Aimee Thurlo - Black Raven's Pride

He nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I’ve got no plans to marry. The bachelor life suits me.”

She didn’t comment. “How are you and Jake getting along trying to run a ranch together? You two never used to agree on anything.”

“Jake and I will never see eye to eye on a lot of things,” he answered, “but we’re working it out.” He paused, studying her expression. “But let’s get back to what’s going on in your life, Eden. People have the right to their opinions, and they’re not required to like the fact that you’re now living here. But no one has the right to threaten you physically, or harass you. It looks like you’re caught up in something that might be too big for you to handle alone. You’re a mother now and have other responsibilities to take into account. Let me do my job as a cop and help you out.”

She hesitated, then forced a smile. “What happened out there won’t happen again. I’m sure of it.”

“I don’t believe that any more than you do.”

“Don’t put yourself in the middle of this, Nick. It’ll only make things tougher for me,” she said. “I’ve always taken care of myself and I know what I have to do. I’ll handle it.”

“I’m sorry, Eden, but I can’t let this go. This trouble is taking place on pueblo land, and that’s my turf.”

As he pulled up in front of her adobe home, she mumbled a quick goodbye, let herself out, and began walking up to the door.

Nick knew he hadn’t been invited, but he parked the Jeep and decided to go inside with her. He had a job to do, and, as long as she was at the pueblo, it was his duty to help her fight whoever was trying to drive her off.

Like star-crossed lovers destined to keep meeting, Eden was back in his life again. But, this time, it was different. Eden, the woman he’d loved, was gone for good. In her place was this stranger who was bringing trouble to the land he was sworn to protect.

Eden knew Nick Black Raven was right behind her as she stepped up to the front door. She could sense him as clearly as she could the wind that swept her long chestnut hair across her face. She’d never wanted to bring Nick here. It was too hard to be with him. There were too many memories. Every time she looked at him, her heart remembered the only man who had ever made her blood sing. But he was not for her.

She could still remember every detail of their last night together. She’d loved him with all her heart, but afterward, as he’d held her, he’d bared his soul to her. What she’d seen there had made it clear that they couldn’t have a future together. A fierce agony had gripped her as he’d shattered her dreams one by one with each word he spoke.

He’d asked her to stay with him, but he’d never spoken of marriage. He’d told her that they’d make a life together, away from the pueblo, and never set foot on Tewa land again. They’d make a home in Arizona, just the two of them. Kids would never be a part of the picture. As far as he was concerned, the world didn’t need more children.

His vision of their future had been so different from hers! The knowledge had broken her heart and she’d realized then that she’d allowed things to go too far. The inescapable truth had been that she’d sworn to return to the pueblo to clear her parents’ name. She had hoped he’d go with her, but knew suddenly that it would never be. And then to learn that he never wanted children to become a part of his life… The prospect had chilled her soul.

Although she’d loved Nick, she’d realized that what they each needed to be happy went beyond their ability to make compromises. Although it was clear that circumstances had now brought him home to stay, it was just as evident from his earlier reference about his bachelor lifestyle that he hadn’t changed his mind about that part.

As it had been in the past, fate brought them together but continued to put obstacles in their way. To make matters even worse, Nick was now a cop. As the daughter of a man in law enforcement, she knew the high emotional cost that would carry for anyone close to him. Childhood memories made her hand tremble as she grasped the door and stepped inside.

Suddenly her son, Christopher, let out a delighted cry. The dark-haired baby crawled toward her from across the room, leaving his activity blanket behind in a heap. Her heart melted. “Come here, little guy. Did you miss me?” She scooped Chris up and held him against her, shutting out Mrs. Chino’s scowl for a few moments longer.

“You’re very late, Eden. I told you I was expected at my daughter’s, so you had to be back by seven, not eight forty-five. I almost left and took Christopher with me.”

“It was entirely my fault, Mrs. Chino.” Nick stepped around Eden and gave Mrs. Chino a mischievous grin that could have melted a dozen women’s hearts. “The weather was lousy and we were only trying to get out of the rain. Isn’t that what you were always telling us to do when Jake and I were kids?”

She smiled back at him, her anger vanishing in an instant. “I did do that, didn’t I? I’m surprised you remember!”

“How could I forget? Remember that big storm in October of 1985 that broke all those branches off the cottonwoods around the Plaza?”

In a matter of seconds, Nick had her talking about old times. By the time the elderly lady left, Eden was amazed to see Mrs. Chino was in a better mood than she’d been in days.

Eden sighed softly as she stood at the window, watching Nick walk the sitter down the street toward her house. Nick had a way about him. As far back as she could remember, he’d always had at least half of the women in the pueblo madly in love with him. But the time she remembered most was when he’d only had eyes for her.

A delicious warmth spiraled through her as her thoughts drifted back to those days. Suddenly aware of what she was doing, she squelched that sentimental memory. Their time had come and gone, though destiny still toyed with them.

She remembered what she’d told Nick earlier tonight about her baby when he’d pressed her. She hadn’t lied. There had been another man in her life after she’d left Nick—the child he’d fathered, their son Christopher.

Nick came back inside after having shown Mrs. Chino to her own door. Moving with purpose, he strode across the room toward her, all masculine power and confidence.

Eden’s heart was racing as she cradled Christopher closer in her arms, bracing herself for what she had to do. Nick was only a part of her past. All he represented to her now was another complication she’d have to deal with. Christopher and Nick would eventually have to know each other as father and son but, first, she wanted to make sure Nick would welcome that news. Everything she knew about him told him he would not.

For now, the best thing she could do was concentrate on what she’d come home to do. She had returned to clear her family’s name and that had to remain her first priority.

“Thank you for bringing me home, Nick, but I don’t want to keep you,” she said. Placing the squirming baby down on his special blanket, she started toward the door.

“So this is Christopher,” Nick said, ignoring her hint. Picking the baby up off the floor, he went to the couch. To Eden’s surprise, Christopher didn’t let out the usual ear-piercing shriek he was famous for when a stranger held him.

Nick raised the baby up, holding him in a standing position on his lap. “What a great kid! And, hey, I think he likes me.”

“Don’t be too flattered. He’s not picky. He also loves eating lipstick and crawling backwards down the hall.”

Nick looked up at her and smiled warmly, shaking his head. “Well, you certainly won’t win Miss Congeniality tonight.”