Honor Bound(32)

And that was true. The doctor had fallen in love with her that very day. She had been awfully young, incredibly beautiful, and frantic over her rowdy little boy with the broken arm. Within an hour, Gene had set the arm … and set his heart on Alice Greywolf. In the years since then, his love hadn't diminished.

It hadn't always been easy to love her. There had been times when, out of sheer frustration, he would issue ultimatums that either she marry him or he'd never see her again. No amount of ranting and raving ever did any good. She still refused his marriage proposals.

Several times he had stayed away from her and deliberately cultivated other romances. They never lasted for long. He hadn't bothered to use that jealousy tactic in years, partially because it wasn't fair to the other women. Alice was the single love of his life, whether she ever married him or not. He had resigned himself to that fact.

Alice rested her cheek against his chest and smiled sadly at the bittersweet memory of the day they had met. Gene Dexter had been a friend to her in every sense of the word for so long she couldn't imagine a life without his solid presence in it. She treasured the first time she had seen him and heard his gentle voice. But at the same time, she had been anxious over her son.

"Lucas had been in a fight," she said reminiscently. "Some of the older boys at school had been aggravating him. One called him an ugly name." Even now it was painful for her to think of the double stigma her son had had to grow up with.

"Knowing Lucas, I guess he threw himself right into the thick of it."

"Yes," she said with a laugh. "I was worried about his arm, of course, but I remember being angry with him as well for not ignoring their name-calling."

Gene thought Lucas probably would have if they had slurred only him. His guess was that Alice had been maligned, too. Defending his mother had kept Lucas in fights during his childhood and adolescence. Gene refrained from mentioning that.

"I never liked for him to cause trouble at school because that only drew attention to him," Alice continued. "Then, too, I was worried about how I was going to pay the new Anglo doctor for his services."

She tilted her head back to look up into Gene's face. He was no longer as young as when she had first met him, but he was just as handsome in his kind, quiet way. "You knew I didn't have the money to pay you. Why did you extend me credit?"

"Because I wanted your body," he said, nudging his nose beneath her chin and making playfully ferocious growling sounds. "I thought that treating your kid on credit might give me some bargaining room."

Laughing, she pushed him away. "I don't believe that for a minute. You're far too nice. On the other hand, you insured payment. Right after you set Lucas's arm, you offered me a job."

He framed her face between his hands and stared down into it lovingly. "All I knew then and know now is that I couldn't let you walk out that day if there was the slightest chance I'd never see you again. All I ensured myself was that you had to come back." He kissed her, his mouth both tender and passionate as it moved over hers. "Marry me, Alice." There was a desperate edge to his voice and she knew that his yearning was sincere.

"My father—"

"Is dead now." Gene dropped his arms to his sides and agitatedly raked back his hair. "I know it's only been several weeks since he died. I know you're still feeling the pain of losing him. But you used him as an excuse not to marry me for years. I understood. You had to take care of him. But now that he's gone, are you going to use his death in the same way you used his life?"

She walked around him, leaving the kitchen and moving into the living room of her small but tidy house. "Please don't badger me about marriage now, Gene. I have Lucas to consider, too."

"Lucas is a grown man."

"He still needs the support of his family, and I'm all he's got left."

"He has me, too, dammit!"

She looked up at him then, apologetically, and reached for his hand. Angry as he was, he let her pull him down onto the sofa beside her. "I know that. I didn't mean to exclude you."

Gene's tone softened considerably. "Alice, Lucas isn't a child any longer, but he's still getting into fights. He's hell-bent on making life as tough on himself as he possibly can. With only a few months to go, he escaped prison. He took a young woman hostage."

"She's still a mystery to me," Alice interjected at the mention of Aislinn Andrews. "It was unlike Lucas to involve anyone else."

"Exactly my point. He didn't consult you, or ask my counsel on whether he should escape prison and become a fugitive. Why should you feel it's necessary to involve him in your decision to marry me? He knows how I feel about you. Maybe if you had married me when I first asked you, he wouldn't be as wild as he is." She looked hurt. Gene sighed. "That was a low blow. Sorry."

"Lucas had enough to live down when he was growing up. Having an Anglo stepfather, who was rich by reservation standards, would have been another."

"I know," he conceded. "But you used Lucas as an excuse for years. Then once he was grown and away at school, you said your father was the reason you couldn't marry me." He pressed her hands between his. "Neither of them was a viable reason. They were flimsy excuses, and they just ran out."