Love Forevermore by Madeline Baker Read Free Book Online Page A

moving picture, yet Loralee thought it was important for them to know such things existed, to know what great strides were being made in the outside world, to look forward to the myriad changes that were coming instead of closing their eyes and remaining in ignorance. Teaching the children to read and write was the first step. It would not be easy to teach the Apache children, but she welcomed the challenge. Perhaps, if she could teach the children, the children could teach their parents.
    Zuniga continued to meet her at the schoolhouse each weekday evening just after sundown. He had quickly mastered the alphabet and was rapidly learning to read and write. He had a quick mind and rarely forgot anything once she explained it to him.
    She began to teach him basic arithmetic, pleased beyond words when he showed an aptitude for figures. So many people thought the Indians were dull and stupid, unable to learn. She was glad to know they were wrong. Zuniga was neither dull nor stupid. He was a grown man, one who was quickly learning to read and write and cipher, an Indian who was every bit as intelligent as any white man she had ever known.
    There was only one problem in teaching Shad Zuniga. It was becoming harder and harder to concentrate on teaching when they were alone together. Each time she stopped near his desk, each time she bent down to study a problem or check his work, she was acutely aware of him as a man, a very handsome, virile man. His presence filled the schoolroom. He was so very male, she could not forget for a moment that she was a woman, a woman who had never known a man intimately.
    Daily the attraction between them grew stronger. Loralee did her best to ignore it, refusing to believe she could be physically attracted to a man who was different from her in so many ways. And yet she spent hours thinking of him, dreaming of him, wondering what it would be like to be held in his arms. No other man had ever caused her such confusion. Shad Zuniga never said or did anything remotely intimate, yet she yearned for him in a way that was frightening in its intensity. Why was she so drawn to him? She had been courted by many attractive young men in the East. She had been wooed and coaxed, even kissed by a few of her bolder suitors, but none of them had ever piqued her interest or stoked her desire the way Zuniga did. She conjured up his image in her mind and could find no fault in it. His face was strong and masculine, his body beautifully proportioned and well-muscled, his hair long and as black as a raven’s wing…
    Zuniga, Zuniga, Zuniga. It seemed she could think of nothing else. Slipping into her riding habit, she saddled her horse, which she had named Lady, and set out for a ride in the hills. She purposefully took the trail that led away from Shad Zuniga’s lodge. She did not want to think of him, or see him.
    The day was warm, the sky a bright blue. Loralee smiled happily as she put Lady into a slow trot. Back East, she had never ridden a horse except once or twice in the park on Sunday after church. Now, she rode just about every day for the sheer pleasure of it. There was something wonderfully relaxing about horseback riding. Days when she was irritable from trying to cope with Short Bear, or simply out of sorts, were quickly put right by an hour in the saddle. Once, she had mentioned to Mike how she felt about riding, but he had looked at her as if she were slightly crazy. Horses were a necessary pain in the ass, Mike had said, and then apologized for his crude language.
    With a sigh of pure enjoyment, Loralee urged Lady up into the foothills. It was cool and shady riding beneath the trees. The ground was covered with pine needles that muffled the sound of Lady’s iron-shod hooves. Squirrels chattered at Loralee as she passed by. A deer, graceful as a ballet dancer, darted for cover, its tail flashing white as it disappeared in the underbrush. Later, a skunk waddled across the trail, followed by a brood of