Sharon Sala - Rider on Fire & When You Call My Name

“Uh…you’re…you’re…”

“I’m what?” he said, and then turned his back on her and dived into the water.

She watched the perfect dive with undue appreciation, both for his form and his perfect backside.

He came up with a whoosh, sending a shower of water into the air. The frustration and anger were gone from his face. To add insult to injury, he was treading water and grinning.

Sonora wanted to scream.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I think I was in the water when you answered. You were saying I was…?”

Sonora hadn’t grown up alone and tough for nothing.

“I was about to say…you’re scaring the fish.”

Sonora made Adam clean the fish. He considered it only fair since he’d come to the meal uninvited. Franklin woke up just as Sonora was taking the last fish from the skillet and followed the scent of his favorite food into the kitchen.

His delight in knowing there was fish for lunch doubled when he realized they would be having company.

“Adam! It’s good to see you. I was beginning to think you’d found something better to do than visit a sick old man.”

“You’re not old,” Adam said.

“Maybe not, but today I am not so sick that I can’t eat some of this wonderful fish. Daughter! It seems you have been busy while I was sleeping.”

“You have no idea,” Sonora muttered, then made herself smile.

She was still shocked at herself for letting Adam push all her buttons. Her lack of self-control was so out of character she felt off-center with the world.

Franklin paused. There was something different in her tone of voice, and now that he was looking, there was something different about her appearance, as well. This morning her hair had been up. Now it was down, and her face was flushed. The flush on her cheeks could have been from the heat of the kitchen, but the fact that she was studiously avoiding looking at Adam seemed more likely. And there was no explanation forthcoming as to why Adam’s hair was damp.

“Has something been going on in my house that I should know about?” he asked.

Sonora looked guilty.

Adam looked up. “Of course not, Franklin. I would never disrespect you or your home in that manner. The pond, however, is neutral territory, right?”

Sonora gasped, and then glared at Adam all over again.

Adam’s eyes were twinkling, but his expression was completely calm as he awaited Franklin’s answer.

Franklin grinned. “Yes. You are right. The pond is neutral territory.”

“Oh… I’m so laughing my head off,” Sonora muttered, then pointed at Adam. “You. Put some ice in the glasses, please.”

Adam knew better than to say anything else. He was still reeling from the kiss she’d laid on him down at the pond.

“Hey, Franklin… I was looking at that new piece you’re working on. It’s really something. What kind of bird is that…a wren?”

“Yes. I thought it was going to be a barn swallow, but when I began carving, the wren is what began to emerge.”

Sonora was listening to their conversation with interest as she put a small bowl of quartered lemons on the table, along with a bottle of tartar sauce.

“You mean, you don’t know what the sculpture is going to be before you begin?” Sonora asked.

Franklin smiled. It was something people often asked him once they found out his process.

“How can I know until I remove the excess wood?”

Sonora’s eyes widened with amazement. “The excess?”

“Yes, you know—the part that doesn’t belong.”

“That’s just amazing,” she said.

Franklin shrugged. “It’s not so much. It’s just the way it works.”

A timer went off.

“I’ll get it,” Adam said.

“It’s the corn bread,” Sonora said, and pointed to a platter on the counter. “After you cut it, would you put it on that plate?”

Already absorbed in his task, he nodded absently.

Sonora caught herself staring, and when she finally came to herself and turned around, her father was grinning at her.

“Don’t say a word,” she warned him.

Franklin could tell she was interested in Adam. He just didn’t know how much.

It was all Sonora could do to sit down at the table with Adam and get past the memory of his naked body enough to pass him the fried potatoes.

Adam knew she was bothered. It served her right. Yes, he’d kissed her first, but it hadn’t been the toe-curling, mind-blowing lip lock that she’d laid on him. She was dangerous to mess around with.

Still, he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. There was tension in her shoulders and her back was too straight. She was bothered, all right. He smiled as he passed her the bowl of potatoes.

“Want some?” he asked.

Her eyes narrowed. He wasn’t asking about potatoes, and they both knew it. She snatched the bowl from him and spooned a large helping onto her plate, then passed it to her father.

Adam managed to pretend disinterest as the meal progressed, but the truth was, he could have used another cold dip in the pond.

It wasn’t until they were doing the dishes that Franklin decided to stir the pot simmering between his daughter and friend.

“Hey, Adam, isn’t there a powwow coming up in a couple of weeks at the campgrounds?”

Adam was drying the last plate and answered before he thought. “Yes.”

“You gonna go?” Franklin asked.

“What’s a powwow?” Sonora asked.

“Kind of like a family reunion. There will be food and both men and women’s dancing.”

Sonora frowned. “What do you mean…men and women’s? Don’t they dance together?”

“No.”

“Isn’t that sort of antisocial?”

“Not when you see it,” Franklin said.

“Then show me,” she said.

Franklin sighed. “I’m sorry, Sonora. I would like to, but I’m afraid I will have to wait and see how I feel when the time comes.”

“I could take her,” Adam said.

Franklin pretended to think about it, when in fact it was his plan all along.

“Yes, that might be best,” he said. “If I feel well, I can come with you, but if I don’t, then you two can go on alone. Would you like to do that, daughter?”

Sonora wanted to know this side of her heritage, but she wasn’t sure she’d learn a damn thing with Adam Two Eagles except how much restraint she had left. Still, she wasn’t about to let either one of them know how much she wanted to be with Adam.

“Sure. Why not?” she said, then added, “But I hope you can come, too.”

“As do I,” Franklin said. “It would give me great pleasure to introduce you to some of our clan.”

“Clan? You mean the Kiowa?”

“The People are Kiowa, but we are of different clans. We belong to the Snake clan, as does Adam and his family.”

Sonora felt the blood draining from her face and thought she would pass out. There was a roaring in her ears and her legs suddenly went weak.

“Oh, God…oh, God,” she whispered, and staggered backward. Adam caught her, steadying her until she could sit down in a chair.

“Sonora? What’s wrong? Are you ill?” Franklin asked.

Adam knelt down in front of her, then looked up into her face. “Sonora? Sonora?”

She saw Adam’s lips moving, but she couldn’t hear anything but the thunder of her own heartbeat.

Franklin pulled up a chair and sat down beside her as Adam bolted from the room.

“Daughter…what did I say? If I offended you, it was unintentional.”

Adam came back with a wet washcloth and pressed it to Sonora’s forehead.

“Here, honey, see if this helps,” he said.

She grabbed it with both hands, and then swiped it across her face.

“This just keeps getting crazier and crazier,” she muttered. “Half the time I feel like the luckiest woman in the world, and the other half of the time like I’ve fallen into the Twilight Zone.”