When Kat's Away [Sequel to Anna Doubles Down] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (5 page)

She looked around the room, listening to see if anyone else was up. The only sound she heard was a dog barking in the distance. Moving slowly, she slid out of the warm bed and padded over to the room’s only window, a small rectangular opening covered with a thin, white eyelet curtain.

“It’s gotta be awfully early.” The sun was just beginning to leave a pink smear across the dark blue sky.

Sighing, she went and pulled the white metal pot from under the bed. She stared at it for a moment and then wrinkled her nose. “No way. How bad can the latrine be?” She headed for the door and then stopped. She glanced down at her gown and then went back and pulled on her tank top. “At least nobody’ll be able to see my boobs.”

Trying to be as quiet as possible, she tiptoed out of her room and glanced toward the closed door at the end of the hall.

If that’s where David sleeps, I wonder where Win’s room is.

Slowly, she moved down the stairs, stopping to peer toward the windows in the saloon. “Doesn’t look like anybody’s out yet.”

Turning, she made her way down the darkened hall to the outside door. A thin wood board held up by two braces effectively kept out any intruders. She struggled with the weight of the board, finally lifting it high enough to free it from the braces.

The door squeaked as she slowly pulled it open and peeked around the frame. She could see the shadow of a small building a short distance from the main house. Tall shadowed pines stretched up while streaks of billowy clouds moved across the early morning sky.

She started down the path, wishing she’d taken the time to put on her sandals. She could hear the creaking of the trees as they swayed in the breeze and the hoot of an owl crying woefully in the dark. Grass and weeds slid against her skin as she scurried along the trail. Cursing silently, she grunted in pain as her toe stubbed against a root. Breathing in deep, she caught the scent of rich earth, pine needles, and the distinct odor of the outdoor latrine.

Kat ignored the mosquito that bit the back of her neck and flexed her fingers before reaching for the door of the privy. She held her breath as she pulled open the door, her heart slamming against her ribs.

“What’s the matter with me? There’s nothing to be afraid of.” As the door swung open, her breath caught. “Damn, I wish I had a flashlight.”

There was barely enough light to see the wooden frame they used as a seat. Holding out her hands to ward off any unseen obstacles, she moved forward, grimacing at the feel of a cobweb brushing against her arm. Holding her breath, she finished her business and rushed back down the trail toward the house, leaves and twigs catching at her clothing while her hands slapped at the mosquitoes biting her exposed flesh.

She pushed open the door and hurried back inside. Turning, she lifted the board to bar the door.

“I’m guessing you found everything okay.”

Kat squealed and turned to see David standing in the shadows at the end of the hall. He was wearing a pair of dark pants and nothing else. His chest was broad with a light covering of hair.

“Yes, no problems.” She gave a little laugh. “I should have put on some shoes, though.”

David moved forward quickly and dropped to his knee. He picked up one of her feet, causing her hand to land on the warm skin of his bare shoulder. Her breath caught at the electricity that shot up her arm from the contact. She held her breath as he rubbed his hand up and down the bottom of her foot.

“I don’t feel any cuts. You were lucky.” He quickly examined her other foot and then stood. “Are you going back to bed, or could I interest you in some breakfast?”

Kat swallowed hard.

I wish he’d go put on the rest of his clothes.

He was standing close enough to feel the heat from his body, and she inhaled his musky, pleasing masculine scent. “Uh, I could eat if you’re going to cook anyway.”

He smiled. “I’ve always been an early riser. I was about to put the coffee on when I saw the door was open.” He turned and walked toward a darkened room. “Come on and keep me company while I cook.”

She followed him silently and waited in the door while he lit several lamps. The first thing she noticed in the room was the huge, black, wood-burning stove that took up the area in front of one whole wall. The top was host to six round circles for cooking, each with a small hole to pull the cooking surface up. The front had one large door on the right that was obviously an oven and two smaller doors on top of the other beside it.

She peered closer at the stove. “What’s that written on the doors?”

David turned to look at her. “What door?”

“The doors on the front of your stove.”

He turned to look and grinned. “That’s just the manufacturer. It says Grand Camper. I guess this is not like any kitchen you’ve ever seen.”

“That would be an accurate statement. I’m not the best of cooks in a modern kitchen. I’m afraid we’d starve to death if I had to tackle cooking on that thing.” She watched as David put several pieces of kindling in the stove and then took a match and lit a fire. A tall, black chimney rose from the back of the stove and disappeared into the ceiling.

David grabbed the coffeepot from the cook surface and filled it with water from a sink with a water pump. He grinned over his shoulder. “We just put the pump in the house about two years ago. I know it’s a lot different from what you’re used to.” He laughed. “For one thing, there’s no hot water.”

“How do you know so much about what I’m used to?”

He shrugged. “Mom told us all about her other life and what we can expect in the future. She’s never kept secrets from us, at least none that I know of.” He measured out some coffee into the pot and then set it on the stove.

“Does it bother you, knowing how much easier things are in the future?”

“No, it’s kind of fun trying to find ways to make improvements that will help make her life easier.” He walked over to a shelf and pulled an egg from a basket. He cracked the egg into a bowl and then dropped the shell into the coffeepot.

Kat cringed and looked away. A wooden butcher’s block stood in the center of the room, the top heavily scarred. A ceramic jar held various cooking implements, and a sharp-looking carving knife decorated the surface. One wall held a sink of sorts, with an old-fashioned water pump. Nails on the wall held skillets, towels, and cooking pans. A nicer table, with four matching chairs, set underneath the window. She walked past the stove to peer into another small room.

“That’s the washroom. Although we bring the tub in here when we want to take a bath. It’s easier to fill with warm water if it’s near the stove.”

The room was small and held another wood-burning stove that looked rusted over from disuse. Beside it stood a pair of round metal tubs in a frame. Each one held a scrubboard with the words
Maid Rite
across the top. The frame had a device between the tubs that held two rolling pins.

“It’s easy to imagine scrubbing the clothes on the boards and then feeding them through the rollers to wring out the excess water.”

David snorted. “I’d rather be imagining it than doing it. Laundry is my least favorite job.”

A wooden beam ran the length of the room near the ceiling, with clothes drying from the last wash day. The other wall held another metal tub, this one elongated and big enough for a human body. One end was tall, like a backrest.

“So, how often do you fill up this tub of yours for a warm bath?”

“It can be filled anytime you want it, pretty lady.” David walked over and put his arm around her shoulder. “Win and I both take pan baths daily and soak in the tub a couple of times a week. I know Mom likes her baths daily, so all you have to do is say the word and I’ll fill her up for you.” He gave her a saucy wink. “I might even be persuaded to wash your back.”

“Um, didn’t you say something about breakfast?”

David grinned and went back into the kitchen. She took a moment to compose herself and then followed him. He was cutting thick slices of bacon and putting them into a frying pan on the stove.

He looked up and smiled. “Is bacon and eggs okay with you? I was going to whip up a batch of biscuits as well.”

Hearing her stomach growl, she frowned. “That sounds wonderful. Can I do anything to help?”

He nodded toward a cupboard. “You can get some dishes out and set the table. Win will be down soon. The smell of bacon frying has never failed to get his butt out of the bed.”

Win walked through the door, dressed only in a pair of denim pants. His smooth chest glowed in the lamplight, the dark-brown nipples standing at attention. “I resent that. I woke up when you hogged all the covers.”

Kat’s mouth dropped open when he walked over and kissed the back of David’s neck.

David turned and scowled. “I guess Mom didn’t tell you about us, huh?”

She cleared her throat and swallowed. “We didn’t discuss you other than you are her son.” She took a shaky breath and sat down. “So, the two of you are a couple.”

Win shrugged and took another chair at the table. “As much as we can be. We don’t let anyone outside the family know.” He glanced at David. “It could be dangerous if it got out. White men don’t like the idea of two white men together, much less an Indian and a white man.”

“I’m the first to admit I don’t know my history as well as I should, even if I am a teacher, but weren’t your people living in reservations about now? I mean, you’re obviously Native American.”

Win grinned. “Anna has told me that is what your people call us in the future. Here, and now, we’re just Indians. I’m from the Shoshone tribe.” He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat back down. “Most of my people do live on your reservation, but a few refused to be run off their land. There are so few of us the government leaves us alone as long as they’re no problems.”

“How on earth did you and David hook up?”

He frowned. “Hook up?”

“How did the two of you get together?”

“Ah, Anna helped deliver me when I was born.”

Kat sat up straighter in her chair. “She what?”

“My mother was nearing the time of my birth, but they thought they had enough time to travel to her parents’ village.” He gave her a small wink. “I decided to come early. They came across a cabin in the woods near here and Anna was there. Even though they scared her badly, she took them in and delivered me. My mother told me that my father was terrified because there was so much blood, and he was intrigued by the woman who showed no fear.”

David walked over and put his hand on Win’s shoulder. “She used some made-up sign language to get him to give her his knife to cut the cord.”

“My father, Running Bear, knew some English and was able to understand her a little.”

Kat leaned her elbows on the table. “What’s your mother’s name?”

“She was called Moon Dancer.” Win looked down into his coffee cup. “She named me Winter Warrior because winter was coming and I was the first warrior born to her family. Before me there were only girl babies.”

David put the bacon aside and began breaking eggs into a bowl. “Tell her about Mom saving your folks.”

Kat leaned forward. “Yes, tell me.”

“After I was born an evil man came to the cabin. Anna knew he would kill any Indians he found, so she hid my family in her cellar.” He looked down at his hands. “The bad man was really after Anna. He took her captive and carried her off.”

“Anna was kidnapped?”

“Yes, by a man who’d figured out she was from the future. He wanted her to tell him the secrets from her time.”

“How did she get away?”

David poured the eggs into the skillet. “Win’s father saved her. After he got Win and his mother to safety, he tracked her to a small cabin farther out that Bart Canders had her tied up in. He freed her and brought her back here.”

Kat thought for a moment. “Canders as in Timothy Canders that your dad said was bothering Eva?”

“One in the same. He’s his son.” David put a bowl of scrambled eggs on the table and went back for the bacon. “Win, get the biscuits out of the oven.”

Kat watched Win get the biscuits and place them on the table. “What happened to Bart Canders?”

Win looked up. “They hanged him. He not only kidnapped Anna, he set fire to the mill.”

She gasped. “The fire. I remember reading about it in the book I bought on the history of this place.” She frowned. “I thought it said the fire destroyed everything around here, including the town.”

David placed two biscuits on Kat’s plate. “It would have, but my mother stopped it. She was there when he set the fire, and they were able to get the town on alert fast enough to keep the blaze from spreading.”

Kat looked down at her plate. “So she ended up changing history. I didn’t think that was even possible.”

“She didn’t change history.” Win laid his hand on Kat’s arm. “Medicine man says future is already set. Nothing can change it. She was meant to come back and do what she did. Each of us has a destiny to fulfill, and nothing we do is going to change the outcome of that destiny.”

“Do your parents live on the reservation?” She scooped some eggs onto her plate.

“No, they live with the Great Spirit now. They’ve been gone twenty summers.”