Jenny Cussler's Last Stand (35 page)

It could have meant she was uncertain of what was being offered. Was his client asking the woman he loved to drop everything—her job, her career, her home—to move to a reservation without a promise of a future together? Had his client told the woman he loved that he wanted to marry her? That he wasn’t just asking her to shack up with him?

Clint dropped his arms and straightened in his chair. Hadn’t he told Jenny that he wanted to marry her? He mentally raced through their conversations. No, he hadn’t, had he? He really hadn’t given her much of a chance at all, had he?

I love you, move here to be with me, give up your job, we’ll hang out.

Maybe that’s what she’d heard. He reached for the phone again.

The door opened, and Gary walked in. He dropped into a chair in front of Clint’s desk.

“Man, I’m tired. I still haven’t recovered from the last camp, and already we’re planning for next year.”

Clint cradled the phone and stared at the receiver unseeingly for a moment.

“Hey, Clint, are you in there?” Gary waved his hand.

Clint blinked and forced himself back to the present...barren and lonely as it had become over the last few months.

“Yup, I’m here. Camp,” he monotoned as he leaned back in his chair again. He shifted his gaze from the phone to Gary’s face.

Gary stared at him a moment.

“Have you called her yet?” he asked with a wry smile on his face.

“About a million times,” Clint said. He stretched his arms out and clasped his hands behind his neck once again. “But I make sure I don’t dial the last number.” He gave Gary a sheepish look.

Gary’s dark eyes rounded. “Are you kidding me? Not about the million times. I’d believe that. But that you haven’t actually, really, called her yet? Pretending to call doesn’t count, man.”

Clint dropped his arms, and crossed them over his chest. As Gary repeated it, it didn’t sound like he’d tried very hard at all. Gary was right.

“I know, I know,” Clint said tersely. “I just... I’m just...”

“Scared?” Gary offered.

Clint tightened his lips and nodded.

Gary shook his head and sighed.

“I don’t blame you. I guess I would be, too, if I was in your shoes.”

“What shoes are those?” Clint wondered if Gary understood the complexity of the situation. He’d never told him of Jenny’s reaction to his suggestion that she move to the reservation. He didn’t want to hear any comments about sticking to his own kind, or what did he expect, or that’s white women for you...

“Well, wondering if she can love you enough to move here. Or wondering if you love her enough to move there.”

Clint’s eyes flew to Gary’s sympathetic face. This was a more compassionate side of Gary he’d not seen before.

“I thought you’d—”

“What? Say something like ‘that’s white women for you’?” Gary grinned. “I thought about it...for a while.” He shook his head. “But that’s not going to help much, is it? You’ve fallen in love with this woman, and nothing is going to change that. I’ve watched you mope around this place for two straight months, and you’re depressing me.” Gary grinned again. “So, do us all a favor, and do something—anything—even if it’s wrong.”

Clint smiled for the first time in months.

“What if leaving the reservation and moving to Boise is the answer? I know I can get a job there. It’s a pretty big town. What if that is the answer?”

Gary studied his face, and Clint withstood the scrutiny.

“You’re the only one who can know if that’s right for you. I don’t want you to go. Your dad doesn’t want you to go. Your clients don’t want you to go. But none of that matters if you want to go.”

Clint shook his head. “I don’t necessarily want to leave. I don’t think I want to leave at all, but—”

“Let me guess. She doesn’t want to move here...to the reservation.”

Clint sighed heavily. “She didn’t say so, but from her reaction...” He paused. “I don’t think there’s any chance she’s going to be able to live here.”

“Man!” Gary shook his head sympathetically. “That’s tough. Are you holding a grudge? You know? Because she doesn’t want to live here?”

Clint bit his lower lip. “I did.” He nodded. “I did, but I’m over it. I was hurt. I took it as a rejection of Indians in general and the way we live. But I didn’t make her any promises, either. I don’t think I guaranteed her anything if she came here. I pretty much asked her to give up her job, her career, and her home, without giving anything in return. I didn’t even tell her I wanted to marry her.”

Gary’s eyes widened. “Marry her? Really?”

“Well, of course I want to marry her. I’m not going to drag her all the way up here and not marry her. What kind of a guy do you think I am?” Clint glared at his friend.

Gary threw his hands up in mock self-defense.

“Whoa there, Chief. How was I supposed to know you wanted to marry her? Or get married at all? It’s not like a thousand women haven’t thrown themselves at you and you’ve never taken the bait. I thought you weren’t ever going to get married.”

“I just haven’t ever met anyone I thought I could live with forever. But I love her. I just want to be with her.”

Gary leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest.

“Well, then, I guess you’d better pack your bags. But you really ought to call her before you show up on her doorstep. Just in case, you know?”

****

An hour later, Clint replaced the phone in its cradle with a shaking hand. Reaction was setting in. He’d finally managed to dial through to Jenny’s office. But it went straight to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message. What could he have said? “Hi, Jenny, this is Clint. I still love you. Can I come live with you?”

Restlessly he rose from his chair and turned to stare out the window toward Mt. Adams in the distance. It was Friday afternoon. He wouldn’t be able to call her again until Monday. And he had to do something now. Now!

As soon as he met with his last client of the day, he was going to head home, pack a small bag, and drive to Boise. He wouldn’t get there until about 11:00 p.m., but he’d check into a hotel and begin the search for Jenny first thing in the morning. In this day and age, one could find anyone, couldn’t they?

He shook his head, knowing how impractical it all sounded but refusing to give in to reason. He needed to see her as soon as possible—to tell her that he would do anything for her, move to be with her, marry her, anything she wanted.

“Clint? Your next appointment is here,” the receptionist announced over the intercom. Clint turned around and pushed the intercom button. “Thanks, send him in.” Clint took one last look at the mountain over his shoulder before glancing at his calendar. The receptionist had written in a name he couldn’t decipher... Obviously, not one of his regular clients. Coster? Costner? Custer? Clint squinted at the small writing. Custer? No, not really...

He heard a tap on the door and rose to meet the new client. What a coincidence, he thought with a grin as he pulled open the door.

Jenny stood on the other side of the door, warm and alive and close to him with a small smile on her face.

“Jenny!” he said on a ragged indrawn breath as he wrapped his arms around her. She didn’t resist him, and he pulled her even tighter as he closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet smell of her hair. He opened his eyes moments later to see the receptionist staring at him with wide eyes. He smiled over Jenny’s head and pulled her inside.

“Come inside. Come inside. I’m so glad you’re here,” he said as he held onto her hand.

“Clint, I—”

Clint didn’t wait to hear her words but covered her mouth with his own again. She kissed him back, and he knew everything would be all right. No matter where they lived...or even if they managed to find a way to live together...they loved each other, and that would be enough.

Jenny pulled away.

“Clint, your dad...”

“What about him?” he said huskily as he stared at her face hungrily. She was more beautiful than ever. Her skin glowed.

“He’s here...with me. He wants to talk to us. He called me.”

Clint pulled back.

“What?”

“He called me, and I came.”

Clint swallowed hard and stared at Jenny’s upturned face.

“You mean, you didn’t come because you wanted to.”

“Yes, I did, but—”

Clint pushed away from her. “Where is he?” He strode to the door and pulled it open. His father waited in the reception area. Clint beckoned to him and then stood back from the doorway as his father entered the room and came to stand beside Jenny. His father took Jenny’s hand in his, and she looked up at him with a hesitant smile.

Clint watched the interaction between them with growing anger and concern. Surely...

“Okay, so what’s going on?” he asked brusquely as he crossed his arms across his chest. He refused to sit. His father and Jenny remained standing, and he did not offer them a chair. Yet.

“What did you say to her at camp? I know you said something, because everything about her changed after you talked to her at the powwow.”

Clint’s father raised a single eyebrow, and Clint knew he was suggesting Clint modify his tone. But Clint didn’t care at the moment.

“Can we sit down, Clint? Jenny has driven a long way, and I’m sure she’s tired.”

Clint caught sight of Jenny’s stricken expression. Had he caused that? His father? His anger eased, and he gave her a reassuring smile. No matter what they said, nothing changed the fact that he loved her and was happy to see her.

“Sure,” he said. “I should have offered you a seat before.”

His father escorted Jenny to a seat on the couch. Clint took the nearby easy chair he used when he had couples in the room. He was hoping against hope he wasn’t actually looking at a couple.

His father began with a heavy sigh.

“I did talk to Jenny at the powwow, you’re right. And I said some things that I shouldn’t have said.”

“Dad!” Clint began.

His father held up a hand. “Let me finish. You’ll probably be more than a little angry, but you might as well wait and hear what I said.”

Clint waited with tightened lips. Jenny glanced anxiously between the two of them, and he wondered what she was thinking. It all depended on what his father had told her.

“I surprised myself,” Clint’s father began, “by trying to interfere in your relationship. I had no idea I was capable of that. I’ve always been the easygoing parent.” His confused expression pulled at Clint’s heart.

“Well, basically what I told Jenny was that we needed you here at the reservation, and that it wouldn’t be right for her to ask you to leave it.” His father met his eyes with a frank expression of remorse. “I’m sorry. I think I was reacting to possibly losing the last of my family.”

Clint opened his mouth, but Jenny rushed in.

“He called me, Clint,” she said. “He asked me to come back here...to see him and to see you.” She paused and swung her gaze between them before allowing it to rest on Clint. “I was waiting for a call...from someone.” She gave him a half smile, and Clint’s heart flopped.

“I picked up the phone many, many times to call you, but my nerves got the better of me. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what you wanted.” He glanced over at the phone. “I actually did call you just a little while ago, but you weren’t there.” He smiled gently with eyes only for Jenny at the moment. “You’re here.”

She beamed. “Yes, I’m here. I’m here because I want to be here. Not because your father called me. I would have come sooner or later...probably sooner.”

Clint could hold back no more. “Let her go, Dad. I forgive you, and I want to hug her, so let her go.” He rose and pulled Jenny to her feet. His father rose as if to leave.

“Are you sure you’re going to be able to live here?” Clint asked as he gazed into Jenny’s upturned face. She was truly beautiful to him. Her hair shone more than it ever had. “I can move there...gladly.”

“Yes, I am going to be able to live here,” she said.

“Wait! I forgot to tell you before... I want to marry you. Will you marry me? I will not bring you here without the promise of a future.”

Clint barely noticed that his father paused at the door.

“Yes, Clint, I will marry you. And I will live happily ever after here...with you...and our child.”

“What?” Clint’s father, in the act of leaving, stilled.

Clint swore his heart stopped for a full minute, but it must have been only seconds.

“A baby?” he said. “We’re going to have a baby?”

Jenny beamed.

“Yes, we are. I hope that’s okay. I haven’t been on birth control in years.” She blushed and shrugged. “I just never thought I would need it again. I certainly never thought I would need it at a Native American veterans’ camp high on a mountainside in the Cascade Range.”

“I’m going to have a child,” Clint breathed. “After all these years. I can’t believe it.”

“Neither can I,” Jenny said ruefully. “So you don’t mind? I’m old enough to know better.”

“Oh, no, honey. I don’t mind. This is wonderful news. I can’t tell you how happy I am right now.”

“I want the baby to grow up here...on the reservation. I’ll find work here later on,” Jenny said. She reached up to kiss Clint on the lips before looking over at his father, still standing by the door with a stunned expression on his face.

“You might as well stay, Grandpa. We probably ought to think of some names for our half Native American/half Irish-American child. I was thinking if it’s a boy, we should name him Custer. What do you two think?” Jenny winked and laughed.

Clint enfolded Jenny into his arms once again, and his father moved in to embrace them both.

Clint laughed. “This is your last stand, Jenny Cussler. We have you surrounded.”

A word about the author...

Bess McBride made her first serious writing attempt when she was fourteen. She shut herself up in her bedroom one summer while obsessively working on a time travel/pirate novel set in the beloved Caribbean of her youth, but she wasn't able to hammer it out on a manual typewriter (oh, yeah, she's that old) before it was time to go back to school. The draft of that novel has long since disappeared, but the story is still simmering within, and she will finish the adventure one day soon.