“I will take him, Datiye, and I will never forget you for giving me back my son.”
She smiled through shimmering tears. “Go, now,” she said. She turned and walked away, toward the woods, holding her back straight and rigid, then started running and kept running until she was gone.
He set Shoshi down and looked in the saddlebags. A teat and milk. Enough to last him until he got to the High C. He wondered if Candice would accept Shoshi. She would have to. If not, he’d find a wet nurse and take her with them.
He saw that Datiye had enlarged the straps of the cradleboard to accommodate his shoulders. He slipped Shoshi in, then set the board on his back. He mounted, still overwhelmed by what she had done. Then he urged the black forward, every nerve in his body quivering, a riot of emotions.
CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
She heard the commotion downstairs.
And instantly recognizedhisvoice.Jack.
She flew down the stairs, skirts in one hand, her feet barely touching the ground. She pulled up short at the sight of him, and for a moment just drank in his magnificent, bronzed presence.
He stiffened, turned his head away from her father and Luke, and their gazes met.
It was then that Candice became aware of Mark, crimson-faced, standing behind her father and Luke, one hand on his gun and looking lethally dangerous. “Let’s hang him up right now!” he shouted.
Jack faced the three men, his profile to her, and didn’t move a muscle. “I’ve come for my wife and daughter,” he said quietly.
“We know damn well who you’ve come for,” Mark shouted. “You’ve ruined my sister, and now I’m going to kill you!”
“Cool down,” Luke snapped warningly, as Candice flew to her husband to stand pressed to his side.
“Mark, stop it,” she said desperately. “Please stop this insane hating. I’m leaving with Jack, and I don’t want to lose you as my brother.”
“You should have killed yourself before submitting to him,” Mark spat. “Much less liking it and bearing his breed brat. To me, you are dead!”
Candice cried out.
Mark whirled and strode away, ignoring their father, who called after him. A heavy silence fell. Tears at her brother’s ultimate rejection filled Candice’s eyes. She became aware of Jack holding her hand. Then he brushed a tear from her cheek with a callused thumb. She looked into his eyes and felt her heart take wing and soar.
Luke broke the moment, stepping forward, hand extended. “Welcome to the High C,” he said. He wasn’t smiling, but his gaze was level and sincere.
Stunned, Jack stared at the offered hand, and then with a delayed reaction, he took it—awkwardly. Candice looked at the two clasped hands and felt as if her heart would expand right out of her rib cage. She gazed at Luke with tearing eyes and he smiled slightly at her, understanding her silent thanks.
Her father shoved his hands into his pockets and the gesture stood out as if a bell had sounded. She saw the indecision on his face and wanted to weep. She thought that he was trying, but knew he would never forgive her husband for ruining, in his eyes, his little girl. There was a long silence, but her father didn’t speak.
Jack turned to her. “Let’s get Christina and go,” he said softly.
She heard, from outside, a familiar infant’s howling. Her eyes widened in surprise and delight. “Jack? Did you bring Shoshi?”
A faint smile crossed his face and lingered in his eyes as they swept over her features. “Yes.”
And then she felt the uncertainty, and with it sick fear. “Datiye?”
“No.”
Candice turned to her father and saw his steady, pain-filled gaze. “Oh, Pop,” she said, and hugged him hard before flying up the stairs to get Christina and a few things. She didn’t even wonder where they were going. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was the man downstairs, the man she loved more than life itself.
When she came downstairs with a small bag and Christina in her arms Jack leapt forward, and she let him take the baby from her arms. He smiled at his daughter, love lighting up his features. Candice’s heart expanded to impossible dimensions.
“Candice,” her father said hoarsely.
She froze and met his gaze.
He came hesitantly to her, then embraced her in a bear hug. When he pulled back he smoothed tendrils of hair away from her face. It’s not safe for you to stay here,” he said, the silent wordswith himas clear as if he’d spoken them.
