* * *
She did, two days later at nine o'clock in the morning in a civil ceremony in the same courthouse where Lucas Greywolf had been found guilty of his alleged crimes almost four years before.
The bride held her baby on her shoulder as she recited the vows that legally bound her to a man who was little more than a stranger. She hadn't known what would be suitable to wear, but had finally decided on a peach-colored linen suit with a pleated skirt and unstructured jacket. Beneath the jacket was an ivory lawn shell so sheer that her lacy camisole showed through. The outfit was soft and feminine without being flagrantly bridal.
She held one side of her hair back with an ivory comb, an antique bequeathed her by her paternal grandmother. That was her "something old." She had chosen blue panties, not wanting to thumb her nose at tradition altogether.
Lucas had surprised her by wearing dark slacks and a sport coat over a pale-blue dress shirt and a sedate necktie. He looked incredibly handsome with his long, dark hair brushed away from his face and lying against his collar. Side by side, she knew they made a striking couple. Heads had turned to look at them when they entered the courthouse.
Before she even realized that the vows had been solemnized, the ceremony was over and they were leaving the building. Lucas had given her a light, perfunctory kiss when the judge had pronounced them man and wife. Now his hand rode loosely beneath her elbow as he guided her toward his parked pickup truck. It was at least a decade old. "We'll go load up the things you've packed, then get on our way."
He had told her the day before that he wanted to have the ceremony—though the few minutes they had spent in the judge's chambers hardly qualified as such—early, so they could reach their destination before nightfall. He wanted to waste no more time getting back to the reservation.
At her condo, while she changed Tony and herself into more comfortable traveling clothes, Lucas loaded the things she had set aside to take with them into the bed of the pickup. As she went through the rooms of the condo one last time, she couldn't conjure up in iota of regret for leaving it.
It had been a residence, not a home. No sentiment had been attached to anything. The only thing she hated to leave was the nursery she had prepared for Tony. Love had been poured into that room.
"Got everything?" Lucas asked her as she entered the living room from the back of the house after making sure all the lights had been turned out.
"I think so."
He had changed clothes, too. He was wearing the same shirt, but the sleeves had been rolled to his elbows. His slacks had been replaced with jeans, his dress shoes with boots, and there was a bandanna tied around his forehead. He hadn't worn the earring that morning, but he had it on now. They locked the doors behind them, having agreed that for the time being they would leave her furniture there until they decided on the best way to dispose of it and the property. Knowing her husband might be sensitive about such things, she offered to leave her car in the garage. How much of a sacrifice that was soon became apparent.
"This damn thing isn't air conditioned," Lucas said of the truck. They were on the highway and the wind was wreaking havoc on Aislinn's hair. Tony rode in his carrier, which they had secured between them on the seat. He was protected by a light blanket. It was too hot to keep the windows rolled up. But it was a constant battle for Aislinn to keep her hair out of her face. She hadn't complained, but Lucas had noticed.
"It's not so bad," she lied.
"Open the glove compartment," he said. She did. Inside she found a variety of items. "Get that extra bandanna and tie it around your hair. That will keep it from blowing so much."
She removed the bandanna from the glove compartment and neatly folded it into a triangle, then into a narrow band. She twisted it before securing it around her head. Leaning forward, she checked her reflection in the rearview mirror. "Does this officially make me a squaw?"
She looked at him and smiled. At first he didn't know what to make of her question, but when he saw the teasing light in her blue eyes, he answered her smile with one of his own. It was slow in coming, almost as if his lips didn't remember how to form a smile. But at last it broke across his handsome face, relieving it of its foreboding austerity. He even gave a short laugh.
After that, the tension between them eased somewhat. Little by little, she drew him out. They exchanged stories about their childhoods, some funny, some painful. "In a way, I was as lonely as you," Aislinn said.
"After meeting your parents I can believe that."
"They don't have near the capacity to love that your mother does."
He only glanced at her and nodded.
As anxious as he was to get home, he consulted her frequently about stopping to rest, eat or drink. "We'll have to stop soon," she said shortly after noon. "Tony is waking up and he'll want to be fed."
He had been a perfect angel, sleeping in his carrier. But he woke up hungry and impatient for his lunch. By the time they reached the next town, his strenuous wails were echoing in the cab of the pickup.
"Where should I stop?" Lucas asked her.
"We can keep driving. I'll manage."
"No, you'd be more comfortable if we stop. Just say where."
"I don't know," she replied, gnawing her lip anxiously. She didn't want Tony's crying to aggravate Lucas. He might yet change his mind about wanting to be a parent. What if he quickly got tired of the everyday hassles?
"A rest room?" he suggested, his eyes scanning the buildings on the main street.
"I hate to take him into a public place when he's putting up such a fuss."
Lucas finally wheeled the truck into a municipal park. He found a private spot beneath a shade tree and parked. "How's this?"
"Fine." Aislinn hastily unbuttoned her blouse, adjusted her bra and positioned Tony against her breast. His cries ceased abruptly. "Whew," she said, laughing, "I don't know if we could have gone…"
Her sentence trailed off to nothingness because she had innocently lifted her gaze from her son's flushed face and looked up at his father. Lucas was staring down at his nursing son. The intensity on his face stopped whatever Aislinn was about to say. When he saw that she was watching him, his eyes flickered away to stare through the windshield.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Sort of."
"How about a hamburger from a drive-through window?"
"That's fine. Anything."
"As soon as Tony is, uh, taken care of, we'll find a place."
"Okay."
"Did I hurt you?"
She raised her head and looked at him. He was still staring through the windshield. "When, Lucas?"
"You know when. That morning."
"No." Her denial was so soft even her own ears could barely detect it.
He tapped the steering wheel with his fist. He wagged one knee back and forth in a steady rhythm. His eyes darted over the landscape. In any other man these symptoms would have indicated nervousness. But that was unthinkable. Lucas Greywolf didn't get nervous. Did he?
"I had been in prison—"
"I know."
"And without a woman."
"I understand."
"I was rough."
"Not too—"
"And later I got to worrying about it. That maybe I had hurt you … your breasts … or your…"
"No, you didn't."
"You were so damn small—"
"It had been a while."
"And … and tight … and I—"
"It wasn't rape, Lucas."
His head snapped around. "You could have claimed that it was."
"But it wasn't."
The messages their eyes telegraphed to each other were laden with things better left unsaid. Aislinn bowed her head and closed her eyes as waves of heat, having nothing to do with the still, summer day, surged through her. Even now she could feel the driving thrusts of his body into hers.
And Lucas shut his ears to the delicious sound of his son nursing at her breast. He remembered his own lips tugging at her nipples, hard and peaked with arousal. His tongue had circled them, nudged them, stroked…
God, don't think about it or you'll get hard.
"When did you first know you were pregnant?" he asked gruffly after a long moment.
"About two months later."
"Were you sick?"
"A little. Tired more than anything. I didn't have any energy. And I had stopped having…"
"Oh. Yeah."
From the corner of his eye, he saw her gently lift Tony from one breast and transfer him to the other. She was modest. He knew what this enforced intimacy must be costing her. Yet, he wanted to reach across the seat, spread her blouse open and gaze at this marvel of nature. He wanted to look at her breasts. He yearned to touch them. To taste. Her femininity filled him—his nose, his throat, his loins. He was inundated with the scent and sight and sound of woman and he wanted to stay immersed in it for a long time.
"Was it an easy pregnancy?"
"As far as pregnancies go," she said with a smile.
"Did he kick a lot?"
"Like a soccer player."
"I prefer to think of him as a marathon runner."
Their eyes met across the narrow distance. The look they exchanged was mellow. What passed between them was the shared dream of parents for their child. "Yes. Like a marathoner," she agreed softly. "Like you."
His heart swelled with pride. Emotion welled so high inside his chest that for several seconds he could barely breathe. "Thank you." She looked at him inquiringly. "For carrying my son."
Then it was Aislinn's turn to become embarrassingly emotional. Thanks didn't come easily to a man with Greywolf's pride. To have made an issue of it would ruin the moment, so she merely nodded her head.
She gave Tony her attention until he was finished, then she passed the baby to Lucas. He held him while Aislinn readjusted her clothing. He even assisted as she changed Tony's diaper.
They said nothing more. Enough had been said.
* * *
"Gene's here," Lucas remarked as he pulled the pickup to a stop in front of a tiny, neat, white stucco house. Its fenced front yard was well manicured. A porch light burned in welcome. Zinnias bloomed in flower beds on either side of the front sidewalk.
It was well after dark. They had been driving on the reservation for hours, though this time they hadn't had to use back roads as they had when Lucas was a fugitive. Still, their trip had been long and tiring. Aislinn was exhausted. "Are we staying here tonight?" she asked hopefully.
"No, we'll stop and say hello. But I'm anxious to get to my own land."
His own land? She didn't know he had any land. Until then, she hadn't even thought to ask how he intended to support Tony and her since he couldn't practice law anymore. Somehow she wasn't worried about it. Greywolf had proven to be resourceful, intuitive, and capable. She had no doubts that he would make life as comfortable for his son as possible.
Lucas came around and helped her out of the truck. For the first time, she felt a twinge of apprehension. What if Alice Greywolf and Dr. Dexter reacted to the baby the same way her parents had? She was more an outsider here than Lucas was in her world. How would she be received?
Lucas seemed to have no such qualms. He jogged up the sidewalk and jumped onto the porch. He rapped on the front door twice before Gene Dexter pulled it open.
"Well, it's about time. Alice has been—"
When the doctor saw Aislinn coming up the sidewalk, his welcoming speech was cut short.
"Gene, is it Lucas?" Alice called from inside the house. "Lucas?" She stepped around Gene, her face wreathed in smiles. "Oh, you're here! We've been worried. Why didn't you come straight home? Did you decide to stay a few days in Phoenix?"
Lucas stepped aside. When Alice's eyes fell on Aislinn, they widened as prettily as a doe's. When she saw the baby nestled in Aislinn's arms, her mouth formed a small O. "I think you'd better come in out of the night air."
Aislinn knew then that she would come to love Alice Greywolf. No questions. No recriminations. No censure. Just gracious, unqualified acceptance.
Lucas held the screen door open for Aislinn and Tony. She stepped into a living room that was simply but tastefully furnished.
"Mother, Gene, you remember Aislinn."
"Of course," Gene said.
"Hello."
Alice smiled at her and asked shyly, "May I see the baby?"
Aislinn turned Tony so that he could be seen easily. Alice gasped softly. Tears filled her eyes as she reached out and touched the dark down on his head. "Lucas," she breathed.
"Anthony Joseph," Lucas proudly corrected her. "My son."
"Oh, yes, I know he's your son." Alice clamped her small, white teeth over her lower lip to keep from laughing and crying at the same time. "He looks just like you. Gene, did you see him? Isn't he wonderful? Anthony Joseph. After father." She looked at Aislinn with tear-sparkled eyes. "Thank you."
"I … we … call him Tony. Would you like to hold him?"
Alice hesitated for only a moment before opening her arms to receive the child. For years she had been taking care of newborns at the clinic, but she handled Tony so carefully he might have been made of porcelain. Her eyes never left him as she carried him to the sofa and sat down, crooning a Navaho lullaby.
"Guess that leaves me to take over as host," Gene said, finally thinking to shut the front door to preserve the air conditioning. "Aislinn, come in and have a seat," he said, sweeping his arm wide to indicate the living room.
"We got married today," Lucas said bluntly, almost as though he expected to be challenged.
"Well that's … that's great," Gene said dubiously.
Again the situation could have been awkward if Alice hadn't intervened. "Please sit down, all of you," she urged. "I'll get you something to eat and drink shortly. But I want just a few minutes with Tony."
"Don't go to any trouble, Mother. We can't stay long."
"You're leaving? But you just got here."
"I want to get out to the place before it gets any later."
Alice looked at her son with disbelief. "Out to the place? You mean to that trailer?"
"Yes."
"With Aislinn and Tony?"
"Of course."
"But you can't move them into that trailer. It's too small. It hasn't even been cleaned, and—"
"Alice," Gene said with gentle reproach.
She fell silent immediately. She glanced at Lucas and Aislinn uneasily. "It's none of my business, I realize, but I hoped you'd spend a few days here with me before moving out there."
Lucas looked down at Aislinn. She hadn't offered an opinion and he knew she wouldn't. God, she was courageous. When the occasion called for it, she was as steady as a rock. He had admired that in her from the beginning. But he could see the rings of fatigue beneath her eyes and the weary stoop of her shoulders. "All right. One night," he conceded, surprising himself.
"Oh, I'm so glad," Alice said. "Here, Aislinn, take the baby. I've been keeping some food warm on the outside chance that Lucas would show up tonight."
"I'll help you," Aislinn offered.
"You don't have to."
"But I want to."
Gene and Lucas followed them from the room. At the door, Lucas caught Gene's arm. "We're not putting you out of a bed tonight, are we?" he asked beneath his breath.
"Unfortunately no," Gene said ruefully.
"Still?"
The doctor shook his head sadly. "Still. Your mother is a rare woman, Lucas. I don't intend to give up on her until she is my wife."
Lucas slapped him on the back. "Good. She needs you."
As they entered the kitchen, he was thinking how rare a woman he was married to. That's why his eyes sought out Aislinn immediately.
She caught his glance and looked back at him shyly. This was a family scene, and yet it wasn't. Her new married status would take some getting used to. Yet she was inordinately pleased when Lucas sat down next to her.
"Lucas, why didn't you tell me about the baby?" Alice asked a half-hour later as she carried their supper dishes to the sink.
The significant pause broadened into a lengthy, uncomfortable silence. Aislinn finally broke it with her confession. "He didn't know about the baby. Not until he came to my house three days ago to thank me for not pressing any charges against him." She tried to meet the startled gazes of Lucas's mother and friend, but found that she didn't have the courage and lowered her eyes.
"I forced her to marry me," Lucas said with characteristic candor. "I threatened to take Tony away from her if she didn't."
Gene shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Alice raised her hand to her lips, hoping her shock wasn't too evident. At last she said, "I'm very glad to have you as my daughter-in-law, Aislinn."
"Thank you," Aislinn said, smiling at the older woman. She knew that Alice and the doctor must be burning with curiosity, so she appreciated their restraint from asking further questions.
"You must be tired after the long drive," Alice said kindly. "Why don't you let me get you settled for the night? You can sleep in my room."
"No." Before anyone could move, Lucas paralyzed them all with that single word. "Aislinn is my wife. She sleeps with me."
* * *