Speak to the Wind (24 page)

Joe felt relaxed and sated.
He relished their physical rela
tionship; it was good and satisfying. But it wasn't enough. Not now. Sex was fleeting. He wanted her with him all the time.

His stomach growled and she chuckled. "Anybody hu
n
gry? I have a wonderful
meal
all warm and waiting.
Pollo Colorado con
A
rroz
.
"

"Sounds sensuous to me.
Especially the arroz part.
"

"Could be."

"Then let's try it."

"I knew you couldn't refuse sex or food."

He patted her lightly on he
r derriere. "Not if you're serv
ing up the feast, my love."

Maria smiled and held his last words in her heart.

The next morning
Joe w
as already awake and having cof
fee when Maria's eyes popped open. It was later than her usual rising time. As she padded through the living room in her old yellow robe and matching scuffs, she noticed a sheet of paper with lists of pros and cons lying on the coffee table. She knew he'd been up early stewing over his decisions.

Joe kissed her and teased her about sleeping in. "Coffee for the princess? And what would you like for brunch? I'm cooking."

"Oh?
You’re a chef, too?
" She
accepted the steaming cup of coffee her offered her.
"How about
. . .
huevos con chile verde
. I’ve been practicing my Spanish. How’s that sound?”

“Muy authentic. Now, where are the eggs, green
chilies
, and – do you have tortillas?
I’ll make a wrap.
”

“Sí, sí!”
With a sweep of grandeur in her frumpy robe, Maria showed him the utensils and ingredients. Then she took her
steaming cup of coffee to the table where she sat watching him, thinking how magnificent he looked puttering around her kitchen.

He
work
ed
slowly and methodically, as if analyzing ever step
.
"Maria, I've been thinking—"

"I assume that's why you were up so early."

"What else could I do while you were sleeping?"
He scrambled the eggs and poured them into a pan.

She curled a leg under her. "Did I give you enough quiet time to think it through?" She held her breath. Could he have been figuring out a way fo
r them to resolve their own pers
onal crisis?

"Maybe. It involves ou
r options with the McAndrew pro
ject." He
stirred a few green
chilies
into the egg mixture and began to stir.

She hid her disappoint
ment when he revealed his preoc
cupation with tribal crises. It was the reality she had always dealt with and would in the
future if he were elected.

"I re
call
in the negotiating techniques you taught me that one
non-
commit
tal
response is
‘I
like it,' which doesn't always mean
‘
yes
I’ll become involved’
."

She nodded. "Sometimes it's just a delaying tactic."

"There's
also the end-of-discussion ‘N
o,
’
which I'm not prepared to make yet
.
"
H
e
divid
ed
the scrambled egg and green chile mixture into two warmed tortillas
.

She put napkins and forks on their placemats.
"Then there's the classic 'I'll let you know later
,
'
or ask for more clarification or information so
you can make an informed dec
ision.
Both are honest, delaying tactics."

He
rolled the wraps tightly and sprinkled cheese on top
. "I've used all of those so far. And McAndrew knows there will be no de
c
ision from either candidate until after the election, so he's not pushing."

"Just keeping the pressure on," she muttered.

"As if I don't have enough right now." He
brought the plates to the table with a flourish and kissed her lips. “For my princess.”

“Thanks for my prince.” She inhaled the earthy, chile aroma while he re
filled
their
coffee
and brought a small bowl of fresh Salsa Fresca to the table
.

He sat, but didn’t start eating right away, obviously preoccupied with his current dilemma.
"But I'd like to use this time
prior to the election
to evaluate everything and try to come up with some solutions
to our very real problems
."

"
T
here's no rush
on this
, Joe. The more time you have
to evaluate things
, the better it will be for your people in the long run."

He gestured with both hands.
"The other negotiating response is to make a counter
offer, a trade
off." He paused to drink his coffee.

She leaned forward on her elbows.
“
Do you have some
thing in mind, Joe?"

"I'm still working on it. The way I look at it, McAndrew's deal isn't great for
everyone
, but it beats nothing. To refuse when there aren't enoug
h jobs could mean no future eco
nomic gains for the reservation and the people will suffer, perhaps more than if we'
d agreed to the condos. My coun
teroffer, then, could be along the lines of—"

She took a bite and interrupted the business conversation. “This. Is Delicious!”

He nodded, as if he knew it would be.

She placed her hand over his.
"
D
id I ever tell you
that
you're terrific?"

He muttered “You, too.” Then he started to eat. “Hey, this is pretty good.”

She waited for him to return to his business dilemma, and when he didn’t, she asked,
"Are you going to finish that conversation? I'm dying to know
just what you’re talking about.
"

"Later. Gotta think about it some more."
He finished eating and took his coffee out on her balcony.

"Joe
– what the—?
"

"Thanks for letting me bounce ideas around."

"It's called therapy
,” she snapped
.
“
I'll send my bill next month."

"I could never pay you
enough, Maria. Never
."

She
watch
ed
him,
hunched over the
balcony
railing, sipping coffee, his mind a thousand miles away from her.

Only love me, Joe. That's all I ask.

Chapter Eleven

"
Listen,
Josh. If we do
n't come up with an alterna
tive, we'll be fair game for McAndrew." Joe's fist pounded the round table and scattered an assortment of papers and notes.
“He will have the upper hand and the offer in his lap.”

The small conference table where Joe and Josh had spent many hours brainstorming almost filled the tiny office in the High Meadow Tribal Building. The council had provided him the space until the election,
when he'd either have the chair
man's roomy office at the other end of the building or be heading back to California.

"I'm afraid that's the way he views
us, anyway," Josh ad
mitted honestly. "McAndrew's got the upper hand because he's got the money and the plan."

"That's even more reason we need a plan of our own," Joe countered stubbornly. "I've talked to enough people. I know they'll reject his proposal. Then we all may lose."

"Frankly, I feel they should reject it." Josh folded his arms across his substantial chest. "Nobody should develop that area to the north and risk destroying the eagles' nests
and all the wildlife
.
That’s part of the beauty of our reservation.
Can you imagine the field day the environmentalists would have with that one?"

"I agree. But more, I believe strongly that the Apache should have control of an
y major projects on the reserva
tion. This is the wish of the people and we have to listen. To go against them invites even more trouble."

"Yep, no ownership means no control."

"Believe me, McAndrew's shrewd." Joe waggled his finger for emphasis. "I've met the man and he's after a profit. He sees this area as fertile ground."

"I suppose from a busines
s standpoint, it is. We have ea
ger people and substantial amounts of undeveloped land. We need jobs. All that spells opportunity."

"Yeah
, but it has to be the right opportunity
. He makes his liv
ing taking advantage of
circumstances, whether job-related or not
. And he's good at it. McAndrew will come up with something else, if this deal doesn't fly. If we can't fill this potential economic void, he will. He'll... move the project away from the eagles or... or—"

Josh snapped his fingers. "Maybe that's a start for us. Move the project."

"Move it? Why not canc
el it? The idea smacks of merce
naries, high
profit vultures. Tim
e-share condos on an In
dian reservation?" Joe winced. "Sounds so... damned commercial. His plan would draw only the wealthy, people who have excess money
and time. Now how could our peo
ple relate to that kind of life
style?"

"McAndrew's claim is that guests would be spending money on the reservation. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong?" Joe shook his head. "There isn't enough creativity and input from us. It's a one-sided business with no incentives for our people. No ongoing endeavors with room to grow and change. No entrepreneurship."

"My God, Joe. What do you expect
?
You want everyt
hing!"

"You bet I do. But it's for our people. I believe they should be in charge of their own destiny. We shouldn't be shoved around by outsiders anymore."

"So you're saying the solution has to come from inside."

"Damned right. I believe it."

"And what if we don't have the skills
base
to do it? What if we try something and fail?"

Joe spread his hands. "Then we fail. But we can't blame anyone else for it. We learn from failure and try again. It just has to be that way, Josh."

"Okay, so you want some kind of building project, but
not
something so big an
d commercial as time-share con
dos?"

"Big doesn't bother me. Nor does commercial, frankly. Realistically we're probabl
y going to need something expan
sive to create the kinds and numbers of jobs we want."

Josh held up one hand, palm out, as if in warning. "We're talking about substantial start-up funds here that we don't have. But if we planned a large project in stages, created part of it and got it working—"

"Then used the functioning part as collateral to acquire funds for the next stage..." Joe interrupted with a growing eagerness. "And that way there'd be no huge rush to get the damned thing functioning in a y
ear or two. It could be a long
term project, ongoing and meeting the needs of the people all along by providing jobs and opportunities."

Josh shrugged.
“
It could even change over the course of time, if the people decide i
t isn't functional for them any
more."

"Now we're rolling. I like that. Do it in stages. Something for the people, something t
hey control, yet make it profit
able."

Josh whipped out a clean sheet of paper. These notes would join the reams already
accumulated from various brain-
storming sessions. "Okay, wha
t have we got here? Are con
dos
out?"

"Yeah, condos are ou
t. But I'm not opposed to
rental
apart
ments
or even patio homes
. Hold it. We're getting ahead of ourselves. That's later.
First we need..." Joe pushed himself away from the table and walked to the window. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood there quietly for a few moments. "What I'd like to see first..."