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want to wake
him.
    His
eyes were beautiful, heavy, and black as midnight. By any standard, Joshua
could be called attractive, but Tina realized his inner strength drew her to
him as much, if not more. He’d handled his situation with amazing aplomb and
despite his numerous hurts, he hardly complained.
    No
matter what happened, she wanted to keep him in her life, one way or another. Unless
she’d lost the knack, he experienced the same overpowering sense of connection
that she did. She hated long distance relationships and didn’t believe in them
but if she decided to stay, his home in Sallisaw was an hour or less away. If
she returned to Dallas, Tina knew any chance of something more with Joshua
wouldn’t happen.
    She
had remained this long without any more reason than that she dreaded to return
to the city, to urban sprawl, and rush hour traffic. Now, Tina thought she
might stay awhile longer, to explore the possibilities with Joshua. Maybe they
would get together, maybe not, but she wanted to try.
    First,
though, his situation had to be handled. Reminded of the danger he’d brought
into her life, Tina drew a long breath and held it for a moment. Then she
sighed. She admitted to a little fear, but concern trumped the fear. If
anything more happened to Joshua, she would be pissed, and revenge didn’t seem
out of the question. Gramps always swore Tina possessed a warrior’s heart under
her feminine façade, and he was right. Should the fugitive’s pals come calling, she would shoot first and ask questions later,
no matter what Joshua wanted. Defending her land and home came naturally,
probably hardwired into her DNA. Her family had been among the earliest white
settlers of Oklahoma and they hadn’t lost all the independent pioneer spirit,
even after five generations.
    Gramps
had predicted she would stay, too, Tina remembered. A few days before he died,
she had sat in his hospital room, numb to the bone with the reality of his
imminent death. He’d been alert almost to the end, his pain diminished with
morphine, and he had taken Tina’s hand in his frail one. “You’re not goin ’ back,” he had said. It hadn’t been a question but a
statement. “I know you’re not. That’s why I left you the place, so you’d have
something. Someday you’ll be ready to settle down and get busy with life, so
you’ll have my little piece of heaven to do it.”
    Then,
she had figured she would be back at work living in Dallas, sharing space with
the other two nurses, and she’d shaken her head. “Gramps, I’ll keep the land
and I’ll spend time here, but my life is in Texas now.”
    “Nope,”
he had replied. His eyes had twinkled with good humor. “You think so now, but
things change and they’re fixin ’ to soon.”
    She
had thought he meant his death but now, with no desire to go back to the life
she had built, Tina realized maybe he hadn’t. His claim to be the seventh son
of a seventh son, with a knack for premonitions and knowing the future, didn’t
seem as antiquated or silly as she’d once thought.
    Maybe
he’d known what he was talking about after all.

Chapter Six
     
    Joshua
slept through the night and when he woke he thought for one brief moment he was
at home, in his small house near Sallisaw. He often crashed in the recliner,
falling asleep while watching television and until he shifted position, which
brought pain roaring back, he figured that was what had happened. His side
hurt, however, and his body ached as he became aware of his surroundings. He
remembered everything then, where he was, what had happened, and Tina.
    The
need to piss roused him from the chair and when he lowered the elevated
footrest, he groaned. His muscles remained sore, although his headache was
gone. Standing brought agony through most of his body, but Joshua took his
first step. When he moaned again, the pile of blankets on the couch shifted and
Tina emerged, blinking and sleepy-eyed. She
stayed beside me when she could have