Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (113 page)

He paused for a moment, and his chest heaved in a visible sigh. “Then there are the things we cannot see or explain. I am alive because of the gift of the sky people. Because of this gift, my wife would not be here also.”

“So, what did you do to make the spirits angry?”

“Just as everything you see before you is in balance, so are the traditions of the Tukudeka. I am choosing to ignore one of the traditions in favor of remaining at my wife’s side when she gives birth. It is customary for a father-to-be to go hunting to supply his clan with meat as a gift in celebration. I have explained to my brother, and to the elders of the clan that I will do what is required after my child is born. The elders have accepted this. My brother has also accepted it, but he enjoys tormenting me.”

“Siblings like to do that to each other,” Jana chimed in. “Don’t you think, Dan? Some things are just timeless.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m an only child,” Dan said, and his eyes met Daniel’s.  It was another thing they shared in common, Dan suddenly realized. His ancestor’s gaze revealed nothing of what he could be thinking.

“Oh,” Jana said softly. “You never talked about your family. I didn’t know.”

Dan laughed. “I’m the last Osborne in Montana,” he said quietly, and met Daniel’s penetrating stare.

“Perhaps you should tell me who you are, before we reach the valley, and why you are here.” Daniel said suddenly. “I do not wish to upset Aimee.”

Dan ran a hand through his hair. How much should he tell him? This was not going to be easy. He glanced briefly at Jana. Her eyes widened.

“Your wife, Aimee, writes in a journal.”

“Yes.” Daniel nodded.

“Several years from now, she will leave that journal for Jana to find.”

“I remember her telling Jana this on the day I came for her in the future,” Daniel said, looking at Jana.

“Well, I met Jana right after she found that journal, and she guessed right that I am one of your descendants.”

Daniel’s features softened. He looked Dan over out of the corner of his eyes. “I have assumed as much,” he said, the hard edge to his tone gone. “But how is it that you are here? Aimee and I made sure the time travel device is gone forever.”

“We found it with the help of the sky people, I think,” Jana chimed in. “An old Indian came to me in a dream, telling me where to look for it.”

Daniel’s eyebrows rose. “The sky people wanted you to come here? Why?”

“Because I made a terrible mistake,” Dan said solemnly. He stared at the ground as he walked, unable to look his ancestor in the eye.

“When a man realizes he has made a mistake, it is the first step to undo what he has done wrong,” Daniel said, as if he spoke from experience.

Dan scoffed. “Yeah. Well, because of my mistake, I’ve put your child’s life in danger. Someone else from the future has found out about the time travel device, and has come here to kill your child because of something one of his children will accomplish in the future.”

Daniel tensed, and his eyes hardened. “Where is this man now?”

“We don’t know. We assume he came here after we did. He has the time travel device. I don’t know how long it took him to figure out how it works, but I’m sure he will come here, if he isn’t here already. And without that device, Jana and I can’t return home.”

Daniel stopped, and faced him.  Holding out his hand to him, he gripped Dan’s arm with the other. “This man won’t have the opportunity to harm any member of my family. We’ll find him, and you can return to the future.”

Daniel pointed with his rifle straight ahead. “Keep walking east. This forest will open up into the valley of the Madison very shortly. Follow the river, and you will come upon my cabin.”

“Where are you going?” Dan asked, perplexed.

“I must get to my wife. If you say there is a man here somewhere who wants to do harm to my family, I need to get back home quickly.” He nodded briefly, then took off running through the trees, and was soon out of sight. Dan stood with Jana, and clenched his jaw. Daniel wouldn’t be so welcoming once he found out about the events that led him and Jana to come to the past. Once Daniel knew that it was he, Dan, who had brought danger to Daniel’s family, he might not live to return to the future.

Chapter 27

Jana’s heart sped up with excitement. She knew they were getting close to Aimee’s home. The forest gave way to a narrow, steep-walled canyon some time ago, and the Madison River flowed beside them. She and Dan walked along briskly, following the river’s banks. The sweet smell of the grass that grew green and tall in this area was intoxicating and lifted her spirits. All these weeks of trekking through harsh wilderness, they had finally reached their destination. And they had surely beaten Hastings here.

Jana hadn’t realized how fast she was walking until Dan grabbed her by the arm and held her back.

“Slow down,” he said, a lazy grin on his face. “If you’re in such a hurry, you should have gone running off with Daniel.”

“Sorry.” She couldn’t suppress a giggle at the image coming to her mind of trying to keep up with Daniel running through the forest. “I’m just anxious to see Aimee.”

Dan pulled Jana to a stop. He stepped toward her, close enough for their bodies to touch. His eyes darkened, and the soft smile from a moment ago vanished, to be replaced by a serious look.

“I know how much you miss her,” he said, his voice deep and sensual. Ripples of desire ran up and down Jana’s back, and a knot coiled in her stomach. It was almost frightening how she responded to his nearness. She inhaled deeply of the clean masculine scent coming from his skin, watching his pulse throb along his neck.

“Our time alone is over,” he said, brushing his fingers against her cheek. “And I’ve enjoyed every minute of our adventure together. You can be my backpacking partner any day.”

“First we have to get back home to the future,” Jana whispered, and raised her head to look into his eyes.  “What if Hastings doesn’t come?”

The muscles in Dan’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “He’s here. I can feel it.” He looked up, his eyes scanning into the distance, as if expecting the man to materialize from the forest. Abruptly, Dan cupped her head between his hands, and kissed her. Jana leaned into him, and wrapped her arms around his middle.

Sucking in a deep breath of air when he broke the kiss, she rested her head against his chest. His heart beat loud and strong against her ear. Dan held her to him, stroking the back of her head, running his fingers through her hair. He kissed the top of her head, and his chest heaved.

“How will you explain us to Aimee?” he asked quietly.

Jana pulled away from him. “What do you mean?” she asked tentatively.

“You know. Girl talk. What am I to you? A casual friend? The guy you just met and are having a summer fling with? Or . . . your husband?”

Was that uncertainty she saw in his eyes? Hadn’t she convinced him that she loved him?
A summer fling?
Jana’s eyes narrowed.

“You didn’t want to go out with me because of my relation to Aimee, remember?” he reminded her when she looked at him, too dumbstruck to speak.   His eyes roamed over her face, as if looking for answers. When had Dan become so unsure of himself?

What was she going to tell Aimee about her relationship with Dan? Jana hadn’t really thought about it. After Daniel had shown up at the Indian village, there hadn’t been a whole lot of time to think about it. She was sure Daniel knew that they were more than casual friends. There wasn’t much that slipped past him, and surely he had seen them hold hands. Perhaps Elk Runner had even told him that she and Dan had spent the night together in the lodge. Obviously he knew that they had been alone together since coming to the past. She hadn’t noticed any signs of disapproval from Daniel. And why should he care? It was none of his business.

What Aimee thought about her relationship with Dan mattered more to Jana. Aimee would be happy to hear that Jana had finally found someone she wanted to have a long-lasting, if not permanent relationship with. How she would react to that person being her descendant, and looking a lot like her own husband, that would remain to be seen. Oddly, Jana didn’t think about it with trepidation like she had weeks ago when Dan first asked her out.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Jana finally answered, looking down at her feet. What did he want her to say to him? Dan had told her he considered them married in the Indian tradition, but did he seriously consider her his wife? He hadn’t said anything about when - if - they returned to the twenty-first century, what kind of relationship they would have then. He’d hinted that he wanted a commitment, but he hadn’t asked her to marry him, either. The rules were different here than they were two hundred years from now. Surely he realized that.

Dan released her. He stepped to the side and wordlessly continued walking toward their destination, running his hand through his hair. It was a sure sign that he was mad or frustrated about something. Jana jogged to catch up to him. She hooked her arm around his.

“I’m going to tell her we’ve become very close,” she said when he finally glanced down at her. His impenetrable expression made him look more like Daniel than ever before. It suddenly became clear to her why he had this need for acceptance from her. He’d been so self-assured since she’d first met him, but today, he acted more like a little kid looking for validation.

“Daniel can be quite . . . intimidating, can’t he?” she asked casually, hoping her hunch was correct.

Dan scoffed. “When I was little, my grandpa told me stories about Daniel Osborne, the legendary mountain man. A man who wasn’t afraid of anything, and held his family above everything else. I didn’t pay too much attention to the stories before, because the deeds of the mountain men have always been exaggerated. Now that I’ve met him, I know that the stories about him are all true.” Dan stared straight ahead. He lifted his face to the sky for a moment and laughed, sweeping his arm in front of him as he spoke. “And here he thinks I’ve done this noble thing by coming to the past to warn him of a threat to his family.” He kicked at a rock on the ground. “And what do I do? I lie and deceive, and I’m to blame for this entire mess. Can’t wait to see his reaction when he learns the truth,” he added, his voice full of self-loathing.

“You’re his family, too. He’ll understand you made a mistake, and are here to correct it,” Jana said softly. She didn’t know what else to say to him to make him feel better about himself.

He turned his head to look at her. “I meant what I said this morning, Jana. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, in this time and in the twenty-first century. If I die tomorrow or the next day, I just want you to know I love you.”

Jana’s forehead wrinkled, and she shook her head.

“Stop talking nonsense,” she said uneasily. “Why would you die? You survived a goose attack. You can handle anything.” She hoped her attempt at humor would snap him out of his bad mood.

“Daniel’s going to kill me when he finds out my part in the danger to his son.” Dan’s voice was firm, as if he truly believed what he was saying. Now that he’d met his ancestor, Dan seemed more remorseful than ever about his mistake. Jana wondered what it would take for him to truly forgive himself.

****

They continued their journey in silence. Jana thankfully left him alone with his thoughts. Dan’s heart and mind were in turmoil. How Jana presented him to her best friend seemed to be important all of a sudden. He couldn’t explain his sudden need for total acceptance. It had been Jana who had reservations about their relationship, but she seemed to be comfortable with the idea now. Meeting his ancestors, and the fact that he was to blame for the trouble that was descending on them weighed heavily on his mind. Daniel was a force to be reckoned with, and Dan found himself severely lacking in his ancestor’s presence. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake off his irrational sense of insecurity, accompanied by a feeling of doom.

They’d been following the river for the last half hour, and the Madison Valley widened ahead of them. The heavily forested mountains to the left became sparser with trees, and a dark-colored straight-faced mountain loomed ahead in the distance. The river veered slightly to the left around a low rising butte. Once they rounded the bend, Jana expelled a loud breath of air.

“We’re here,” she said in awe. The valley stretched before them, and what looked like a newly built cabin came into view to the north of the river. Another, smaller cabin stood a short distance further back, nestled against a grove of lodgepoles.

A woman knelt by the river, dipping something into the water. It looked like she was washing clothes. It was obviously not Aimee. This woman looked short and rather plump, her long black hair hanging in straight strands freely down her back. She wore a simple tan-colored buckskin dress. Her head turned suddenly in their direction, and she jumped to her feet. Shouting excitedly, she ran toward the larger of the two cabins.

“I guess we’re being announced,” Dan said lightly, trying to hide the heaviness he felt in his chest. Now that they had reached the end of their journey, he already missed the solitude and closeness he’d shared with Jana over the weeks they’d spent in the wilderness. A sense of possessiveness took hold in him. He knew he was being unreasonable in his thinking, but he didn’t want to share her attention with others just yet. Not since they’d made love so recently. Combined with his sense of inadequacy around Daniel, and the reason for being here, his mood had slipped into a quiet sulkiness.

The front door of the cabin opened, and another woman emerged, she being even rounder than the Indian woman who came to meet her.

“Aimee,” Jana whispered, and her pace increased. Despite his mood, a slow smile formed on Dan’s face. Jana’s happiness made him happy. The short, petite blonde stepped from the cabin, and waddled as fast as her heavy bulk allowed toward them.

“Jana, ohmygod! Jana,” she called.

“Come on, Dan,” Jana urged, and grabbed for his hand. She pulled him along, nearly breaking into a run.

When they reached each other, Jana awkwardly threw her arms around Aimee’s neck, trying to stand away from her swollen belly as best as possible. Dan wondered quietly how she hadn’t exploded yet.
She’s carrying twins
, he reminded himself, and wondered what today’s date was. The journal had mentioned July 20
^th
as the birthday of Zach and Matthew.

Both young women sobbed and cried, and laughed all at once.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Aimee asked between sobs, after they both released each other. “And how did you get here?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but first I want you to meet someone very special.” Jana stepped away, and looked at Dan. He’d remained a few steps behind her. The soft, loving look in her eyes beckoned him closer.

“It’s an honor to finally meet you, uh . . . Aimee,” Dan said, unsure whether to extend his hand to her, or try and embrace her. He wasn’t sure how to appropriately address her.

“Oh . . . oh my,” Aimee said, her eyes widening as she assessed him from top to bottom. “Elk Runner sure wasn’t embellishing the truth this time,” she said, and stepped toward him. Her arms reached up and around his neck, and he bent forward to give her a light hug. Her taunt stomach pressed against his was a strange feeling.

She smiled warmly up at him, her deep blue eyes sparkling with joy. Her pretty face was framed by her free-flowing blond waves of hair that hung loosely past her shoulders and halfway down her back.

“Daniel said you’re our descendant. Genetics can do funny things, can’t it?” She glanced at Jana, and her smile widened. She clasped his face between her hands, tilting his head first one way and then the other, examining him.

“Your resemblance to Daniel is absolutely amazing. After my experience with time travel, I thought I’d seen pretty much everything.”  She studied him for another minute, then said, “Come on. Let’s get you two to the cabin before Morning Sun comes and locks me in my room for being out here.” She laughed, and pointed a finger at Dan. “And don’t you dare call me grandma.” Turning to Jana, she hooked her arm through Jana’s and they turned to head toward the cabin. “When we get to the house, you’re going to tell me everything.” 

“You’re huge,” Jana commented. She touched Aimee’s stomach, and they both laughed.