Deveraux jude legend, p.21
Deveraux, Jude - Legend, page 21
As Kady started to get out of the carriage, Ruth told Joseph to go with her, but Kady said that no, she wanted to go alone. She could
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tell by Ruth's eyes that she understood that Kady wanted to say good-bye to Cole, for every inch of the path up the mountain reminded her of her time with Cole.
After one more press of her hand, Kady turned and ran toward the path up the mountain, hurrying up it as fast as she could go. Her time in the past was over, and it was better to put it behind her. Now she should look to the future, to the future and to Gregory-the man she loved.
When she reached the petroglyphs, she was not surprised to see
what was now almost a familiar sight: the opening in the rock through which she could see her apartment with the flour tin on
the floor, her dirty chef's smock tossed across the couch. Refusing to allow herself a backward glance, she leaped through the opening, and instantly, the hole behind her closed.
For a moment Kady stood alone in her apartment and looked about it. It had been more than two weeks since she'd been here, and she had no idea how much time had passed in the twentiethcentury world. Feeling disoriented, she picked up the remote
control to the TV, and after a moment of looking at the instrument as though it were from another planet, she clicked the TV on, switched to Channel Two, and saw that it was about two A.M. on the day she'd left. No time at all had passed.
Again feeling awkward, she pushed the button on her answering machine only to hear a computer trying to sell her aluminum siding.
At her feet on the stained, cheap carpet of her apartment, was the empty flour tin. There was no wedding dress or Jordan watch,
or a photograph of a once-happy family. All those things had been left behind in Legend. What she did have were the clothes she was wearing, a long prairie skirt, cotton blouse, and a wide leather belt. Nothing in the least remarkable about them; they weren't even very old looking. She had absolutely nothing to show that she had just returned from an extraordinary adventure.
For a moment, loneliness so overwhelmed Kady that she thought she might collapse on the floor and cry, but she wouldn't allow herself to do that. She was not going to allow herself to grieve for a
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man who had never lived to be the man she'd met. She was going to think of everything in the way Ruth did: that Kady had given Cole something he would not otherwise have had.
Smiling, she thought of Scarlett. "I'll think about it tomorrow. if I think about it today, I'll go crazy."
Still smiling, Kady went to her bedroom and fell across the bed. She was asleep instantly.
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ady's first waking thought was, Where was Cole and why was the house so quiet? It was a full minute before she realized that she was home in Virginia, home in her own time period. And, more important, home to Gregory.
Smiling, she eased herself out of the bed, feeling a bit stiff and sore from the exertion of the last days. "Better not think about that," she said aloud as she made her way to the bathroom, and for a while she just stood there, marveling at the luxury of a modern bathroom. Running water! Flushing toilet! Hot water!
She took a shower that threatened to wash away her skin, then spent half an hour massaging lotion onto her body. Usually, she was in too much of a hurry to get to work to take time to do something this hedonistic, but today ...
With a panic she looked at the clock and saw it was ten A.M., but she calmed when she remembered that it was Sunday and Onions was closed. However, usually by this time on Sunday she was
already slipping something into the oven. Gregory and his mother liked to sit down to a lavish dinner on Sunday at two, and Kady prided herself on the meal she served them.
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"How about fried rattlesnake today?" she murmured, laughing as she went to her closet. it was a small walk-in closet, but that only made Kady's meager wardrobe look even more sparse. Frowning, she pushed aside the hangers and pondered her drab, oversized tops. She could hear Jane's complaint, "Don't you have anything smaller than a circus tent? Where do you find these clothes anyway?" Kady had never answered her friend, but had stood there tight-lipped, thinking it was all right for Jane to wear snug-fitting clothes since she was a size six, but Kady wanted to hide the bulk that was her body as best she could.
Today, as she sorted through her few clothes, Kady seemed to feel different. Maybe it was all the men in Colorado who'd asked lier to marry them. Or maybe it was just Cole's incessant attention.
Leaving the closet, Kady went to the big chest of drawers in the I)edroom and began to rummage. Last Christmas, Jane had given lier a red blouse, and years before that she had given her some
earrings. Now, if Kady could only find them.
An hour later Kady walked into Onions, and her first sight was of Gregory sitting at one of the tables, a newspaper before his face, a
coffee cup by his hand. Turning a page, he glanced up at her for just a second before returning to his paper.
At his look, Kady's breath caught. It had been so very long since she had seen him, and since then she'd spent a great deal of time with another man. Would he know? Would he see the guilt on her face? Would he sense that something was different about her? "Mom made the coffee," Gregory said without looking up. "I don't think I'm going to die from it, but I might."
Smiling, Kady started for the kitchen. "Coffee coming up." Nothing had changed, she thought with relief. To Gregory it was only hours since she had last seen him. He had no idea that she'd been away for days or that she'd-
As Kady passed him, she glanced at his profile and thought for the millionth time how good-looking he was. Almost as beautiful as Cole, she thought, then, to rid herself of that thought, she Pushed the paper out of his hands and plopped herself onto his lap.
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Taking Gregory's head in her hands, she put her lips on his and kissed him deeper and with more passion than she ever had before. "Hey, what is this?" Gregory asked, his hands on her wrists and pulling his face away. His tone was disapproving. "Before breakfast?" "I missed you," Kady said, sliding her arms about his neck and hugging him. "Well, I missed you, too," he answered, but again pulling away, and this time there was a frown on his handsome face. " Kady, " he said sternly, "I think there is a time and place for everything, and in the middle of Onions on a Sunday morning isn't quite the place or the time."
She was beginning to feel embarrassed, but she tried to make light of it. "How about going to my place then?" she said with what she hoped was a lascivious look.
Drawing back, Gregory studied her for a moment. "What in the world has come over you today? And what do you have on?" "Like it?" Kady asked, looking down at herself. "It has lycra in it. Jane said that if she had ... well, if she were endowed like me, she'd show herself off, so she gave me this. " Looking up at
Gregory, she fluttered her eyelashes. "Think it does?"
Gregory was frowning rather a lot now. "If you're asking me if I like to see you hanging out of the top of your clothes, the answer is no.
Kady brightened. "Jealous?" "Not quite," he said as though this concept amused him. "But it's not very sanitary, and with the top half of you naked, you could be burned at the stove. And, Kady dear, as delightful as this position is, both of my legs have gone to sleep. You aren't exactly the light-as-a-feather type, now, are you?"
Abruptly, Kady got off his lap. "No, of course I'm not," she said hastily. "I'll make you some coffee and get started on Sunday lunch." Stiffly, she turned away, but Gregory caught her arm..
"Kady, honey, you look great. Really you do, but maybe I'd rather you showed yourself just to me and not to the entire world
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I I c kissed the back of her hand, and Kady left the room smiling, IcAing that she was glad to be home.
"Something has happened to you," Jane said softly, "and I iii(@an to find out what it is." They were in a furniture store in -f son's Corner Mall, and Kady was inspecting every piece in the hig showroom. "is that why you're still here?" Kady asked as she looked at the
1@r Ice tag on a green velvet sofa. "How do you think this would look vith the lacquer lamps I bought at auction? And with the new rug?" "New rug, new sofa, new lamps! That's just what I'm talking about. What has happened to you?!" "People are beginning to stare," Kady said calmly, referring to Jane's raised voice. "They are going to stare more when I grab those overpriced curtain cords and tie you to that iron bed and keep you there until you talk to me. "
"I had no idea you were so kinky," she said, but when Jane didn't smile, Kady sighed. "I've told you a hundred times, nothing is wrong with me. I'm just getting married, and I'm choosing things for my house. And I'm sending the bills to Gregory. Doesn't that please you?" "Four days ago you were frightened of buying so much as a sheet, but now you walk into stores and say, 'I want this and I want that,' as though you were a born shopper. And the way you bargained with that poor rug merchant I almost felt sorry for him." "Did you?" Kady asked, smiling. "And that's another thing, Miss Kady Long, you keep flirting with men." "I'm getting married, not going to my execution. What's wrong with flirting a bit?"
Too many words raced through Jane's mind for her to speak. The Kady she had known all her life ran away when a man looked at her. But three days ago Kady had spent an hour and a half drinking
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mint tea with a rug merchant and arguing over the price of the rug. Jane and Debbie thought they were going to pass out with boredom, but Kady had seemed to enjoy every minute of it. And when they'd left the store, she'd said, "He asked me to be his second wife. With my own apartment, though." All three women
had laughed about the outrageous proposal as they drove Debbie to
the airport so she could return home. "Kady," Jane said seriously, "I must return home tomorrow. My husband is threatening to leave me if I don't return, not to mention what my boss is saying, so we have to talk now." "All right," Kady said, knowing she could put off the inevitable no longer. Part of her liked that Jane saw that she was different, but another part of her wished her friend were more like Gregory and his mother and noticed nothing at all different.
Ten minutes later they were ensconced in the coffee shop of Nordstrom's, and since it was early, it was quiet in the restaurant.
"What's going on with you?" Jane asked again.
For a moment Kady thought of lying yet again and saying that nothing had changed, but Jane was too perceptive for that. Kady wasn't in the least tempted to tell her about Cole and the people of Legend or about Ruth's unbelievable story. And if the truth were
told, with each day that passed the story seemed to fade from Kady's mind until she sometimes wondered if it had really happened. The only clear memory she seemed to have was of when she'd cooked for people who needed to know what she could teach. That memory seemed to get stronger every day.
Kady toyed with the straw in her lemonade. "I think I want to do something with my life. Like building orphanages all over Colorado. Cooking fabulous meals for people who've eaten many fabulous meals suddenly seems a frivolous thing to do with one's life. " "Orphanages?" Jane asked, eyes wide. "What do orphanages have to do with cooking?" "Cooking for people who don't have much is more rewarding. And it feels good to teach people how to combine bland ingredients in different ways."
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"Kady, what in the world are you talking about?" "Welfare mothers," she said, looking up at Jane's stunned face. "Did you know that Americans make casseroles with potato chips on top of them? No nutritional value at all. In other countries I)eople are taught to cook, but kids in America grow up thinking 4cDonald's is a good meal." "So what is it you want to do? Open a cooking school?" "I don't know." Kady thought of, the children in Legend and I.-iow she'd persuaded them to like vegetables. "I know that cveryone thinks the world's evils are caused by drugs, but maybe kids wouldn't be so lethargic if their nutrition was better." "What's your idea?" Jane asked, staring at her friend in wonder.
As long as she'd known Kady, she'd never heard such ideas from her. "Nothing really, It's just something that's forming in my head. Cooking classes for women on welfare." "Cooking classes? Welfare?" Jane said, smiling in a smug way
that made Kady angry. "Yes! Cooking classes. Poor people need self-esteem just as
much as rich people! Not all the people on welfare are bums who are too lazy to work. Think how much better they would feel if they
knew how to cook a simple, nutritious meal for their children. And the women could learn a skill that might get them off welfare."
For a moment Jane could only stare at her friend. Never had she seen Kady show passion, Oh, everyone knew she loved cooking, and she treated those knives of hers as though they were her
children, but Kady had never been the type of person to fight for a
cause. if there was a protest going on, Kady would probably say, "I'll make lunch," then disappear into the nearest kitchen. "Something's happened to you," Jane said softly. "No it hasn't," Kady snapped. "It's Gregory, isn't it?" "Gregory is just fine. Why does every woman assume that the cause of every other woman's problem is a man?" " History?"
When Kady smiled, Jane clutched her hand. "I've known you all
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your life and you've never been a crusader. You've always been content to stand in the background and let others walk all over you.
Gasping, Kady snatched her hand away. "That's a horrible thing to say. I do not allow people to walk over me." "Ha! That mother-in-law of yours-"
At that Kady straightened her back. "I think this has gone far enough. I think I'd like to leave now."
Jane leaned toward her friend. "I don't mean to offend you. I
want to help you and-"
Kady's mouth tightened into a thin line. "I'd like to remind you that you are not my therapist nor are you my business manager. If you want to help me then keep your nose out of my business. Are you ready to go?" "Yes, of course," Jane said just as stiffly. "I do indeed think it is time for me to go home."
Kady didn't answer that remark but made her way out of the restaurant, took a left, and went to the parking garage to her car, Jane behind her. They drove back to Onions in silence.
What is wrong with me? Kady wondered, not for the first time. Everything seemed to bother her. In the three and a half weeks since she'd returned from Legend, it was as though her whole life had changed. Mrs. Norman now got on her nerves so much she could hardly stand to see the woman walk into the room.
Kady tried not to think this way, but it was as though her time in Legend had ruined her life. Things that she had once liked, she no
longer did. it seemed that instead of accepting what was, now she was asking how things could be different-and did she want them to be different? In just a few weeks she had gone from being content
to wanting ...
And that was the real problem. She didn't know what it was that she really wanted, and not knowing was making her crazy. She'd told Jane she wanted to start cooking classes, and maybe she did, but that wasn't all of it. There was something deeper,that she wanted, and she had no idea what it was.
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For one thing, her recurring dreams of the Arabian man were beginning to bother her. in the past the dreams had been a
curiosity, but now there was an urgency to them that haunted her even in the daytime. His eyes were asking something of her; maybe even pleading with her.
it had been easy to figure out that the dark man had something to do with Legend; his appearance at the opening in the rock had shown her that. And while she had been in Legend she'd not had the dreams. Also, in her heart she knew her dream man bore a resemblance to Cole. That night with the eagles she'd realized how much alike the two of them were. He was connected with Cole and Ruth, and with all the people she wanted to put out of her mind, so
she tried to tell the veiled man to get away from her. She wanted nothing further to do with going back in time and halfway falling in love with a man who never grew past age nine. Kady knew that all she really wanted was a home and a couple of kids, and at thirty years old she knew she couldn't wait much longer. She didn't have the time or inclination to dabble in time travel or whatever it would take to find out why some man kept appearing in her dreams.
But if she knew what she wanted in life, why did she feel so
restless? Everything with Gregory was perfect. He was everything a
woman could want in a man: kind, courteous, even-tempered. She had everything: a home, the restaurant, Virginia was lovely. Her life was perfect, but she knew that if she didn't behave herself and stop finding fault in every little thing that happened, she was going to lose it all.
In the long run, what did it matter that Gregory rarely made love to her? In the weeks since she'd returned from Legend, they'd had one very brief tryst in her bed in her apartment. And what did it matter that when Kady reached for him afterward, he'd rolled out
of bed and pulled on his clothes? There was a great deal more to
life than sex!
But Kady kept thinking that she'd never noticed Gregory's lack of sexual interest in her before because she'd had no one to compare him to. Maybe she hadn't actually gone to bed with Cole, but she kept remembering the way Cole looked at her. It had felt
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L E G E N D
good to tease with him, to giggle and have him chase her about the room. Even without consummation, when he'd looked at her, he'd made her feel beautiful and, oh, so very desirable.
But Gregory made her feel secure. Secure was good, wasn't it? So what if he didn't tease her or nibble her neck and try to make her forget cooking and go to bed with him? Gregory loved her so much that he'd asked her to marry him. What better proof of his love did she need than that? Besides, what else did she have that he could want? It wasn't as though she were a great heiress and he was after her money, so he had to have asked her to marry him out of love. Right?
