Breaking Free: A Colorado High Country Crossover Novel, Pamela Clare [i can read book club .TXT] 📗

saving Winona’s life and Naomi’s, asking God to heal Winona’s leg and Naomi’s body, praying for the Source of Life to protect the two women and baby Shota. But beneath it all flowed a single persistent plea, straight from his heart.

Help me, Father. My path leads me away from Winona, but I love her. Help me to find the answer.

Winona was in the middle of another walk on her crutches when Kat stepped out of the elevator. She smiled when she saw Winona and hurried over to her.

“You’re up and walking already. You’re doing so well.”

The nurse agreed. “Isn’t she?”

“I don’t feel like I’m doing well.”

Kat walked beside her. “It’s hard, but I know you’ll get there.”

Winona reminded herself that Kat had been through this. She had watched Gabe recover from the amputation of his leg below the knee, an injury he’d sustained saving Kat’s life. Gabe had cut a climbing rope, surrendering himself to death rather than pulling Kat over the edge with him. He’d fallen more than three hundred feet, landing in deep snow, which had saved his life. But he’d hit his leg on the cliff wall on the way down, damaging it beyond repair.

“One step at a time,” the nurse said.

When Winona was back in her bed and had taken her next dose of pain pills, Kat drew up the chair and sat beside her. Kat already knew what had happened, so Winona didn’t need to repeat the story. For a time, they kept the conversation light, talking about Kat’s kids, her job at the newspaper, and the Cimarron, which Kat had visited many times because one of her coworkers was Nate’s sister-in-law.

It was Winona who changed the direction of their conversation. “The doctor says he’s pretty sure I’m going to keep my leg.”

“I’m so glad. Gabe and I have been praying for you. But if the worst happens, you know we’ll be there for you. Gabe knows what it’s like. That’s why he’s at the inipi.”

“That means so much to me. Thanks.” Then Winona remembered. “He’s not engaged.”

“Who’s not engaged?”

“Jason. He’s not engaged. His fiancée was arrested for drug smuggling six months ago and is in prison. He broke up with her the day she was arrested. I don’t think it’s easy for him to discuss. He felt betrayed.”

“Of course, he did. Poor Jason.” Kat let out a breath. “I never did like Elena. I’m sorry he went through that, but I’m also relieved. I’d heard that the two of you had grown close. I was worried.”

Winona told Kat how she and Jason had ended up at the Cimarron, with Jason cutting sign, helping Jack and Nate resolve the mystery of the wolf. “It was inspiring to watch him work. I was so impressed. I felt so guilty being attracted to him. But when I found out he was single, I suddenly felt nervous around him.”

Kat laughed. “I would have loved to see your face when you learned the truth. I’m married, and I love Gabe. I love him and find him incredibly sexy. But I still have eyes. Jason is hot.”

“You’re right about that.” Winona told Kat how Jason had comforted her after a nightmare, how he’d loved watching her feed the eagle, how he’d made her feel safe when she thought she might die on that mountainside.

And then her emotions overflowed, tears filling her eyes. “I love him, Kat. My heart tells me he’s my half-side, but he’s leaving.”

“Oh, Win.”

“He made a death-bed promise to his grandmother not to leave his O’odham people. If I want to be with him, I would have to close my clinic, move to Sells, and live far away from my family. I can’t imagine watching little Shota grow up through photographs and text messages or not living next door to my brother and Naomi or being far away when Grandpa…”

She couldn’t finish that last thought.

“Does Jason feel the same about you?”

“I’m not sure. I know he cares about me. He said so, and he’s proven that. But he’s also made it clear that he won’t leave Arizona.”

“I’m sorry. That’s hard.”

“How did you and Gabe work it out?”

“You really can’t compare our situation to yours. I was working at the paper in Denver when we met. No one had to give up anything or move for us to be together. We visit Kaibito for a couple of months every year to see my grandma and teach our kids about their Diné heritage. I gave birth to my two older children there. But when Grandma Alice passes, I’m not sure we’ll be able to maintain that connection.”

Winona and Jason’s circumstances were completely different. She lived here. He lived in Sells. Neither of them had a career that enabled them to take long vacations to visit the other. She’d only met him because he’d been placed on administrative leave.

Kat took her hand. “Life has a way of working these things out. That probably sounds hopelessly optimistic, but I believe it’s true.”

Winona wasn’t so sure.

“When Gabe cut that rope, I watched him fall. I knew he was gone. My heart truly seemed to break. I lay there shouting for him for maybe an hour. I don’t know for sure. I was injured and hypothermic. My memory is foggy.”

“I can’t imagine how horrible that was.”

“When I was in the helicopter on my way to the hospital, the rescuers got word that Gabe was seriously injured but alive. He’d fallen more than three hundred feet, and he was still alive. It felt like a miracle. After that, no obstacle we’ve faced has seemed insurmountable.”

Winona could understand that. “What he did was incredibly brave and unselfish.”

“He loved me. He was willing to die to save me.”

Winona remembered Jason taking her hand and warning her when they first encountered Graham. He’d shielded her body with his when they’d hurried inside the cabin from the hot tub at the Cimarron. He’d fought to save her life and had done all he could to comfort