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Will had the women stand back as he ripped a loose board that dangled from the overhang of the porch. Haya, Shauna and the baby waited as he went in and inspected. He appeared at the door way and invited them in.
“All clear,” he announced.
She hesitated again. Clarity struck her hard. “Wait,” she said sharply.
“What?” he asked tenderly.
“How do I know you are who you say you are? And that the other feller wasn’t just a coward who ran off?” she asked.
He sniffed and thought. “I will think on how I can prove that to you. There’s a daguerreotype of me in this house somewhere. In one of the drawers. Of me and my --” he stopped. “I put it away for a period of mourning. If I can find it, I’ll offer it to you. For now, I reckon you’ll have to trust me. Can you find it in yourself to do that?”
Shauna and Haya quietly moved again. The rail of the porch was loose. Shauna did not rely on it. She had to rely on balance alone climbing the stairs with the baby in her arm. Sam swooped in and took the baby in one arm and offered her a hand. Then he offered Haya a hand until everyone was securely in the house. Shauna took the baby back from him. Her hands grazed his hard, muscled form. Their eyes met and a force flowed between them.
Haya took little Sam and set him down in his bed which was in a bedroom that Shauna and Haya shared. The house had two bedrooms. Shauna moved the bed out of the one so there were two beds in the one room along with the baby’s bed. The baby fussed as he went back to bed. Shauna tended to him. She fed him and changed him and rocked him to sleep.
She was entranced by the rhythm of the rocker and the sweet weight of her little son as he finally went to sleep when she realized in the next room, there was a conversation going on. The cowboy was talking to Haya in her language. In almost a year, it was the first time she had heard the voice of the human being who basically saved her life and her son’s life.
Emotion rushed Shauna’s chest. She put her slumbering son down in his crib and joined the other two out in the front room.
“You speak her language,” Shauna noted.
“Yes,” he said
“Please tell her thank you. Thank you for everything,” said Shauna
Sam translated. Haya nodded. She rose and without another word disappeared into her room.
“What did you tell her?” asked Shauna.
“I said thank you,” shrugged Sam.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “How do you say good night my friend?”
Sam told her. Shauna practiced it a couple of times before going into say it to Haya. Haya replied.
“What did she say?” asked Shauna.
Sam chuckled softly. “Did you hear her? She said exactly what you said. Only a little better.”
Shauna smiled at his teasing.
They were finally alone together. No drama. No distractions, if the chemistry that flowed between them didn’t count.
The cowboy and she stared each other down until they caved to their attraction. He took her mouth and swept it with his hot wet tongue. He kissed her for a good long time before he broke from her.
“I am in need of a bath. Will you walk with me to the stream? I have a proposal I would like to put before you,” he said.
Chapter Four
Sam grabbed the jug and took Shauna’s hand. The light of the setting sun cast a sweet shadow of the two of them walking across the grass. Everything seemed so incredibly fresh now that the storm had blown over. The creek that cut the land about an acre behind the house was swollen. It was rushing pretty strongly.
Sam leaned down and washed his hands and face. He washed the jug off in the rushing water. He uncorked it and took a timid sip.
“Mmm,” he said flirtatiously.
He took a bigger sip and then handed it to her.
Shauna took a small taste. She summoned her courage and took a bigger sip. It was liquid warmth going down. It made her insides as right. Her outsides were relaxing and lazy with the storm-softened air. Sam’s touch, holding her fingers lightly warmed her too. It made her yearn.
