One inky brow cocked as Little Bear's hand slipped off her shoulder. "Nothing?"
"Nothing. Jake is in our barn. So what? I won't rush out there and greet him warmly, as though nothing ever happened. Don't you dare ask me to forget all those hateful things he said to me, Little Bear, because I won't. I can't."
"I ask nothing of you. But, as I recall, your brother said those things to me. If I am not mad after three year's time, you should not be, either. Also, he brought his woman here to us. Perhaps that is his way of making amends."
Gail shook her head. "First of all, I doubt Miss Lennox is his 'woman.' Secondly, my brot
her doesn't make amends. Jake would have to think he is wrong about something, and Jake never thinks he's wrong."
"He was wrong about us," Little Bear said softly.
"Yes, but he doesn't see that."
"Yes, but he will. Give him time."
"Time?" she sneered as, snatching up a dirty spoon from the bucket, she began scouring it furiously. "It's been three years, Little Bear. How much more time does he need?"
"As much time as it takes."
Gail scowled and waved the dripping wet spoon under her husband's nose. "Don't you start talking logic to me, Little Bear. You know how much I hate it when you rationalize."
"Only because you know I am right."
"Is that a fact?"
"It is." He grinned the cocky, insolent grin that had made Gail fall in love with him, even as he snatched the spoon away from her and tossed it aside. The spoon clattered atop the counter as his arm snaked out, wrapping around her waist and dragging her hard against his chest. "Come, woman, give your husband a kiss. It has been four long hours at least."
"And it's going to be at least four more if—" Gail squealed when she felt herself being lifted off the floor. "Brute! Put me down this instant. I mean it, Little Bear! We have a guest. What will Miss Lennox think if she sees you carrying me off to the bedroom now, when the boys aren't even asleep yet?"
Little Bear's gaze strayed to Amanda Lennox. Though she was pretending acute interest in the infant cradled in her arms, he saw a tiny grin tug at the corners of her lips. Ah, he knew he liked that woman for a reason!
Little Bear pinned his wife to his chest and, giving her tempting rump a swat, told her to behave, adding, "As for our guest... I think she has spent enough time in Blackhawk's corruptive company to not be surprised by anything you and I do."
Gail stilled instantly. "You aren't suggesting they...?"
"I know Blackhawk," Little Bear said with a sly wink. Loosening his hold, he let Gail slide down until her feet touched the floor. But he didn't let her go. "That is exactly what I am suggesting."
"But... she's a lady."
"So were you the first time I met you."
Something in Little Bear's tone caught Amanda's attention. She glanced up in time to see Gail and Little Bear's gazes lock. Like the last time, unspoken words rushed between them. Unlike the last time, their silence spoke volumes.
Amanda averted her gaze to the infant cradled in her arms, and pretended not to notice the sudden tightening in her heart. Their tones of voice, suggested Gail and Little Bear had been arguing before, though their words were strange and unfamiliar. Amanda had recognized Jake's name, and her own, but that was all she understood about what they were saying.
She understood more about what their eyes said to each other. The looks they exchanged fascinated Amanda. Even while they'd been arguing, the love Gail and Little Bear felt for each other still burned brightly in their eyes. It rubbed Amanda raw to know she had never—would never—see that look in a man's eyes. That she would never know that kind of all-consuming love.
Unbidden, her mind flashed her an image that had never really been far from her thoughts for days. It was a picture of Jake rising naked and proud and wet from a river. Amanda sucked in a sharp breath and pinched her eyes closed. It didn't work. In the pitch blackness behind her eyelids she could still see tiny beads of moisture clinging to a firm copper shoulder. Her fingers curled inward, lightly fisting the baby's small, pudgy hand. Even now, days later, she still ached to rub those glistening drops of water into Jake's skin.
The chair creaked as she pushed the dirt floor with her foot, unconsciously urging it to rock faster.
Another image sliced through her. In this one Jake was also naked... only this time he was arched over her, and a part of him was buried inside the most intimate part of her. For the rest of her life, Amanda knew she would remember the wondrous look on his face when he'd made that first breathtaking thrust, and how her body had flowered open to welcome him. She would never forget how, for just a while, it felt to be loved by a man.
No, she corrected silently, not by just any man, by Jacob Blackhawk Chandler. There was a difference.
"Penny for your thoughts, Amanda Lennox."
"Hmmm?" Amanda's lashes flickered up, her dreamy gaze instantly pulling Little Bear into focus. She didn't realize she'd been smiling until she forced herself to stop. "I—What?"