have one.”
Jake chuckled. “You have the balls to ask me a question like that? After what you’ve put me through the past couple of days?”
Hawk thumped Rance on the back. “It is what it is, man. Wahui saw you coming and told us of you.” Then he whacked Jake on the back. “Dumbass here just didn’t recognize you. But I did. You look just like the picture Sarah painted. Welcome home, bro’.”
Chapter Five
To think that losing his car had been the beginning of Rance’s adventure with the Cherokee he’d grown to love was mind-boggling. So much had happened. He’d been disoriented in the dark and sidetracked by the stormy night, and at that time, he still wasn’t used to sharing memories with his cornea donor. Now, however, he felt as if he’d known Sarah and her family for years.
He and Jake had handled the county sheriff’s questions with aplomb, but as Jake pointed out later, the sheriff was Native and hadn’t probed where he’d stir up tribal secrets that nobody else needed to know.
Danny Gibson was found half-naked and out of his mind deep in the Cherokee Hills, muttering nonsense. He’d been taken to a psychiatric hospital in Vinita until a judge could deem him fit for trial. Jake and his cousins murmured amongst themselves that Vinita would be housing the lunatic for the rest of his life.
Rance’s car was found on a muddy bank a couple of miles from where he’d thought he’d parked it. His mission had been accomplished, but after the dust had cleared and Jake’s questions answered to his satisfaction, he still had the uneasy feeling that there were too many open-ended discussions, that despite appearances, much was still left unsaid and undone. He and Jake hadn’t had time alone after the eerie happenings in the cave, because the cousins brought beer and had their own version of a pow-wow the two nights following Danny’s arrest. Everybody had either slept outdoors under the stars or had bunked on Jake’s boat for the two days, which hadn’t allowed space or time for the two of them to become intimate.
As for Sarah, once the situation surrounding her death was highlighted, it was as if she faded, like some misty memory, leaving a bittersweet hole where her presence had once filled him. Rance was glad, but at the same time he felt sad that he hadn’t known her better.
Haley had already invited him to stay with the O’Reilly clan until he wished to return to Las Vegas. Not a problem, considering Rance was reluctant to leave, but he had no good excuse for staying until Haley intervened the third evening when she invited Rance for dinner.
“We’re having a family get-together tomorrow night,” she told Rance that evening. “You’ve been staying in that motel too long. You’re to bring your belongings with you when you show up tomorrow. Say about five? You can stay in Sarah’s old bedroom.” She slid Jake a wary glance. “Unless you find more comfortable quarters.” Haley thumped a basket of corn muffins in front of him next to his drink before going back to the kitchen.
“Subtle, isn’t she?” Jake joked.
Rance refused to comment. The proverbial ball was pretty much in his court now. He’d thrown himself at Jake the first night they’d met, and he’d more or less been thunderstruck ever since. Haley had seen to it that Rance came out to the marina every day. One moment, it would be to show him more of Sarah’s drawings. Another, it’d be to have him sample a dish Haley was thinking of adding to the marina restaurant’s menu. Each time he visited, Rance thought surely Jake would want to talk in private, to at least be alone with him. The chemistry they’d had was undeniable, so why was Jake so damned aloof?
Rance shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Waiting on Jake to make the first move was like sitting in the dentist’s office. He knew he’d feel better afterwards, but the initial trauma of just having to be there had him climbing the
Jake chuckled. “You have the balls to ask me a question like that? After what you’ve put me through the past couple of days?”
Hawk thumped Rance on the back. “It is what it is, man. Wahui saw you coming and told us of you.” Then he whacked Jake on the back. “Dumbass here just didn’t recognize you. But I did. You look just like the picture Sarah painted. Welcome home, bro’.”
Chapter Five
To think that losing his car had been the beginning of Rance’s adventure with the Cherokee he’d grown to love was mind-boggling. So much had happened. He’d been disoriented in the dark and sidetracked by the stormy night, and at that time, he still wasn’t used to sharing memories with his cornea donor. Now, however, he felt as if he’d known Sarah and her family for years.
He and Jake had handled the county sheriff’s questions with aplomb, but as Jake pointed out later, the sheriff was Native and hadn’t probed where he’d stir up tribal secrets that nobody else needed to know.
Danny Gibson was found half-naked and out of his mind deep in the Cherokee Hills, muttering nonsense. He’d been taken to a psychiatric hospital in Vinita until a judge could deem him fit for trial. Jake and his cousins murmured amongst themselves that Vinita would be housing the lunatic for the rest of his life.
Rance’s car was found on a muddy bank a couple of miles from where he’d thought he’d parked it. His mission had been accomplished, but after the dust had cleared and Jake’s questions answered to his satisfaction, he still had the uneasy feeling that there were too many open-ended discussions, that despite appearances, much was still left unsaid and undone. He and Jake hadn’t had time alone after the eerie happenings in the cave, because the cousins brought beer and had their own version of a pow-wow the two nights following Danny’s arrest. Everybody had either slept outdoors under the stars or had bunked on Jake’s boat for the two days, which hadn’t allowed space or time for the two of them to become intimate.
As for Sarah, once the situation surrounding her death was highlighted, it was as if she faded, like some misty memory, leaving a bittersweet hole where her presence had once filled him. Rance was glad, but at the same time he felt sad that he hadn’t known her better.
Haley had already invited him to stay with the O’Reilly clan until he wished to return to Las Vegas. Not a problem, considering Rance was reluctant to leave, but he had no good excuse for staying until Haley intervened the third evening when she invited Rance for dinner.
“We’re having a family get-together tomorrow night,” she told Rance that evening. “You’ve been staying in that motel too long. You’re to bring your belongings with you when you show up tomorrow. Say about five? You can stay in Sarah’s old bedroom.” She slid Jake a wary glance. “Unless you find more comfortable quarters.” Haley thumped a basket of corn muffins in front of him next to his drink before going back to the kitchen.
“Subtle, isn’t she?” Jake joked.
Rance refused to comment. The proverbial ball was pretty much in his court now. He’d thrown himself at Jake the first night they’d met, and he’d more or less been thunderstruck ever since. Haley had seen to it that Rance came out to the marina every day. One moment, it would be to show him more of Sarah’s drawings. Another, it’d be to have him sample a dish Haley was thinking of adding to the marina restaurant’s menu. Each time he visited, Rance thought surely Jake would want to talk in private, to at least be alone with him. The chemistry they’d had was undeniable, so why was Jake so damned aloof?
Rance shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Waiting on Jake to make the first move was like sitting in the dentist’s office. He knew he’d feel better afterwards, but the initial trauma of just having to be there had him climbing the
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