“I think maybe this young woman means a lot to you. How did you meet her?”
Chaska told her the whole story, including what he’d said the moment before Shota had run off. “She’s staying with us for now.”
“I have to agree with Winona. You were led to her. Tunkasila was watching out for this woman—and maybe for you, too.”
Chaska regretted telling her as much as he had. “Don’t tell Old Man that part. You know how he is.”
He would get behind the wheel and drive his battered old pickup truck all the way to Scarlet just to meet Naomi.
“I’m not making any promises.” Tina laughed, apparently finding this implied threat funny. “I’ll give you a call or shoot you an email when I’ve heard what your grandfather has to say. Talk to you soon.”
Chaska had just ended the call when Casper stepped into his office, coffee mug in hand, clearly pleased. “Great work, Belcourt. The NASA team was impressed with your solutions, so we’re moving to the next stage.”
“That’s good.” That’s what they’d all been working toward.
“I know you’ve put in a lot of extra hours, working from home. Why don’t you take a few days off, take a break?”
“Thanks. I’ll do that.”
Sheldon stepped into the room, this time wearing jeans and a button-down shirt. He saw Chaska and stopped short, his eyes going wide for a second.
Chaska decided to make it easy on him. “How are things in avionics?”
Sheldon gave a stiff nod, looking terribly self-conscious. “They’re good, sir. Thanks for asking.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Five minutes later, Chaska was on his way back up to Scarlet—and the woman he couldn’t get out of his thoughts.
Naomi satin the little kitchen at Winona’s clinic talking with Bear, who had just finished the second peanut butter sandwich Naomi had made for him. “When did your family come to Colorado?”
Across the room, Winona was on the phone talking to someone named Rose about a big snake that was living under her front steps.
“We were always here.” Bear sat with his hands in his lap holding his battered Bible. “Colorado is the Centennial State.”
He was a big man, well over six feet, and as shaggy as his namesake, but something had happened to him. His mind was truly that of a child.
“Do you remember your parents?” Naomi asked.
He nodded. “God took Mama and Daddy to heaven, and my sister and brother too. They’re waiting for me, but God hasn’t called me yet.”
If anyone else had said this, Naomi would have felt uncomfortable. She’d grown up listening to Peter and Ruth talk about what God had to say. She avoided anyone who claimed to know what God wanted, but Bear was different. He was humble, sincere, not the kind to use words to bend other people to his will.
Across the room, Winona was losing her patience. “Rose, if you call an exterminator, they’ll kill the snake. If you don’t want to kill it, you’ll need to trap it and relocate it. No, I’m not going to trap it for you. That’s not what we do here.”
“Why did they go to heaven? Were they sick?”
Bear shrugged. “I guess so.”
“It must have been hard for you to be left alone.”
“Oh, I’m not alone. Everyone in Scarlet Springs is my friend, and I have Him.” He held up his Bible.
“I’m glad. I didn’t know my parents.” Naomi wasn’t sure why she was telling Bear this. “My mother left me near a trash can in an alley after I was born. I almost died.”
Bear seemed to consider this, then spoke as if trying to comfort her. “The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.”
“Psalms one-twenty-one, verses seven and eight.”