Big Yellow Taxi

Chapter 29

The rest of the drive went quickly. Rowan nibbled on the crackers her father bought her. And sipped the foul spicy drink, surprised that something that tasted so awful soothed her stomach instead of making her feel sicker. Her thoughts were still a confusing swirl in her mind. But one was slowly making itself more clear than the rest. The image of a baby in her arms.

Her heart was broken. Rowan was sure that she met her soulmate. And that she was about to live happily ever after. But everything happens for a reason. Maybe her brief affair was meant to gift her not with a life partner but with someone that she would surely love just as much. A daughter.

They were rolling down the dirt road that led to her father's house when Rowan finally spoke to him. "I don't want to go to Sioux Falls," she said, "I want to keep my baby."

Rowan's father didn't offer his opinion on the matter. He just nodded his head like that's what he was expecting her to say. He reached over and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze of comfort before placing his hand back on the steering wheel and turning his truck into the driveway.

Rowan swung her legs out of the truck, heading for the porch steps. She stopped short when she spotted an unfamiliar man sitting on her father's porch. He was lying back in a camping chair, his long legs propped up on the wooden railing. He had a cowboy hat pulled down low over his face to keep the sun from his eyes. But his tanned chest was bare from the waist up. By the time Rowan realized what she was doing, she was standing almost on top of the man, staring down at his half naked body.

Her father's much heavier tread woke the man. He tipped his hat back, his body going stiff for just a moment when he saw Rowan standing so close to him. She took a few quick steps back. Rowan felt bad for startling the man, even though he didn't seem to mind and was now favoring her with a handsome smile.

"Rowan, this is Derek. He's the new head of security at the casino. He's staying here while his house gets finished," Grey Wolf announced. "Derek, this is my daughter Rowan." Not waiting to see their responses to each other, Grey Wolf headed into the house to put his and Rowan's bags down.

Rowan felt her mouth drop open slightly when the man pulled himself up out of the camp chair and stood. He was tall. Much taller than her. She only came to his shoulders and had to tilt her head back to look at his face. And not only was he tall, he was unquestionably the most attractive man her father had ever introduced her to. He was tan with a strong jaw and high cheekbones. The sun was glinting off his long raven black hair.

"Nice to meet you," he said, holding his hand out for Rowan to shake, "I hope I'm not imposing. They gave me rooms at the Casino to stay in but I sort of hate living there."

Rowan reached out and grasped his hand, bending her knees slightly. "Blessed be," she said, "it's nice to meet you too."

"Blessed what?," he asked, laughing at her strange greeting. Rowan snatched her hand back, fighting the urge to wipe the man's touch away on the thigh of her jeans. When he laughed at her, his aura lit up with a flash of strange coloration.

"Blessed be," she repeated, "It just means to be blessed with good luck and happiness."

"I like that," Derek said with another handsome smile, "...blessed be to you too then." Rowan let her eyes rake over the man. There was a strange flash of color only a moment before. But he seemed perfectly balanced now. His aura was yellow with a tinge of green. Not sunny yellow like Ayla's but leaning more towards golden or copper. He was confident and outgoing. And ambitious. Not necessarily bad qualities. But it was a combination that Rowan hadn't seen before. "I have something in the house for you," he said, gesturing for Rowan to follow him inside.

On the table there was a giant bouquet of cut sunflowers. Rowan smiled. The bright yellow blooms always made her happy. She preferred them growing tall in the field. But they were still beautiful sitting in a vase on the table.

"Your father said they were your favorite," Derek told her. Rowan nodded. Sunflowers were her favorite flower. Except for maybe nasturtiums. Which were more of an edible plant and not something you would put in a vase on the table. But she was confused why this man knew her favorite flower. And why he got such a large arrangement for a woman he never met before. The gesture wasn't unkind. But it left her feeling a little unsettled.

"I just wanted to welcome you home," Derek added, looking at her expectantly.

"Thank you," Rowan said once she remembered her manners. "That's very thoughtful." Derek smiled, stepping a little closer to her and placing his hand on the small of her back. Rowan's body tensed. She was unsure how she felt about such intimate contact from the man. Casual affection was commonplace where she was from. But she knew the people that lived on her father's reservation didn't usually engage in it. While the man touching her was quite handsome, maybe even bordering on gorgeous, she was nervous about what he might expect from her if she allowed him to place his hands on her in such a familial way. Rowan breathed a sigh of relief when her father breezed back into the room. She had to make room for him to pass through the small space and was able to skirt away from Derek without offending him or making the situation awkward.

"I made dinner reservations for us at the Casino," Derek said, directing his words towards Rowan's father. The man shook his head immediately, pointing at Rowan.

"She doesn't know how to drive. I drove the whole way. The only place I'm going is to bed." He paused, looking back and forth between his daughter and Derek. "But you two should go. Roe hasn't been to the casino since it opened." Derek nodded his approval of this plan.

"The reservation isn't for another hour," he said. "So we have a half hour or so before we need to leave."

Rowan nodded, though it was clear from the man's tone that he wasn't asking her a question or waiting for a response from her. She felt a little irritated. Neither man bothered to ask her what she wanted to do. Or if she wanted to go to dinner. She was used to her father making decisions for her. He had a dominant personality. And she usually took the man's behavior with a grain of salt, letting his barking orders slide off her back like water off a duck's back. But Rowan knew and loved her father. He always had her best interests at heart.

This other man was a stranger to her. Derek had no business bossing her around. Rowan thought about throwing a fit and refusing to go with him. But in the end she decided it wasn't worth the energy. She hadn't had a solid meal in a week. And nothing to eat since yesterday except crackers and that gross bubble spice water her father bought her. She was hungry. Derek was offering her dinner. And she found herself a little curious about the casino. She had never been to one before. Or to a restaurant inside one. So Rowan just shrugged the situation off and headed to her room, shutting the door before she flopped down on her bed.

Rowan looked up. There were several dreamcatchers hanging above her bed, moving in the slight breeze she created when she woofed herself onto the bed. She and her father made them together. One had turkey feathers twined into the long strings from a turkey her father shot. The other two were decorated with all different colored chicken feathers she collected from the coups out behind his house. Turning her head, Rowan noticed there was another large bouquet of sunflowers on the small table next to her bed. She laughed and shook her head.

This Derek guy was really something. He was bound and determined to win her over. Which Rowan found a little strange since they only just met. She found him physically attractive. And he already made his interest in her clear. Normally, if Rowan met a man she was attracted to that was attracted to her, she would just let him take her to bed. But her recent experience had soured her. She had no desire for another love affair. And certainly no desire to have her feelings hurt again. Rowan rubbed her fingers down over her stomach, smiling softly as she thought about the new life growing inside her. She realized at that moment, she was also still holding out a little sliver of hope that she might see Daryl again. Maybe once he knew about the baby, he might consider making things right between them. She didn't really care about the money he took anyway. He could just go ahead and have it if he needed it that bad. Money was a stupid thing to fight about.

A soft knock on her bedroom door pulled Rowan from her thoughts. She swung her legs down off the bed and crossed the small space so she could open the door. Derek was standing in the doorway, wearing a crisp white button down shirt and a suit jacket. He raked his eyes up and down her body.

"I thought you were getting ready?," he asked. Rowan shrugged. She thought she was ready. She wasn't naked. And her shoes were still on. That's about all she needed to go eat dinner as far as she knew. "Don't you have something else you can put on?"

"Uh…"

Rowan stammered, looking down at herself. Her shirt was a little rumpled up from the car ride. And there were holes ripped in the knees of her jeans. Derek looked like he was dressed up for something special. Rowan looked down at her feet, suddenly embarrassed by her slovenly appearance. "Just give me a second to change," she offered. Derek nodded his approval.

"I'll be out on the porch when you're ready," he said, easing her door closed. Rowan turned and opened the bag her mother packed for her, a small ball of dread already forming in the pit of her stomach.