Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

S ophie walked down Doc’s hall to the reception area, relieved he’d given her a clean bill of health. And prenatal vitamins. She took a deep breath and opened the door to face Jake. Then she stopped cold at the sight of Loni, Tom, Dawn, Colton, Quinn, and Hawk all sitting in the waiting room.

Jake held his head in his hands but looked up at her gasp. “Melanie Johnson saw us come into the office earlier and called Mrs. West, who called Jeanie Dixon, who called my mother.”

Loni jumped to her feet and rushed to take Sophie’s hands. “Are you okay?” Loni wore a light blue blouse with the buttons lined incorrectly, jeans, and mismatched flip-flops. Her hair perched in a lopsided ponytail, and she’d applied mascara to only one eye.

Sophie nodded numbly.

“Good.” Loni patted her hands as the rest of the group rose. “We hurried down here so quickly we missed breakfast. Why don’t we all?—”

“No.” Jake reached around Loni to take Sophie’s hand and pull her toward the door. “We’re going somewhere else. To talk.”

He led her to the truck, and she sat inside without a protest, her mind whirling. She was pregnant. Everyone knew it. She didn’t notice when he started the ignition or pulled onto the road, and she paid no attention to their trip. The truck stopped.

“You brought me to your house,” she said woodenly.

Jake faced her across the middle console. “Are you all right?”

“Doc says I’m perfectly healthy. You had a huge head when you were born,” she mused.

Jake laughed. “He told you that?”

“Everybody knows I’m pregnant.” She would’ve liked a chance to come to grips with the idea on her own.

He rubbed a large hand over his eyes. “I know.” He turned and unfolded from the truck before crossing and opening her door to help her out.

“Are you going to sue me for custody?” Sophie regained her footing on the smooth drive, then lifted her eyes to meet his, which narrowed. She fought a shiver as the pine-scented breeze rippled through her hair, and thunder sounded in the distance.

“No,” he said.

Her knees trembled. “What about the Federal Indian Act?”

“You mean the Indian Child Welfare Act?” Jake rubbed heat into her suddenly freezing arms.

“Yeah, that.” Sophie eased back from his too-appealing touch. “Don’t tribes get a leg-up in custody battles?”

Jake studied her for a moment, realization dawning over his rugged face. “No. That is not what the Act does.”

“Really?” Sarcasm laced her tone.

“The Act’s purpose is to protect Indian children taken out of a home, so they are put in a foster home or adopted by another Indian couple. It does not give a leg-up to anyone in a normal custody proceeding.” Jake propelled her toward the house. “I cannot believe you’ve actually been worrying about this.” He opened the door and ushered her inside. “That you think I’d fight you in court for our child.”

Sophie turned to face him as he shut the door with a soft thud . “What are you going to do?”

“Negotiate.” The smile he gave her should have provided a warning. Instead, it warmed her from the toes up.

“Negotiate? What exactly do you mean?” Sophie sat on the leather couch and stretched her legs over the matching ottoman. The view of Mineral Lake and sharp peaked mountains relaxed her, bone by bone.

“Well, what would it take for you to live in Montana?” The matching leather chair creaked as he sat and faced her.

Sophie stiffened. “Live here?”

“Yes. In what circumstances can you see yourself based out of here?” he asked.

“What about you,? What circumstances can you see yourself living in San Francisco?” she asked.

“I don’t.” Jake’s jaw set. “It’s not only me. I can’t take Leila away from the rest of my family. Even if I wanted to.”

Sophie could understand that. “I’m surprised you’re not spouting that we need to get married before the baby is born.”

Jake sat back in his chair, his voice softening. “Already made that mistake.”

Sophie clamped down on the sudden pang through her heart. She reminded herself she didn’t want to get married just because she was pregnant, either. “I don’t know where we stand.”

“Me neither. I think we should look at it in steps,” he said.

“In steps?”

Determination and an odd vulnerability lit his eyes. “The pregnancy as the first step. Sophie, I would not like to miss any of it.”

“You’ll come to San Francisco?” she asked.

“I thought you’d stay here. You know, work on the tribe’s golf course and the art showing for Juliet. You’d still be working at what you want, and I’d pay to fly you to California any time you wished. So long as Doc okays it,” Jake said.

The idea did sound appealing. “I’m not sure.”

“Just think about it. Then we could figure out a schedule that works for both of us after the baby is born, if you decide to live in the city.” His smile was too charming.

Sophie frowned, her mind reeling with static.

A slam of a truck door saved her from having to answer, and Leila opened the front door and rushed into the room. “Daddy, look what Aunt Dawn made me.” The little girl jumped into her father’s arms and handed him a blue knitted hat.

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Dawn learned to knit?”

“Uncle Hawk bet her that she couldn’t do it.” Leila turned curious eyes on Sophie. “What’s ‘knocked up’ mean?”

Sophie’s breath caught. She dropped her legs off the ottoman.

Jake shot her a concerned glance. “Where did you hear that, sweetheart?”

Dawn answered from the doorway. “That cow Betsy Phillips said it to Mary Whitmore at the grocery store when we dropped by for some flour for Mom.” She turned wide eyes on Sophie. “Oh. Hi, Sophie.”

Sophie leaned back again and crossed her arms over her face. “Hi, Dawn.”

“Well, ’bye.” Dawn made a quick exit.

“What’s knocked up?” Leila asked again. “That cow Betsy Phillips said that you’re knocked up, Sophie. Does it hurt?”

Sophie huffed out a laugh, and she peeked between her arms.

“You shouldn’t call Mrs. Phillips a cow. Even if it is true,” Jake admonished his daughter.

“Sorry.” Inquisitive eyes met Sophie’s. “Well?”

“Um, well.” Sophie panicked as she stared at Jake.

Jake took a deep breath before cuddling his daughter close. “It means Sophie has a baby in her tummy.”

“Like old Bula?” Leila’s eyes dropped to Sophie’s stomach.

Jake sputtered. “Uh, kind of.”

“Who’s Bula?” Sophie asked warily.

Jake coughed, obviously hiding a laugh. “A milk cow over at my mom’s.”

“How did you get a baby in your tummy?” Leila asked.

That night found Sophie struggling to find sleep, even though her body was exhausted after Jake and Leila dropped her at home. She giggled at the thought of Jake quickly changing the subject to shoes with his daughter to avoid explaining the birds and the bees. Though they’d have to tell her about her future sibling sometime.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Jake’s offer made a certain kind of sense. Designing the tribe’s course would help Uncle Nathan, and she’d get a chance to put together a real art exhibit. A dream she hadn’t dared given any hope.

A tiny voice in her head whispered that she wouldn’t be alone during the pregnancy, either. But instead of reassuring her, that made her want to run. Fast and hard in the other direction. The phone rang, and she reached for it like a lifeline.

“Hey, Sophie, I hope I’m not waking you,” Preston said.

“No, Preston, I can’t sleep,” she admitted.

The sound of Preston settling back against leather, probably his desk chair, filled the line. “I just wanted to let you know that the Charleton Group has dropped their threats of a lawsuit.”

Sophie’s stomach heaved. “How? Why?”

“Apparently our new attorney talked to theirs and they backed off. Fast,” Preston said.

Sophie groaned. “We have a new attorney?”

“Yeah. You might know him.”

“Son of a bitch.” Sophie took a calming breath. At this rate there wouldn’t be a place in her life Jake hadn’t infiltrated.

Preston laughed. “I figured I’d give you a friendly warning. Your uncle thinks Lodge walks on water.”

“Great. But what about the other four developments? We needed those,” she said, her head hurting.

“Nah, we’ll be all right. I’m flying to New York tomorrow to meet with Luxem Hotel Executives. They’re building seven more hotels next year, all with golf courses. I think we’ll get the job,” Preston said.

Hope filled her. “That’d be great.”

“It’d be even better if you were here to help design some of those,” he cajoled.

Sophie stared at muted moonlight playing across the ceiling and searched for the right words. The scraping of pine needles against the window was the only sound through the room.

“Or…” Preston’s voice softened. “I’m sure you could help design them from anywhere in the world.”

She breathed in. “Really?”

“All you need is the Internet and a cell phone,” he said.

“I have those,” Sophie said softly.

“You have me, too. You’re a good friend. If you need me for anything, I’ll be there,” he said.

She kept her condition to herself for now. She wasn’t ready to share. “Thanks.”

“Night.” Preston ended the call, and Sophie stretched to place the cell phone on the antique nightstand. It sounded like her old friend was saying good-bye. Curiosity at what might have been caught her before she rolled over to count sheep.

She reached the two hundredth white fluffy animal before an odd smell tickled her nose. She lifted her head to survey the air. Hazy beams of light filtered through the gauzy curtains and lent an ethereal glow to the old-fashioned room. Brass glinted off bedrails, and shadows hummed along the edges to settle into the corners.

The smell grew stronger.

Smoke. Oh God, it was smoke.

Gasping, Sophie jumped out of bed and leaned one hand on the night table as the world spun around her. Several deep breaths had the room righting itself so she could hurry to the door and pull it open. Smoke billowed up from the stairway. Flames licked the wooden handrail.

Panic shot through her.

She slammed the door closed and grabbed her sweatshirt off the flowered chair to cover the space under the door. Thank goodness Mrs. Shiller was out of town.

Sophie grabbed her cell and dialed 911 to report the fire before yanking on jeans, a sweater, and her boots. Then she ran to the window and pushed it all the way open before turning back to the room. The solid door kept too much smoke from entering, and she figured she had a few minutes to figure out the safest way down. The tree was the only option.

She threw out her suitcase and sketchbooks, watching them plummet two stories onto the thick grass, counting how long it took to hit the ground. Too long. She didn’t know the exact distance, but she’d definitely break bones if she fell out of the tree. Smoke wafted out the front of the house to cover the ground in a fine haze.

From a distance, sirens pierced the night.

Sophie finally swung one leg over the ledge of the window. “We can do this, baby.” She eyed the nearby thick branches of the statuesque bull pine. She’d never climbed a tree but had studied gravity in a physics class. Gravity would win over wishful hopes any day. She reached for the closest branch, her plan formulating as she moved.

Flashing blue and red lights stopped her mid-reach as the sheriff’s truck slammed to a stop and both Jake and Quinn jumped out. More shrill sirens sounded in the night.

“Sophie!” Jake yelled as he barreled across the grass to look up at the window, Quinn on his heels.

“I’m fine, Jake,” Sophie called down, her white knuckles on the window frame starting to ache.

Quinn said something into a big radio just as a red fire truck screeched to a stop and men in full gear scrambled off.

Jake’s eyes held Sophie’s captive as he murmured something to his brother, who nodded and turned to direct the crew. Then Jake jogged to the tree and jumped to clasp the bottom branch before swinging his legs up over his head toward another branch, crossing his ankles and levering himself into the tree.

Sophie held her breath as Jake easily climbed branch after branch and sent leaves and bark cascading down to the ground.

Suddenly, he stood even with the window. “You ever climb a tree, Sunshine?”