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As he now watched the boys press their faces against the small, double-paned window, Travis sighed. The trip to the reservation had been pretty close to perfect. He’d come home with the boys…
The sigh he now expelled was filled to the brim with doubt and agitation. He wasn’t really angry that he’d had to agree to Diana Chapman’s presence in his home for the next couple of months. He agreed with the Kolheek Council’s opinion that Jared and Josh needed some roots. They were young. And impressionable. They needed a sense of heritage. A heritage that Travis couldn’t give them because he didn’t have it himself.
He looked across the aisle at the woman’s arrow-straight, black-as-midnight hair, her tawny skin, noble cheekbones, perfect nose.
What was it about Diana Chapman that unsettled him so? Was it because she was a Medicine Woman? Someone living the very culture he was so totally ignorant of? Or was it because she had been forced on him? Because she was someone he’d see as an invader in his house? In his new family? Or, a quiet voice silently stressed, was it because she was too darned beautiful for words?
She turned her head, her nut-brown eyes connecting with his, and she caught him staring for what seemed the umpteenth time since they’d boarded the plane. Awkwardness crept over him, thick and straining. What was it about her that made him feel so…rough and unrefined? Ham-fisted, even?
Her dark, steady gaze was trained on him, and he felt the silence swell and grow even more awkward than it had been only a moment before. The urge to reach up and tug at his collar welled up in him like an unreachable itch, but he firmly squelched it.
Her quiet dignity, her almost patrician manner, was what had him feeling so damned uncouth.
Say something, you idiot, his brain silently poked him like a stick. Say something that will bridge this difficult stillness.
“So,” he began, hating the dry-as-dust sound of his voice, “tell me…what exactly does a Medicine Woman do?”
Diana went utterly still. When she had left the reservation in order to attend college in southern California, she’d shied away from telling anyone in the outside world that she was training to become a Kolheek Medicine Woman. The title was archaic to the modern world. And to people who weren’t familiar with Native American culture, the term often provoked snickers and thinly disguised jeers.
She remained silent for several seconds as she tried to decipher whether the doctor’s query had been prompted by disdain or honest curiosity.
He hadn’t said much to her since they had left the reservation together and traveled to the nearby small town of Iron Hill, Vermont, to pick up the boys at the state orphanage. Diana had pretty much stayed in the background as Travis happily broke the news to Jared and Josh that the adoption had been successful, that they would be going home with him. To stay.
Jared had been all smiles, but Josh had taken the information in silence. Over the next half hour or so that they were at the home, Diana watched in silence as Travis interacted with his new sons. The only introduction she’d received was that she was a ‘lady from the reservation who’ll be staying with us for a while.’ She hadn’t minded being brushed over. Travis had only told the truth, and it was important that the focus of the moment be placed on the boys, who needed to understand the change that was about to take place in their lives now that they had been adopted by Travis.
The trip to the airport was filled with Jared’s questions. The child wanted to know how big the plane would be, how high they would fly, if they’d be above the clouds, if they’d eat a meal. His questions had rung like the peals of a high-pitched bell. Travis had remained patient, and that had impressed Diana.
Finding no guile in Travis’s eyes now, Diana said, “It would probably be easier to tell you what a Medicine Woman doesn’t do.”
He obviously recognized her quip for what it was—an attempt to reduce the strain between them. He smiled, and Diana’s breath literally caught in her throat. She’d been right. His smile really did change his already handsome features into a countenance that stole away all thought. For a moment her mind went blank, her heart raced, as she took in his even, white teeth, the smile lines around his mouth and eyes. My, but he was a handsome man.
“Jack-of-all-trades, are you?” he said, interrupting her chaotic thoughts.
She blinked, struggling to calm her jangling nerves, her racing mind. What had they been talking about? Taking a deep, soul-soothing breath, she swiftly gathered her composure.
Her job. That was it. He’d asked about her responsibilities.
“I do…everything. I lead celebrations. I pray for the sick. I council alcoholics, unwed mothers and couples whose marriages are in trouble. I deliver babies. I diagnose illness and prescribe medication—”
“You deliver babies? And prescribe medicine?”
“Yes,” she answered. One corner of her mouth pulled back a bit. “Well, the babies would come with or without my help. And the medication I prescribe is in the form of herbs, mostly. I’m what you would call a holistic healer. I’m an N.D. Doctor of Naturopathy. Certified by the state of Vermont.”
“You’re a bona fide doctor?”
There was no hint of derision in his tone, and for that Diana was relieved. She nodded.
“Wow, I didn’t realize.”
Did she hear apology in his words?
She couldn’t stop the grin that took over her face. “Please don’t tell me you were expecting a peace pipe and a feather headdress.”
Her gentle teasing seemed to ease the awkwardness that hung between them.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued. “I have ceremonial paraphernalia. Brought it with me, in fact. For the ceremony. But I don’t use it on a daily basis.”
His breathy chuckle was so soft she barely heard it. “I have to admit, when the Council said Medicine Woman, I had no idea what to expect.”
“Usually a Kolheek Shaman is—”
“Don’t you mean Sha-person?”
The wisecrack was only voiced to make her laugh, she realized that.
“I’ve never concerned myself too much with political correctness,” she told him. “And I’m not radically into feminism, either.” Seeing his surprised expression, she pointedly added, “Living among the Kolheek tribe has taught me exactly which sex wields the power.”
His smile waning, Travis seemed momentarily unsure of the meaning of her statement. Diana liked the idea of keeping him on his toes and made no effort to explain her thoughts further.
“Normally,” she said, “I would become the apprentice of another Shaman. I would have learned everything I needed to know without leaving the reservation. But I wanted more. I wanted a formal education. And my grandmother agreed. So I attended college, and then medical school.”
“What if your grandmother hadn’t agreed?”
Diana lifted one shoulder slightly. “That wouldn’t have happened. My grandmother is a wise woman. She knows there is very little opportunity on the reservation. We already have two family physicians. It’s a small tribe. Too small to support three doctors. She knew I would someday have to find another path to follow.”
“A different path? You’re thinking of quitting—”
“No, no,” she assured him. “I am a Kolheek Medicine Woman, first and foremost. I will remain on my chosen path. But if I’m to support myself, it will someday take me to a different place. Off the reservation.”
“I see.” He glanced over to check on the boys, and then his dark gaze leveled on her once again. “How do you feel about that? Leaving your home? Your grandmother?”
Diana averted her gaze for an instant. She moistened her lips, and tilted up her chin as she told him, “I love my grandmother dearly. She raised me. But all baby birds must someday leave the nest, fly on their own, isn’t that so?”
She’d left the nest once. She’d married and thought she’d made a home for herself in California. But then she’d been wounded, she’d fled back to the reservation, her heart ripped and torn to shreds, her wings broken and bleeding.
“Sounds like you and your grandmother are very close.”
“Yes,” she answered softly. She would miss her grandmother this holiday season. But Diana was determined to make her grandmother proud by doing right by the twins. Jared and Josh would know what it meant to be Kolheek when she was through. She could take great pride in that.
A frown bit into his brow as if something worrisome had just then entered his mind. “Maybe you can help me to understand something. Can you tell me what she meant today? Your grandmother, I mean. With that cryptic parting phrase she gave me? The one about fate? And seeing what it had in store?”
The sudden anxiety clouding Travis’s gaze had a startling effect on Diana. Empathy enveloped her like the warm blanket of sunshine that covers the New England mountains each summer.
Travis continued, “She wouldn’t let me bring the boys home, get them settled, only to deny me the right to adopt them after your stay, would she?”
His distress turned to raw fear, and Diana thought her heart would surely rend in two. And in that instant, bells and whistles sounded in her head, red warning flags waved furiously. She had no business caring so much about this man’s reactions to her grandmother’s words. No business whatsoever.
Chapter Two
Then we’ll see what fate has in store.
Her grandmother’s words had flitted through Diana’s head more than once since she’d left the reservation with Travis. She remembered the unsettled feeling the obscure yet seemingly momentous statement had stirred in her as she stood with Travis before the Council.
Diana’s first thought had been that the remark had been meant for her benefit, and she’d been bewildered by what message her grandmother might be trying to relay to her. But hearing Travis’s doubts regarding her grandmother’s intentions now had Diana wondering if maybe he was right. Maybe her grandmother had been issuing some kind of warning to Travis about the boys. That did make more sense. But if this was so, then it was a cruel thing for her grandmother to have done to Travis. The man was trying to do something good here. Something honorable and compassionate. Now he was being made to worry about having the twins taken from him after opening his home—and his heart—to Jared and Josh. Would her grandmother have done something so unkind?
Sympathy for Travis pained Diana’s heart. He needed reassurance. She could tell from the expression on his face, from the doubt shadowing his intense, black eyes.
“To my knowledge, the Council has never retracted a promise,” she told him softly. “And they did make you a promise today. They said they wanted you and the boys to become a family. To the Kolheek, a person’s word means everything—honor, pride, honesty, integrity. A person’s character is only as good as his or her word. I cannot believe…”
Her voice faltered and then trailed away as she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. As much as she wanted to assure him, she refused to tell him anything other than the full and honest truth.
After expelling a resigned sigh, she said, “But I cannot mislead you. This situation is far different than any I’ve ever experienced. The Council is concerned about the boys. About their living away from their culture. About your being single.” She sighed. “Until the adoption papers are signed by each Council member and the documents are in your hands, then…I would suppose that anything is possible.”
“Great.” His utterance was soft, more to himself than to anyone else.
Again, compassion squeezed her in its tight grip. “The Council did say they wanted you to have the boys.”
“Only two of the members actually spoke,” he reminded her.
“They were the Council representatives. They spoke the thoughts of everyone. If even one member had disagreed, you can be sure he or she would have spoken up.”
Gratitude tinged his tone as he murmured his appreciation. She smiled at him, her stomach suddenly feeling all giddy and…and strange.
Just then a plastic drinking straw from one of the boys’ sodas came flying over Travis’s head, landing on the blue carpeted aisle separating Travis’s and Diana’s seats. Automatically she reached down to pick it up. After quietly warning the boys to settle down, Travis turned back to her and took the straw from her.
The pads of his fingers were warm as they gently brushed the backs of hers. A chill shimmied up her arm, churning up gooseflesh, and she shivered. She darted a glance at his strong hand, and then again at his handsome profile. Luckily Travis was in motion, swinging back around to speak to the twins, and he didn’t seem to notice her astonishing response to his touch.
She curled her fingers into a fist and stuffed her hand into her lap. Reacting to Travis was the very last thing she wanted to do. She didn’t want to be affected by him. Men were the cause of too much pain. Too much humiliation. Her only goal on this trip was to spend time with Jared and Josh, to acquaint them with their heritage. If she could help assuage Travis’s doubts and fears about the adoption, she would. If she could help the boys feel more comfortable with their new father, she’d do that, too. But she didn’t want any involvement with Travis other than what was necessary for the boys’ sake.
Okay, so she found him handsome. Any woman would. His onyx eyes were appealingly intelligent, his long, neat hair glossy and inviting, his sexy mouth sent sensuous ideas flitting through her mind—
She cut the thought to the quick. Her body was only reacting to his good looks. This was mere physiology. She was smart enough to know that.
The steward ambled by, instructing passengers to return seats to the full, upright position and gathering used napkins and empty soda cans in preparation for landing. But Diana barely heard, so involved was she in her thoughts.
The fact that she’d identified her attraction to Travis early was a good thing. She gave a mental nod. A very good thing. What she was experiencing was a completely natural response. Purely physical in nature…hence, totally controllable if she remained vigilantly cognizant of it.
Diana glanced over at Travis, but saw only the back of his sleek, dark head, his broad shoulders and the full length of his back as he snapped young Jared’s seat belt securely into place.
Controllable, she firmly thought. What I’m feeling is totally controllable.
The boys were so excited. They had explored every inch of the house and yard as soon as they’d arrived home. Travis had been lucky several years ago in finding an old stone manor house on a large piece of property thick with trees. A perfect setting in which to raise children, although he hadn’t had that in mind when he’d purchased it. The last thing Travis had thought he’d ever have was a family of his own. He was a dyed-in-the-wool bachelor. And quite naturally, as a man without a wife, he’d never contemplated having children.
Until six months ago.
During one of his visits with the twins—a visit planned only to check on their medical condition, take them out for a meal and buy them some clothes and a few toys—Travis had heard murmuring among the staff at the state home. Phrases like “getting beyond adoptable age” and “special needs children” and “undesirable” kept popping up.
The orphanage administrator had told Travis they were even thinking of splitting the boys up in order to find them homes. That thought had disturbed Travis, and it had got him thinking…about becoming the boys’ daddy himself, about taking them into his own home.
His friends and partners, Greg and Sloan, had thought he was crazy when he’d first voiced his idea of becoming an adoptive dad to the Native American twins. But Travis had prevailed. Something about the rambunctious boys, something about what seemed to be turning into a dire situation for them, kept calling to Travis. Wouldn’t leave him alone. He had been meant to raise these boys. He could feel it in the very pit of his gut. He might not have been able to find the right words to make anyone fully understand his feelings, but he knew it in his heart. Thank the good Lord above, he’d been able to clarify his feelings to the Kolheek Council well enough that they had allowed him to bring the boys home with him to Philadelphia.
And as he listened to the thumps and bumps coming from the upstairs bedroom, he smiled to himself and knew he hadn’t made a mistake. Jared and Josh belonged here with him. And having them here was worth every ounce of worry and apprehension he’d suffered to get them here.
And the anxiety you continue to suffer, he thought, remembering the Kolheek Elder’s odd parting words about seeing what fate had in store. Had he fallen in love with these children only to have them taken away from him in a mere two months? The idea was too disturbing for him to even contemplate, so he closed the lid on it, shut it out of his mind.
He climbed the stairs, and when he knocked softly on the closed door of their bedroom, the bumps and scuffling stopped. Travis turned the knob and stepped into the room.
His eyebrows raised when he saw that the blankets and quilted spreads of both twin beds were mangled and twisted. Jared stood on one mattress, towering over his brother Josh, the pillow in his grasp drawn back for a playful blow.
One look at Travis’s face had Jared’s grip on the pillowcase loosening. The pillow dropped to the mattress, bouncing once before coming to rest on top of the swirl of sheets and blankets. Jared slowly lowered himself until he was sitting next to his wide-eyed brother.
“Sorry,” Jared muttered. “We was only playin’.”
Scolding the boys hadn’t even crossed his mind, but the fear he read on little Josh’s face made Travis wonder what kind of trouble their roughhouse games had gotten them into at the orphanage.
“I used to have pillow fights with my brother when we were kids.” Travis went to Jared’s empty bed and began to straighten the blankets.
“You did?” Realizing that Travis wasn’t angry, Jared grinned like an imp.
“Yeah,” Travis said. “It was a lot of fun.” He turned down the top blanket and smoothed his hand over it. “But it’s really late. You two need to get some sleep.”
“But we ain’t tired.” Even as he said the words, Jared bounded off Josh’s bed and onto his own, sliding down onto the mattress and tucking his feet under the covers.
“New situations have a way of getting you all worked up.” Travis picked up the forgotten pillow from where it lay on Josh’s bed, plumped it up and then tucked it behind Jared’s head. “But if you’ll lay still for a bit, I’m sure you’ll fall asleep soon enough.” Then he began to untangle Josh’s bedclothes.
Josh just stared at him. Finally the boy said, “It’s quiet here.”
Travis smiled as he drew the blanket up over Josh’s legs. He had no idea what the child meant by the remark.
Then Jared spoke up. “At the home, Sammy cries. A lot. And Mrs. Basset turns up the TV really loud at night. She says we give her big pains ’cause she can’t hear her shows. She gets pretty mad. Her face gets all red.”
Realizing that the boys were explaining the difference between bedtime at the orphanage and here, Travis nodded. “I see.”
“Mrs. Basset yells.” Josh’s voice was tiny. “Jared couldn’t sleep with me. One boy to a bed. That’s the rule.”
The state home had housed at least two dozen other children. The twins were probably used to constant chaos, noise and mayhem. Living here would be a distinct contrast for them. It would take some getting used to, Travis silently surmised.
“You want Jared to sleep in your bed?”
Josh swallowed, blinked in anxious hesitation, then he nodded.
Travis looked over at Jared, lifted Josh’s blanket and swiped his hand through the air in a movement meant to stir things into motion. “Don’t worry,” he told them softly. “You’ll get used to the quiet. Silence can be a nice thing.”
Jared scooted down onto the bed next to Josh. “B-but we ain’t tired,” he repeated his original complaint.
“We aren’t tired.” Travis couldn’t help correcting the boy’s improper grammar. “Like I said, if you lay still—”
“How about a story?”
Travis directed his gaze toward the soft, feminine voice coming from the doorway.
Diana was dressed in a simple white robe that was tied at the waist with a sash. Light glistened on the long, straight rope of hair that was pulled over one shoulder. The pristine fabric of the robe accentuated the coppery skin of her bare arms and legs.
Legs. Travis couldn’t help but notice the shapely knees, firm calves and tiny ankles. Even her feet were cute.
The thought startled him and he felt his eyes go wide for a millisecond, before he forced his gaze back up to her face. Damn it! Ogling this woman’s body was the last thing he’d meant to do!
He was human. A human male. The testosterone pumping though his veins made appreciating the female form a most inherent act. But if he was going to eye the woman every time they were in the same room together, he was going to be in for a long and uncomfortable couple of months.
“You—” His mouth and throat had gone dry at the sight of her and that made his voice sound gravelly. He shoved the awareness he felt aside, cleared his throat and started again. “You want to tell the boys a story?”
She nodded, her wide, sensuous mouth twisting wryly.
Her very kissable lips made his heart thud against his ribs.
“If I’m to get to sleep anytime soon,” she quipped lightly, “I think Jared and Josh need a little spirit-calming medicine.”
He cast her a quizzical glance. “Medicine?”
Her chuckle was velvety rich, like sweet cream, and the fine hairs on the back of his neck raised. Damn, but this woman was too…appealing.
Control yourself! he silently demanded.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not suggesting drugs. I’m talking about good, old-fashioned entertainment. Entertainment designed especially for…” she then turned her attention first to Jared and then to Josh as she stole closer “…little boys at bedtime.”
She sat down on the edge of Jared’s bed. Travis was conscious of how close she was. He could smell the warm, clean, lemony fragrance of her.
“Long ago,” she began, “before there were such things as paper and pencils, The People kept their history through stories. They sat around a fire at night with the stars winking at them high above, and they taught their children where they came from. They recounted tales of brave warriors and hunters. They told of times gone by. They told of their hopes and dreams to come. The children heard about floods and fire and acts of nature that formed the tribe into what it was. Through the Shaman’s words, battles were relived. Wars with other tribes over hunting rights disputes. Wars with the Europeans. The children learned of the good times, when crops and hunting were bountiful. And they heard about hardships, when blizzards came, and stayed, and made hunting impossible. The Shaman would also tell of brave leaders and great chiefs…”
Travis looked at the faces of the twins, saw that Diana had caught them up in the web she was spinning. Easing himself down to sit on Josh’s bed, Travis was extremely careful not to allow his knee to touch hers. She was so close. He looked at her face, at her expressive eyes, and found himself quickly pulled into the past right along with the boys. Her soft voice was lulling, mesmerizing, and he clearly understood what she meant when she’d said that storytelling was spirit-calming medicine.
“One such chief,” she continued, “was called Half Moon. He got his name from the pale, crescent-shaped scar he had here.” She reached up and gingerly touched her face high on the left cheekbone. “When he was a small child, he wandered into a pen of wild horses. His mother watched helplessly as the animals stampeded. They reared and bolted and bucked. They thrashed and finally broke the fence. Half Moon could have been killed. Should have been killed. But instead he walked from the pen all on his own. He’d been kicked in the face, the horse’s hoof leaving a curved gash on his cheek. The whole tribe knew that Half Moon had survived what any normal child would not have. The People knew that Half Moon would be a great man when he grew. He would be smart. And brave. And he would lead The People toward wonderful things.”