voice.
After his cousin, Dan Two-Horse, had given him direction, Grady followed a morning ritual with her.
Grady and Dan had been standing in the barn, ready to ride to the high country and bring in late calves when Dan had told him to go back inside and say good morning.
"Your wife is like a thoroughbred that's been abused. Use her carefully, cousin. Woo her.
Let her know that you're her friend, her protector."
At first Grady had bristled at the advice. But Dan had continued anyway. "She's your wife. Make her want to be your woman. She's a good mother. Start with that and let her know she can trust you."
Grady and Dan-Two Horse were more like brothers than cousins. They knew each other better than most siblings. Grady had followed his father's white path, although the white world held him at arm's length.
Henry Hawks, Grady's father, had married an Indian woman to gain the land and had used Indian ranch hands to hold it. While he was alive, the other ranchers looked to him to keep the Apaches happy. But his death left this part of Texas in an upheaval, coming at the same time as migrating tribes of Indians crossed the mountains fleeing the U.S.
cavalry. The ranchers around Eclipse looked with suspicion on Grady with his mixed blood.
Dan, on the other hand, moved in and out of both worlds, mingling with the people of every race as easily as he whispered their horses.
"I see the way you look at her. That's good. She needs to know that you desire her."
Grady interrupted Dan sharply. "If you know so much about women, why don't you get your own?"
"I have a woman. She just doesn't know yet that she belongs to me." With no more explanation than that, Dan mounted and followed the other riders toward the foothills.
Grady had stood alone in the barn puzzling over his cousin's words. And then he'd gone back to the house.
"Thought I told you to bar the door." It wasn't much of a good morning, and she'd stepped back as though expecting violence.
"Come here." He could see that his gruff words frightened her, but he couldn't unsay them or change the tone he'd used, so he waited.
Her steps were reluctant as she approached. When Julie stood before him he studied her. The bruise was a fading mark on her otherwise creamy skin.
Grady cupped her face in his hands, holding her still when she tried to jerk away.
"Easy," he murmured. "Be easy, I'll not hurt you." And then he'd brushed his lips across hers and departed, leaving her stunned and silent.
"Don't forget to bar the door," he reminded her as he left. He'd tasted her lips and wanted more. After that, every morning before he left for the day's work, he called her to him for a kiss. After the first week, she even wrinkled her nose at him when he told her to bar the door.
He took that as progress, since she smiled at him during the process.
*
They fell into a routine that gave Julie's fears time to settle. Temporary sanctuary or not, Grady Hawks made her feel that she had a home and a reason for being. The big, silent rancher didn't hide his desire for her, but he didn't bother her at night or try to get personal except for the kiss he insisted on from her every morning. So, she cooked and cleaned the cabin instead of worrying about what she couldn't control. I'll not be beholden to him for any reason when we go.
The oak planks she walked on grabbed her attention first. The beautiful wood was streaked with mud, and on hands and knees she scrubbed the area, knowing that her daughters would soon learn to navigate in safety there. The best she'd been able to provide before was a dirt-packed floor that was never clean no matter how hard she'd tried to maintain it.
She worked all day, pouring her tension and anxieties into the strength of her labors.
When she heard horses enter the ranch yard, she cast a quick look out the big window to see her husband and the other ranch hands disappearing into the barn.
In a short time, the men filed into the room, following Grady Hawks
After his cousin, Dan Two-Horse, had given him direction, Grady followed a morning ritual with her.
Grady and Dan had been standing in the barn, ready to ride to the high country and bring in late calves when Dan had told him to go back inside and say good morning.
"Your wife is like a thoroughbred that's been abused. Use her carefully, cousin. Woo her.
Let her know that you're her friend, her protector."
At first Grady had bristled at the advice. But Dan had continued anyway. "She's your wife. Make her want to be your woman. She's a good mother. Start with that and let her know she can trust you."
Grady and Dan-Two Horse were more like brothers than cousins. They knew each other better than most siblings. Grady had followed his father's white path, although the white world held him at arm's length.
Henry Hawks, Grady's father, had married an Indian woman to gain the land and had used Indian ranch hands to hold it. While he was alive, the other ranchers looked to him to keep the Apaches happy. But his death left this part of Texas in an upheaval, coming at the same time as migrating tribes of Indians crossed the mountains fleeing the U.S.
cavalry. The ranchers around Eclipse looked with suspicion on Grady with his mixed blood.
Dan, on the other hand, moved in and out of both worlds, mingling with the people of every race as easily as he whispered their horses.
"I see the way you look at her. That's good. She needs to know that you desire her."
Grady interrupted Dan sharply. "If you know so much about women, why don't you get your own?"
"I have a woman. She just doesn't know yet that she belongs to me." With no more explanation than that, Dan mounted and followed the other riders toward the foothills.
Grady had stood alone in the barn puzzling over his cousin's words. And then he'd gone back to the house.
"Thought I told you to bar the door." It wasn't much of a good morning, and she'd stepped back as though expecting violence.
"Come here." He could see that his gruff words frightened her, but he couldn't unsay them or change the tone he'd used, so he waited.
Her steps were reluctant as she approached. When Julie stood before him he studied her. The bruise was a fading mark on her otherwise creamy skin.
Grady cupped her face in his hands, holding her still when she tried to jerk away.
"Easy," he murmured. "Be easy, I'll not hurt you." And then he'd brushed his lips across hers and departed, leaving her stunned and silent.
"Don't forget to bar the door," he reminded her as he left. He'd tasted her lips and wanted more. After that, every morning before he left for the day's work, he called her to him for a kiss. After the first week, she even wrinkled her nose at him when he told her to bar the door.
He took that as progress, since she smiled at him during the process.
*
They fell into a routine that gave Julie's fears time to settle. Temporary sanctuary or not, Grady Hawks made her feel that she had a home and a reason for being. The big, silent rancher didn't hide his desire for her, but he didn't bother her at night or try to get personal except for the kiss he insisted on from her every morning. So, she cooked and cleaned the cabin instead of worrying about what she couldn't control. I'll not be beholden to him for any reason when we go.
The oak planks she walked on grabbed her attention first. The beautiful wood was streaked with mud, and on hands and knees she scrubbed the area, knowing that her daughters would soon learn to navigate in safety there. The best she'd been able to provide before was a dirt-packed floor that was never clean no matter how hard she'd tried to maintain it.
She worked all day, pouring her tension and anxieties into the strength of her labors.
When she heard horses enter the ranch yard, she cast a quick look out the big window to see her husband and the other ranch hands disappearing into the barn.
In a short time, the men filed into the room, following Grady Hawks
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