"I forget that your race favors light skin." He rearranged some papers on his desk, and if Makinna hadn't known better, she would have thought he was nervous.
"You had something to tell me?" Sensing what it was, she dreaded hearing it. He was going to send her away.
Tykota met her gaze. "After you have rested and recovered completely from your ordeal, I will have some of the ranch hands escort you to El Paso where you can board a stage for California." He hesitated. "No one need ever know what happened, Makinna. I know your reputation would suffer if anyone found out that you spent days in the desert alone with an Indian."
She stared at him. "Do you think I care about that? I am proud of what we did, proud to know you." She fought against the tears that were gathering in her eyes, but one trailed down her cheek anyway. "I... I will miss you.
His throat tightened. "You knew the day would come when we would have to part."
She closed her eyes, trying to regain control over her emotions. "There were times, Tykota, when I didn't think we would live from one day to the next." Finally she was able to smile. "Yet you never gave up. You pushed me on when I wanted to quit. If you hadn't, I would have died. I want you to know that I will always be grateful to you. Always be proud to have known you."
"To speak truthfully to you, Makinna, I wrongly supposed that, being a woman, you would hinder our chances of survival. But I was wrong. I underestimated your strength and determination. I have been proud of you, too, Makinna. You did better in a dangerous situation than most men would have."
She beamed under his praise. "Even Mangas?" she teased.
He smiled. "Mangas, I believe, has special powers from the Great Spirit. No one could best him."
"Admit, Tykota, there were times you wished me back in New Orleans, or anywhere but at your side."
Again he smiled. "And there were times when you wanted to push me off a cliff."
"True," she said with a laugh. Then she sobered. "When will you leave to join your tribe, Tykota?"
"There are a number of things that need my attention here before I can leave. I would say at the beginning of next week."
Her heart felt shredded. "And when do I leave?"
He took a deep breath. "As soon as you feel up to it. Though I know my mother would love your company and would like to keep you here as long as possible."
She almost shook her head, almost said she would stay forever, if only he would not leave her. Instead she said, "Thank you but I must resume my journey to California."
He stood, suddenly distant and aloof, and Makinna realized that she, was being dismissed.
"If you would care to, I can have one of the hands show you the ranch. That is, as soon as you are ready to ride again."
She smiled slightly, although her heart was breaking. "I'm ready now, if I can use a real saddle."
"We don't have a sidesaddle. Mother does not ride."
"Well, then, just give me any kind of cushion between me and the horse, and I'll welcome it. It'll be a while before I want to get quite so close to a horse again."
He answered her in an austere tone. "I will see you at dinner, Makinna."
She held her back straight as she walked to the door. She tried repeating to herself, This too shall pass, but she doubted that her broken heart would ever mend. Tykota must never know she loved him.
After Makinna closed the door, Tykota wanted to go after her. But he didn't. He sat pensively, reliving the time they had spent together: their closeness, their kiss, touching her body, his spirit blending with hers. Makinna had broken the reins he'd always kept on his emotions, and he wanted to hold and cares her until she submitted to him.
Makinna was in his heart, and he doubted he would ever get her out.
He glanced upward, wondering in agony why he must give up the only woman for him. The woman who would always be in his heart, in his blood.
He did not want to think about what her life would be like once she was gone. With her beauty and sweetness, she would be surrounded by gentlemen ready to lay their hearts and their fortunes at her feet.
"Damn!" he swore, going to the window and jerking the curtain aside. Perhaps he should leave sooner than he had planned. Maybe it would be easier to ride away now than to stay and watch her go from his life forever.
He lowered his head. His father had placed a heavy burden on him. But he was bound by honor to fulfill that promise he had made as a boy. A promise that was calling him back to the Perdenelas. And he would have to make the ultimate sacrifice to fulfill that promisethe woman he loved.
Tykota rode beside Mangas, his heart growing lighter as he surveyed his beloved Biquera Ranch. They rode to the top of a mesa, and Tykota looked down upon a fertile valley where a thousand head of cattle grazed. He had almost forgotten just how beautiful and tranquil this part of Texas could be. It was fed by two rivers-the Rio Concho, flowing from Mexico, and the Rio Grande, which formed the border between Texas and Mexico.