Читать книгу Bound by Honor - Donna Clayton, Donna Clayton - Страница 12

“Are you upset about the civil service?” Jenna had finally garnered enough courage to ask the question that had been rolling in her mind since they’d left the courthouse. She glanced at Gage tentatively.

“Why would I be upset?” His attention never wavered from the road ahead as he drove his pickup on I-94 toward Broken Bow. “Other than the fact that I hadn’t planned on repaying a Life Gift with wedding vows.”

She ignored his murmured aside. She couldn’t regret having pledged herself to Gage in front of a Rosebud County clerk of the court. The marriage certificate in her possession was mandatory in gaining custody of Lily. To Jenna, it hadn’t mattered that the ceremony was short and quite dispassionate. Even with the requested rush on the tests, the wait for results had meant another excruciating week without Lily. The truth be known, Jenna was relieved to have the formalities over so quickly.

She had her doubts about Gage.

“Well,” she began, “my guess is that you’re, um, a very spiritual person. I thought that you might have felt peculiar about going to the courthouse to get married as opposed to…” She faltered for a moment. “Well, as opposed to having a religious ceremony.”

“And you came to those conclusions merely because I’m Indian?”

Accusation edged the question, and Jenna felt suddenly self-conscious. She hadn’t meant to offend him.

Before she could respond, he said, “You shouldn’t form opinions about Native Americans based solely on stereotypes.”

Now she felt insulted herself. “I was doing no such thing.”

The raised brows on his chiseled profile were clear evidence that he was unconvinced.

“I wasn’t,” she insisted, shifting on the seat.

“So why would you think I’d be upset that we married at the courthouse?” he pressed.

She lifted one shoulder a fraction. “Because of the things you said the day we met. You used a name…Kitan To-wet—” her tongue tripped over the foreign word “—I think it was. You spoke as if this was some great force or entity. Like fate. Or God.” Heat flushed her cheeks when she realized how this must sound to him, as if she had him figured out because of the things he’d said that day. “You said Kitan To-wet had plans for you, and that I’d messed up those plans.”