It was Winona who changed the direction of their conversation. “The doctor says he’s pretty sure I’m going to keep my leg.”
“I’m so glad. Gabe and I have been praying for you. But if the worst happens, you know we’ll be there for you. Gabe knows what it’s like. That’s why he’s at the inipi.”
“That means so much to me. Thanks.” Then Winona remembered. “He’s not engaged.”
“Who’s not engaged?”
“Jason. He’s not engaged. His fiancée was arrested for drug smuggling six months ago and is in prison. He broke up with her the day she was arrested. I don’t think it’s easy for him to discuss. He felt betrayed.”
“Of course, he did. Poor Jason.” Kat let out a breath. “I never did like Elena. I’m sorry he went through that, but I’m also relieved. I’d heard that the two of you had grown close. I was worried.”
Winona told Kat how she and Jason had ended up at the Cimarron, with Jason cutting sign, helping Jack and Nate resolve the mystery of the wolf. “It was inspiring to watch him work. I was so impressed. I felt so guilty being attracted to him. But when I found out he was single, I suddenly felt nervous around him.”
Kat laughed. “I would have loved to see your face when you learned the truth. I’m married, and I love Gabe. I love him and find him incredibly sexy. But I still have eyes. Jason is hot.”
“You’re right about that.” Winona told Kat how Jason had comforted her after a nightmare, how he’d loved watching her feed the eagle, how he’d made her feel safe when she thought she might die on that mountainside.
And then her emotions overflowed, tears filling her eyes. “I love him, Kat. My heart tells me he’s my half-side, but he’s leaving.”
“Oh, Win.”
“He made a death-bed promise to his grandmother not to leave his O’odham people. If I want to be with him, I would have to close my clinic, move to Sells, and live far away from my family. I can’t imagine watching little Shota grow up through photographs and text messages or not living next door to my brother and Naomi or being far away when Grandpa…”
She couldn’t finish that last thought.
“Does Jason feel the same about you?”
“I’m not sure. I know he cares about me. He said so, and he’s proven that. But he’s also made it clear that he won’t leave Arizona.”
“I’m sorry. That’s hard.”
“How did you and Gabe work it out?”
“You really can’t compare our situation to yours. I was working at the paper in Denver when we met. No one had to give up anything or move for us to be together. We visit Kaibito for a couple of months every year to see my grandma and teach our kids about their Diné heritage. I gave birth to my two older children there. But when Grandma Alice passes, I’m not sure we’ll be able to maintain that connection.”
Winona and Jason’s circumstances were completely different. She lived here. He lived in Sells. Neither of them had a career that enabled them to take long vacations to visit the other. She’d only met him because he’d been placed on administrative leave.
Kat took her hand. “Life has a way of working these things out. That probably sounds hopelessly optimistic, but I believe it’s true.”
Winona wasn’t so sure.
“When Gabe cut that rope, I watched him fall. I knew he was gone. My heart truly seemed to break. I lay there shouting for him for maybe an hour. I don’t know for sure. I was injured and hypothermic. My memory is foggy.”
“I can’t imagine how horrible that was.”
“When I was in the helicopter on my way to the hospital, the rescuers got word that Gabe was seriously injured but alive. He’d fallen more than three hundred feet, and he was still alive. It felt like a miracle. After that, no obstacle we’ve faced has seemed insurmountable.”
Winona could understand that. “What he did was incredibly brave and unselfish.”
“He loved me. He was willing to die to save me.”
Winona remembered Jason taking her hand and warning her when they first encountered Graham. He’d shielded her body with his when they’d hurried inside the cabin from the hot tub at the Cimarron. He’d fought to save her life and had done all he could to comfort her after she stepped into the bear trap.
Maybe he did love her.
“You need to focus on getting better. Try not to waste your strength worrying about what comes next.” Kat smiled. “If Jason truly is your half-side, then nothing will keep you apart for long.”
Jason drove through heavy traffic on I-25 toward the hospital, Grandpa Belcourt’s words still running through his mind.
A promise is a sacred thing. So is the love of one’s half-side.
It could be that it’s time for you to break free of your anger toward your sisters so you can consider your path in a new light. Be certain you’re not making decisions out of resentment toward them.
Still, Jason was no closer to having an answer.
He’d spent these past five days driving back and forth between the hospital and the clinic, working with the installers to get Winona’s security system in place, checking in with Dr. Keene and Lexi about the animals at the clinic, and doing his best to keep Winona’s spirits up. But today, after six days in the hospital, Win was coming home.
He parked at the hospital and made his way upstairs to her room, where he found her ready to go. “Someone is eager to get out of here.”
“That someone is me.” She sat in the chair, dressed in a white T-shirt and a purple broomstick skirt he’d brought from home, her leg elevated, her belongings in a plastic hospital bag on the bed. “I’m just waiting for my discharge papers.”
He walked over to her, kissed her, then pulled up another chair to wait with her. “Lexi says hello. That woman could command an army. She gets things done. She had Megs cleaning up fox poop this morning.”
Until Winona’s incisions had healed, she was still vulnerable to infection, so Lexi had made a schedule covering the next six weeks. She had even called the university and asked for an intern or vet to give Dr. Keene a break.
“Megs?” Winona laughed. “I wish I had seen that.”
“I knew you’d say that.” Jason pulled out his cell phone, opened his photo library, and turned the phone so that Winona could see.
She smiled at the image of a glowering Megs with the poop scooper. “Wow. I’m touched. Everyone has been so helpful and kind.”
“The people of Scarlet love you. I’ve seen that for myself.” Jason couldn’t wait for her to see the welcome the town had set up for her.
Even more incredible was the financial support the town had shown. Joe’s donation jar at Knockers had brought in enough to pay for Winona’s rescue flight and her hospital bills. She didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t going to owe a dime. That wasn’t Jason’s news to share, so it would have to wait until later.
He brought her up to date on the security system. “You’ll be able to see on your phone who’s at the doors. If anyone breaks in through a window or a door, it will notify both you and the Scarlet PD. You can leave the clinic’s front door unlocked during business hours or, if you’re alone, set it up so that you have to buzz people in.”