows about me.  I walk with her after that.  We became friends.  I, um, gave her away at wedding,” Owl said proudly.

              “You walked her down the aisle?” Hannah asked.  “You obviously care a lot about each other.”

              Owl thought back to right after he’d been stabbed and how Sammi had cried over his being hurt.  He’d been so worried about her because she’d been so upset.  “Yes.  Very good friends.  Like brother and sister.”

              “That’s amazing.  I think it’s wonderful," Hannah said.  “Mmm.  Good meatloaf.”

              Owl nodded.  “Not as good as Jack’s, but good.”

              Hannah chuckled.  “Jack is quite the cook.  He makes very good chicken soup.”

              “He is good at many things,” Owl said.  “He is going to marry Lakota girl.  Her name is Sparrow.  She is a good girl.”

              “He is?  Wow.  I didn’t know that,” Hannah said.

              “I am happy for them.  They will make good couple,” Owl said.

              “People around here seem comfortable with the two cultures blending,” Hannah said.

              “Some yes, some no.  Joe help with that.  We vote for him to be leader.  He fight for us to keep land,” Owl told her.

              “You helped him get elected?  That’s very interesting,” Hannah said.  “He’s funny.”

              Owl smiled.  “Yes.  He sing at bar.  Very good singer.”

              “Really?  I’d like to hear him sing some time,” Hannah said.

              “You will.”

              When the meal concluded, Owl walked with her to the hotel.  He was reluctant to leave her.  She sensed it and said, “You can come in if you want to.”

              Owl looked at the hotel and cursed the needless fear he had of buildings.  “Yes.  I would like to,” he said with a determined look on his face.

              Hannah hid her smile and led him into the establishment.  He took a deep breath and followed her up the stairs.  Once in her room, Hannah took off her wrap and said, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to take off my shoes.  My feet hurt.”

              Owl said, “I do not mind.”  Owl looked at the chairs that sat near the window.  He moved them so they were a short distance across from each other.  Hannah watched him with interest.

              “You sit here,” he said to her.

              “All right,” Hannah said and sank gratefully down into the chair.

              Owl sat across from her and said, “Put your feet here.” He patted his legs.

              “What are you up to?” she said as she did as he directed her.

              “You give me massage, I give you one,” he said with a smile.  “You have little feet.”

              Hannah giggled.  “I guess so.”

              He took her right foot in his hands and pressed his thumbs gently into the soft flesh on the bottom and began making circles with them.  Owl had never done something like this but he remembered what she did to him during a massage and figured that this wasn’t much different.

              Hannah leaned her head back and closed her eyes.  She found that Owl had gentle hands and what he was doing eased her pain.  He hit a sore spot and worked on it and a loud sigh escaped her.  He chuckled and she laughed softly.

              “That feels so good,” she said.

              “I learn from you,” Owl said.

              Hannah said, “You’re a very good student.”

              “Thanks.” 

              Owl continued rubbing her foot and then moved to her calf.  She had strong legs, he found.  He knew she spent a lot of time on her feet and figured her legs might hurt, too.  Every so often she let out a sigh or moan and he was happy that he could ease her pain.  When he was done with her right foot, he switched to her left.

              Hannah had never met such a considerate man and was suddenly very glad that she’d answered Clive’s ad.  Sammi was right; something good had come out of something bad.  She doubted that Clive would have been so thoughtful and caring.  The tension in her body began to ease as Owl worked and Hannah sighed again.

              Owl smiled as he rubbed her calf.  He wondered what his brothers would say if they could see him now.  They would surely tease him mercilessly.  As he watched the relaxed features of Hannah’s pretty face, Owl found that he didn’t care.  Let them tease him.  It would be worth it to know that he was pleasing her.  Besides, he knew how to turn their taunts back on them.

              The long day and good meal were catching up with Hannah and she began drifting towards sleep.  She fought it and raised her head and opened her eyes.  Owl smiled at her as he finished the massage.

              “Better?” he asked.

              “Much.  Thank you,” she said.  “Where did you come from?”

              Owl cocked his head a little.  “I don’t understand.”

              She smiled and said, “I mean, I’ve lived in big cities all of my life.  They were filled with thousands of different men, but none of them were as thoughtful as you.”

              “Were any of them Lakota?” he asked.

              “Not that I know of,” Hannah said.

              “There is difference,” Owl said and laughed.

              Hannah laughed with him.  “Oh, really?”

              “Yes. It is true.  We raised to respect women.  Treat them well,” Owl said.  “They are um, equal to men.”

              “Too bad white culture doesn’t see it that way,” Hannah said.

              “Yes, it is,” he said sitting back in the chair.  Her feet still rested on his thighs but he didn’t mind at all. “You live in city all time, huh?”

              “Yes,” Hannah said.

              “How do you like it here?” Owl asked.

              “I love it.  It’s a nice little town and I like my job.  The people here are very nice, especially you,” Hannah replied.

              His smile was slightly bashful and it tickled Hannah no end.  “So you are glad you came here?” he asked.

              “Very glad.  It was a blessing in disguise,” Hannah said.

              “What does that mean?” Owl said.

              “It means I’m glad Clive lied to me so I could meet you,” Hannah said and felt a blush creep up her face.

              Owl nodded.  “I like that you are honest.”

              “I’ll always be honest with you, Owl.  Even if you don’t like what I say, it will be the truth,” Hannah said.

              “Good.  Same here,” Owl said.  “I think you are sleepy.”

              Hannah said, “Yes.  I’m sorry.”

              “No need be sorry.  You work hard,” Owl said as he gently placed her feet on the floor and stood up.

              Hannah wiggled her feet and found that her pain had gone.  Owl squatted by her chair and brushed a lock of hair from her face.  She looked into his midnight eyes and felt the magnetic pull he seemed to have on her.  Owl felt the same tug and couldn’t resist kissing her.  When his lips touched hers, all of Hannah’s exhaustion disappeared and she felt her adrenaline rise.

              She put her hands on his shoulders and wished he didn’t have his shirt on so she could touch his warm skin.  Hannah had never had such a strong craving before to do that.  Owl was getting as caught up in the swift current of desire as Hannah.  He pulled her closer and ran a hand down her back. 

              Hannah knew she should stop him but didn’t know how.  The real problem was that she didn’t want to.  Owl plundered her mouth and kneaded the firm flesh of her back.  Somehow Hannah found the strength to pull back from him.  She patted his chest and Owl understood that she wanted to stop.

              He raised his head and said, “What?”

              She let out a shaky little laugh and said, “You have to go, Owl.  I don’t seem to have much control where you’re concerned.”

              Owl’s deep laugh made Hannah want to go on kissing him.  “This is a good thing, I think.”

              “Yes and no,” Hannah said.

              Owl said, “It is the same for me, Hannah.”  He pressed a kiss to her forehead and rose to his feet.  “Sleep well,” he said and slipped from the room.

              Hannah flopped back into the chair and tried to catch her breath.  “He has to be the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen or kissed,” she said out loud.

              “He did
what
for you?” Sammi said.

              Hannah laughed.  “He gave me a foot massage.” 

              She and Sammi sat having lunch in the sheriff’s office. 

              Sammi chewed a bite of sandwich and looked at Hannah in disbelief.  “Owl?  Owl gave you a foot massage.”

              “Yes.  A very good foot massage, too,” Hannah said.  She was enjoying Sammi’s reaction to this news.

              Sammi swallowed and said, “Ok, so let me get this straight.  For your first date, he makes this fantastic meal for you, which he cooked in the ground and served to you in the wilderness.  Then he takes you out to dinner and gives you a foot massage.  Do I have that right?”

              “Yes.  You have it right,” Hannah said.

              “Damn.  Who knew he could be romantic like that?  Not me,” Sammi said. 

              Hannah was having fun.  It was nice to have a girlfriend again to talk to about men.  “Isn’t Mitch romantic?”

              Sammi’s smile told it all.  “Oh, yeah.  Very romantic.  Just different.  He proposed to me with a rifle and a ring.”

              Hannah almost inhaled a bite of sandwich as she reacted to Sammi’s statement.  She coughed as Sammi patted her back.  “What did he do?” she said when she was able to speak.

              “Ok, as you can tell, I’m not overly feminine.  So I’m not really the kind of gal you wine and dine.  Mitch knew that.  So when he proposed to me, he didn’t have some big romantic dinner or anything.  I went home after work one night and I find this big box on my sofa.  I open it and there’s the most beautiful rifle sitting in the box.”

              Hannah laughed.  “That’s an unusual engagement present.”

              “Probably for a lot of women, but not me,” Sammi said with a smile. “Then I find this ring box with a note.  It asks if I’ll marry him and if the answer is yes, come to his house pronto.  Let me tell you, I ran harder than I’ve ever run in my life.  I couldn’t get there fast enough.  I get in the front door and there’s another note stuck to the newel post with one of my knives.  It just had this big arrow on it pointing upstairs.”

              She paused to take a drink and then said, “I’m up those stairs in a flash and I run in his room and he’s got all these candles burning. It was beautiful.  Mitch is sitting in his skivvies on the bed and he says, ‘Hi Sammi, what brings you by’ and I start hollering that I’ll marry him. He still got down on one knee and proposed again before putting on my ring.  I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

              Hannah smiled.  She loved Sammi’s colorful way of talking.  “I’m very happy for you two.  Are you planning on having children?”

              Sammi’s smile disappeared.  “Only if we can adopt and we haven’t talked about it again yet.”

              Hannah said, “Oh.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be so personal.”

              “Don’t be.  It’s ok.  I can’t have kids.  I had some injuries to my ovaries and I, um, well, you’re a nurse so I guess it’s ok.  I don’t always have a monthly,” Sammi said.

              “Oh, I see.  There can be different reasons for that.  Have you been examined recently?” Hannah asked.

              “Not since it happened,” Sammi said.

              “Well, I would be happy to if you’d want me to.  You don’t have to answer right now.  Just think about it and come to the office if you decide to have an examination,” Hannah said.

              Sammi nodded.  “I’ll think about it.”

              “Ok.  So, since you’ve been here, you’ve never known Owl to court anyone?” Hannah asked.

              “Nope.  Of course, most of that time he was recovering, so he wasn’t really up to that kind of thing,” Sammi said.

              “What happened?” Hannah asked.

              Sammi sighed and told Hannah about her and Owl going after the thieves who’d stolen her gun and knife collection.  She related the events involving the fight inside the cabin and how Owl had gotten stabbed.  Hannah was shocked.  She knew that Sammi was a tough woman, but she hadn’t realized just how violent she could be. 
No wonder Owl said that you didn’t want to make her angry
, she thought.

              She saw Sammi’s eyes fill with tears and took the deputy’s hand. 

              Sammi said, “He doesn’t want me to, but I still blame myself for him almost getting killed.  I don’t let him know it, because it only makes him mad.  I can’t help it, though.  I walked in that bunkhouse where they had him right after it happened and saw him lying there all bandaged up and I could have died, Hannah.”  Sammi laughed through her tears then.  “He didn’t like seeing me cry and said something like, ‘stop crying or you’ll drown me with your tears’.  He didn’t mean it to be, but it was funny.  I can’t tell you how happy I am that he made it.”

              Sammi looked at Hannah and was surprised to see a tear escape the other woman’s eye.  Hannah looked back at Sammi and then laughed.  “I can’t stand to see anyone else cry.  If I see one tear, I cry, too.”

              Sammi laughed and wiped her tears away.  “Sorry about that.”

              “There’s nothing to apologize for.  I asked you about it, after all,” Hannah said.  “I think it’s so sad what happened with his wife and little boy.”

              “He told you about that, huh?  Yeah, he doesn’t like to talk about it,” Sammi said.  “So I don’t.  It might be different with you, though.”

              “Why?” Hannah said.

              Sammi gave Hannah an ironic look.  “There are some things that you’ll tell a person you’re involved with romantically that you won’t tell anyone else.  Trust me.  I know this for a fact.”

              “I see,” Hannah said.

              Sammi got a big smile on her face.  “So is he a good kisser?”  Hannah’s blush told Sammi what she wanted to know.  “He is!  Oh, boy!  Ha!  Look at your face.”

              “Shut up!” Hannah said.

              “Oh, speak of the devil,” Sammi said.  “Here he comes.”

              “Oh, no!” Hannah said and tried to compose herself which only made Sammi laugh harder.  “Shut up!”

              “He’s not really coming.  I was just messin’ with you,” Sammi said.

              Hannah surprised herself by smacking Sammi’s arm.  Sammi laughed so hard that she snorted.  Their laughter was uncontrollable after that.  Mitch could hear them outside before he opened the door.  He heard Sammi snort and he grinned.  It was something she did when she was laughing too hard.

              Mitch knew better than to try to ask what was so funny because it would only make his wife laugh harder.  He sat down behind his desk and waited for their mirth to pass. When it died down, Sammi wiped tears from her eyes with a sleeve and said, “Owl is a good kisser according to Hannah.”

              “Sammi!” Hannah objected and blushed again.

              Mitch laughed.  “Is he?  How about that?  I’ll have to tell him you think so.”

              Hannah said, “I think he already knows.”

              All three of them laughed.  Sammi actually had to get up and walk because she was getting a cramp in her side.  Hannah couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so hard.  The object of their amusement walked in and the most they could do was wave at him.  Sammi walked out the back door so she could calm down.  Mitch and Hannah finally got it together.

              Owl looked from one to the other and smiled.  “What so funny?”  He noticed that she was in a pair of jeans again and liked the way she looked.

              “Oh, just a joke Sammi told.  She’ll have to tell you later sometime,” Mitch lied.

              “Oh, ok.”

              Mitch cleared his throat and asked, “So where are you kids off to?”

              “I have no idea,” Hannah said.

              Owl smiled at her.  “I give you first riding lesson.”

              Hannah’s face became anxious.  “By myself?”

              “Yes.  You must learn.  No cabs here,” Owl said.

              Mitch nodded.  “He’s right, Hannah.  Places are too far away to walk around here and unless you own a horse and buggy, you’ll need to ride to get around.  With you being a nurse, you never know when you’ll be called out to a farm or something.”

              Hannah blew out a breath.  She knew they were right, but the thought of riding alone somewhere filled her with dread.  Then she thought about how Owl had pushed through his fear of buildings to spend more time with her and she decided that she should do the same.

              She stood up and said, “You’re both right.  Ok.  I’m ready.  See you, Mitch.  Tell Sammi I said goodbye.”

              Mitch chuckled and said, “I’ll do that.  Have fun.”

              When they went outside, Hannah saw two horses tied near Rico, Mitch’s horse.  Owl said, “This one is yours.  Her name is Stella.  She is older and tamer.  You will be fine on her.”

              Stella heard her name and turned to nuzzle Owl’s shirt.  Owl took Hannah’s hand and opened it up so that her palm was very flat.  He put a carrot on Hannah’s palm and said, “Give it to her.”

              Hannah held her hand out to the horse.  Stella took the carrot.  Her whiskers tickled Hannah’s palm and she laughed a little.  Owl held up another carrot and said, “Always give a horse food with hand flat.  They might bite but not mean to, ok?”

              “Ok.”

              Owl gave her the carrot and Hannah repeated the act of feeding it to Stella.  He nodded approvingly.  “Now pet her.  Horses like to be pet.  Do not be afraid.  She is very tame.”

              Hannah did and found that she enjoyed the feel of Stella’s sleek coat under her hands.  The mare turned her head farther so she could sniff Hannah’s hands again.  “I don’t have any more,” Hannah told her.  “Sorry.”  She saw that the horse wore a saddle.  “I thought you hated saddles?”

              “I do, but you use to learn.  My horse not have one,” Owl said.

              Hannah looked over at the tall black horse Owl indicated. 

              “This is Arrow, Silver Ghost’s horse,” Owl told her.  The horse wore only a simple bridle. 

              “He’s pretty,” she said.

              “Yes.  He is very fast.  Ok, we get you up.  Left foot in stirrup,” Owl said.

              Hannah was glad that she’d had Sammi help her pick out a couple pairs of jeans.  She couldn’t imagine doing this in a dress.  She put her foot in the stirrup.

              “Grab saddle horn,” Owl said.

              “Ok,” she said.  “Now what?”

              “Just like other night.  Pull and put leg over when high enough,” Owl told her.

              Hannah concentrated and pulled for all she was worth and threw her leg up and over Stella’s back.

              Owl grinned.  “Nice job.  Now put other foot in stirrup.”  He checked the stirrups to make sure they were right for her leg length and gave Hannah Stella’s reins.  Then he vaulted onto Arrow’s back.

              “I wish I could do that,” Hannah said.

              He smiled and said, “So does Sammi.  It make her mad she cannot.”

              “I’ll bet,” Hannah said and picked up the reins.  “How do I steer?”

              “Which way you wanna go?” Owl asked.

              Hannah shrugged.  “I don’t know.”

              “Pick one,” Owl said.

              “Left.”

              “Pull reins in that direction,” Owl said.

              Hannah did but dropped one.  “Whoops.”

              Owl laughed and leaned over to get it.  “Here.  Give me other one.”  He took it and knotted the two single reins into one and handed them back to her.

              “Why are they split?” Hannah asked as she looked at the knot.

              “So can ground tie horse or wrap around something quick.”

              “Ground tie?”

              “Like this,” Owl said and got down.  He dropped Arrow’s reins on the ground and walked away.  “See, he trained not go anywhere.  Sometimes don’t have something tie horse to.  So ground tie.”  He got back on Arrow.  “Ok, now pull reins left.”

              Hannah did as he’d said and Stella began turning left.  With Owl’s guidance she was able to get Stella out on the street and they rode out of town.  As they rode, Owl kept giving her pointers and she began to get used to the motion of Stella’s gait.  After a while she stopped paying so much attention to the horse and started looking around. 

              It was a mild day and the breeze played with her hair.  Birds flew overhead and settled in the trees.  Owl pulled Arrow behind Stella and came up on the other side of the mare.  He reached over and put a hand on Hannah’s shoulder.  “Loosen shoulders.  Riding too stiff.”