Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (33 page)

“Sure, Papa,” Sarah stammered. What an odd request. He obviously wanted to talk to her brothers alone. He handed her his buffalo robe, which was still warm from his body heat. She slipped it on, and wrapped it around herself. It was much too big for her, but it would keep her warm in the freezing cold.

“I hope you don’t mind, Mama,” she heard Zach’s voice in the background as she opened the door. A cold blast of air hit her in the face.   “. . . a friend along. Nice fella we met in Fort Raymond . . .”

Sarah pulled the door shut, drowning out her family’s chatter, and wrapped the coat more tightly around herself. She pulled the fur up over her face and braced herself for the cold gust of wind that burned every exposed piece of skin. Keeping her head tucked low, she pushed through the deep snow, stepping in the tracks that her brothers and father had left.  She trudged on. The company of a stray dog was preferable to her at the moment than facing her family.

Chapter 34

 By the time Sarah reached the little cabin, her nose and cheeks were numb, despite having them buried in the heavy coat. She quickly opened the door, and slipped inside. If the dog darted out, she’d never catch him.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkened interior of the cabin. It was freezing cold in here, too. Her breath looked like steam when she exhaled. A shuffling noise behind her that could not have been made by a dog made her turn. She gasped, and her hand reflexively went to her belt. A tall figure stood in the shadows, wrapped in layers of furs. Only his eyes were visible. Green eyes. Eyes that had haunted her every day for the past five months. Her hand flew to her mouth. Tears rolled halfway down her face and stung her cheeks and froze in place.

“Hello, Sarah.” The man said softly, pulling the fur covering away from his face.

“Chase,” she whispered. Her hands flew to her belly.

“How are you, Angel?” He took a tentative step towards her, and she backed away. Her mind raced. How was he here? He didn’t have the time travel device. Her father had said he disposed of it in the hell mouth.

He looked different. His heavy winter clothes were fashioned from buffalo hide and fur. On the ground by his feet lay a hornbow and flintlock. His hair was much longer than she remembered, almost to his shoulders. The most noticeable change was in his face. The boy in him was gone. In his place, before her, stood a man who projected confidence.

He held out his hand. Sarah backed up some more, bumping into a wooden trunk. She shook her head. All these months, all the heartache . . .

“Let me explain, Sarah. Please, I--”

“How are you here?” she interrupted, steeling her voice. Her heart and mind raced out of control. All the feelings of loss, anger, and pain jumbled together.

“I came by the usual mode of transportation, Angel. On horseback.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t go home to the future?” Renewed jabs of pain ripped through her heart. He had remained here, but left her? After everything they’d shared. After she . . . Her baby . . . their child. What would he say when he found out? All the feelings of humiliation and shame she’d endured over the last five months, of being a fallen woman with a child and no husband.

Chase shook his head. “There was never anything for me to go back to. Heck, I’m just another statistic in the future. Just another lost hiker in Yellowstone whose body is never recovered.” He paused, and rubbed the back of his neck.  “Elk Runner told me that from the start, that I was already home. It took me a long time to realize he was right.”

Sarah’s entire body trembled. Whether from the cold, or the shock of seeing Chase standing in front of her, she didn’t know. He took another slow step towards her. Her hand shot out, and she shook her head. “Don’t come any closer,” she said, her teeth chattering, despite all her efforts to set her jaw. He stopped, but his eyes remained on her, intense and full of longing.

He sighed, and turned away. “You’re freezing cold. Let me get a fire going.” Without waiting for an answer, he knelt by the hearth. Rooting with his hand inside the layers of fur he wore, he produced a flint, and gathered some kindling from the wood box. Sarah watched the efficiency in which he worked. In no time, a glowing fire roared to life. Memories flooded her mind of the first time she had taught him how to build a fire.

“Come over here, Sarah. I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be, but you don’t need to stand in the cold.” He held his own hands to the flames momentarily to warm them, then rose to his feet and faced her again.

“Here, I’ll move.” He backed away. “Come stand by the fire.”

Sarah eyed him warily, but did as he asked. She was freezing cold, and the fire promised warmth. She had to think of her baby. Neither of them spoke for a while. His intense perusal made her uncomfortable. He wouldn’t take his eyes off her. Sarah lowered her head. Maybe she couldn’t keep him from staring at her, but she didn’t have to look back at him.

“You’re as beautiful as I remember,” he said quietly. “In fact, you’re more radiant than ever. There’s something different about you.”

Her head shot up, and she glared at him. Did he suspect something?

 ”Why?” she demanded, her voice raised. “Why did you leave, Chase?” She bit her trembling lower lip.

He inhaled deeply. “Because I needed to prove something to myself. I was living between worlds, Sarah. I didn’t fit in here, and I knew I didn’t want to go back to where I came from, back to my old life. The thought of leaving you . . . never seeing you again . . . I wasn’t the kind of man who could take care of you. You deserved someone better. I needed to be better.”

“You left me, Chase. You left, after . . . after I gave myself to you.” The tears flowed freely now. She wheeled around and turned her back to him.

He sucked in a big gulp of air. “I’m sorry, Angel. It had to be this way.” She stiffened. He stood right behind her. She felt the heat coming off his body, and his breath in her ear.

“Why? Why did you have me believe you returned to the future?” She turned to stare up at him.

“If I had said to you that I needed to go out on my own, tell me now you wouldn’t have tried to talk me out of it, or would have wanted to come with me.” He gazed intently into her eyes. “This is something I had to do by myself. And if I didn’t survive, if something happened to me, well . . . I wanted to spare you the pain of potentially losing me twice. If you thought I was gone for good, you could be angry with me, and go on with your life, in case I didn’t make it back to you.” He stepped away from her.

Sarah blinked away her tears, and sniffed.  She wanted to run from the cabin, but she couldn’t. Something held her back. She needed to know more. It still seemed so unreal that he was here. Part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms. The other part wanted to stay angry for all the hurt he’d caused. She had to tell him he would be a father. She wouldn’t have to face raising a child without a husband after all. But could she use this baby as an excuse to bind him to her? Did she want to force a marriage on him?

“When did you decide to do all this? Where did you go?”

“It had been on my mind for a while.” He looked at her, then sat down by the hearth, his elbows resting on his knees. “Elk Runner was always talking crazy to me, saying I needed to go on a vision quest, to realize right here was where I belonged. I didn’t pay any attention to him at first.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I was torn between what I feel for you, and needing to get back to my own time. Your father was so patient with me, trying to teach me survival skills. You have no idea how inadequate I felt, next to him.”

Sarah inhaled deeply, and sat down beside him. He looked at her, hope in his eyes.

“After Hawk died, I made my decision. I couldn’t live feeling like a failure anymore. We took his body back to his family, and I had a long talk with your dad, and with Elk Runner. Your father wanted to find the time travel device, get rid of it for good to make sure it wasn’t found again. He asked for my help. I could show him exactly where I had been when it sent me here. It would make his search easier.  When we found it, we parted ways.”

He reached out and tentatively touched her hand in her lap. She didn’t pull away. The warmth of his touch radiated through her. All the old feelings that she wanted to forget came rushing back. She still loved this man more than anything. She met his eyes.

“I met up with Elk Runner,” Chase continued. He took hold of her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. “He sent me on a vision quest first. It made me see clearly all the things that were holding me back, all the self-doubts I had. He taught me things I needed to learn to survive, and what it took to be a man in this time. I’ve been out hunting and tracking, and trading with some of the tribes over the months, then headed to Fort Raymond. That’s where I met your brothers.” A slow smile spread across his face.

“You met my brothers?” Sarah stared, wide-eyed.

“Great bunch of guys.” Chase chuckled.  “Didn’t take me long to figure out who they were. Twins that look so much like your dad, and Samuel is the spitting image of you, but with blonde hair. They were going to stay until spring, but when the weather let up, they decided they wanted to try and make it through the pass and be home for Christmas. I came back with them, although I would have come back on my own had they decided to stay.”

The fire crackled softly behind them. Sarah’s back warmed. Minutes passed and neither one spoke. She tried to absorb everything he’d told her. He had done all this to prove himself? So he could remain here and be with her?

Chase brought her hand to his lips, and kissed each finger. Sarah closed her eyes, savoring the sensations coursing through her.

“Let me see if I can get this right,” Chase said quietly, and cleared his throat. Sarah opened her eyes to look at him.  “
Tsao suwangkun, Aibehi Imaah ba’a”.

Her vision blurred anew at his words, and she could barely breathe. He knelt before her, reaching for her other hand. His eyes did not leave hers.

“I love you, Angel.” He wiped the tears away from her cheeks with his finger. “And I have one more confession to make.” He smiled softly. “On our way back from the village, after we returned Hawk’s body, I asked your father for you.”

Sarah couldn’t hold back a gasp. “You . . . what?” she asked, breathless.

“He consented. I admit, asking for you, knowing I would be leaving, was my selfish little piece of insurance that you wouldn’t go off and marry the first trapper who came along after I was gone. I asked your father to give me six months. If I didn’t return in that time, if you found someone else, you would be free to choose then, but your father would refuse any man before then.”

Chase stood. He pulled her up with him, and wrapped his arms around her. “These buffalo robes are really bulky,” he chuckled. “I can’t even hold you.” He released her and removed his heavy robe. “It’s getting pretty warm in here.”

Sarah smiled softly, and slipped out of her robe as well. Would he notice? He bent and kissed her lightly on the lips. She held her breath.

Chase cupped her face between his hands, his eyes staring intently at her. “Sarah, when you came to me . . . in the customs you grew up with, your father had consented to the match already . . . you came to your husband. I made love to my wife that night.”

Sarah’s arms shot up and she wrapped them tightly around his neck. Chase inhaled deeply, and pulled her to him. Sarah sobbed, and finally cried tears of joy rather than sadness. Everything would be all right now. She had a husband, and a father for their child. Chase stroked her back and held her. After countless minutes, she reluctantly pulled back, and wiped her face on her sleeves.

Sarah silently removed the belt from around her waist, letting it slip to the floor. Chase stared at her, a slow smile on his face, and one brow rose. With a pounding heart, she reached for his hand, and held it in front of her. He had given no indication that he noticed a change in her size. Her wider appearance could be attributed to her layers of winter clothes.

Sarah held his eyes and slowly guided his hand up her shirt to her abdomen. Her heart drummed fiercely in her throat. How would he react?

“Angel, what are you doi . . .” Chase didn’t finish his question. Abruptly, his hand pulled away. Surprise registered in his wide eyes.  “Sarah?” He swallowed, and looked towards her belly.

Sarah blinked away the tears that threatened in her eyes. It wasn’t the reaction she had hoped for. He didn’t seem pleased. She lowered her head, and stepped away from him, a sinking feeling in her gut. Was Chase about to reject his own child?

Just as quickly as his hand pulled away, he snaked his arms around her to prevent her from moving further away from him. A fierce and determined look came over him.

“Sarah . . . Angel,” he whispered. “Had I known, I would have come back sooner.” His hands trembled, and he felt his way up her shirt, and along her slightly protruding abdomen. His lips curved in a slow smile.

“You’re . . . not upset?” Sarah asked hesitantly.