After breakfast, Winona left to check the animals at the clinic. “It won’t take long. Then we can talk about what you’d like to do today.”
Chaska poured Naomi and himself another cup of coffee. “Come. Win refilled the hummingbird feeders this morning, and they’ve drawn a crowd.”
Chaska wasn’t kidding.
Naomi sat on the wooden swing, sipped her coffee and watched dozens of tiny, glimmering hummingbirds dart from feeder to feeder, unable to keep the smile off her face. There were so many of them that their wings made a buzzing sound like a swarm of bees. “They look like flying jewels.”
“Tanagila—that’s the Lakota word for hummingbird.”
Naomi repeated it. “I wish I’d thought to grab my camera.”
“I’ll get it for you.” Chaska disappeared inside.
Their house was on a hillside, giving Naomi a view of Scarlet and the surrounding mountains. She inhaled the fresh air, took in the beauty of the place, some of her anxiety easing away.
Chaska returned carrying her camera bag and her tripod. “I wasn’t sure what you’d need, so I brought everything.”
“It’s beautiful out here.” Naomi took her camera out of her bag, set the shutter speed to 1/4000, and then attached her flash. “You must love sitting out here in the evening and looking out at that view.”
Chaska sat beside her. “I don’t often take the time.”
Naomi took a few photos and checked the images. Not fast enough. The wings were blurred. She adjusted her shutter speed to 1/8000 and snapped a few more shots. “Much better.”
“Show me.”
“Sure.” Naomi scrolled back through the photos, holding her camera so that Chaska could look at them.
“You’re an artist with a camera, too. These are good.”
Heat rushed into Naomi’s cheeks at the compliment. “It’s just science.”
She indulged herself then, taking photo after photo—rufous hummingbirds with their glossy orange-red throats, broad-tailed hummingbirds with their iridescent green backs, Costa’s hummingbirds with their shiny purple crowns. For a time, she forgot about her worries, her mind focused only on the birds—and the man beside her.
She could feel him there, as if his body were touching hers even though there were several inches between them. He watched her, asked questions, his attention focused entirely on her. It felt … intimate.
“Let’s see what I got.” She scrolled through her shots, Chaska leaning over so he could see, too, his arm stretched across the back of the swing behind her, his praise warming her. “I might have to start making hummingbird jewelry.”
“Win would probably buy it all.”
Naomi was pleased with the photos, especially the last few. “This is why I came to Colorado—to see wildlife, take photos, sketch.”
She told him how she’d first seen the mountains from that Denver hotel room and how she’d dreamed for five years of returning.
“I’m sorry things turned out like this.” He was quiet for a moment. “Win knows what you’re feeling. Two years ago, she was almost killed.”
Naomi gaped up at him. “What?”
She listened while Chaska told her how a bank robber had come into Winona’s clinic, aimed a firearm at her head, and forced her to give him medical care.
“He’d burned his hand on the explosive dye pack that banks put in bags during robberies, and the burn had gotten infected. She did her best to help him. He was afraid they’d give him away—Bear was there, too—and threatened to kill them both.
“He decided gunshots were too loud and grabbed a vial of ketamine—that’s an animal tranquilizer—and injected them with it. She saw how much he’d given her and knew she would die of an overdose unless help came. My sister slipped into unconsciousness expecting not to wake up again.” A muscle clenched in Chaska’s jaw, and Naomi could sense the rage he still carried inside him.
“God, Chaska, that’s awful.” She reached over, slid her hand over his.
Heat arced between them like a static shock, and Naomi might have pulled her hand away if he hadn’t taken it, entwining his fingers with hers.
“Lucky for them, Lexi walked in. She managed to get a call off to the police before the bastard took her hostage. He stole Win’s car, drove Lexi into the mountains, and tried to hide in a mine shaft. The place collapsed, and he was killed. Lexi was almost killed, too. Taylor, Hawke, and I got her out. But thanks to Lexi, the police arrived in time and took Win to the ER. She was home the next day.”