Naomi picked up the photo, studied it. “Are you close?”
Chaska set her belongings on the floor at the foot of his bed. “Yeah. He and my grandmother did more to raise us than our parents. He’s a Sun Dance chief, what old-timers call a true Lakota. He lives by the old ways.”
“That’s what Winona told me. You have his eyes.”
Chaska had heard that before. “That’s what my grandmother used to say.”
Naomi set the photo carefully back on his nightstand, the care that she took with it touching Chaska. “Is she … Is she gone?”
“She made the journey to the spirit world a few years back.” It had hurt more than Chaska could have imagined to let her go. She’d been like a mother to him and Winona. So much of who they were had come from her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” Chaska didn’t want Naomi worrying about him. “Do you think you’ll be comfortable in here?”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
“If it helps you sleep at night, I’m happy. I’m going to go get your stuff out of the bathroom and bring—”
“Chaska, who are you talking to?” Winona appeared in the doorway in her pajamas. “Oh! I … uh … I’m sorry.”
Naomi’s eyes went wide.
“It’s not what you think, Win.” Chaska fought not to laugh.
“It’s not?” Win sounded disappointed.
Chaska told his sister about the phone call from McBride. “Naomi didn’t feel safe downstairs by herself. I offered to switch rooms with her.”
“That’s awful.” Winona sat next to Naomi. “That would shake me up, too.”
Chaska left the women to talk and made his way downstairs. Winona could comfort Naomi far better than he could. He had no idea how it felt to be female, to know that one was physically weaker than most men. He’d grown up bigger and stronger than most boys on the rez and had never once been afraid for his physical safety.
He checked the guest bedroom once more to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, then went into the bathroom and grabbed her stuff. He made his way back upstairs to the main bathroom, the women’s voices drifting out into the hallway.
“For the first few months after it happened, I kept expecting the man who’d done it to walk in again, even though I knew he was dead,” Winona said.
“Arlieisn’tdead. He’s out there somewhere. He drew a dick on my face. I’m sure he’s the one who did it. He was the one who kept trying to grope me.”
“Disgusting pig.”
That was kinder than the words Chaska would use to describe the son of a bitch.
He went downstairs one last time and grabbed Naomi’s tea and her crutches, then made his way back to his bedroom to find Winona changing his sheets, Naomi standing on one leg beside the headboard. The two women had fallen silent the moment he’d hit the landing, the oh-so-innocent look on Winona’s face a dead giveaway.
His sister had been meddling again.
He set the tea down on his nightstand and handed the crutches to Naomi, fighting to rein in his irritation. “Thanks, Win. I’ve got it. You head back to bed.”
Winona must have sensed his frustration with her because she didn’t argue.
“Right. Yeah. Okay.” She walked around to the other side of his bed and gave Naomi a hug. “I’m right down the hall if you need anything, okay? I’ll help you get settled in here in the morning.”
“Thanks, Win.” Naomi made her way to the sofa and sat.
Chaska picked up where Winona had left off, smoothing the flat sheet over the fitted sheet and tucking it in at the foot of his bed.
“It must be wonderful to have a sister who loves you so much.”