Deveraux jude legend, p.8
Deveraux, Jude - Legend, page 8
He was silent. Kady blew her nose. "Aren't you going to say anything?" A don't know what to say. You've made it clear that you don't want me to protect you, so there is nothing I can do. I can't very well force someone to give you a job, now can I? It's not as though I own the town. " He chuckled at this thought. "But couldn't you put in a good word-- "tf I did that, later you would hate me. You'd think I'd interfered in something that was none of my business and you'd hate me. Miss Long, I value your friendship too much to do anything to jeopardize it."
He patted her hand, glanced toward the church door, and looked as though he was going to leave again.
Kady grabbed his arm. "I wouldn't hate you no matter what. You've lived in this town all your life and-- "Actually, I came here when I was four." "That doesn't matter!" she gasped, then took a breath to calm herself. "All I'm asking is that you talk to some people."
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He looked at her in sympathy. "-]Fhe problem is that thei:lre are ter, people for every job. When we nei---ded a new schoolteactrier, even man's wife and half the daughters in this town wanted the,-@: job. I [i'(, town council had a devil of a time choosing just one pe rson. it's the silver, you see. Legend is fairly rich in silver, and ever@()nc wants to be here in hopes of striking it rich. " His face 11it up could take you to Denver. Maybe there you'd find-- "No! I can't leave here because I must find the rocks,;. whe,e came through. If I'm ever to get b;ack, that's the way."
Turning away, he looked out toward the lovely lawn irir-1 front of the church. "Ah, yes, Gilford." "Gregory," Kady said. "The narrie of the man I love is c@:,-regory.-
Cole kept his face turned away, but she could see a ti:_ny smile playing at the corner of his lips, as though what she'd sai--d were a
great joke.
But none of this was a joke to Kady, she thought as, onc@ ce again, she buried her face in her hands. "You have to help me. I'm hungry. I haven't had anything to eat in-"
She broke off because Cole let c)ut a rather loud belch. "I do beg your pardon," he said, his hand to his mouth. "Beans. It's the only thing Manuel knows how to cook. It's bE)eeans for breakfast, beans for lunch, beans for supper. Beans and-- "I can cook something besides beans," Kady said H brightly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "I can cook anythirling.-
Cole looked at her with the eyes of a man explaining o the very simplest concepts of life. "You are an independent, self-SuR-pporting woman, and I respect that. I know you take a great deal of I - pride in being able to care for yourself with the help of no one else o-(@,on earth, so how could I-- "Cut it out," she snapped. "You don't need to make mn-e grovel. So you were right. At least you were right in this time aj@ and this place. " "Is that an apology? A full apology or half of one?" "It's all you're going to get, so be thankful for it."
Cole gave her a little grin. "Stop gloating and take me out and buy me the biggest niff--neal this
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town IlAs to offer. It'll be my final meal before I become your food slave.
He arched an eyebrow. "As opposed to what other kind of slave? " ,,_just feed me and let's go."
But Cole didn't move, and his face lost its teasing look. "Kady, I can It give you a job." "1@ecause I said--
T-Liking both her hands in his, he looked into her eyes. "You may have noticed that Legend isn't like other mining towns. No, that's right, you said you'd never been to a mining town, so you'll just have to trust me that it is different. Other towns have a lawlessness about them that we don't allow here in Legend."
She didn't understand. "It's illegal for me to cook for you?" "No, of course not. It's just where I live." At that she looked at him. He was clean, and the blue cotton shirt he had on had been ironed within an inch of its life. Somehow, she couldn't imagine Cole Jordan living in a shack. "I live in a place out of town, that way," he said, nodding toward the cast. "There are no other houses near me, and, well, Miss Long, it just wouldn't look right for you and me to live there alone with just old Manuel and a few ranch hands for chaperons." His eyes showed sadness. "After choir practice I can take you out for a meal, but I really don't know what else I can do. I can't force anyone to hire a cook they don't need. I'd give you all the money I have, but the whole town would know in a minute, and, well, your reputation would suffer." His voice lowered. "This is a town full of men, and if you were taking money from me, they might think you were a different kind of woman than what you really are."
Kady had a vision of drunken cowboys, liquored up after a trail drive, tearing down the door to her cheap hotel room and ... She shook her head to clear it. "Too many movies, Elizabeth Kady," she heard her mother's voice saying in her head.
Cole pressed her hands in his. "I really don't know how to help you-'' @Ie glanced at the door to the church. "I must go now. After
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choir practice, we can talk more. Maybe I can persuade someone to take you in. Some people in town owe me favors, so maybe-'
Kady's grimace made him cut off. "Charity," she said under h,,ibreath and imagined how uncomfortable it would be to live as an unwanted guest in a stranger's house.
It was at that moment that Kady changed her attitude. Extraord i -
nary problems called for extraordinary solutions. As Gregory's handsome face flashed before her eyes, she thought how hjs mysterious dark looks were such a contrast to Cole's blue-eyed blondness, Cole's open and guileless face.
She loved Gregory, loved him very much, but he wasn't here. @Ie wasn't even born yet, and she wouldn't be doing him any favor if she kept her pride and starved to death before she could get back to him.
After taking a deep breath to give herself courage, she straight- ened her shoulders and looked into Cole's candid blue eyes. "Is your marriage proposal still open?" she asked, and instantly she could see the shock on his face. "You're engaged to marry someone else." "Desperate times call f8r desperate measures."
Cole gave her a look that said, Thanks a lot. "You know what I mean." He looked down at her hands, still resting in his. "I offered marriage in the heat of the moment. I felt grateful to you for saving me, but now I wonder what people would say. I'm afraid they'll-" "Why, you low-down, lying bastard!" she said, snatching her hands from his. "Here I am starving, starving! mind you, and all you can think of is what this overly manicured little town will say. Let me tell you, Mr. Jordan, that this town isn't worth thinking about. They'd let a lone woman starve to death before they'd sully their pristine reputations."
She was so angry she forgot about her hunger and exhaustion and stood, which allowed her to look down at him. "Right now I wish I hadn't saved that overly muscled neck of yours. And when
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yr,r, @Olund dead in some alley, my death is going to be on your head! "
With that utterly magnificent riposte, she grabbed her train, slung it over her arm and started down the stairs. Unfortunately for her sel i -esteem, she tripped over Cole's big feet and went tumbling forwal-cl, But he caught her in his arms and pulled her back to sit on
his lap.
Kadv was so angry she wouldn't look at him, but held herself as rigid as possible.
-I guess I do owe you a favor." "No one has to marry me as a favor," she said through clenched teeth. "And put me down before one of your 'Legendary' saints sees us together."
Her play on the town's name made him smile. "Too late," he said, his smile widening.
1(ady rolled her head back to look up at the entire choir of Legend, Colorado, as they jammed themselves together in the doorway to stare in open fascination at her and Cole. "I'm afraid that now I have no other choice except to marry you," he said. "Now that I have-" "So help me, if you say that you've ruined my reputation, I'll throw up on you."
For a moment Cole looked at her half in amusement, half in shock, then he glanced up at the choir, still staring as though they were natives seeing their first peep show. "If you will excuse us, Miss Long and I need to discuss a few matters in private."
When the spectators were gone, Cole looked back at Kady, opened his mouth to speak, but instead, looked down at her. The way she was positioned in his arms made the tops of her breasts push up out of the dress until they were nearly popping out of the neckline. And the tight dress showed off every curve of Kady's lush figure. She might be thought to have a "weight problem" in the late twentieth century, but she'd already been in this century long enough to know that here a woman was supposed to look like a woman.
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"Touch me and you die," she hissed, her nose a quarter inch from his.
For a moment he just looked at her; then with a sigh of reluctance, he slowly set her back on the porch step beside him. "You are right," he said after a while. "I do owe you. I owe you illy life, and I did offer to marry you, so I must-"
He stopped when he saw Kady's tight-lipped glare. "I would be honored to marry you," he said solemnly. "Honored and pleased. And I want you to know that I respect your unusual circumstances, so you are under no obligation to perform your wifely duties. Unless you want to, that is," he added.
Kady hadn't really thought that far ahead. Right now she wanted a meal, a bath, and a bed, in that order. Her anger at this man xas taking the last of her energy.
Kady drew a deep breath, but no matter how much she tried to calm herself, her voice still came out with a nervous tremor. "Yes,", she said in a tiny voice. "Pardon? I couldn't hear you."
She glared at him. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about you xhat I truly dislike. Only starvation would, make me marry you."
He gave her a smug little smile. "Maybe I could find another man to take care of you. I'm sure someone somewhere would be'@@, willing to marry you."
She ignored his snide remark, refusing to think of what might befall her if she found herself married to a man who didn't own a
badge for continuous church attendance. "I want to remind you that you owe me," she said levelly. "I saved your life and as for my wifely duties, if you try to force me to do anything I don't want to, I'll--
The voice that cut her off was angry. "I do not force women or harm them in any way, " he said, his jaw clenched. "I am marrying you as a necessary way of protecting you. It is as you say, I owe you. Now, if you are through disparaging my character, would you like to go into the church and get married or not?" he asked. "You are free to leave if don't want to marry me."
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knew she'd been put in her place. Maybe she was making niorc of this than there was. He had told her he thought she was
beautiful, but that had obviously not sent him into uncontrollable just. As he'd said, he could have forced her when they were alone near the Hanging Tree, but he hadn't.
A -,vave of guilt overtook Kady. "Marriage is very serious, and you must know that I will go back to my home the very second I can," she said. "Aren't you involved with some girl you'd rather rnarr Maybe some woman is going to be furious when she finds out that a man she thought was hers has-" "Pretty much all the women in this town are in love with me," he said solemnly. "Even the married ones want to widow themselves so they can marry me. Women follow me down the street like so many baby ducks. I have to change my sleeping place every night to foil their attempts to find me because they seduce me all-"
Kady grabbed his arm. "Shut up, and let's get this over with. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can get something to eat." "After you," Cole said, smiling at her and pushing the door to
the church open wider. "Mrs. Jordan," he said under his breath.
17
ady awoke because her scalp .:)was itching furiously, and there was something constricting her breathing. When she opened her eyes, it took her amoment to focus on the ceiling, which was
constructed of closely set posts. idly, she wondered when her landlord had redecorated and why he'd decided to give the rustic look to an apartment in Alexandria, Virginia.
Turning her head, she looked about the place as she rubbed her eyes and tried to clear what seemed to be pounds of crusty sleep from them. A cabin, she thought, a mountain cabin. One room, very clean, all homemade furniture, blue calico curtains on the windows.
Abruptly, Kady sat up as memory came flooding back to her. She was no longer in Virginia but in the mountains of Colorado, and the year was 1873.
For a moment she buried her face in her hands and remembered all that had happened in the last few days, especially what had happened yesterday. Cole Jordan, a man she hardly knew, had escorted her into a church that was nearly crushed under the weight of the flowers that adorned it. Kady's eyes had widened as
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she
lookcd at the lilies and roses and great swags of wildflowers that hun@y from every conceivable surface. "There s a wedding later today," Cole had said, smiling down at
her dirty face. "Or maybe the flowers are for us." "Then they should all be dead," she said quietly, not meaning for I i i in to hear, but he did, and she felt bad for the hurt on his face.
It rea ily was nice of him to help her in this way; it was just that this was not what she'd hoped for her marriage. She'd wanted her friends there, Jane and Debbie, and she'd wanted to look beautiful, not Is though she'd spent the night in a coal bin.
As she walked down the aisle, she glanced up at Cole, saw the way the sunlight glanced off his blond hair, and she nearly ran out
the back of the church. She'd wanted to walk down the aisle with Gregory, with the man she loved and not this stranger.
A minister was standing at the head of the church under a lovely arch of greenery and tiny white flowers. Had this been someone
else's wedding, Kady would have marveled at how beautiful everything was. The choir was singing, but she could hardly hear them. At her wedding to Gregory, she had planned to have a soprano from the New York Opera Company sing.
She hadn't been aware when the minister had started the service, so she wasn't aware when he stopped it. She was only aware when she felt the eyes of everyone in the church on her.
Still holding her arm tightly as though if he let go, she'd flee, Cole handed Kady his handkerchief. She had no idea when she Started crying. Not the great wrenching, noisy sobs that she could feel inside her body, just hot tears slowly running down her cheeks in a steady stream. "Don't mind me, I always cry at weddings," she said to the minister, then, after a confirming look at Cole, he continued.
Somewhere during the short ceremony, Kady said what she was
suPPosed to, so eventually, she heard the words that declared she was now married to this man. Bracing herself, she expected him to kiss her. He had that right now, didn't he?
But Cole didn't kiss her. Instead, he accepted the congratulations ol the choir members, never letting go of Kady's arm, and
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after a while, he led her out of the church onto the porch. There they were pelted with rice as the people wished Cole and his bri, i U the best of luck and happiness forever. They also hoped the two of them would have a hundred children.
Amid all the laughter of friends, no one seemed to notice tlix Kady didn't say a word.
Cole helped her onto his horse, then, still fending off peltit," rice, he led them past the church, then took a left and followed a
deep creek until they came to a cluster of log buildings. To their right was a large opening in the side of a mountain that could only be one of Legend's silver mines. "The Lily Mine," Cole said, the first words he'd said to her since their "marriage"-if that loveless ceremony could be called that. Cole dismounted, talked to a couple of men for a moment, then turned to help Kady down.
He led her to a small white tent, and inside was a little table covered with a white cloth, a broken and mended ceramic vase of wildflowers in the center. "We'll bring you some food in a minute," one of the men who'd followed them in said. -@ou just tell us anything you need, Mrs. Jordan, and we'll do our best to get it for you."
It was the name that nearly did Kady in. She'd so looked forward to being called Mrs. Norman, but instead she had been given this stranger's name. "Thank you," she said, but the tears running down her cheeks increased in volume. "Well, ah, yes, well, I'll leave you two alone," the man said, backing out of the tent nervously.
As Cole held a chair for her, Kady nearly fell down onto it. She'd sold herself for a plate of mush, she thought, her head on her hands.
Reaching across the table, Cole took one of her hands. "I'm not as bad you seem to think," he said softly. "Honest."
She forced a little smile. "I know. I am being horribly ungrateful, and I apologize. If you'd appeared in my time, I don't think I would have taken your predicament to heart the way you have mine
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,kr,@LtlJn't have made the personal sacrifice that you have. I do thxll@ You."
-,(,ood," he said, smiling. "Now, what do you want for a wedding gift?"
I *soap II Ishe said without hesitation. "And a hot bath." "Wise choice," he answered seriously, making Kady give a tiny bit ol a smile.
shc started to say more, but the tent flap was pulled back and in canic the food, great quantities of it, all of it set on the table until it nearly collapsed under the weight.
Ka@y lost no time digging in, reaching into each dish with her fork, not bothering with putting it on the chipped plate that had been @et before her. Cole also ate, but he was more interested in watching Kady. "You like our Colorado cooking?" he asked. ''I would like to see the man's skillet," she said, mouth full.
I.s skillet?" "I i igure the cook has a skillet big enough to fry a whole sheep, head, hooves, and all, and he half filled the skillet with lard, then cooked all of this food in the grease."
Cole blinked at her. "How else do you cook?" So much information filled Kady's head that she could form no words. She just kept eating, one vegetable, one meat indistinguishable from another. Even the baking-powder biscuits had been fried in the grease. But now she was so hungry she'd have to worry about her arteries later.
He patted her hand, glanced toward the church door, and looked as though he was going to leave again.
Kady grabbed his arm. "I wouldn't hate you no matter what. You've lived in this town all your life and-- "Actually, I came here when I was four." "That doesn't matter!" she gasped, then took a breath to calm herself. "All I'm asking is that you talk to some people."
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He looked at her in sympathy. "-]Fhe problem is that thei:lre are ter, people for every job. When we nei---ded a new schoolteactrier, even man's wife and half the daughters in this town wanted the,-@: job. I [i'(, town council had a devil of a time choosing just one pe rson. it's the silver, you see. Legend is fairly rich in silver, and ever@()nc wants to be here in hopes of striking it rich. " His face 11it up could take you to Denver. Maybe there you'd find-- "No! I can't leave here because I must find the rocks,;. whe,e came through. If I'm ever to get b;ack, that's the way."
Turning away, he looked out toward the lovely lawn irir-1 front of the church. "Ah, yes, Gilford." "Gregory," Kady said. "The narrie of the man I love is c@:,-regory.-
Cole kept his face turned away, but she could see a ti:_ny smile playing at the corner of his lips, as though what she'd sai--d were a
great joke.
But none of this was a joke to Kady, she thought as, onc@ ce again, she buried her face in her hands. "You have to help me. I'm hungry. I haven't had anything to eat in-"
She broke off because Cole let c)ut a rather loud belch. "I do beg your pardon," he said, his hand to his mouth. "Beans. It's the only thing Manuel knows how to cook. It's bE)eeans for breakfast, beans for lunch, beans for supper. Beans and-- "I can cook something besides beans," Kady said H brightly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "I can cook anythirling.-
Cole looked at her with the eyes of a man explaining o the very simplest concepts of life. "You are an independent, self-SuR-pporting woman, and I respect that. I know you take a great deal of I - pride in being able to care for yourself with the help of no one else o-(@,on earth, so how could I-- "Cut it out," she snapped. "You don't need to make mn-e grovel. So you were right. At least you were right in this time aj@ and this place. " "Is that an apology? A full apology or half of one?" "It's all you're going to get, so be thankful for it."
Cole gave her a little grin. "Stop gloating and take me out and buy me the biggest niff--neal this
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town IlAs to offer. It'll be my final meal before I become your food slave.
He arched an eyebrow. "As opposed to what other kind of slave? " ,,_just feed me and let's go."
But Cole didn't move, and his face lost its teasing look. "Kady, I can It give you a job." "1@ecause I said--
T-Liking both her hands in his, he looked into her eyes. "You may have noticed that Legend isn't like other mining towns. No, that's right, you said you'd never been to a mining town, so you'll just have to trust me that it is different. Other towns have a lawlessness about them that we don't allow here in Legend."
She didn't understand. "It's illegal for me to cook for you?" "No, of course not. It's just where I live." At that she looked at him. He was clean, and the blue cotton shirt he had on had been ironed within an inch of its life. Somehow, she couldn't imagine Cole Jordan living in a shack. "I live in a place out of town, that way," he said, nodding toward the cast. "There are no other houses near me, and, well, Miss Long, it just wouldn't look right for you and me to live there alone with just old Manuel and a few ranch hands for chaperons." His eyes showed sadness. "After choir practice I can take you out for a meal, but I really don't know what else I can do. I can't force anyone to hire a cook they don't need. I'd give you all the money I have, but the whole town would know in a minute, and, well, your reputation would suffer." His voice lowered. "This is a town full of men, and if you were taking money from me, they might think you were a different kind of woman than what you really are."
Kady had a vision of drunken cowboys, liquored up after a trail drive, tearing down the door to her cheap hotel room and ... She shook her head to clear it. "Too many movies, Elizabeth Kady," she heard her mother's voice saying in her head.
Cole pressed her hands in his. "I really don't know how to help you-'' @Ie glanced at the door to the church. "I must go now. After
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choir practice, we can talk more. Maybe I can persuade someone to take you in. Some people in town owe me favors, so maybe-'
Kady's grimace made him cut off. "Charity," she said under h,,ibreath and imagined how uncomfortable it would be to live as an unwanted guest in a stranger's house.
It was at that moment that Kady changed her attitude. Extraord i -
nary problems called for extraordinary solutions. As Gregory's handsome face flashed before her eyes, she thought how hjs mysterious dark looks were such a contrast to Cole's blue-eyed blondness, Cole's open and guileless face.
She loved Gregory, loved him very much, but he wasn't here. @Ie wasn't even born yet, and she wouldn't be doing him any favor if she kept her pride and starved to death before she could get back to him.
After taking a deep breath to give herself courage, she straight- ened her shoulders and looked into Cole's candid blue eyes. "Is your marriage proposal still open?" she asked, and instantly she could see the shock on his face. "You're engaged to marry someone else." "Desperate times call f8r desperate measures."
Cole gave her a look that said, Thanks a lot. "You know what I mean." He looked down at her hands, still resting in his. "I offered marriage in the heat of the moment. I felt grateful to you for saving me, but now I wonder what people would say. I'm afraid they'll-" "Why, you low-down, lying bastard!" she said, snatching her hands from his. "Here I am starving, starving! mind you, and all you can think of is what this overly manicured little town will say. Let me tell you, Mr. Jordan, that this town isn't worth thinking about. They'd let a lone woman starve to death before they'd sully their pristine reputations."
She was so angry she forgot about her hunger and exhaustion and stood, which allowed her to look down at him. "Right now I wish I hadn't saved that overly muscled neck of yours. And when
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yr,r, @Olund dead in some alley, my death is going to be on your head! "
With that utterly magnificent riposte, she grabbed her train, slung it over her arm and started down the stairs. Unfortunately for her sel i -esteem, she tripped over Cole's big feet and went tumbling forwal-cl, But he caught her in his arms and pulled her back to sit on
his lap.
Kadv was so angry she wouldn't look at him, but held herself as rigid as possible.
-I guess I do owe you a favor." "No one has to marry me as a favor," she said through clenched teeth. "And put me down before one of your 'Legendary' saints sees us together."
Her play on the town's name made him smile. "Too late," he said, his smile widening.
1(ady rolled her head back to look up at the entire choir of Legend, Colorado, as they jammed themselves together in the doorway to stare in open fascination at her and Cole. "I'm afraid that now I have no other choice except to marry you," he said. "Now that I have-" "So help me, if you say that you've ruined my reputation, I'll throw up on you."
For a moment Cole looked at her half in amusement, half in shock, then he glanced up at the choir, still staring as though they were natives seeing their first peep show. "If you will excuse us, Miss Long and I need to discuss a few matters in private."
When the spectators were gone, Cole looked back at Kady, opened his mouth to speak, but instead, looked down at her. The way she was positioned in his arms made the tops of her breasts push up out of the dress until they were nearly popping out of the neckline. And the tight dress showed off every curve of Kady's lush figure. She might be thought to have a "weight problem" in the late twentieth century, but she'd already been in this century long enough to know that here a woman was supposed to look like a woman.
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"Touch me and you die," she hissed, her nose a quarter inch from his.
For a moment he just looked at her; then with a sigh of reluctance, he slowly set her back on the porch step beside him. "You are right," he said after a while. "I do owe you. I owe you illy life, and I did offer to marry you, so I must-"
He stopped when he saw Kady's tight-lipped glare. "I would be honored to marry you," he said solemnly. "Honored and pleased. And I want you to know that I respect your unusual circumstances, so you are under no obligation to perform your wifely duties. Unless you want to, that is," he added.
Kady hadn't really thought that far ahead. Right now she wanted a meal, a bath, and a bed, in that order. Her anger at this man xas taking the last of her energy.
Kady drew a deep breath, but no matter how much she tried to calm herself, her voice still came out with a nervous tremor. "Yes,", she said in a tiny voice. "Pardon? I couldn't hear you."
She glared at him. "I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about you xhat I truly dislike. Only starvation would, make me marry you."
He gave her a smug little smile. "Maybe I could find another man to take care of you. I'm sure someone somewhere would be'@@, willing to marry you."
She ignored his snide remark, refusing to think of what might befall her if she found herself married to a man who didn't own a
badge for continuous church attendance. "I want to remind you that you owe me," she said levelly. "I saved your life and as for my wifely duties, if you try to force me to do anything I don't want to, I'll--
The voice that cut her off was angry. "I do not force women or harm them in any way, " he said, his jaw clenched. "I am marrying you as a necessary way of protecting you. It is as you say, I owe you. Now, if you are through disparaging my character, would you like to go into the church and get married or not?" he asked. "You are free to leave if don't want to marry me."
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knew she'd been put in her place. Maybe she was making niorc of this than there was. He had told her he thought she was
beautiful, but that had obviously not sent him into uncontrollable just. As he'd said, he could have forced her when they were alone near the Hanging Tree, but he hadn't.
A -,vave of guilt overtook Kady. "Marriage is very serious, and you must know that I will go back to my home the very second I can," she said. "Aren't you involved with some girl you'd rather rnarr Maybe some woman is going to be furious when she finds out that a man she thought was hers has-" "Pretty much all the women in this town are in love with me," he said solemnly. "Even the married ones want to widow themselves so they can marry me. Women follow me down the street like so many baby ducks. I have to change my sleeping place every night to foil their attempts to find me because they seduce me all-"
Kady grabbed his arm. "Shut up, and let's get this over with. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can get something to eat." "After you," Cole said, smiling at her and pushing the door to
the church open wider. "Mrs. Jordan," he said under his breath.
17
ady awoke because her scalp .:)was itching furiously, and there was something constricting her breathing. When she opened her eyes, it took her amoment to focus on the ceiling, which was
constructed of closely set posts. idly, she wondered when her landlord had redecorated and why he'd decided to give the rustic look to an apartment in Alexandria, Virginia.
Turning her head, she looked about the place as she rubbed her eyes and tried to clear what seemed to be pounds of crusty sleep from them. A cabin, she thought, a mountain cabin. One room, very clean, all homemade furniture, blue calico curtains on the windows.
Abruptly, Kady sat up as memory came flooding back to her. She was no longer in Virginia but in the mountains of Colorado, and the year was 1873.
For a moment she buried her face in her hands and remembered all that had happened in the last few days, especially what had happened yesterday. Cole Jordan, a man she hardly knew, had escorted her into a church that was nearly crushed under the weight of the flowers that adorned it. Kady's eyes had widened as
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she
lookcd at the lilies and roses and great swags of wildflowers that hun@y from every conceivable surface. "There s a wedding later today," Cole had said, smiling down at
her dirty face. "Or maybe the flowers are for us." "Then they should all be dead," she said quietly, not meaning for I i i in to hear, but he did, and she felt bad for the hurt on his face.
It rea ily was nice of him to help her in this way; it was just that this was not what she'd hoped for her marriage. She'd wanted her friends there, Jane and Debbie, and she'd wanted to look beautiful, not Is though she'd spent the night in a coal bin.
As she walked down the aisle, she glanced up at Cole, saw the way the sunlight glanced off his blond hair, and she nearly ran out
the back of the church. She'd wanted to walk down the aisle with Gregory, with the man she loved and not this stranger.
A minister was standing at the head of the church under a lovely arch of greenery and tiny white flowers. Had this been someone
else's wedding, Kady would have marveled at how beautiful everything was. The choir was singing, but she could hardly hear them. At her wedding to Gregory, she had planned to have a soprano from the New York Opera Company sing.
She hadn't been aware when the minister had started the service, so she wasn't aware when he stopped it. She was only aware when she felt the eyes of everyone in the church on her.
Still holding her arm tightly as though if he let go, she'd flee, Cole handed Kady his handkerchief. She had no idea when she Started crying. Not the great wrenching, noisy sobs that she could feel inside her body, just hot tears slowly running down her cheeks in a steady stream. "Don't mind me, I always cry at weddings," she said to the minister, then, after a confirming look at Cole, he continued.
Somewhere during the short ceremony, Kady said what she was
suPPosed to, so eventually, she heard the words that declared she was now married to this man. Bracing herself, she expected him to kiss her. He had that right now, didn't he?
But Cole didn't kiss her. Instead, he accepted the congratulations ol the choir members, never letting go of Kady's arm, and
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after a while, he led her out of the church onto the porch. There they were pelted with rice as the people wished Cole and his bri, i U the best of luck and happiness forever. They also hoped the two of them would have a hundred children.
Amid all the laughter of friends, no one seemed to notice tlix Kady didn't say a word.
Cole helped her onto his horse, then, still fending off peltit," rice, he led them past the church, then took a left and followed a
deep creek until they came to a cluster of log buildings. To their right was a large opening in the side of a mountain that could only be one of Legend's silver mines. "The Lily Mine," Cole said, the first words he'd said to her since their "marriage"-if that loveless ceremony could be called that. Cole dismounted, talked to a couple of men for a moment, then turned to help Kady down.
He led her to a small white tent, and inside was a little table covered with a white cloth, a broken and mended ceramic vase of wildflowers in the center. "We'll bring you some food in a minute," one of the men who'd followed them in said. -@ou just tell us anything you need, Mrs. Jordan, and we'll do our best to get it for you."
It was the name that nearly did Kady in. She'd so looked forward to being called Mrs. Norman, but instead she had been given this stranger's name. "Thank you," she said, but the tears running down her cheeks increased in volume. "Well, ah, yes, well, I'll leave you two alone," the man said, backing out of the tent nervously.
As Cole held a chair for her, Kady nearly fell down onto it. She'd sold herself for a plate of mush, she thought, her head on her hands.
Reaching across the table, Cole took one of her hands. "I'm not as bad you seem to think," he said softly. "Honest."
She forced a little smile. "I know. I am being horribly ungrateful, and I apologize. If you'd appeared in my time, I don't think I would have taken your predicament to heart the way you have mine
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,kr,@LtlJn't have made the personal sacrifice that you have. I do thxll@ You."
-,(,ood," he said, smiling. "Now, what do you want for a wedding gift?"
I *soap II Ishe said without hesitation. "And a hot bath." "Wise choice," he answered seriously, making Kady give a tiny bit ol a smile.
shc started to say more, but the tent flap was pulled back and in canic the food, great quantities of it, all of it set on the table until it nearly collapsed under the weight.
Ka@y lost no time digging in, reaching into each dish with her fork, not bothering with putting it on the chipped plate that had been @et before her. Cole also ate, but he was more interested in watching Kady. "You like our Colorado cooking?" he asked. ''I would like to see the man's skillet," she said, mouth full.
I.s skillet?" "I i igure the cook has a skillet big enough to fry a whole sheep, head, hooves, and all, and he half filled the skillet with lard, then cooked all of this food in the grease."
Cole blinked at her. "How else do you cook?" So much information filled Kady's head that she could form no words. She just kept eating, one vegetable, one meat indistinguishable from another. Even the baking-powder biscuits had been fried in the grease. But now she was so hungry she'd have to worry about her arteries later.
