Page 30 of Finding Her


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Mr. Winters came forward now, looking from one to the other. "He's right Gloria. The man knows this country and what he is doing. Leave it alone. I apologize for our lack of knowledge, what you say makes perfect sense to me though."

"Thank you," Aiden nodded to Mr. Winters with a smile.

"But…" she started to object, and her husband raised his hand to the air.

"Leave it!" he demanded and walked off.

Gloria stared after him, her face mirroring her aggravation for being told what to do. Aiden noticed. He glanced at Lucy who was amused by his outcry. So, Mr. Winters wasn't as dumb as everyone had pegged him.

As Aiden was tending the horses Lucy walked up with a smirk on her face, "He sure knows how to shut her up, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does. Maybe he should speak up more often."

"He doesn't seem like such a bad person. She says he doesn't want children. But perhaps if they tried harder to get along… Or maybe it's just the fact that it isn't his child…"

"It isn't?" Aiden looked a bit shocked by this news. "Oh, that's right, she said she'd been married before."

"That's what she said." Lucy stared at his back now. "She was married before, her husband was killed, leaving her pregnant."

"Well then, that might explain his silence too."

"What do you mean?"

"This is her journey, not his. He's giving her leave to make the journey and also going with her. I think he cares for her, a great deal, if not the child. But you could say it's more her business than it is his."

"But not to love a child?" Lucy asked.

"Depends on whether he knew about the child before they married."

"He didn't."

"Then it's not the child, Lucy, it's the lie between them."

"But obviously he thought enough of her to come with her. She should see that much."

"What a little match-maker you are." He laughed, he turned to look at her and shot her a sexy smile.

"They are married, Aiden, a holy union by the Creator's own words in the bible, is it not?"

"It is! And I'm proud you remember."

"I was thinking of the child."

Aiden sobered, "Well, you might be right. The child might be better off where she's at. At least she'll be loved."

"Is that what you thought about me, too?"

That question gave Aiden pause. He knew it was a tender subject with Lucy.

"You were ten when I first met you, Lucy. You were already loving the Cheyenne and accepting the Cheyenne as your folks. I was young too, and even though I did feel for you, I couldn't interfere. Frenchie told me you had a new family and was happy. They were your family. The trapper I was with at the time, raised me, when my folks died. He told me I couldn't change things after four years with the Indians. Four years is a long time not to love someone who takes care of you. And yes, I did think you were better off. At least at the time. But it seems you've been more concerned about your white side since you are grown. Is there a reason?"

Lucy suddenly stared out at the white blanket of snow around them, her eyes tearing but not falling. "Maybe your right, maybe I too was better off with them… you know, I never looked at it that way. I just kept thinking they should have come. And it hurt when I thought they didn't love me enough to come for me. It made me feel as though something was wrong with me. That no one could love me. I wasn't the only one that thought like that. There were many through the years, and some couldn't live with the not knowing the truth of their folks. It ate at them. A few did come and they went home. For those that did I was always happy for them. But others, suffered. Most more than me."

"Do you know now what happened to your folks?"

"No," She found a log and sat down shaking her head. "I heard some talk about the wagon train we were on, that it was headed for Oregon."

"Did you ever think they might not have made it?" He sat down with her when he finished tending the horses and looked at her.

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