over, the topic of David Spotted Horse would somehow have worked its way into the conversation. How was he doing, had they gone anywhere together, did she think they might come over to Claremore for dinner some time in the next couple of days. . . . Even from her brothers; they were going fishing, would she and David like to join them-they were going to a powwow, would she and David like to come along.
Mother's bad enough, but Dad is worse. Her father thought he was being subtle; he was about as subtle as a billboard.
I don't know why he doesn't just rent a billboard. She could just see it now, out on I-44. Forty-eight feet wide, sixteen feet tall. Jennie, when are you and David going to-?
At least Mooncrow was keeping his mouth shut. He kept giving her looks, but at least he kept his mouth shut. It seemed as if everyone in the Talldeer family was trying to throw Jennie into David's bed-or vice versa-and no one was going to take 'no' for an answer.
She expected that kind of thing out of David; after all, it wasn't as if he hadn't been hinting. But her own family?
/ thought they were supposed to want me to preserve my so-called honor! Not go jumping into some guy's bed!
Well, she wasn't having any. She could be just as stubborn as any of them, and she was not, by god, going to get herded into this as if she were the prize mare and David the champion stud!
I suppose by now Dad has waylaid David at least once, telling him how nice it would be if we got back together again, she thought forlornly. That's probably why he's been looking like a hopeful puppy these past few days.
The worst part of it was, if she'd wanted him before, now she really had it bad for him. This business with finding his spiritual direction was not just for show; he'd made an enormous amount of progress, and it made him all the more attractive to her. He'd been treating her the way she suspected he normally treated other women; as competent equals. He, at least, had managed to unload all that old baggage and start fresh, even if she had not.
She'd forgotten, deliberately, all the things about his personality that had attracted her to him in the first place. Now all those things were coming back with a vengeance, and if he was frustrated as hell, sleeping all alone just down the hall from her, she was twice as frustrated.
'We're just working colleagues,' she kept telling him. She kept trying to convince herself of that. 'We need to keep a certain distance to keep this professional.'
She kept repeating that to herself, like a mantra. It wasn't working.
But dammit, I will not be herded into something, no matter who thinks it would be good for me! She buried her face in her hands and massaged her temples. You know, if the folks would just back off, it would be so much easier. He's a nice guy. He's more than a nice guy. I've got the hots for him like I've never had the hots for anyone else. I never lost the hots for him. If they 'd leave me alone, I could make up my mind about him, one way or another. If I could just think about this without the pressure. ...
And if pigs could fly.
David finished entering the last of his data into Jennie's computer, and did a backup before turning it off. Things had been markedly less strained between them since he'd been acting more like a big brother than anything else, but they'd really improved over the past couple of days. She had stopped wincing every time the phone rang.
It looked as if her folks had gotten the message. Finally.
Mooncrow promised he'd talk to Jennie's father and get him to back off, he thought, taking a quick glance at her. / guess he got through to them.
He'd basically given up on getting back together with her when he'd had that little talk with Mooncrow, asking if the old man would get Jennie's family to leave her alone. He'd already cooled his own jets. Things had been getting so strained that he was afraid she was going to tell him to get lost just to get her family off her back. And when it all came down to it-this Calligan thing was bigger than either of them. She was the only one who had all the right connections to put it all together. He was afraid that she needed help she wouldn't get if he had to make tracks.
So in order to make sure the job got done, his own desires needed to go on the back burner. Forever, if that was what it took.
The last thing I want is to screw things up for her all over again, he had decided. We make a good working team on this, and maybe I'm assuming too much, but I think she needs me if she's going to crack this case without breaking, herself. She needs two pairs of legs, two sets of eyes, and indirect contacts to Calligan's crew. I think she can do it alone, but it 'II put her in the hospital. She needs somebody she can delegate work to, and somebody she can bounce ideas off of.
And if he couldn't have anything else, he still wanted her as a friend and a Medicine mentor. He didn't have so many people he called 'friend' that he could afford to lose any of them, much less lose one over something as stupid as her family trying to play matchmaker.
'That's it,' he said, as she looked up from a pile of papers. 'I've got it all in there, but I haven't spotted a pattern of artifact sales that correspond to anything that might have been taken from that gravesite. The only things positively identified as Osage are a couple of ribbon-work pieces that date to about 1890. There were some pots that could have been from the site, but they didn't seem old enough.'
She sighed and rubbed her eyes. 'You're getting pretty good at spotting patterns,' she admitted. 'If you don't see it, I don't think I would, either.' She stood up and stretched. 'I need the sauna. As the sauna. Grandfather is doing the Medicine work on this; he's so much better than I that it isn't funny.'
'I'm going to call it a night,' he replied. He flexed his shoulders. 'I don't know how you can sit here and type for as long as you do. My eyes are tired, and I've got to meet some of Calligan's men tomorrow, the ones that are still working.'
'More accidents already?' she said in surprise.
'Yeah-little ones, but a lot of them.' He stood up and shoved the chair back under the desk. 'Oh, Mooncrow wants us to take him somewhere tomorrow, after I talk to the guys.'
Her eyes widened, and she nodded. As she had mentioned, Mooncrow had been doing some kind of Medicine for the past couple of days, 'looking for something,' she'd said. Apparently he'd found it.
'Well, go enjoy your steam, kiddo,' he told her, and gave her a brotherly (he hoped) wink, and a peck on the cheek. 'You've earned it. How about if tomorrow I buy you and Mooncrow some lunch?'
She laughed. 'No you don't. I know damn good and well that you're on the end of your cash. I can't pay you much, but at least I can feed you.'
He flushed, and shrugged. A few weeks ago he would have flatly denied he was in any financial trouble at all. A few months ago, he would have been angry at her for even suggesting he didn't have everything under control.
That was then. This is now. And-hey, this gives me exactly the opening I need.
'Okay. I can live with that.' He leaned back against the wall, and tilted his head to one side. 'You said a while back that you needed a secretary, or at least someone to help with the routine stuff. No reason why I can't hold that particular job down for room and board. If you want.'
His reply, and the suggestion, evidently caught her flat-footed. 'Do you really mean that?' she asked, after a moment. 'Or are you just putting me on?'
Not for a chance to stay here, I'm not.
'Call it 'assistant' instead of 'secretary' and I'd feel better, but sure, I mean it,' he told her, surprised he hadn't thought of this sooner. 'It's no worse than any of the other jobs I've had. Shoot, Jennie, I've worked at Mickie D's, I've pumped gas in truck stops, I've even washed cars. This is cushy, compared to those jobs, and it's sure as hell more of an intellectual stimulus. I know some about computers, and I've been a paralegal in about five states. And where else am I going to get a package that includes room, board, and Medicine training?'
She bit her lip and looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. 'You know,' she replied, slowly, 'if I had an assistant, I could take on a lot more cases than I do. I could train you, help you get your P.I. license. We don't make a bad team.'
He snorted. 'Hell, I think we make a great team. If you're willing to make it a little more formal.'
She nodded, slowly. 'Tell you what; let's work out this Calligan thing and see if we can keep from killing each
