Texas Love Song by Jodi Thomas

Author:Jodi Thomas [Thomas, Jodi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781101645154
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 1996-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

SILENTLY, SLOAN WATCHED Winter cry until there were no more tears in him, then he wiped his face with Sloan’s bandanna and swore, “I’ll never cry again. Not as long as I live.”

Sloan lifted him from the ground. Winter wrapped his arms and legs around the tall man as though he were hanging on during a violent storm. They walked slowly through the blackness of night back to camp. McCall followed so close beside Sloan her skirt brushed his pant leg with each step. The wind howled in the trees and cool air circled around them, stealing warmth.

Choosing his footing carefully, Sloan knew if he tripped, they’d all fall. By the time they reached the campfires, Alyce Wren and Eppie were asleep. A few of the tribe members moved in the distance, banking fires for the night and securing boundaries.

Sloan lowered Winter onto his own bedroll beneath the wagon and stood. “In a minute or two he’ll be too much of a man to allow me to carry him.”

“He has had so much grief for such a little one.” McCall kissed Winter gently on the forehead and brushed the now short hair away from his eyes. “I don’t want him to think he doesn’t belong. He belongs to us, now, and always will.”

“He’s young and strong,” Sloan whispered. “He’ll survive. But as for belonging to us…” Sloan didn’t know how to say what had to be said without hurting her. She must be blind not to notice that he was on the run, avoiding invisible bullets until one day the real one came. What kind of father would he make for a boy who’d have more than his share of battles just because of his blood?

“Are you trying to tell me you don’t want him?” McCall seemed to be fighting to keep her voice low as she stood and faced Sloan. The wind whirled a single strand of hair across her cheek like one streak of war paint.

Her question demanded his full attention. Sloan jammed his fists into his pockets to keep from touching her. “I didn’t say that.” Sloan backed a step away from her and the wagon. “But children aren’t something you pick up along the road and decide to keep. Maybe we should look around for folks who want to bring him up proper. You know, with a farm and a school down the road.” He knew it would be a long shot, but they might find someone.

“You know as well as I do that most of the folks who’d agree to take him would use him as a slave until he ran away or died from a beating. I don’t know of a family that doesn’t have more kids than they can feed already.”

He didn’t argue. The war had pushed many children on the streets when a widow couldn’t take care of them. But Sloan was no more a father than McCall was a mother. Did she think she could keep Winter with her while she

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