The Borrowed Bride

Just as she had five years ago.

“First, my granddad got sick,” Dan said after a moment. “I moved to the town of Thelma to help look after him. And damned if I didn’t start to like it out here again.” He linked his hands behind his head and stretched out his legs. “Used to be, I couldn’t wait to get away from the rez, from the country.” Through half-lidded eyes, he watched her for a reaction. There was none. If anything, she seemed even more subdued. More withdrawn.

Well, what did you expect, Black Horse?

“My granddad died.”

“Dan, I’m sorry.”

“He was eighty-three. He left me a grant of land that’s tied to a treaty with the government dating back to the 1880s. Right around the time of his death, a timber company approached the tribal council, wanting to make a deal on clear-cutting.”

“But this area is sacred ground,” she blurted out. Then she looked surprised at herself and fell silent.

“Exactly,” he said. “But the deal was real tempting. When you don’t know where your next meal’s coming from, lunch with a grizzly bear looks pretty appetizing.”

That coaxed an extremely small smile from her.

“So I did some research. The lands are protected, but the council was leaning toward the timber company. I made a counteroffer. Got a special grant to develop a recreational area, sank everything I had into it and built this place. Just put the finishing touches on it a week ago.”

“It looks as if it’s been here forever,” she said. “The lodge is really beautiful, Dan.”

“It’s supposed to have that rustic flavor.” Flipping his wrist outward, he did a perfect imitation of Andy, the band’s former keyboard player, who had switched careers to interior design. “Without skimping on creature comforts.”

Isabel laughed softly. The sound gripped Dan where he felt it the most—in his heart.

“So that’s the short version,” he said. “If this is a success, I could open lodges in Alaska, maybe Belize or Tahiti in the winter—”

“Why?” Her question was sharp and humorless.

“Because I know what I’m doing.” Sort of. “Somebody else would come in and build a theme park. Probably stick totem poles up everywhere and sell shaman baskets for yard ornaments. I wanted something better. I wanted to do it right.”

She stood and crossed the room, inspecting a cloth wall hanging and the tuber mask beside it. “This is just right. Really.” Even as his chest filled with pride, she paused. Maybe she was beginning to unbend a little. “I take that back. The snowshoes hanging on the wall are marginal. And the antler ottoman has got to go.”

“It’s my favorite piece of furniture.”

She sat back down on the sofa. “So now I know why you’re here. Why am I here?”

He paused. “A picture’s worth a thousand words?” he offered.

“Fine. I came. I saw. I’m impressed. Now take me back to the city.”

“I can’t exactly do that,” he said in a soft, slow voice.

“What do you mean?”

“We have a lot to talk about. I need time.”

She shot up again. “I don’t have time. I’m getting married exactly one week from today. I have to meet with a caterer. A florist. A dressmaker. Photographer, videographer—” She counted them off on her fingers and turned on him in frustration. The pale skirt floated around her slim legs, and for a moment, she looked as exotic as a gypsy dancer. “Sorry, Dan. I just didn’t schedule in being abducted by an ex-boyfriend.”

He’d had no idea she was so bitter. This was going to be harder than he had thought. A lot harder.

“In other words,” he said, “you want me to say what I have to say and then get the hell out of your life.”

She blew out an exasperated breath. “That’s putting it a little bluntly.” Then she looked defiant. “I don’t have time to play games with you.”

He crossed the room in two strides and clamped his hands around her upper arms. She felt delicate and breakable. He used to marvel at her softness, her femininity, the way it contrasted with his own hard edges and roughness. But when she flinched at his touch, he grew angry.

“Is that what you think this is, lady? A game?”

“Tell me different.” She glared up at him.

“I brought you here because you ran away, and I was fool enough to let you go. Well, not this time.”

“What?”

He stared into her eyes, seeing his reflection in their depths and, in his mind, seeing the dreams and desires that used to consume them both, feeling the ache of an unfulfilled promise.

“I can’t let you go, Isabel. I can’t let you just walk out of my life again. You’re making a big mistake, marrying that guy, and I can prove it.”

“How?” she challenged, lifting her chin.

“Like this.” He lowered his mouth to hers and cupped his hand around the back of her head. This was not how he had treated her aboard the ferry. He was not teasing her or, in some mean-spirited way, trying to assert his masculine power over her. This was a kiss designed to bring back the wildness and passion they had once shared. To remind her—remind them both—of all they had lost and all they could be once again if they tried.

She held herself rigid. At first, she made a resentful sound in the back of her throat. He softened his mouth on hers and skimmed his thumb down her temple to her jaw, lightly caressing. A small sigh gusted from her, and her clenched fists, which she had put up between them, relaxed. Her palms flattened lightly against his chest.

Ah, he remembered this, the thin, keen edge of desire he felt only with her, and the way she swayed and fit against him. Her mouth was soft, and the taste of her—one that had lingered for years after she left—was as familiar and welcome as the springtime.

His tongue traced the seam of her lips, and she opened for him, almost shyly, her trembling hands over his heart.

Finally, when it was all he could do to keep from making love to her right then and there, he lifted his mouth from hers. She looked up at him, and he down at her, at the sheen of moistness on her lips.

The sheen of tears in her eyes.

“Isabel?” His voice was low and rough.

“I can’t believe you’d do something so cruel.”

He dropped his arms to his sides. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

She drew an unsteady breath. “You’re just trying to manipulate me. To make me feel unfaithful to Anthony.”

“What about being faithful to yourself?” He pivoted away, furious at her, furious at himself for wanting her. “I guess you never learned that, did you?”

She caught her breath as the dart struck home. Though Dan knew it wasn’t her fault, she had turned away from the part of her that was like Dan—the Native American part.

“I moved on, Dan,” she said. “I moved past that. It’s known as growing up.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t find you again to hurt you. I did it to ask you for a second chance.”

She brushed at her cheeks with the back of her hand. “It’s no good. I can’t. You—you bring up a darkness in me. I get all twisted around inside when I’m with you. I can’t live like that.”

“There are those who say you should seek out your darkest places. Explore them. Find the sunshine that will burn the shadows away.”

“Don’t you see? That’s what I’m trying to do.”

“You’re running away, Isabel.”

She crossed to the door and went out onto the porch to stand, glaring at a magnificent view of Mount Adams. “It’s my choice.”

He came out and stood behind her, placing his hands lightly on her shoulders. She didn’t pull away.

At length, she said, “Take me back to the city, Dan.”

“I’ll take you back this instant,” he said, “if you can say you really mean it when you tell me it’s all over between us.”

He turned her in his arms. He saw the truth written all over her face. She had been just as aroused by the kiss as he had.

But he could see that she was close to breaking. It was time to back off, to give her space, to let it all sink in.

“I have to feed the horses,” he said. “They’ve got internal clocks that tell them exactly when five o’clock rolls around.”

“I can’t believe you have horses. You wouldn’t even keep a goldfish in your apartment in Seattle.”

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