Native Born by Jenna Kernan Page B

protect her with my life.”
    â€œI’m not talking about protection. I’m talking about a child being taken from everything that is familiar.”
    â€œShe’s Apache. She’s strong.”
    â€œShe’s a little girl whose favorite color is still pink.”
    Clyne set his jaw and hardened his heart to her pleas.
    Cassidy threw up a hand, stormed away, spun and retraced her steps. Then she folded her arms before her, jutted one hip and worked a brow.
    â€œDo you know what music she likes to listen to when she’s going to sleep? Or her favorite foods or the names of her closest friends?”
    He didn’t, of course. “Those things will come once she takes her place in her family.”
    Cassidy’s jaw twitched. “She’s not a clock for your mantel. She’s a little girl who still leaves a tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy.”
    Clyne remained unyielding, though the doubt cramped his belly. What if she was unwilling to know them? Angry at being forced from the home of this fierce little woman?
    â€œI will bring you to see her. But only if she is not aware of your presence.”
    * * *
    T WO HOURS LATER Clyne sat in the darkness in his SUV beside Cassidy Walker. The two floodlights in his grandmother’s driveway illuminated the yard and road beyond. Glendora Clawson and her husband, Hex, had not waited for Housing and Urban Development to assign them a residence like many on the rez. Instead they’d built a four-bedroom home that had been larger than they needed to raise their only daughter, his mother, Tessa.
    His phone rang and he took the call from Gabe. Cassidy watched him as if she were on surveillance until he hung up.
    â€œThey reached Black Mountain. She should be here any minute.”
    Cassidy directed her attention to the road. A few minutes later a string of three cars turned in. Kino led the procession in his tribal police cruiser. Next came the dark Ford sedan from Child Protective Services and Gabe had the tail in his white SUV.
    Cassidy leaned forward as doors opened and the two Cosen brothers appeared. Next came a woman from the rear seat of the Ford. She wore a green down coat that made her look like a walking sleeping bag. The driver emerged, a white man in a black woolen topcoat and red scarf. Finally he could see his sister.
    Jovanna slipped from the backseat and into the circle illuminated by the floodlights. She wore a pink nylon jacket unzipped and the floppy sheepskin boots popular with young girls. Her face reminded him of his mother’s in the photos of Tessa as a girl. Only the smile was missing. She had wide brown eyes and a soft round face. Her dark hair had been dyed blond at the tips and strands hung over her face like a shield.
    â€œShe’s here,” said Cassidy and reached for the door, before remembering that she was to stay in the car. She sunk back into the seat, then rebounded to lean so far forward that her forehead struck the window.
    His grandmother was out of the house now, flying down the stairs, her arms flung wide. Jovanna had time to straighten before Glendora had her in her arms. Clyne smiled as Amanda all but disappeared in the bear hug. His grandmother was weeping, of course. Jovanna’s hands came up and she wrapped her arms about her grandmother. Glendora tucked her grandchild under one arm and motioned to her grandsons. Gabe came forward, Stetson in hand, and leaned to touch his forehead to his sister’s. Kino repeated the greeting and then gave Jovanna a hug.
    Jovanna, now sandwiched between his youngest brother and his grandmother, was ushered toward the door, where Kino’s wife, Lea, stood with a hand on her protruding belly beside Clay’s wife, Isabella. Clay stepped from the house holding the collar of a large sheepdog.
    Buster she remembered. The dog strained and jumped to be free of Clay’s grip. Clay released the shepherd, who flew down the steps and right to