Collecting Evidence. Rita Herron

leave the room.

      Still, his body hummed with arousal and a fierce hunger that could only be sated by Aspen.

      A woman who saw him as a perfect stranger.

       Chapter Five

      Dylan was exhausted but on edge, too wired to sleep.

      It was the first time he’d been in Aspen’s home and he felt uncomfortable and intrigued at the same time. Her furnishings were exactly as he’d expected, reminiscent of her culture, yet the sight of the nursery made his chest ache.

      How would she react when she saw the empty baby bed? When she saw Jack? Would she remember her son?

      He yanked off his shirt and walked around the den/kitchen combination, wishing he was here under other circumstances. That Aspen had invited him into her home because she wanted to see him again.

      He studied the Ute items in the room and was once again reminded of the road trips his family used to take when he was younger.

      Once they’d stopped to observe a young Ute woman with a horde of children surrounding her as she taught them to weave baskets. His mother had photographed her, and he’d thought about that photograph when he’d first seen Aspen.

      The Uncompahgre beaded horse bag on Aspen’s wall was made from tanned mule deer hide. Thousands of glass trade beads and tobacco balls were stitched into the sides and rim. The bags were used to hold pipes, carvings and religious totems and were opened only for private ceremonies.

      An Uncompahgre Ute Shaved Beaver Hide Painting hung above the fireplace, and ceremonial pipes of salmon alabaster and black pipestone sat on the mantle. Several ceremonial rattles made from buffalo rawhide that were used to call spirits in Ute ceremonies decorated a pine sofa table.

      Some Ute still used peyote in healing rituals. He wondered if Aspen did, or if she would use a traditional doctor with their son.