Redwing's Lady

On the way down the mountain, Daniel was able to pick up one of the deputies on his walkie-talkie and inform him that Aaron had been found and to spread the word among the other deputies and the ranch hands who were out searching.

Darkness had settled in by the time the three of them rode up to the little barn. While Daniel and Maggie worked to unsaddle the horses, Aaron’s eyes darted from one long shadow to the next.

“Gosh, I guess I am glad I wasn’t up there on the mountain in the dark. I thought I wanted to camp out by myself. But there might be mountain lions up there. Do you think they’re up there, Daniel?” Aaron asked him as Daniel carried one of the three saddles into the tack room.

“Probably. I’ve heard several men talk about sighting them. And my grandfather used to hunt the big cats up in the southern mountains of Colorado. That’s not that far away from us.”

Standing close to Daniel’s hip, Aaron looked up at him with childlike fascination. “Is your grandfather an Indian, too?”

“Yes, he’s Ute. He lives on the Ute Mountain Reservation in Colorado. His name is Joe SilverBear.”

“Does he hunt with a bow and arrow like the Indians used to a long time ago?”

Daniel’s lips curved with amusement. “Sometimes. But he’s getting older now. He doesn’t hunt as much as he used to.”

Aaron turned toward his mother. “Wow! Did you hear that, Mom? Daniel says there’s big cats on the T Bar K!”

“Yes, I heard.” Maggie stepped into the tack room carrying a handful of bridles. “That’s one reason you’d better not ever try this camping thing again, young man,” she added sternly.

Daniel fastened the saddle to the swinging loop of rope, then reached for the breast collar Aaron was holding. As he hung the piece of leather and mohair roping on a nearby peg, he said, “Aaron, if you really want to go camping that badly, maybe your mother will let me take you some time. Do you like to fish?”

At first, Aaron was so surprised by the deputy’s suggestion he could only stare at him with wide, wonder-filled eyes. Then he looked at his mother and the words began to burst excitedly past his lips. “Mom! Did you hear that? Daniel said he’d take me camping! And fishing!” His eyes sparkled as he looked back at Daniel. “I love to fish and I’m good at it, too! Once I caught two trout at one time!”

Daniel actually chuckled. “Sounds like you’ve already learned how to tell fishing stories.”

“That’s not a story! That’s the truth,” Aaron insisted, then turned pleading eyes on his mother. “Mom, can I go? Can I?”

Maggie thoughtfully began to hang the bridles in their usual places along the wall. She didn’t know what to make of this new development. A few minutes ago she’d been feeling a little guilty because she’d refused to allow Aaron to go on the camping trip with the boys’ club in town. She hadn’t realized just how upset she’d made him. But that didn’t mean she wanted her son to go on such a personal outing with Daniel Redwing. She hardly knew the man. And she didn’t even want to try to imagine what his motive in this might be. Still, she was reluctant to upset Aaron all over again. And she certainly didn’t want to offend Daniel after he’d gone to such lengths to find her son.

“I’m sure Deputy Redwing has very little time away from his job. It might be a while before he could take you camping,” she gently warned.

“That doesn’t matter. Just, can I go?”

“We’ll see,” she said, using the vague promise to pacify him for the moment. “Right now I want you to run ahead and get in the shower. I’ll be along shortly to fix supper.”

Aaron looked anxiously over at Daniel. “Are you leaving soon?”

Daniel reached out and patted the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll stop by the house to say goodbye.”

The child’s eyes suddenly lit with anticipation. “Okay!”

He leaped through the doorway of the building and took off at a dead run up the trail to the house. Turning toward Daniel, Maggie shook her head in a hopeless gesture.

“I’m so sorry about all this, Daniel. I’ve caused you and the department so much trouble. Thank God you didn’t have helicopters out looking.”

“I’m just glad we found him safe and sound. You were very lucky. I guess you know that.”

Nodding, she suddenly felt as if the darkness was swallowing them up, cocooning them in the little barn. With Aaron gone they were totally alone, a fact that Maggie couldn’t push from her mind.

“Yes,” she murmured. “All the way down the mountain I kept thinking of the hundreds of things that could have happened to Aaron. And I kept thinking, too, that maybe—well, if something had happened to him, it would have been my fault. I guess I should have allowed him to go on the camping trip. It certainly wouldn’t have been as harmful as what might have happened today.”

Frowning, Daniel stepped over to where she stood. “Look, Maggie, you were right earlier. I don’t have any children. I can’t tell you or anyone how they should raise their kid. But I believe you can’t allow a child to have his own way all the time just to keep him from running away. That isn’t any sort of discipline.”

Her gaze dropped to the toes of her boots. “No. You’re right. But I feel so guilty.” She lifted her eyes back to his. “I’m sure you’ve already guessed that Aaron doesn’t have a whole lot of male companionship. Oh, there’s Skinny and the other ranch hands and there are his uncles, Ross and Jess, and their cousin Linc, but he doesn’t get to spend any serious, intimate time with any of them. They’re all so busy, and I guess none of them ever stop to think that Aaron misses having a father.”

“Does Aaron remember his father?”

Shaking her head, Maggie turned and began to straighten the bridles she’d hung on the wall. “No. Aaron was too small to remember anything when Hugh was killed. Sometimes I think that’s the worst part about it. I have my memories to hold on to, but Aaron doesn’t have anything. He doesn’t even know what it’s like to have a father.”

Daniel placed his palm upon her shoulder because he wanted to comfort her and because standing so close to her made it impossible for him not to lay a hand on her in some way.

“Neither do I,” he admitted quietly. “But I made it. So will Aaron.”

Quickly she turned to face him. Her eyes were wide with surprise, her lips parted. “You…you didn’t have a father?”

Oh, yes, he’d had a father, Daniel thought bitterly. At least for a brief time. Not that there’d been anything fatherly about Robert Redwing. The only thing he’d had to do with Daniel was to sire him. While Daniel was still a young boy the man had left his son and his wife, Pelipa, and headed south to Arizona. He’d become a drunk and a thief and served several stints in the state penitentiary before he’d eventually died in a car wreck while trying to evade the police. Yes, he’d had a father for a few brief years of his life. But he didn’t want to tell Maggie Ketchum about a man who’d brought pain and shame to his family.

Instead of responding to her question, Daniel nudged her toward the door. “It’s late. I’ve got to get back to the department and do some paperwork before I go home.”

He obviously didn’t want to answer, and Maggie respected his privacy by not pushing him. Even so, she realized she wanted to know more about this man. And that in itself was a scary idea. For seven long years her heart, her body, had been dormant. Men had tried to spark her interest, but she’d felt nothing toward any of them. Mostly because she hadn’t wanted to feel anything. Not with Hugh still living in her heart. And now this man, this dark, handsome Ute had come along and stirred up all kinds of emotions in her.

“Of course. Let’s get to the house,” she said, wondering why she suddenly felt the urge to cry.

Quickly, before she could make a fool of herself, she started out the door only to have his hand wrap around her arm and tug her back inside the small, dimly lit building. Maggie looked up at him, her brows arched, her heart pounding.

“Maggie, before we go…I wanted to—” He let out a heavy breath, dropped his hand from her arm, then caught hold of her again. “I don’t know how to say this. I just wanted you to know…earlier today—in the mountains when I kissed you—I wasn’t trying to insult you.”

Her breath came soft and fast as she tried to search his face in the waning light. “I never thought you were.”

His fingers tightened ever so slightly on her arm. “I don’t go around kissing women like that. You, uh, well, you got me off track there for a moment or two.”

She tried to smile, to ease the crackling tension between them. “I’m flattered that an older woman like me could distract you, Deputy Redwing.”

His fingers eased to slide slowly up her arm and onto her shoulder. Once they reached her hair, he twined the curly strands around his fingers. Maggie shivered inwardly at the intimate contact.

“You look very young to me.”

“I’m nearly thirty-four,” she replied.

“And I’m twenty-nine.”

Up until this moment Maggie had stood motionless, but now she unconsciously edged closer to him. “So tell me why a healthy twenty-nine-year-old man doesn’t go around kissing women?”

His lips formed a wry line. She made kissing sound like such a normal, simple thing for him to do. But he’d never viewed the act as simple. Getting that intimate with a woman was something he mostly tried to avoid. As much as he liked the feel of a soft female in his arms, he didn’t want to give himself a chance to get that close, to need or want anyone the way his mother had wanted and pined for his father. Yet when he stood here so close to Maggie, everything but her seemed to leave his mind.

“Because I haven’t found a woman I’ve wanted to kiss,” he answered quietly. “Until now.”

She drew in a sharp, sudden breath. “What kind of line is that?”

Suddenly both his hands were on her shoulders, and he was drawing her forward, circling her body with his strong arms. The air rushed out of her lungs as she planted her palms against his broad chest.

“It isn’t a line, Maggie. I’ve wanted to do this from the very first time I saw you.”

“Daniel—”

His hand lifted to her cheek where he rubbed a gentle, enticing circle. “Say my name again,” he whispered. “It sounds so good coming from your lips.”

She was trembling, shaking with a need that left her voice hoarse, her mind whirling. “Daniel, I…”

With a soft groan he bent his head, and anything else she might have said was swallowed up by the probing search of his lips.

This time their kiss was different. This time the fear for her child’s safety wasn’t racing through her mind. This time there was nothing standing between them. Not even a breathing space.

At some point during the embrace, he pulled her tightly against him, and Maggie groaned as her full breasts pressed against his chest, her hips aligned with his. Mindlessly her arms slipped around his waist, her mouth opened in hungry response.

For the next few moments Maggie allowed herself the rich pleasure of being in Daniel’s arms, of having his hard, warm lips roam recklessly over hers, having his hands touch her with love.

Love? Love!

The one word racing through her mind was enough to make Maggie rip herself from his embrace and back away as though he were one of those mountain lions his grandfather hunted and she was the prey.

“Maggie…” he began in a perplexed voice.

He stepped forward only to have her hold up a hand to ward him off.

“Don’t, Daniel,” she pleaded hoarsely. “Please don’t touch me again.”

He stood still, his hands dropping to his sides. “Why?”

She groaned and then made a lunge for the door. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I’m just not ready for this,” she mumbled in a choked voice.

“Maggie!”

Ignoring his call, she stepped out of the little barn and hurried up the trail to the house. Her legs were weak and wobbly, and several times she almost fell upon the dark, winding path. But she stumbled on, determined to put as much space between herself and Daniel as she could before he decided to follow.

Thankfully, the lights from the house eventually flickered through the pine trees, and, breathing a sigh of relief, she slowed her pace. When she entered the back door, she could hear Aaron’s shower click off. Knowing the child would soon be dressed and heading to the kitchen to eat, Maggie hurried to her own private bathroom and began to splash cold water on her heated face.

After a few moments her cheeks began to cool and her senses calm somewhat. As she washed her hands, she stared in stunned horror at her disheveled image in the mirror.

Maggie had never been a vain person. It didn’t matter to her if her hair got mussed or her face smudged. There were far more important things in life than trying to look perfect. So she was hardly shaken by the fact that her hair was tangled, her shirt dirty and snagged with a three-corner tear on the shoulder. It was the dark desire shadowing her eyes, her swollen lips and the excited color on her cheeks that totally stunned her.

Dear God, she looked like a woman who’d been making love to a man!

Chapter Three

“Mom! Where are you?”

“I’m coming.” Tossing down the towel, Maggie drew in a deep breath and hurried out to the kitchen.

When she entered the room, Aaron was pouring himself a glass of milk, and thankfully, as he chugged it down, he seemed not to notice that there was anything amiss about his mother.

“It’s so late that supper will have to be soup and a sandwich,” she told him as she began to pull plates and bowls from the cabinet.

“Okay. Can I have bologna and mustard?”

“You may.”

By the time she’d gathered the dishes together, she’d managed to focus her attention on the task of preparing a light supper. But before she started, she walked over to where her son was standing by the cabinet counter and put her forefinger beneath his chin.

Tilting his face upward for inspection, she examined his spiky, wet hair, his neck and ears and finally the bramble scratch on his arm.

Aaron began to squirm impatiently. “I’m clean, Mom. And I’m okay.”

“You have a bruise on your cheek and a scratch on your arm. We’ll deal with the scratch after you eat,” she promised, then with a weary sigh she patted his wet head. “We’re lucky that’s the only thing that happened to you.”

Satisfied that her son was clean and all in one piece, she opened the pantry and took two cans of vegetable soup from a shelf. As she emptied the contents into the saucepan, Aaron plopped down in a chair at the breakfast table and thoughtfully watched his mother’s jerky movements.

“Are you really, really mad at me?” he asked in a cowed voice.

She glanced at her son as she stirred water into the soup. Since Aaron had never done anything nearly as serious as running away, she really didn’t have a clue as to how she would punish him. And right now, dealing with his misbehavior was only a part of her problems.

“I’m not sure what I am, Aaron. I was very scared when I couldn’t find you.”

His expression was remorseful, but not nearly enough to suit Maggie.

“Well, Mom, you should have known I wouldn’t get hurt,” he said with just enough cockiness to warrant a glare from his mother.

“How did I know that, young man?”

“Well, you know that I can ride Rusty better than anybody on the ranch. Even Skinny,” he boasted.

“Is that why you fell off?” Maggie asked as she placed the pan of soup onto the gas burner.

Clearly insulted, Aaron exclaimed, “Aw, Mom! I—”

Before he could finish, a knock sounded on the kitchen door. Maggie opened her mouth to tell Aaron to answer it, but she was wasting her time. Aaron shot out of the chair like a bullet and raced to the door.

“Mom! It’s Daniel!” he shouted as though she were deaf.

“Don’t just stand there looking at him. Let him in,” she instructed her son.

Aaron flung the door wide. “You can come in, Daniel.”

“Thank you, Aaron.” With his hat in his hand, he stepped into the kitchen and glanced toward the other side of the room, where Maggie was stirring something on the gas range.

“Mom’s fixing soup,” Aaron explained. “You can stay and eat, too. If you’d like. We have plenty of bologna.”

“Aaron! Please!” Maggie scolded softly.

Aaron shot his mother a perplexed look. “Well, he can, can’t he? I thought we’re always supposed to share with company.”

Turning away from the stove, she glanced at her son before turning a strained smile on Daniel. “Sorry,” she apologized. “He doesn’t understand that bologna isn’t something you offer a guest.”

As Daniel looked at her, one corner of his mouth lifted into a faint grin, and Maggie felt her heart skip into a rapid dance against her rib cage. It wasn’t right that the man looked so good to her—too good, in fact.

“I don’t know why not,” Daniel told her. “I think it’s pretty tasty stuff.”

Maggie released a breath of air she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Then why don’t you wash your hands here at the sink and I’ll have everything on the table in just a few minutes.”

He moved farther into the room with Aaron glued to his side.

“I wasn’t hinting to be fed supper,” he said, unable to pull his eyes away from her.

Jolted by the fact that he was so near to her again, she turned back to the soup. “I know you weren’t. But you’re welcome to join us. Offering you a sandwich is the least I can do after all you’ve done for me and Aaron.”

Staring at her for a few more moments, Daniel wondered why she didn’t want to look at him, why she had run from him after kissing him so deeply, so sweetly. It didn’t make sense to him. But then, Daniel didn’t know much about the way a woman’s mind worked.

Even though he’d often dreamed of how it might be to have a family, a real family that stayed together and loved each other through thick and thin, he’d never actually pictured himself in the role of husband or father. A man had to know about a thing before he could be good at it, and Daniel had been taught very little about love. Especially from a father who’d lacked any sort of morals, decency or human kindness.

“Come on, Daniel.” Aaron grabbed his forearm and urged him toward an open doorway to their right. “I’ll show you where the mudroom is. It’s easier to wash your hands in there.”

The two males entered the small utility area and as Daniel washed his hands at a deep galvanized sink, Aaron sidled up to him and said, “I’m worried about Mom. She’s acting strange. Like she’s sick or something. Do you think me running off has made her sick?”

Daniel glanced through the open doorway of the mudroom. From this position, he could see Maggie standing at the gas range. Her shoulders were slumped, her head slightly bent. She had to be exhausted, he thought. He was certainly feeling the long ride and he was accustomed to straddling a horse. Yet he figured her quietness had nothing to do with her fatigue. She was upset with him because he’d kissed her. And probably even with herself because she’d kissed him back.

Glancing down at the boy’s troubled face, he said gently, “No. I don’t believe your mother is ill. I think she’s very tired. You put her through the wringer, you know. You should be a little ashamed of yourself.”

Grimacing, Aaron hung his head. “Yeah. I guess I am,” he mumbled contritely, then suddenly his head jerked up and he shot Daniel a bright smile. “But I’ll make it up to her. I’ll do all sorts of chores and she won’t even have to ask me! Just watch!”

Aaron dashed out of the mudroom and over to his mother. By the time Daniel joined them, the boy was busy placing plates and utensils on the table.

“Is there something I can do?” Daniel offered as he stood beside her at the range.

Maggie darted a glance up at him, then quickly turned her attention back to the boiling soup. His nearness made her tremble as though there were an earthquake inside her, and she deeply resented the fact that he had such a powerful effect on her. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. She wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything for this man.

“No. I think everything is ready. Go ahead and take a seat.”

He put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right?” he asked in a low voice.

Without looking at him, she said stiffly, “Yes. Yes, I’m fine.”

Daniel glanced around to see that Aaron was still at the table and out of earshot. “Maggie, about that kiss—”

“I’m not going to talk about that!” she interrupted in a rushed hush. “Not here! Not now!”

Frowning thoughtfully, Daniel studied her bent head. “When?”

Her head jerked up, and she stared at him in dazed wonder. “Never! That’s over—and it won’t happen again!”

She reached up and switched off the burner beneath the pan of soup. Daniel dropped his hand, but he didn’t move away.

“Never say never, Maggie Ketchum.”

Something like fear filled her blue eyes. “It’s time to eat,” she said hoarsely.

Picking up the soup, she carried the pot over to the table and began to fill the three bowls that Aaron had set out. The boy was obviously thrilled to have Daniel share the simple meal with them and he made a big issue of showing Daniel where to sit and fetching him a cold soda from the refrigerator.

Once they were eating, Aaron dominated the conversation and Maggie was relieved. She didn’t want Daniel to have a chance to turn his attention to her. It was hard enough on her nerves just having him sit across the table from her, much less having him talk to her. Especially when he’d already said more to her than he should have. And done more than he should have, she thought wretchedly.

Halfway through the meal, the telephone rang and Maggie went to answer the portable instrument sitting on the end of the cabinet. The caller was her sister-in-law, Victoria. While she assured Aaron’s aunt that her nephew was safe and sound except for a scratch and a bruise, she covertly watched her son and Daniel at the kitchen table. The two of them were talking with easy familiarity as though they were old buddies or even relatives. The notion was unsettling. It wouldn’t do for her son to get close to this man. Not when she planned on making a swift and permanent break with him after tonight.

“That was your aunt Victoria,” Maggie said to Aaron, once she returned to the table. “She was getting ready to come over here to check you out, but I told her you only had a scratch and a bruise.”

Aaron swallowed down a mouthful of potato chips before he said to Daniel, “Aunt Victoria is a doctor. She’s just had a baby. He’s a boy, but he’s too little to play with. He still drinks from a bottle and he wets his pants. Ugh!”

Daniel smiled fondly. “Yes, I’ve met little Samuel.”

Aaron looked at him with surprise, then dawning. “Oh, I forgot. You work with Uncle Jess.”

“That’s right.”

“See, Mom, Daniel has a badge just like Uncle Jess’s.” The boy reached over and nearly touched the shiny, oval emblem pinned to Daniel’s khaki uniform. “It says San Juan County, New Mexico, on it. That’s where we live. And Daniel is the law all over this land.”

“Daniel isn’t the law, he enforces the law,” Maggie corrected him.

Aaron scowled at his mother. “I know that. He can put handcuffs on people and take them to jail.”

And that ability was obviously impressive to a nine-year-old boy, Maggie realized.

“He has a Colt .45, too,” Aaron went on with enthusiasm. “That’s the kind of pistol he likes to carry—just like in the Old West—like Blackjack Ketchum toted. And he was our kin!”

Maggie stared at her son, unwilling to believe the stuff that was rolling out of his mouth. “Aaron! You have no idea what sort of gun Blackjack Ketchum used! And he certainly wasn’t our relative! Where did you hear such a thing?” she demanded.

“Well, Skinny told me about the gun. And the kids at school tell me all the time that Blackjack was my kinfolk. And he might be, Mom. You don’t know,” he argued.