"Mama, I can't see good from here," Slade complained.
"You can see as well as you need to." Rain Shadow brushed the wrinkles from the pallet she'd laid for him at a stall's entrance. "We're not taking the chance of having someone accidentally step on you and hurt your leg. Nikky and I will bring you whatever you need. Are you hungry?"
He pouted.
She shrugged and straightened, smoothing the damask skirt over her hips. She fervently hoped she didn't look as out of place as she felt in the deep blue skirt and high-necked white blouse. She'd stuffed the toes of the high-topped leather shoes borrowed from Annette with newspaper. Wanting to belong to this world, she would no doubt trip over her own feet and make a fool of herself.
Her gaze caught the young woman carrying a picnic basket toward a table. Sissy. Her spice-brown hair was gathered from the sides and hung in long, lustrous waves down her back. Her stylish blue and white checked dress showed off an embroidered bodice, a row of lace standing up around her slender neck. The cuffs, too, were trimmed with matching lace, drawing attention to her delicate white hands.
Rain Shadow watched Sissy remove cookies and pie from the basket. She glanced at her own hands and frowned at the tiny calluses at the base of each finger. How did these women keep their hands so soft and white? She wasn't allowed time to consider.
Fiddle and harmonica music filled the stable. Franz Neubauer bowed before her and extended his arm. She smiled at Anton's gregarious brother and linked her arm through his. He led her through a Turkish trot and a reel before escorting her from the floor.
"Thank you." He smiled with another gallant bow. "You're looking especially pretty this evenin'."
Tom Simms became her next partner, and after that the single men took turns dancing with her. All were friendly, and one or two were even good dancers. She decided to enjoy herself.
Pretending disinterest in the string of dance partners vying for a turn around the floor with Rain Shadow, Anton caught Sissy's hand and led her to one of the tables heaped with food. "Hungry?"
She placed a few cookies on her plate while he piled his with sandwiches and potato salad. She followed, and he picked their way to a row of available folding chairs lining the wall. "I haven't seen you lately, Anton."
"I've been busy."
She nibbled at a molasses cookie. "Will you come have dinner with my family one night this week?"
The sought-after blue skirt and white blouse twirled by. "Sure." He pictured the fawn-colored fringed dress. Sun-kissed silken skin. Feverish kisses...
"How about Wednesday?"
"Wednesday would be nice." He looked into Sissy's caramel eyes. Would Sissy kiss him in broad daylight? Would she breathe hard and fast when he pressed his face to her skin?
It was pointless to be thinking of more than a comfortable and convenient arrangement. He'd already made his plans. He'd already proposed to this woman. He glanced at Sissy's hands, delicate and sprinkled with freckles. Would she touch him in the ways a man yearned to be touched? Small but strong tanned hands had burned themselves into his lusty imagination. Was he torturing himself until he'd never be satisfied with any woman?
He shook himself and resumed eating. He was marrying Sissy to take care of Nikky, and she definitely met all those requirements.
"Wanna try a piece of my mince pie?"
"Sure." He watched her move away, trying not to compare the way her hips looked in that dress to another's slim shape in a pair of snug wool trousers. He forced himself to look away and surveyed his brother Jakob on the musician's stand, fiddle tucked under his chin. A tall figure entering the stable caught his attention.
Hell fire.
* * *
Rain Shadow eyed the cold drink table over Erich Spengler's shoulder. Anton cut in, and her lanky partner bowed out. Anton took one of her hands in his and placed his other hand at her waist.
"He's here."
She met his intense blue gaze. Realization dawned, and panic quickened her pulse.
Her steps faltered. Anton urged her through the motions. Alarm rising in her throat, she glanced around.
"Over by the door to the forge."
She scanned the wall and spotted him. Dressed in dark brown slacks and a ruffled white shirt, Miguel de Ruiz stood out among the farmers. He held a jar of foamy amber liquid and spoke to the man next to him. His onyx gaze swept the dancers, discovered her and held her in view.
"What's he doing here?"
Anton squeezed her hand. "Drinking beer and chatting, near as I can tell. No laws against that."
Rain Shadow's breath grew short, and her chest constricted. "Slade," she whispered. "He can't see Slade." She attempted to pull away, but Anton's grip held her fast.
"Relax. Soon as I saw him come in I had our fathers take the boys for a buggy ride." Anton took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced her to look at him. "Don't say anything about his leg for five seconds. Which situation is more dangerous?"
She nodded her agreement, and he released her jaw.
"Just act natural for a while longer, and we'll leave early."
"He has no right." Anger rose until her body trembled.
Anton wanted to pull her against him and ease her fear. Instead he increased the pressure of his hand at her waist and watched her luminous violet gaze rise to his.
"I told Slade the truth," she said as though he'd asked her. "That his father left without marrying me or even knowing about him."
He nodded. "I would've expected that."
"But how would he feel if he knew his father was here-close enough to see?" Fear injected a husky quiver into her voice. "He'd want to meet him. He doesn't know what kind of a man Miguel is. He's too young to understand."
Anton took both her hands. "Let's go outside."
"But―"
"It's all right. Come on." He led her past the tables of food and drink, past a few curious glances, into the chilly night air. They stood out of the wind beneath a lean-to near the corner of the building.
"Telling Slade the truth took courage. I haven't had the guts to tell my son about his mother yet. He will hear it from me, though, when he's older and can understand. I don't know for sure what I'll say because I don't understand what happened either.
He'd never spoken of her, and Lydia and Annette had only mentioned her casually a time or two. "It's probably different, Anton. She's dead. She can't hurt him."
"She's already hurt him."
She turned away. "What's that got to do with-"
Anton grabbed her shoulder and turned her toward him. "What if this was your pa? Think about it. You who wants to find your family at the cost of everything else."
He had a way of infuriating her. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I? What if you had a chance to meet your pa when you were seven years old, but Two Feathers took it on himself to decide it wouldn't be good for you, so you never got to know him at all, good or bad?"
She breathed decisively through her nose, her lips taut with anger. Wind flapped the canvas over their heads, and the chill crept into their clothing. She hated him for putting it like that! An uncontrollable shiver shook her shoulders. "You don't know what you're talking about," she repeated.
"I want you to see it from a little boy's eyes for a minute, just in case Slade's curious. Ruiz is dangerous. You have every right as Slade's mother to decide what's best and protect him. You're a good mother."
She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't. She raised her chin. "Thank you."
"You may not be able to protect him, though. He might find out and wonder why you kept his father from him."
For all his bullheadedness, he was right.
His form loomed tall and broad in the darkness before her. Close enough to touch. Close enough to feel the warmth emanating from his body. Close enough to step forward and fold herself into his steadfast arms. He was a comfort too easily obtained. It would be too easy to lean on his strength, too easy to grow accustomed to his protection and solidarity.
With deliberate restraint, Rain Shadow stood where she was. Soon she would be gone, gone from this man and his strong arms and his enveloping family. She and Slade and Two Feathers would make a new life, and Anton would marry Sissy Clanton.
That thought continued to plague her.
Rain Shadow needed to hold onto herself, needed to remember everything she'd worked for and wanted. She was tough as boot leather, and Miguel de Ruiz wasn't going to stop her from getting what she wanted or come between her and her son. She would tell Slade that Miguel was here.