Saving Kimi
by Brooke Stanton
PROLOGUE
1906, Oklahoma
Kimi crouched outside the cabin, watching him from the darkness of the bushes, undetected. The Indian blood pumping through her veins was useful on occasion. Most of the time it was a curse, as there was no value being half-Indian and half-white, but on a night like this, her stealthy instincts were beneficial.
Her mother, Sotsona, had taught Kimi these skills of survival, but there was something innately primal in her nature, too. From birth, she’d been raised in the small farming town of Hillview, in the Oklahoma territory. Her mother was from the Cheraksaw tribe, one of the dozen Plains tribes who’d been forced from their homelands when the white settlers arrived and laid claim to this ancient world.
After the tribes were herded off their lands like animals, many clans became nomadic, following the buffalo, but the Cheraksaw traveled south and settled in the allotted lands appointed to them by the government—Ha! What a lark!—hunting and harvesting as they’d always done.
Kimi had been raised mainly by her white father and only recently she’d sunk her feet into the depths of her native roots. Kimi’s mother easily straddled both worlds. Even so, Sotsona preferred the familiarity and autonomy the Indian village provided for her as a woman. Kimi’s father had been kind and gentle and had tried to protect them both from the harsher nature of humankind, but his love hadn’t stopped names being flung at Kimi at school or when she’d ventured into town.
Most of the townsfolk paid Kimi and Sotsona no mind, but there were a rotten few who hollered out slurs—savage, dog, half-breed, worthless, abomination. Sotsona had no patience for ignoramuses. She packed up her few belongings and rode back to the village for good when Kimi was eight.
Sotsona was never far from Kimi, the village a short ride from where she’d been raised. And Sotsona visited often and brought Kimi to the village, teaching her the ways of their people. Kimi had always felt more sure-footed in the Indian village than anywhere else.
A tall, lean silhouette came into view of the dilapidated cabin window, snapping Kimi back to attention. The figure was her brother-in-law, Will Arlington. He was the husband of her sister, Lucy—really her half sister, the daughter of Kimi’s father’s first wife.
Lucy was the reason Kimi was out in the woods, seeking Will. Kimi had been besotted with Will since she was a child. The only reason Will had married Lucy was out of a sense of duty. His father had stolen Kimi and Lucy’s rightful inheritance after their father died, and to make up for it, Will had asked nineteen-year-old Lucy to be his bride. He’d also taken in Kimi—a child at the time—as his own kin. But Lucy had not been a true wife to Will. She’d never loved him as a husband. They behaved more like brother and sister than man and wife.
When Kimi had returned from her boarding school in Chicago earlier that summer, it was obvious to her that something had shifted between Will and Lucy. Their cordial interactions had soured into something contemptuous. It broke Kimi’s heart to watch Will chase after Lucy—to try to love her—only to have her dismiss his affections and treat him more like her master than her loving husband.
Witnessing Will’s pain was a stab in Kimi’s gut, as if it were her own burden to bear. And right now he was suffering greatly. He’d run away from their palatial home and holed up in this disgusting cabin. It was Lucy’s doing, of course. Kimi and Will had a kinship at that moment—Lucy had betrayed them both in separate ways.
Furious at Lucy’s recent accusations (false accusations!), Kimi had run after Will, searching for solace and compassion. So often, because of the native blood that ran through her veins, she was overlooked, or worse, discarded. But through that window was a man who always treated her with kindness and loved her unconditionally.
Kimi inched closer to the opening and watched. Will fisted a jug of whiskey. It must be half-gone because he stumbled, causing bulbous droplets to splash on the dirty floor. Lucy had injured Will greatly, and he was wallowing in the fear of losing her forever. Kimi wanted to shout that he couldn’t lose something he’d never had.
He was beautiful and kind, and Kimi felt sorry that he had a frigid, cold wife. He deserved more. A man like Will deserved love. He deserved everything. And Kimi longed to show him the love his wife scorned.
When love offered was spurned, it cut as deep as a hatchet. That summer Kimi had tried to demonstrate her love for her people by providing them with goods, animal feed, food, medical supplies, and other provisions. But the owner of the general store had been informed (erroneously) that she’d stolen from the pharmacy next door, and Lucy—her own sister!—believed the lies.
And on top of that, Lucy was dismayed that Kimi had bought all those goods without notifying Will. Kimi may not have informed Will of the items she bought at the store—and yes, it was a fair amount—but she had every right to make the purchases. Will always said what was his was theirs—Lucy’s and hers.
Will had been generous this way since he’d married Lucy. After their father’s death, when they’d lost their home, they’d been shamefully forced to live in a shack, in the woods. Will had saved them and made them his own—Lucy as his wife and Kimi as his ward—but Kimi had always loved him more profoundly. It had been unbearable when he sent her away to boarding school. It’s what people with money did, but Kimi didn’t want an education. She wanted a home.
Will collapsed to the straw mat that served as a bed. Kimi pressed up on the balls of her feet and brushed the dirt from the buckskin pelt that draped her body. She’d purposely worn one of her mother’s native dresses. It was short, with a beaded fringe, made for the summer heat.
More skin was on display than was decent for a respectable lady, even in the privacy of her home. White women were always covered from toe to chin. It’s how Kimi had been raised. And all through boarding school, she’d worn the plethora of finery: the constricting corsets, tight dresses, stockings, booties, gloves, and bonnets. Her face and an inch of neck were the only bits of flesh on display. It was a claustrophobic existence.
No matter how she tried to fit in, some of the girls at school had treated her like dirt under their boots—something to be scraped off and kicked aside. She was half-white, but they made her russet skin burn in fury.
A thought nudged her brain—reminding her that Lucy loved her no matter who her mother was—but Kimi’s heart raged at her sister’s betrayal. Kimi’s intention had been to help the village, and yet Lucy had chosen to look poorly on Kimi, siding with the manager of the general store.
The Cheraksaw were ostracized, kept from civilization, and pushed farther and farther from their lands. The Dawes Act had meant to protect them, but three years ago, the government—as it always did—shifted its view, and now any unclaimed Indian land was up for grabs to the greediest white men. It was Kimi’s right to give back to her people what had been stolen from them again and again and again.
But even Chayton, the young Indian man who worked for Will, didn’t believe Kimi. The look in his eyes—disappointment and shame—when he’d confronted Kimi about the stolen medicine gutted her. How dare he judge her! And wrongfully so.
Kimi bit her lip, thinking of the boy he once was and how, during the years she’d been away at school, Chayton had grown into a fine man. When Kimi had run into him again, an unexpected internal fire had ignited in her, and that past summer, they’d shared a touch, a kiss. Warmth glided from her heart, down her belly, and between her legs, as she remembered his supple lips on hers. But he too had rejected her.
She pushed thoughts of Chayton aside and focused on her mission.
It had gone quiet in the cabin, and Kimi pressed her ear against the flimsy plank being used as a door. Will was a man in pain, and Kimi wanted to salve his wounds.
White women were weak. They cooked and cleaned and reared the children and were invisible to their men. Kimi would never be invisible. She may have been raised by her white father, but she had the blood of her Indian mother. She knew the land and wasn’t afraid of the creatures that inhabited it. And she knew exactly what she was doing when she stepped into Will’s cabin.
* * *
“Lucy, is that you?” Will wiped amber liquid from his chin and sat up on his mat.
“Good evening, Will.” Kimi knelt beside him.
Will fell into her chest, his sweaty, matted hair tickling her neck. “My dear, my dear, my dear,” he mumbled. Then he wobbled back on his hindquarters and took a gulp of the nearly empty jug before falling over.
The jug clattered against the ground. Kimi wrapped her fingers around the neck of the container, still warm from where Will’s hands had gripped it, and placed it on the floor away from him. Her heart squeezed in her chest. She’d never seen him this way—disheveled, weary, his emotions in disarray. His hair was mussed, his clothes untucked and stained.
“It’s all my fault,” he murmured. “I hurt you.”
“It’s not your fault.”
There was more venom in her tone than she’d intended, but the injustice she’d endured over the past few days, all the way back to the day she was born to an Indian mother and a white father, bubbled out in hot spurts.
“You can’t help how others see you. But you can help what you do. If Lucy doesn’t love you—”
“You think she doesn’t love me?” He crawled across the floor and chugged the last dregs of whiskey.
“I thought she loved me.” Kimi snorted. “But then she believed that awful Mrs. Johns! I didn’t steal anything. You believe me, right?” Kimi couldn’t take it if he thought her a thief.
“Course I do. You’re my little wildling, Kimi. You dance to your own tune, but it’s a beautiful tune.”
Kimi was rendered speechless. Words of kindness weren’t spoken to her often, and to hear them from the lips of the man she cared for most in the world almost unhinged her.
“But the whole town believes it. All because of her. Of Lucy,” Kimi spat out.
Will closed his eyes and rolled back and forth, drunk and bleary-eyed. “Oh, Lucy, Lucy.”
Even now, he called her name. It wasn’t fair! The weight of her sister’s disloyalty hit her like a thunderbolt, and she clambered to her feet and howled into her hands. Her sister had always loved her without question. After Sotsona moved back to the village, and their father died, Lucy had been Kimi’s only home. A sister’s bond was unbreakable. Except, Lucy had broken it.
Will wrapped his strong arms around her shoulders, mistaking her frustrated howl for tears, and gripped her to his chest. She breathed in the familiar scent of him, mixed with stale sweat and bitter whiskey—but she didn’t care—and soon the pain was eclipsed by Kimi’s decade-long yearning for this man.
This was Will. Her Will. Who loved her no matter what. It had been a schoolgirl’s crush at first. Something she barely took note of when Lucy first married Will. But as the years passed, and the world proved to be fickle and hateful, he was the one solid and loving man in her hemisphere. And he was beautiful. Not just in appearance, but also in spirit. He’d practically disowned his own family when his father had treated Kimi and Lucy so poorly after their father died.
Kimi and Lucy’s father had worked hard for the lumber company Will’s family owned, Warlington Lumber. Her father had been Will’s father’s business partner. But Kimi and Lucy were cut out of everything that was due to them after he died. Will used all his resources to make it right. He was a man of honor and integrity. And in the end, he married Lucy and gave them everything his father had tried to take from them.
And here Will was, before her, comforting and loving her.
He stumbled and fell toward the wall, taking Kimi with him. Her back hit the unforgiving wood planks, his heavy body pinning her to the wall.
“I’m sorry.” Will gripped her against his chest, stroking her hair.
Kimi raised her eyes and couldn’t believe what she witnessed. Will was crying. Had Kimi ever seen him cry? She was certain she hadn’t.
A little flutter of guilt passed through her belly at being so intimately entangled with her brother-in-law. But he was in this state—a drunken and broken man—because of Lucy. And Lucy wasn’t there to comfort him. She’d had her chance. Years of chances.
“Shhh,” Kimi cooed, stroking her hand through his thick, matted hair. “I’m here.”
“Lucy, Lucy, Lucy,” he murmured again, and Kimi fought the urge to yell at him to forget about her. Instead, she held him tighter.
The tip of Will’s nose drew a line up her neck, and she shivered. Oh, there were too many sensations to take note of them all! Her tummy squeezed in excitement (and fear), her cheeks warmed, and little shots of desire cascaded down her back and into her thighs.
His rough cheek touched hers, his breath hot. One little twist of her head and her lips would be upon his.
“I won’t hurt you,” Kimi said. Her body trembled, her nerves overwhelmed.
His lids drooped over his eyes, and he sank to his knees with Kimi in his arms. Their bodies intertwined. So many parts of Will were touching Kimi that her mind spun, unable to grasp it. Her good sense had flown out the cabin, replaced by gratitude for every blessing Will had given her.
What she did next was so daring, she could hardly believe her audacity. But she took Will’s face in her hands and tilted it just enough so her lips brushed his.
“I’m sorry, my darling,” he whispered against her mouth. “I made a right mess of things.”
And then she kissed him. And, oh, it was as delicious as she’d imagined. Heat flowed through her body like liquid desire, but she hardly noticed, her focus intent on what was happening with their mouths.
After nipping and sucking on her lips, Will’s tongue pushed through the gap and electricity spiked her very core. Spreading her legs apart, she straddled him fully and indulged in the sweetness of him against her.
Her hips slid perfectly into the apex of his thighs, and she sighed when she felt his manhood hard against her pelvis. Her hips bucked forward and Will fisted her hair. Kimi groaned from the pain, but it felt divine.
The kisses grew deeper and more urgent, and Kimi’s nipples tightened with every stroke of his tongue. Oh, how she longed for him to slide his hand into her dress and squeeze the hard pebbles.
“You feel different,” Will muttered into her mouth. “Something’s . . . different.” Will fluttered his eyes open, and when they focused upon her, he shot back, breaking the kiss. Kimi groaned and hitched forward, eager for the kiss to continue, but Will shoved her off.
“Oh god.” Will shook his head in dismay. “I—” His forehead fell into his hands. “Kimi! What have I done? I didn’t mean . . . please forgive me.”
Kimi reached out, but he scurried away. “It’s okay, Will. You haven’t harmed me.”
“You’re—you’re not . . .”
“Lucy,” she finished.
The horror on his face would’ve been humorous had the reason behind it not been Kimi. The once heated places inside her turned to ice. The disappointment was visceral. And yet, now that they were apart and her desire had been tamped down, the weight of what she’d done dropped like a rock upon Kimi.
“I love you, Kimi”—Will’s gaze suddenly cleared, and despite herself, Kimi’s heart lifted—“but not like that. Lucy is my true love.”
Kimi’s chin trembled. Another rejection, but this one was a hard slap in her face. Humiliation burned to her core. She had to leave . . . escape. She couldn’t face another minute with him. Not with the regret pouring out of every inch of Will.
She fled. Out the door. Into the woods. Behind the cabin, she unhitched Prairiedog, her gelding, and galloped through the trail. Her mind whirled with the night’s events—Will’s kisses, his comfort, his expression when he gathered his senses and realized who he was embracing.
It had been a rookie mistake. Kimi enjoyed games, but the one she’d been playing with Will was for an advanced player. Kimi didn’t understand the rules of love. Lucy treated Will like garbage, and Kimi loved him wholeheartedly. But it wasn’t enough.
Oh god. Her stomach lurched, reality smacking her. Would Will tell Lucy? What would she do? Kimi gripped the reins tighter, rode faster. It was her sister’s own damn fault for throwing that man away!
Kimi was done playing games. She was done trying to fit into places that didn’t want her. It was time to find her own way in a world that relentlessly ground her up and chucked her back out.
CHAPTER 1
Two months later
Kimi’s nails dug hard into the soft pads of her palms at the sight of Will’s tall form walking across the long stretch of lawn. The thunderous sound of the children running in the churchyard matched the storm in her belly.
Directly after the “unfortunate incident,” as Pappi called it, Kimi had moved out of Will and Lucy’s home and taken refuge with her grandfather at his parish. Since then, she hadn’t laid eyes on Will.
If anyone asked, she’d be hard-pressed to admit she was shamed by her actions with Will that night in the cabin. But the sudden appearance of him brought back all of her humiliation and fury.
The “unfortunate incident” was the catalyst that brought Will and Lucy back together. Will confessed immediately to Lucy. He said he regretted it—he was out of his mind; he thought Kimi had been Lucy; his spirit had been in a dreadful place; his mind had barely been functioning. He swore never to drink in excess again.
It had been a tenuous journey, but Lucy and Will had found their way forward, and after the debacle, they were more in love than ever. Kimi couldn’t bear it. It wasn’t that she begrudged her sister her happiness. The moment Kimi’s moccasins left the threshold of the cabin, she knew she’d done a terrible wrong. And being wrong was not something Kimi easily admitted.
Kimi had never experienced crippling shame until after the kiss, but it had been her loyal companion those past few months. Her penance was living with Pappi, teaching the children, and staying away from Will and Lucy as they explored their love.
Lucy quickly forgave Kimi, but Kimi had been unsettled ever since the “unfortunate incident.” She’d tried on the life of a free-spirited girl, and it had backfired.
She hadn’t been to the Indian village, either, since the head chief had scolded her for stealing (which she hadn’t) the goods. Sotsona, Kimi’s mother, promised Kimi all had been forgotten in the village once the truth had come out—she hadn’t stolen, it had been horrible Mrs. Johns who’d spread those lies—but Kimi didn’t belong there either. Though she longed to return.
The argument of two of the more rambunctious children in the churchyard snagged her attention, momentarily distracting her from Will’s approach. Kimi resisted yelling at the children—it wasn’t their fault her temper was short. They were only doing what they knew, exploring their world. But Kimi was not a natural caretaker.
These children were Kimi’s amends. She’d betrayed her sister in the worst way, taking the most precious thing from Lucy—Will. Kimi had only stolen a kiss (a long, luscious, forbidden kiss), but with that kiss, Lucy’s trust had vanished. And Kimi laid no blame at her sister’s feet.
As Will neared, Kimi spun on her heels to escape, but she bashed her knees into something hard and cried out. Pappi stood before her with a wheelbarrow full of pumpkins and gourds. Decorations for the upcoming fall festival, which always fell at the end of September.
“Don’t run away.” Pappi’s voice was low but stern.
“I’m not. It’s time to fix lunch for the children.”
Pappi released the wooden handles of the wheelbarrow, and his right arm dropped around Kimi’s shoulders. She snuggled into a sideways hug, alarmed by the slightness of his body and his papery skin. He’d always been a robust man, but the years had begun to show in his slower movements, translucent skin, and fading build.
Pappi waved to Will, and then, to Kimi’s surprise, said to her, “Go on. Go run and fix lunch, my girl.” His grip tightened around her shoulder and kept her in place one moment longer. “This won’t be your life forever. One day you’ll face what you did—forgive yourself—and move on.”
Pappi was Lucy’s maternal grandfather, but he treated Kimi as if she were his own kin. He was the pastor at the church, and after everything that had recently happened with Lucy, he took Kimi in without questions or judgments. Only love.
“My spirit is restless, Pappi. It can’t take flight in this cage,” Kimi spoke candidly.
“You are your name, Kimimela.” Pappi tucked a coal-black strand of hair behind her ear. “A butterfly, and you need to be free. But if you’re released too soon, you may have the fate of Icarus. I don’t want your wings to burn.”
Pappi didn’t believe in idle hands. When she’d arrived, he’d pressed her into working with the children, in the garden, cooking, and cleaning. At first, Kimi welcomed the chores. They were a distraction from her pointy thoughts. But now—two months later—she was restless and aching for something more. But what?
Will was several feet from them, and Kimi turned, her skirts swishing around her ankles as she sped toward the small cottage behind the church to prepare the cheese, fruit, and biscuits for lunch.
On a normal day, she’d zip through the preparations, but today she drew them out. When the food was ready, she took the restricting bonnet from her head, sat at the table, and chewed slowly through her own lunch. Waiting for Pappi to give the all clear.
“Hello, Kimi.”
Her hand, which held the last bite of biscuit, froze halfway to her mouth. The deep timbre of Will’s voice sent a traitorous shiver of desire down her spine. Her back faced him, but she felt his presence in every inch of her body.
“Pappi Franklin says you’re getting along well here.”
Kimi sucked down a long, slow breath in an effort to calm her thumping heart.
“As well as one could hope waiting hand and foot on those little gremlins,” Kimi said, but her voice was light.
Will rounded the table and sat across from her. Kimi’s heart betrayed her calm demeanor and raced into a gallop. She stuffed the rest of the biscuit into her mouth and chewed, her gaze focused on Will. Though her inner world was screaming to run, she portrayed an unruffled façade, not daring to show Will how much he still affected her.
“If you aren’t happy, come back home,” Will said, his eyes soft and warm. Kimi bit her lip. He was ever so handsome.
“It’s not my home.” Kimi dumped the plate in the sink and packed up the basket for the children. “I don’t belong there.”
“Of course you do.” Will’s chair scraped against the wood floorboards. The energy shifted when he stepped behind her, her nerves spiking. “Lucy misses you. We both do.”
“I don’t mean the house. I mean Lucy and you and this whole town.” Kimi pawed at the heavy fabric of her lilac skirt.
She’d grown up in the township of Hillview, but every day that passed, her native blood pumped stronger in her veins. Her father had loved her fiercely, but he was dead. Her Indian mother was all that remained. And she came in and out of Kimi’s life like the wind.
A sadness welled in her chest, and she kept her gaze on the basket, ashamed of the tears that pricked her eyes. Tears did not make one strong.
“I don’t understand.” The hard clunk of Will’s booted heel alerted Kimi to his nearness.
Her throat constricted, and she snatched the basket and whirled from the kitchen into the warm sun outside, the smell of baked dirt penetrating her nostrils.
“You wouldn’t.” She threw the words over her shoulder. “You’ve always belonged in this world. Not simply as a white man, but as a rich man. Your father built this town, literally, with his hands and his lumber, and now the business is a quickly expanding empire. Everything has come easy to you.”
Will’s long stride caught up to Kimi. He stopped in front of her, and when she shifted right, then left, to maneuver around him, he mirrored her quick steps, creating a barrier.
“What do you want from me, William Arlington?” Kimi’s outburst startled them both, but she stood her ground and awaited his answer.
“I want you to be happy.”
His simple declaration washed over her in a warm wave. The only sign that it softened her calcified heart was a wobble in her chin, which she quickly tightened.
“My happiness is not your concern.” Kimi needed Will to depart. Now. “If you really want to make me happy, then leave me be. Walk away from here and don’t come back. I’ll return when I’m ready.”
Will opened his mouth to protest and Kimi’s gaze hardened. Will snapped his jaw shut and nodded once. “As you wish. But our door is always open to you.”
Kimi rushed to Pappi and dropped the prepared basket of food at his feet. Then she ran to the far side of the church, away from prying eyes. She snatched her skirts, pressed them to her face, and screamed—a primal, savage cry.
“What vexes you?”
Kimi leapt at the voice. Her face was hot from her screams, and her annoyance hardened at yet another interloper upon her day.
Chayton.
Heat prickled Kimi’s neck and snaked over her cheeks. “Go away.”
“Don’t be embarrassed.”
When Chayton was a boy, Will had caught him stealing a horse from his stable, but Will—being the honorable and good-hearted man that he was—didn’t punish Chayton. He took Chayton under his wing and taught the young boy how to tend to the horses and other animals. Now Chayton worked full-time for Will and was more like kin than a hired hand.
It was that boy Kimi had expected when she went to the barn to fetch one of Will’s horses all those months ago when she’d returned from school. It had been most startling when she’d found a strapping young man in the barn instead.
Humiliation burned hotter remembering that day. Kimi had stubbornly chosen one of Will’s newly broken colts—against Chayton’s warning—and been bucked off. Laughter had rolled out of Chayton as he stood over Kimi, who had been splayed on the barn floor.
Chayton was no longer the boy she’d always dismissed. He was a fully formed man. She’d been annoyed to admit it then, but Chayton sparked a white-hot flame of desire in her.
In Kimi’s quest for Will, she’d batted thoughts of Chayton aside. But Will was, as it turned out, in love with Lucy. And Kimi should never have kissed him. She’d felt betrayed by her sister, Chayton, her mother, and her people. She’d been fumbling for her identity, and she’d clung to her love of Will to make her whole. Instead, it cracked her world in two.
But Will was the past—there was no use fighting for him. Chasing after a man that did not love her was feeble. One can’t change another’s heart with the strength of their own love. This was a lesson Kimi hoped never to learn again. It had been too painful the first time.
Chayton stared down at Kimi, his large Stetson creating a shadow over his midnight eyes. She glanced around the corner of the church, past Chayton. Pappi was occupied with the children, who sat banging the table with their metal cups, eager to be fed.
“Leave me be,” Kimi huffed. “Go back to being Will’s gopher. You’re good at following your master like a pup.”
The muscles in Chayton’s jaw tightened, and Kimi smiled ruefully.
A shrill scream tore Kimi’s attention from Chayton. A child—White Moon—lay in a heap, next to the water spigot, several yards from them. There were a handful of Indian children who were looked after at the church—another way the town attempted to strip the natives of their beliefs and culture and assimilate the children to be more civilized.
Kimi ran to the small boy, Chayton at her heels. White Moon’s hand gripped his black hair where his scalp met his spine. Another girl, Vikki Randall, sat on her knees over him, cooing soothing words, but White Moon pushed her aside.
“What happened?” Kimi asked, calming her voice so as not to panic the children who had gathered. She’d quickly learned the children looked to her for clues of how they should react, especially in times of stress. The calmer she was, the calmer they stayed.
“We were playing tag, and he tripped and fell. He hit his head on the water pipe,” Vikki said.
“Let me see.” Gingerly, Kimi took the boy’s hand from the nape of his neck. A long gash marred his tanned skin. Blood bubbled from the wound and dripped under his cotton top. Kimi took the kerchief from her neck and pressed it to the wound.
“It’s a minor flesh wound. But it’ll leave a nice scar,” Chayton said, and immediately, White Moon cheered up. Scars were a mark of a brave warrior.
“How big?” White Moon craned his neck.
“Several inches indeed. Noticeable when you tie your hair back with a string of leather.”
White Moon’s hair was a few inches past his shoulders, but in time, it would flow down his back, and like all Indian men and women, it was a tie to his pride and cultural identity.
White Moon ran off to join the rest of the children for lunch, unfazed by the minor incident. What a different world it would be if an adult could heal and move on so quickly. There was a lot to be learned by watching the children. How easily they played together, not caring about the pigment of their playmates’ skin. Rarely did the two communities mix like this—on equal footing—but it was endearing to see the children play freely, unhindered by hate or prejudice.
The soft whimpering of Vikki, still on the ground, hugging her knees, shook Kimi from her ruminations. Silent tears crested the little girl’s rosy cheeks.
“I want to go home.” She sniffed.
“It was an accident,” Kimi cooed, but Vikki shook her head fiercely.
“Daddy will be mad if he finds out I hurt that boy.”
“I’ll make sure he knows you weren’t at fault,” Kimi assured the fair-haired girl.
Vikki’s lip quivered, unconvinced.
“Go on,” Kimi said, more sternly. “Shake it off and go play.”
Vikki didn’t budge. Kimi frowned, but her heart softened toward the girl. Vikki’s mother had caught the fever and died a few years ago. Her father, Alex Randall, had needed work when his crops failed, and now managed Will’s hardware stores and lumber yards, both in Hillview and the new businesses out West, often leaving Vikki with their housekeeper, Mrs. Littleford, when he traveled.
“I’ll take her home if she’d like,” Chayton said.
Kimi shook her head. “Mr. Randall was very specific with his instructions about Vikki. I’m not sure he’d approve.”
Chayton smiled conspiratorially at the little girl. “I’ve worked with Alex at Will’s shop for years. I’ve known Vikki since she was a tike. Right, little hen?”
Vikki smiled, the sun reflecting off her tear-stained cheeks. “Yep. Daddy loves Chayton.”
“All right then. Take her,” Kimi said. It made sense that Chayton and Mr. Randall would be well acquainted.
Chayton wrapped Vikki’s small hand in his, and Kimi fought the tenderness that hugged her heart at the image of the tall, solid man walking protectively next to the slight child.
* * *
An hour later, Chayton knocked on the door of the small cottage behind the church. Worry etched his smooth brow.
“What happened?” Kimi stepped aside and let Chayton in.
“We found Mrs. Littleford on the floor of the kitchen. The doc thinks it was her heart.”
Kimi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The heat of his skin radiated through the thin cotton fabric of his shirt. “Did Vikki take notice?”
“Yes. She found her first. I told her that Mrs. Littleford was sleeping and we shouldn’t disturb her. Then I raced to town to fetch the doctor.”
“Where was Vikki?”
“She rode with me on my horse.”
“Where is she now?” Kimi placed a kettle of water on the stove for tea and stoked the fire.
“Staying with Dr. Freest and his wife. We’ve sent word to Alex.”
Kimi placed the two cups in front of her, but Chayton snatched her wrist across the table. The look in his eyes was fire.
“It scared me, Kimi.”
In a swift movement, Chayton stood. His legs knocked the table, and the teacups clattered. Kimi turned to right the table, but Chayton swept his hand into her hair and pulled her toward him, his dark eyes penetrating hers. A primal need swam over his irises, and Kimi, excited and scared, held her breath.
Chayton’s mouth fell upon hers, swallowing her with the moist layers of his lips. All thoughts flew from Kimi’s mind, and she flung her arms around his neck. It had been ages since she’d physically touched another person. She hungered for the connection: the warmth, affection, kisses, and the strength under it all.
Kimi didn’t know what she wanted from Chayton. More than a kiss, yes—but she couldn’t take more without consequences. She didn’t like the look in his eyes before he kissed her, like he wanted to claim her. If she gave herself over to a man—body or heart—that was it. Her freedom would be taken from her, and she’d be enslaved as a wife. She’d own nothing. Not property or money. Even her children would not be her own.
That thorny thought was a wave from her gut to her lips, and she pressed apart from Chayton.
“Enough. I’m not here to lick your wounds.” Kimi collected the cups and dumped them in the basin of the sink with a loud clatter.
“You want me too. Your heart racing as fast as a rabbit’s tells the truth of your feelings.” Chayton folded his arms over his broad chest. “Do you push me away because you still love Will?”
Kimi’s blood boiled through her veins. “His lips are tastier than yours.”
The comment did as she expected, and his eyes blazed as if he’d been burned.
“His heart was never yours,” Chayton said, his tone wrapped in anger.
“And my heart’s not yours.”
“When you’ve recovered from your insolent crush—your sister’s husband, no less—come find me.” He swung his black curtain of hair behind his shoulders. “But don’t expect me to wait. I’m not like the white man. I don’t sit and pine. I fight. If another woman claims my falcon heart, I will go to her. And if she releases it again, it may not be the same heart available for the taking.”
“Let another take your heart, then. I don’t want it,” Kimi said, but the words fell flat.
“What do you want?”
A question so simple and yet Kimi had no answer.
Chayton smirked and it infuriated her. “You have the skin of the snake, tough and impenetrable. But underneath you are delicate like the sparrow.”
Kimi tucked her chin. “You don’t know me.”
Chayton leaned in, and the warm, earthy smell of him danced in the air.
“I know your soul. And right now it’s flailing.” His hand cupped her chin. “Find what ignites your passion, and then you’ll be free.”
He snatched his hat from the countertop, then walked out. Kimi stared at the space he’d occupied, hating him just a little. Because she knew he was right.