The stallion never appeared, and Tess finally turned Sateen loose to graze, sure the mare wouldn't go too far from her side. As the sun rose higher and hotter, she changed into the bikini in her backpack and slathered sunscreen on her skin. Grabbing one of the novels from her pack, she spread out a towel and settled down to work on her tan and read, with the rifle by her side.

  She couldn't concentrate and gave up halfway through the first chapter. She threw the book aside and stared at Sateen. Stone had seemed to accept the fact that the mare had shown up in this time period without too much skepticism. Yet the mare's presence bothered the heck out of Tess.

  She knew how she'd gotten here—her fall into a time warp. But she'd been at the right place at the right time. Her horse had been two hundred miles away, stabled on the outskirts of the city, an hour's subway ride from her apartment. How the heck had Sateen traveled through time? Did she come through the same warp? It was beyond any stretch of the imagination to believe that a similar warp had opened up at the exact, opportune spot for Sateen to be brought to her.

  Something else—perhaps somebody else—had to be involved, yet even her logical mind, used to dealing with all the intricacies of the law, couldn't figure this one out.

  She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees. One thing she did know for sure was that she had made her decision. She was committed to Stone now and forever. She had made that commitment yesterday afternoon when she made love with him. Along with her virginity, she had given him her soul—placed her future in his hands. She would avoid the hillside beside the cabin and share Stone's life from now on. She would never return to the New York law firm.

  Suddenly she clapped a hand over her mouth, then leapt up and ran over to her backpack. She dug in and pulled out the little laptop computer from its nest in the side pocket, unzipped the leather case and opened the disk slot. Oh, dear. There it was—the disk that contained her brief—the brief that had all the information in it to clear Robert of the charges of violating his non-compete agreement with the new owners of the company he had sold.

  The brief was so sensitive and confidential that the senior partner of the firm had ordered her to delete it from her office computer and only work on it at home. She had shredded all the hardcopy drafts after making revisions and only kept a backup disk each time. She reached into the pocket on the leather laptop case and pulled out her backup copy.

  Possibly the senior partner could reconstruct the brief from the scanty case law Tess had given him in the staff meeting, but she really didn't think so. The case cites were on yet another disk, filed there in the leather case with her backup disk. Besides, it had been years since a senior partner had had to do legal research. They always depended on the associates to do that boring work.

  Tess usually thoroughly enjoyed legal research, sometimes to the point that she had to pull herself away from a superfluous tangent she had become interested in when it didn't really bear on her case. While working on Robert's problem, though, she'd uncharacteristically had to force herself to call up the law firm's research program on her computer.

  She knew why. Robert's former company, located in upper New York State, had manufactured and sold industrial chemicals. The chemical formulas were so proprietary, the company would not even apply for a patent, which would mean disclosing the formulas in public records. With her love of the wilderness, she had detested the thought of those offensive compounds being used and the residues disposed of in hazardous waste dumps.

  Robert had sought to avoid complying with the non-compete clause in the company's sales contract by starting up another, similar company in a different state—Texas. His choice of states, not even a knowing decision on his part, would save his hide. Her hours of research had led her through New York, Texas, and even Florida laws, cross-referencing her notes until she was certain of her defense. Texas law would govern, and the non-compete clause for the New York sale did not contain an essential clause—geographical limitations—as required under Texas statutes. The icing on the defense cake was the New York company's refusal to disclose publicly their customer list, thus leaving them without proof Robert had solicited sales from his former customers.

  Her research and the resulting brief had taken her weeks to complete. The law firm might be able to get a continuance now, given her disappearance. However, the New York courts were clogged with cases, and the judge assigned to this case was not known to have much sympathy for continuances.

  She shook her head, then laughed. There weren't even any phone lines here, where she could hook up her little modem and transmit the information to New York—the information she alone had. Even if there was a phone line, how could she key in modem commands that would transmit a hundred years to the future?

  Too bad. Maybe Robert would just have to live with the consequences of his actions. Maybe some of his old, moldy money would have to be used to pay off his contract violation, as well as any other civil fines. Golly gee, was there a prison term connected with that sort of white-collar crime? She couldn't really remember—she'd had a meeting set up with another branch of the firm to discuss that the Monday following the day she had stormed out of her office.

  She'd had good intentions. Even as angry as she'd been when she went home and loaded her backpack, she'd remembered to pack the little laptop. She had planned to work on the brief a little more—refining it and correcting the grammar—at the campsite Saturday evening. It was to have been filed in court two weeks later.

  Two weeks were past now in 1893. They were past back in her other life, weren't they? She wondered what had happened. Without that brief, the new owners had a good chance of winning a summary judgment.

  She realized she didn't really give a diddly squat. Granny had always said, What goes around, comes around. She had no idea how much money Robert controlled, but she would bet a $50-million-dollar non-compete contract violation might just put a hole in it. And the resulting publicity in the business section of the newspaper would definitely hurt Robert's business reputation.

  Nothing she could do about it, though. She zipped the little computer back into its case and shoved it in the backpack. Rising, she grabbed the towel she had hung over a bush to dry, picked up the rifle, and headed for the creek to wash off her sunscreen. She'd better change out of her bikini and see what she could scrounge up for supper. Stone had said something about there being trout in the creek, and he'd left her a hand line, in case she wanted to go fishing.

  Stone returned just before sundown, with six Cherokee and a smoked venison haunch to supplement the trout Tess had caught. She sighed a little in disappointment after they ate and she unrolled the sleeping bag and bedroll, placing them side by side instead of arranging them together. She crawled into her sleeping bag fully clothed, then watched the men sitting around the fire to discuss their plans to move the herd the next morning. Her eyes drifted shut, but sometime later she stirred briefly when she felt an arm drape around her waist and pull her close.

  "We won't have to sleep apart much longer, darlin'," Stone whispered.

  She murmured a muffled "Love you" and sank back into slumber before she could ask him what he meant.

  Tess woke to the smell of coffee and frying bacon. Opening her eyes, she saw Stone watching her from where he squatted by the fire. He winked and mouthed his morning "Love you" before he turned his attention to the skillet of bacon.

  How wonderful it felt to wake up with Stone near. Her lips curved into a contented smile and she stretched herself, then climbed out of the sleeping bag. She frowned for just a second as she recalled Stone whispering something to her after he lay down beside her last night, but the words seemed to have escaped her memory. Oh, well. She could ask him later.

  By the time the men checked the area to make sure the stallion wasn't lying in wait to cause them trouble with the herd, several hours had passed. Stone and the Indians worked the mares for a while in the valley after they opened the gate, until they became accustomed to being herded. After that they cut out the mares with small colts, leaving them to find their way back to the stallion. Still Stone had over three dozen mares to send to the Army post—some suitable for saddle mounts for the soldiers and others for the army scouts. He picked out one sorrel mare for Jasper and, following a brief tussle, tied her to the gate.

  He found three mares with ranchers' brands on their haunches and made a list for the men to give the army commander. The commander would notify the ranchers by telegraph, and they could pick up their horses at the post.

  At last the herd moved out, and he slipped his arms around Tess and nuzzled her ear.

  "Now, where's my morning kiss?"

  "Right here."

  Her arms went around his neck, and he kissed her deeply. Then again and once again.

  But then he pulled back and shook his head slightly. "Huh-uh," he murmured. "The next time I make love to you, you're going to be my wife."

  "Your... what?"

  Twenty-Nine

  Stone tipped his hat up an inch, then stuck his fingertips in his back pockets.

  "My wife. You didn't think we were just going on like this, did you? Even a hundred and one years from now I reckon women know what can happen when a man and woman make love. I won't have a child of mine born a bastard—whether it's in nine months or a hundred and one years."

  "But I won't... won't get pregnant, Stone."

  "Sure," he said, almost sneering. "Look, I know there's a couple of ways to make sure I don't plant a baby in a woman, but we didn't do that. My child could be growing in you right now."

  "No, it couldn't," she denied as she glanced at her backpack.

  "I suppose you're gonna tell me you've got some magic pill in there that will keep you from getting with child."

  She reluctantly nodded her head. When she saw a thunderous scowl crawl over his face, she quickly backed away.

  "It's not what you think," she gasped as she tried to defuse his anger. "I started taking those pills for a... a female problem. I have a lot of pain every month, and it was getting worse. The doctor said..."

  "I suppose those are the damned pills you were talking about at the cabin! Are you telling me that we could've been making love all this time, instead of me havin' to go out to that well and pour a bucket of cold water over me every night?"

  She plopped her hands on her hips and leaned toward him, until her nose was a bare inch from his.

  "You just hold your damned wild horses, Stone Chisum! I told you—I wasn't taking those pills to keep from getting pregnant. I don't sleep around. To me, making love is a commitment, not a sexual release. I was saving my virginity for the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with!"

  "Exactly," he said, smirking. "And that's why we're going to get married."

  "You said you wanted to get married because you were afraid I was pregnant!" she fumed.

  "Did I say that? I seem to recall sayin' we weren't going on like this—that the next time we made love, you were gonna be my wife. If that's not a commitment, I don't know what the hell else you can call it."

  "You haven't even asked me yet!"

  "Oh. Is that what you're waiting for?"

  "No! I mean... darn it, Stone, marriage should be a mutual decision. We should discuss it. You can't just tell me that we're going to get married without asking me how I feel about it."

  "So tell me."

  "Tell you what?"

  "How you feel about it. How you feel about becoming my wife."

  Stone ducked his head and stared at the ground. Her jaw dropped when he stuck out a boot toe and started shoving a small rock around, refusing to look at her. She wished she could see his eyes, but he kept his head turned a little, just enough for his hat brim to shadow his face. But she could see his lower lip, barely protruding.

  Suddenly she realized that he wasn't nearly as confident as he tried to appear. He couldn't force her to say "I do," and she also realized at the same moment that she wanted to say those words just as much as she wanted to say "I love you."

  She really ought to make him sweat a little bit more, though. After all, she wanted her marriage to be a partnership, not a dictatorship, with her on the receiving end of his orders.

  "Well," she mused, and his head jerked up. She tilted her head sideways and chewed her bottom lip for a second.

  "Well," she repeated, "I did promise Granny that I'd only make love with my husband. And I've broken that promise, unless I do marry you."

  "Is that the only reason, darlin'?" he whispered.

  "No. I love you. That's the real reason."

  He reached for her and pulled her against his chest. "Then—will you marry me, Tess Foster? Be my wife in every way and share everything with me?"

  "Yes," she murmured. "Oh, yes."

  He kissed her until she was breathless—until she pulled away, gasping for air.

  "You... you'd better stop now," she said with a small laugh. "Unless you want me to do my darndest to make you break that promise not to make love to me again until I'm your wife."

  "Insatiable," he groaned. "I knew it."

  "And who made me that way?" she teased.

  He stepped back and frowned at her. "What about the guy with all that moldy money?"

  "I told you that was over. I hope you're not going to be one of those men who think what's past has any bearing on the life two people plan to have together. Do you want me to start questioning you again about how many women...?"

  "Hush." He clapped his hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I won't bring it up again. But you have to realize, honey, that I don't have much right now. I've got plans for the ranch, but... and there's Rain and Flower. You'll be their mother." He dropped his hand from her mouth.

  She smiled. "I already love them, Stone. You know that."

  "And..." He glanced at her pack. "And I want children of my own. How long do you have to take those damned pills?"

  She laid a finger beside her mouth and pretended to think. "Oh," she finally said, "the doctor did say that my first pregnancy would probably take care of my problem. He said he'd seen it happen with other women. After their first child the monthly pain subsided."

  He swept her up into his arms. Whirling her around, he threw back his head and shouted, "I'm gonna be a father. Hear that, everybody? Tess and I are going to have babies together—lots of them."

  She giggled and pushed at his shoulders until he set her down again.

  "That lots will be something else we'll discuss together," she said. "And I thought you wanted to get married first."

  "I do," he agreed. "Come on. Let's get moving. We can be married by tomorrow evening."

  "But you said we were going to the Cherokee camp."

  "We are. That's where we'll get married. I've already talked to Silver Eagle, and he'll do the ceremony."

  "Silver Eagle? Silver Eagle's going to marry us?"

  "It's legal, if that's what's worrying your lawyer mind. Oklahoma's still a territory, and Indian marriages are recognized. Hell, that and just living together were all a lot of people had for years out here, what with traveling preachers only showing up now and then. I suppose we could wait until we get back to Clover Valley, if you want a minister to marry us. But Flower and Rain are already pretty excited about the whole idea, and we'd have to wait until they got done with their visit and could be there. If you want, though."

  "I think an Indian ceremony will be perfect," she broke into his babbling. "Absolutely, utterly perfect."

  And it would be, she thought to herself as she helped Stone break camp. What else could fit in so perfectly with this entire, fantastic episode in her life?

  In an unguarded moment, she started to unzip the pocket in her pack where she kept her pills, then hesitated. In the flurry of packing at her apartment that night, she hadn't taken time to separate the things in the drawer where she kept her extra backpacking supplies—deodorant, toothpaste, Band-Aids, vitamins, and so forth. She'd tossed the year's supply of birth-control pills she had picked up the previous week at the pharmacy in that drawer, since there wasn't room in the medicine cabinet. In a hurry to be on her way, she'd dumped the entire drawer into a case and shoved the case into her pack, not stopping to consider that she wouldn't need the pills until she returned.

  In the deepest part of her heart, she wanted to scatter those pills here in the valley—the valley where she had truly become a woman in every sense of the word—Stone's woman. To start trying to get pregnant tomorrow night. Her hand fluttered to her stomach, imagining Stone's child growing there.

  "Stone? Could you come help me here?"

  Stone walked over to her. "Sure. What do you need?"

  She handed him a package of pills. "This." She started punching pills through the foil covering, flicking her wrist to scatter the pills as they fell.

  "Your turn," she said when her package was empty. "We've got ten more packages to get rid of."

  He stared at her for a second, then whispered, "I love you, Tess. But are you sure you want this right away? Maybe we should wait awhile."

  She lifted her face to his, and the breeze feathered through her hair. "No," she said in a determined voice. "I want our commitment to each other to start out on a forever basis."

  Stone took a deep breath and started punching out pills.

  "A church pew. How nice, Michael," Angela said the next evening after Michael rearranged their cloud.

  "It's a holy occasion, Angie. And I'm feeling awfully spiritual right now, even for the state I'm in. After all, I had a little something to do with this wedding that's getting ready to take place down there."

  "A little something? I'd say you had quite a bit to do with it. They wouldn't even have met if not for you."

  "Yeah," Michael said with a satisfied smile.

  "Now, Michael," she cautioned. "Too much pride is a sin, you know."

  "How about just a smattering of pride then, huh? Part of doing a job well is the pride you take in doing it so well."