She was living in a new world, one where her fantasies came true.
He chuckled, bent down to kiss her cheek. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
They finished washing and helped each other dry off.
He wrapped his towel around his waist, waited for her to slip into her bathrobe, then opened the door and stepped out.
“It’s about time.” Winona walked through the door—and froze. “Oh. Sorry!”
Naomi’s face burned. “That’s okay. I’m … uh… done.”
Naomi left the bathroom and made her way across the hall, the bathroom door closing behind Winona.
Chaska stood there in his towel, chuckling to himself, a big grin on his face.
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“Why?” He ran a finger over her cheek. “We aren’t doing anything wrong.”
From across the hallway came a shout. “You used all the hot water!”
Chaska wasthe first one downstairs. He made coffee and then started on breakfast burritos, first putting sausage in a pan to cook and then peeling a few potatoes, his mind on Naomi and how she’d come apart in his arms just now. He didn’t realize he was smiling until he saw his reflection in the aluminum surface of the refrigerator.
Damn,kola.You’ve got it bad.
He did, and he was okay with that. Somewhere in the night, he’d reached a kind of peace about all of this. If it were meant to be, nothing would keep him and Naomi apart. If it wasn’t… Well, he would never forget her.
She came into the kitchen wearing a turquoise skirt and a white tank top that had his gaze going straight to her breasts. He willed himself to look up. “Coffee?”
“Please, yes! Can I help?”
“Want to dice these?” He set her up with a knife, a cutting board, and the potatoes he’d peeled, then went to the fridge for the eggs and half-and-half.
They talked about small things while they got breakfast on the table—Naomi’s appointment Thursday to get her stitches out, their promise to go by The Cave so that Megs could have Naomi’s photos, the tour Chaska had promised Naomi of his workshop.
“There’s not much to see, really.”
Then Chaska remembered.
He walked over to his work backpack, unzipped the front pocket, and took out Naomi’s little medicine wheel. He carried it to her, slipped it over her head. “Thanks for trusting me with this.”
“What did you do with it?”
“I scanned it and sent the images to one of my relatives at Oglala Oyate College. She’s going to make sure my grandfather sees them. I thought he might know something about who made it.”
Naomi froze, knife hovering above the cutting board. “Do you think there’s a chance that he might?”
“It’s a long shot, but I wanted to try.”
She went back to chopping. “I’m not sure I’d want to meet my mother even if someone found her. She left me alone by the garbage to die.”
Chaska moved up behind her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissed her hair. “I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I’d feel the same way. You don’t have to meet anyone you don’t want to meet.”
Winona flew into the kitchen, dressed in scrubs, her hair damp. “Did the two of you sleep well last night?”
Naomi’s face flamed, her gaze shooting to Chaska’s. He would have found it adorable if he didn’t know where it came from. She was freer sexually than she’d been before, but the shame those people had beaten into her still lurked inside her.