Bound by Honor

Of course, he hadn’t forgotten. The debt he owed had weighed heavy on his mind over the past weeks. But since she’d presented her ludicrous proposal, he’d hoped like hell she wouldn’t remember. He had every intention of returning the favor. Somehow. Someway. If he did not, he would suffer for all eternity, for his soul would not be permitted to cross over to the other side. However, he refused to believe that the gift would take the form of a wedding band. It wouldn’t if there was any chance he could avoid it.

“Life Gift,” he corrected her. “I owe you a Life Gift.” He pulled his hands free from his pockets and lifted them, palms up. “Before you left me there on the road, you asked me to pray for your sister. I did that.”

“But your prayer didn’t keep Amy alive, now did it?”

They stared at each other in silence. Finally, he said, “You can’t expect me to marry you.”

“Why?” True concern creased her forehead. “Do your beliefs dictate against such a union? Marrying out of need rather than love?”

“No.” He shook his head. Were he not an honorable man, he’d lie his way out of this. “But you have to agree, you’re asking an awful lot of me here. Even if I would consider it, the Elders aren’t going to be fooled, Jenna. They won’t trust a marriage that’s coming at them out of the blue. They’d be suspicious. Surely, they’d require that you live here. On the rez. With me. Your husband.”

“I’m prepared to do that,” she told him. Her face was still damp, but hope shone in her still-moist eyes and eagerness brightened her tone. “A couple of months should do it, don’t you think? Surely not more than three.”

“But I don’t even know you.” He planted his hands on his hips, baffled by the fact that she was truly serious about this outrageous idea.

“Within three months,” she continued in a rush, “I’m certain I can win them over. I can prove to the Elders that I’m worthy to raise Lily. They’ll see me everywhere with her. I’ll attend all of the community functions. I’ll even participate. You have gatherings and special celebrations, right? I read about them in the paper all the time.” She didn’t wait for an answer. “And anytime we’re away from the ranch, I’ll play the part of a loving and devoted wife so no one will ever know of our marriage pact. I promise you that the truth will never come out. I’ll need to learn all I can about your culture if I’m to teach Lily. I can’t start too soon with something so important, right? The Council will love my attitude on that subject, don’t you—”

“Jenna! Stop!”

She went quiet.

“I can’t do this.” He let the words sink in, and then he firmly repeated, “I can’t.”

He braced himself for more tears, but what he hadn’t prepared himself for was the tenacity that firmed her jaw.

“So your life isn’t worth three measly months of your time?”

Accusation made her question uncomfortably sharp. Without breaking eye contact with him, she sniffed and reached up to rub the tip of her nose with the back of her hand.

Shame fell on his shoulders like a load of cinder blocks. He tried to shrug the feeling off, but it only grew heavier. He frowned.

He would not allow her to humiliate him into doing something—

“Do you owe me, Gage Dalton? The day of the storm, you made this Life Gift sound like a very serious thing.”

She had no idea just how serious.

Chagrin shot through him like white-hot lightning, and she clearly sensed it. He knew she could tell what her allegations were doing to him. And it only made her doggedness all the stronger.

She folded her arms across her chest. “So…are you going to pay your debt, or aren’t you?”

Jenna Butler had him backed into a corner, and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.

“And you have proof that this marriage is actually going to take place?”

Disapproval tightened the shaman’s wrinkled face. Of all the Elders sitting at the long oak table, Chee’pai had presented Jenna with the most vehement resistance. A contrary man, he’d been adamant from day one that Lily not leave the reservation.

“Of course,” Jenna told him. Nerves writhed in her stomach, turned her knees jelly-weak, but she made every effort to keep her hand from trembling when she offered the marriage license to him. He took it from her. Although he hadn’t ever been blatantly disrespectful, Jenna never failed to feel the mighty weight of his condemnation during the many Council meetings she’d attended. The man was simply and clearly opposed to her gaining custody of Lily.

He didn’t bother to look at the legal document but demanded. “Why did you not tell us of your plans to marry before today?”

Jenna squared her shoulders. “You didn’t ask.”

Chee’pai scowled at what he obviously perceived as impertinence.

“I have answered all your questions,” she reminded him. She let her gaze trail down the row of men and women. “I have held nothing back. Not one of you can say differently. How could I have answered questions that haven’t been asked?”

No one offered an argument.

“And this man is Indian?” another council member asked.

“He is Delaware,” Jenna said. “He lives on Broken Bow. And Lily and I will live here, too…with him. We’ll be married at the courthouse in Forsyth just as soon as the blood test results are in.”

Montana’s required test for rubella was all that stood between Jenna and Lily.

“It shouldn’t take long. The lab tech promised to rush things for me.” She clamped her lips shut. She was talking too fast, submitting too much information.

Gage had offered to come with her to this meeting, but Jenna had felt the need to face the group alone, to see this fight to the end on her own.

Chee’pai almost shoved her license at the Elder sitting to his left, a man who actually scrutinized the paper. Something in the document made the man grow still, but Jenna didn’t have time to wonder what it might be before Chee’pai addressed the group.

“For me,” the shaman announced, “this changes nothing.”

Disappointment assailed her. She must keep a positive attitude. This man was one voice among eight. Surely, someone in the group would see reason. If no one did, she was going to have to think fast.

Gage had warned her against lying to the Elders. To do so would forever jeopardize her integrity in the eyes of the Council. Jenna had planned to speak nothing but the truth; however, desperation often made people do things they wouldn’t normally do, say things they wouldn’t normally say, act in ways that were alien. Hopefully, the Elders wouldn’t push her to those extremes.

That was one of the reasons she’d come alone. If she were forced to say or do anything reckless, she didn’t want Gage to be tainted by her wayward behavior.

The marriage license continued down the row of solemn-faced Council members.

“I have a question.”

The woman who spoke had vivid green eyes. Her long gray hair was parted in the middle and trailed over her shoulders in two thick braids. Her bony shoulders were rounded by the years.

“I mean no disrespect,” the woman continued, “but I’d like to know when you met your fiancé. How long have you known each other?”

Anxiety flared like hungry flames, threatening to consume Jenna. Although there hadn’t been any direct accusation in the questions they’d asked, this was as close as any of them had come to suggesting she might be up to something not quite legitimate. Obviously, they’d be suspicious of the marriage. It would be silly for Jenna to think otherwise. However, before this moment, none of them had implied that she might be scheming in order to gain custody of Lily. She’d expected Chee’pai would have been the one who might make blatant charges, but it seemed that doubt had others willing to question her, as well.

Garnering control of her voice, Jenna said, “I met him before this…situation began. Before my sister died.”

It was not a lie. Jenna voiced the words with a clear conscience.

The woman nodded and said nothing more.

Hoo’ma sat at the very end of the table, and she had just finished studying Jenna’s license. The old woman’s nut-brown eyes flashed with astonishment, and Jenna grew curious. What on earth was the woman thinking? Why had many of the Elders reacted to the license with what looked to be surprise?

Hoo’ma radiated calmness, even in her silence.

Over the weeks of this ordeal, Jenna had discovered that Hoo’ma was well respected by the other Council members. It was apparent that she was the oldest member of the Council, and Jenna had inadvertently learned that her name meant grandmother in the language of this tribe. She didn’t speak often, but when she did, everyone paid close attention.

Hoo’ma leaned her frail body forward, and all eyes turned to her.

“I see that you are to marry Gage Dalton,” she said.

Jenna went still. Something had sparked in the wizened woman’s tone when she uttered Gage’s name. It was as if she wanted the others to pay attention, to take special note. The Elders who hadn’t had a chance to see the certificate for themselves did just that; the ones who had read it nodded in silent agreement. But what exactly were they acknowledging? Their reaction was puzzling.

“Gage plans to take this woman as his wife?” Incredulity sharpened Chee’pai’s question.

Hoo’ma ignored him. Lacing her knobby fingers together, she rested her hands on the tabletop and addressed Jenna. “Marriage is a sacred union, my child. The ties that bind men and women may vary. Some are brought together by love. Others by necessity. Even others by—” one of her shoulders lifted a fraction “—who knows what reasons? But the bonds between a husband and wife are the threads that hold together the very universe, and they could not—and would not—happen if the Great One opposed.”

Several aged gazes slid from Hoo’ma’s. The woman’s unspoken chastisement thickened the air. Evidently, Hoo’ma thought the doubtful questions about this impending marriage were inappropriate.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you,” she continued to address Jenna. “On behalf of the Council, I wish you and Gage every happiness.” She swiveled her head to take in her fellow Council members. “Now, I think the time has come to allow Lily to go to her rightful home.”

“Ma’ta!” Chee’pai stood.

The opposition in the man’s tone couldn’t be missed, and Jenna knew the man said no in his native tongue.

“Our tribe is dwindling by the moment!” The shaman’s face was fury-red. “We send our children off to colleges and they do not return. Our young adults leave Broken Bow for jobs in the city. If we allow this to continue, our clan will be no more!”

Unruffled by Chee’pai’s outburst, Hoo’ma looked past the shaman and directed her attention to the others at the table.

“Jenna has complied with our every demand with patience.” The woman’s wrinkled cheeks bore the hint of a smile as she murmured, “For the most part.” She slid her folded hands into her lap. “She has promised to respect Lily’s Delaware heritage. It is our tradition to give our children roots.” She squared herself to Chee’pai as she added, “It is also our tradition to give them wings. If the roots are deep enough, they will not forget from where they come.”

The shaman seethed, but he did not speak.

“This marriage is a good thing,” Hoo’ma said. “As soon as Jenna and Gage are wed, they should have Lily. They should become a family. I can feel healing and enlightenment approaching. For all concerned. I am surprised, Chee’pai, that you haven’t felt it, too.” After a pause that obviously called for reflection, she pronounced, “Let us vote.”

Chapter Three

“Are you upset about the civil service?” Jenna had finally garnered enough courage to ask the question that had been rolling in her mind since they’d left the courthouse. She glanced at Gage tentatively.

“Why would I be upset?” His attention never wavered from the road ahead as he drove his pickup on I-94 toward Broken Bow. “Other than the fact that I hadn’t planned on repaying a Life Gift with wedding vows.”

She ignored his murmured aside. She couldn’t regret having pledged herself to Gage in front of a Rosebud County clerk of the court. The marriage certificate in her possession was mandatory in gaining custody of Lily. To Jenna, it hadn’t mattered that the ceremony was short and quite dispassionate. Even with the requested rush on the tests, the wait for results had meant another excruciating week without Lily. The truth be known, Jenna was relieved to have the formalities over so quickly.

She had her doubts about Gage.

“Well,” she began, “my guess is that you’re, um, a very spiritual person. I thought that you might have felt peculiar about going to the courthouse to get married as opposed to…” She faltered for a moment. “Well, as opposed to having a religious ceremony.”

“And you came to those conclusions merely because I’m Indian?”

Accusation edged the question, and Jenna felt suddenly self-conscious. She hadn’t meant to offend him.

Before she could respond, he said, “You shouldn’t form opinions about Native Americans based solely on stereotypes.”

Now she felt insulted herself. “I was doing no such thing.”

The raised brows on his chiseled profile were clear evidence that he was unconvinced.

“I wasn’t,” she insisted, shifting on the seat.

“So why would you think I’d be upset that we married at the courthouse?” he pressed.

She lifted one shoulder a fraction. “Because of the things you said the day we met. You used a name…Kitan To-wet—” her tongue tripped over the foreign word “—I think it was. You spoke as if this was some great force or entity. Like fate. Or God.” Heat flushed her cheeks when she realized how this must sound to him, as if she had him figured out because of the things he’d said that day. “You said Kitan To-wet had plans for you, and that I’d messed up those plans.”

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