When they arrived at the clinic, Winona got a treatment room ready. Anesthetic. IV kit. Sterile gloves. Sterile surgical kit. Pain meds. “I have no idea what shape our little friend will be in, so I have to be ready for everything.”
A few minutes later, Dan arrived, carrying a very unhappy but good-sized nine-month-old cub in a blindfold. “I’m pretty sure her rear right leg is broken.”
“Bring her back here.” Winona gestured toward the treatment room, stepping out of the warden’s way.
The cub bawled, terrified and in pain.
Winona helped the warden settle her on the table, then quickly gave the cub anesthesia through a mask and slipped into a pair of sterile gloves so she could examine it. “There’s some ruptured muscle and definitely a fracture. I’d say she got clipped by a car. I’ll need to take X-rays to see how bad it is.”
Winona went for her portable X-ray machine, the one she’d held a year’s worth of fundraisers to buy, and wheeled it in. She put on a lead apron and asked the two men to wait outside while she took images of the bear’s leg.
She studied the images, then walked out into the hallway, where she found Jason and Dan talking. They stopped when they saw her. “The leg is broken, but the fracture is non-displaced. I won’t have to do surgery to stabilize it. I’ll clean the wound, stitch her up, and put her in a splint.”
“That’s good news.” Dan pointed to Jason with a jerk of his thumb. “I was talking with Agent Chiago about the wolf situation. I was hoping the two of you could head up with a ranger tomorrow and see if you have better luck tracking the animal. We haven’t been able to get close.”
Jason met Winona’s gaze. “I said I’d do it if you have the time.”
“I’ll have to get someone to cover for me and watch over our newest patient. If I can make that happen, then yes. I’d be happy to help.”
“Give me a call when you know.” Dan took off.
Winona turned to Jason. “Want to assist me in putting a splint on this little girl?”
“You bet.”
“Today was a good day.” The smile on Winona’s face put a hitch in Jason’s chest, the last rays of the sun giving her skin a bronze glow. “We saved a bear cub. I got to snuggle Shota and see Naomi.”
Jason took her hand, shared his highlight. “I got an appointment for Monday with the security company. We had lunch with your brother and his family, and Chaska didn’t punch me.”
That made Winona laugh. “He’s a good guy—I promise.”
“I believe you.”
They’d grabbed a pizza from Knockers, and Winona had given him directions to a place above Scarlet Springs that she called Caribou where they could eat and watch the sunset. Now, they sat on the back of his truck, tailgate down, the pizza devoured, the sun dipping behind the high peaks.
“Isn’t it beautiful up here?”
He could barely take his gaze off her. “Yeah. Incredible.”
It was beautiful and peaceful, the air crisp and fresh, the scent of pine on the wind. He couldn’t even hear traffic from here or see a single power line or a house or a road. She’d told him there was an old silver mine a little farther on and that Joe and Rain had their home somewhere up here, but, apart from the road, he couldn’t see any sign that people had ever lived or labored up here.
“Why did Naomi ask you about baskets?” She’d been changing Shota’s diaper and had missed most of the conversation.
“O’odham women are known for weaving beautiful baskets. She wondered if I knew any artists who might want to sell baskets through her store. I told her I’d ask around.”
“Your grandmother made them, right?”
“She did. She was a master.” Jason pulled out his phone, scrolled through his photos. “These are hers.”
Winona leaned closer. “Oh, Jason. They’re beautiful! Your grandmother had talent. That one looks just like your tattoo.”
Jason scrolled until he came to a photo of his grandmother. “My grandmother had a hard life. Her father married her off when she was fourteen, but her first husband died falling off a horse soon after. To be honest, I think she was relieved. Then she met and married my grandfather. She gave birth to eight children at home, no medical help, no pain relief. They all died before she did.”
“That must have been so hard.”
“Grief took its toll on her, but she always had a smile for me.”
“Grief took a toll on you, too, losing your parents so young.”
That was the truth.
“She and my grandfather lived by the old ways—farming, hunting, harvesting food from the desert. She made baskets, and he hunted. After my parents were killed, I was consumed by rage. I lost myself for a while. But they took me in, taught me traditional O’odham skills, taught me our history, our stories. They saved me, stopped me from becoming a statistic.”
“They must have loved you very much.”
Jason slipped his phone back into his pocket. “My grandfather passed first. My grandmother lasted for almost two years without him. As she lay dying, she made me promise not to abandon my O’odham people. I knew that she wanted me to keep our family name and our culture alive by passing on everything they’d taught me. My sisters took off, so I’m the last one in our line still living in Sells.”
“That’s why you won’t leave the reservation.”
“Yeah.” The word was bitter in Jason’s mouth.
He had made that promise to his grandmother at a time when he couldn’t imagine wanting to do otherwise, when he and Elena were together and it had seemed like the path for the rest of his life was laid at his feet. He would never have imagined that the promise might one day come at a cost. But now…
Another twist in the road, another unexpected turn.
For a time, they sat there, neither of them speaking, the mood changed.
Wind in the pines. The hooting of an owl. The distant bugle of a bull elk. The warmth of Winona’s hand in his.
“We should go.” Winona released his hand and hopped to the ground, her tone of voice light, her gaze averted. “I need to check on the bear cub, and we’ve got an early morning.”
“Right.” He stepped to the ground, closed the tailgate, then opened her door.
“Thanks.” She started to climb in, then stopped. “If you hadn’t made that promise, would you at least consider spending time here with me?”
It hurt even to imagine that scenario, but he understood why she was asking. She wanted to know whether she meant anything to him beyond sex.
“I would. Hell, yes, I would. I care about you, Win. But I did make the promise, and nothing can change that.”
“It’s getting chilly.” Making a valiant attempt not to seem upset, she climbed into the passenger seat.
But Jason knew her better than that. He closed her door, walked around the front of the truck to the driver’s side, at war with himself, a sense of guilt twisting in his chest. But why should he feel guilty? He’d been honest with her from the beginning. She’d known he couldn’t stay.
You knew she’d get hurt if you got involved with her, but you did it anyway.