“Most of the time.” Then he remembered that Naomi would never know whether she had siblings. “I didn’t mean that. I’m very lucky, and I know it. But she’s stuck on the idea of you and me getting together, so take everything she says about me with a grain of salt.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Chaska looked over in time to see Naomi’s expression fall.
Shit.
What had Winona said to her?
He walked to the sofa, sat down beside her. “I moved all of your things from the downstairs bathroom to the upstairs bathroom.”
“Thanks. What about my pain pills?”
“I brought them up, too.” He walked over to her backpack, stuck his hand in one of its pockets. “Where do you want me to put them?”
“The nightstand would be perfect. I could use a glass of water, too, please.”
“Sure thing.” He went back downstairs, filled a glass with ice water.
When he reached his bedroom again, she was looking out one of the windows.
“I heard Shota howl.”
“He does that sometimes. The coyotes start it, and there goes the neighborhood. He joins in. It can go on for hours. I’m sure the entire town of Scarlet can hear him. So far, they haven’t kicked us out.”
“I don’t know why they would. What an amazing sound—haunting and beautiful at the same time. Primal.”
That’s what he’d always thought, but he’d never had the words.
She turned away from the window, made her way over to him. “I feel really guilty kicking you out of your own bed.”
“You didn’t kick me out. I’m giving it to you.”
He ran his thumb over her cheek and kissed her. “Sleep well, Naomi. No one is going to hurt you while you’re in this house.”
He left her to get ready for bed and went down to the kitchen, where he lit the braid of sweetgrass, blew out the flame, wafted smoke over his head, and prayed for the first time in a decade.
Tunkasila, Creator, guard this house and keep Naomi and Winona safe.
Naomi wokethe next morning to see sunlight streaming in around the blinds. She sat up, stretched, the terrible news of last night, and the panic she’d felt, seeming far away. She lay back and let herself remember the good parts of last night—Chaska kissing her again, Chaska holding her, Chaska giving her his room, carrying her up the stairs.
You are the only woman my brother has been attracted to in a very long time.
Warmth blossomed in her chest—and then vanished.
She’s stuck on the idea of you and me getting together, so take everything she says about me with a grain of salt.
Clearly, Chaska didn’t plan on getting together with her—outside of the occasional kiss. Why else would he have told her that?
It doesn’t matter.
Had she really believed that a man as amazing and handsome as Chaska could fall in love with her? For a woman with no education, no money, no family, that would be like winning the lottery, and Naomi had never had that kind of luck.
She reached for her crutches and made her way to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth and took a shower, voices at times drifting up from the kitchen below. She couldn’t tell what Chaska and Winona were saying because they were speaking Lakota. At times, it sounded like they were arguing.
Were they arguing about her?
It’s none of your business.