them still existed.Stronger and more compelling than ever before. But he didn't touch her. Instead he captured her with his intense gaze.
"I always treated you with respect and I let you set the rules that governed our relationship. I gave you your way in every situation, about everything that concerned us."
Joe had never voiced his resentment.And certainly never to Andi. "I was so afraid I'd lose you before you were truly mine. I didn't want to do anything that would scare you off. I thought that if I were patient and understanding, you'd come to see my life on the reservation as a life you wanted to share with me.
"But what good did catering to your wishes do me? The first time I did something you disapproved of, you turned against me. I did what I thought was the right thing—the honorable thing—and you wouldn't even let me explain my side of the situation."
"My father killed himself because you arrested him, because your actions shamed him before his family and his people. I was in shock and mourning my father's death. How did you think I should have reacted? You didn't give me time to deal with anything before you tucked tail and ran."
"Your father's own actions shamed him," Joe said, barely able to control the rage seething inside him.
"He disappointed everyone who knew and respected him. But by doing my duty, by being a good lawman, you and many others treated me as if I were the one who had committed a crime. Don't you think that every day of my life, I mourn Russell Lapahie? He was like a father to me. He didn't have to kill himself. He could have faced up to his actions and made amends."
"And you could have stayed here on the reservation and given people a chance to forgive you, but instead you deserted us. You ran away and never looked back."
"Maybe I didn't think I'd done something that required forgiveness," Joe said. "And if you believe that I never looked back, then you're wrong. Not a day passed that some part of me didn't remember my old life, didn't long to return."
Andi looked at him for a moment longer,then broke eye contact. Squaring her shoulders, she stiffened her spine and walked around Joe and across the bedroom. Pausing in the doorway, she said, "I'm going to take a shower and change clothes."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"Go ahead. I'll fix us some breakfast, then call J.T. and let him know we'll be there in a couple of hours.
After we eat, you can clean up the dishes while I shower and change."
"Fine."
When Andi disappeared from view, Joe smashed one fist into the palm of his other hand and cursed under his breath. Their frank discussion had accomplished nothing. They were exactly where they had been—at an impasse.
He headed toward the kitchen, thankful that Kate had filled his refrigerator and cupboards with supplies.
But before he had broken the first egg into a bowl, his cellular phone rang. He removed the telephone from the holder attached to his belt, flipped the phone open and answered.
"Ornelas here."
"Joe, I've got some bad news."
A shudder racked Joe's body. "Has something hap-pened to the boys?"
"I haven't had any word on Eddie and Russ," J.T. said. "But it seems the police have found the murder weapon."
“How is that bad news?''
"They found the gun in a water trough in one of the corrals next to Doli Lapahie's barn."
"Damn!"
Chapter 7
Rita Gonzales, the Blackwood family's housekeeper, served coffee in the den, where Joe and Andi sat on op-posite sides of the room, each occasionally glancing the other's way. Joanna had tried her best to include them in conversation, but her efforts had been futile. Andi as-sumed that after their confrontation at his house earlier this morning, Joe's emotions were as raw as hers.
She still couldn't believe that she had thought she was dreaming about Joe kissing her, only to waken fully and discover that it had been no dream. Even now, a couple of hours later, she still felt
"I always treated you with respect and I let you set the rules that governed our relationship. I gave you your way in every situation, about everything that concerned us."
Joe had never voiced his resentment.And certainly never to Andi. "I was so afraid I'd lose you before you were truly mine. I didn't want to do anything that would scare you off. I thought that if I were patient and understanding, you'd come to see my life on the reservation as a life you wanted to share with me.
"But what good did catering to your wishes do me? The first time I did something you disapproved of, you turned against me. I did what I thought was the right thing—the honorable thing—and you wouldn't even let me explain my side of the situation."
"My father killed himself because you arrested him, because your actions shamed him before his family and his people. I was in shock and mourning my father's death. How did you think I should have reacted? You didn't give me time to deal with anything before you tucked tail and ran."
"Your father's own actions shamed him," Joe said, barely able to control the rage seething inside him.
"He disappointed everyone who knew and respected him. But by doing my duty, by being a good lawman, you and many others treated me as if I were the one who had committed a crime. Don't you think that every day of my life, I mourn Russell Lapahie? He was like a father to me. He didn't have to kill himself. He could have faced up to his actions and made amends."
"And you could have stayed here on the reservation and given people a chance to forgive you, but instead you deserted us. You ran away and never looked back."
"Maybe I didn't think I'd done something that required forgiveness," Joe said. "And if you believe that I never looked back, then you're wrong. Not a day passed that some part of me didn't remember my old life, didn't long to return."
Andi looked at him for a moment longer,then broke eye contact. Squaring her shoulders, she stiffened her spine and walked around Joe and across the bedroom. Pausing in the doorway, she said, "I'm going to take a shower and change clothes."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"Go ahead. I'll fix us some breakfast, then call J.T. and let him know we'll be there in a couple of hours.
After we eat, you can clean up the dishes while I shower and change."
"Fine."
When Andi disappeared from view, Joe smashed one fist into the palm of his other hand and cursed under his breath. Their frank discussion had accomplished nothing. They were exactly where they had been—at an impasse.
He headed toward the kitchen, thankful that Kate had filled his refrigerator and cupboards with supplies.
But before he had broken the first egg into a bowl, his cellular phone rang. He removed the telephone from the holder attached to his belt, flipped the phone open and answered.
"Ornelas here."
"Joe, I've got some bad news."
A shudder racked Joe's body. "Has something hap-pened to the boys?"
"I haven't had any word on Eddie and Russ," J.T. said. "But it seems the police have found the murder weapon."
“How is that bad news?''
"They found the gun in a water trough in one of the corrals next to Doli Lapahie's barn."
"Damn!"
Chapter 7
Rita Gonzales, the Blackwood family's housekeeper, served coffee in the den, where Joe and Andi sat on op-posite sides of the room, each occasionally glancing the other's way. Joanna had tried her best to include them in conversation, but her efforts had been futile. Andi as-sumed that after their confrontation at his house earlier this morning, Joe's emotions were as raw as hers.
She still couldn't believe that she had thought she was dreaming about Joe kissing her, only to waken fully and discover that it had been no dream. Even now, a couple of hours later, she still felt
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