“I bet he did. I imagine that at one time he thought he’d found his dream woman, someone who would cook and keep her mouth shut. I bet you shocked him when you told him you were never coming back, didn’t you?”
Standing behind him, she smiled, for she knew that he was asking her a question. He wanted assurance that she had indeed left Gregory. “You’re right. He couldn’t believe it.” She paused for a moment. “I guess Leonie was a bit angry when you dumped her.”
Turning, he gave her a look of puzzlement. “I didn’t know ladies knew such words. She used some I’d never heard before.”
Kady was laughing as he set an enormous steaming omelet in front of her; then he put his chair near hers and they ate from the same plate, sipping white wine from the same glass.
“I want to know about you,” she said softly, peering at him over the wineglass. “I’ve told you all there is to know about me, but I know nothing about you. What exactly does that company of yours do?”
“Makes money. We Jordans are good at making money. We’re bad at personal relationships, but then maybe that’s the curse that was put on us by the people of Legend for what they believed Ruth did to them. Or maybe it’s my great-great-grandfather, Ruth’s youngest son, who cursed all of us. Or, possibly, it’s my own fault, but I think that’s highly unlikely.”
For just a moment Kady saw beneath the laughing, self-confident, cocky grin and saw the loneliness in his eyes. She also saw pain. Mr. Fowler had told her that C. T. Jordan was thirty-four years old but had never been married and now she wondered why.
“Were you really going to marry that Leonie? Just to have children?”
“Yes. I really was, because, you see, I had given up hope of finding you.”
She started to ask him what he meant by that, but, actually, she knew. Putting her hand over his, she looked into his eyes. “I have to return, you know that, don’t you? As soon as the rock opens again, I have to go back to Legend.”
Instantly, his eyes blazed anger. “And what can you do there? Can you change what has already happened? Do you want to bring your saintly Cole back to life so you can go back to him?”
“No, of course not. I just want to do whatever I can to . . . to . . .”
Standing, he glared down at her. “You have no idea what you want to do, or even what you’ll be able to. The only way to prevent the tragedy of Legend is for you to prevent Cole from getting shot. And how are you going to do that? By placing your body in front of his?”
She hadn’t really thought that far ahead. “I don’t know what I can do. Maybe I can find Ruth before the bank robbery happens and warn her.”
“And how are you going to get past the Jordan Line?”
She looked up at him blankly, not understanding him. There was an open road between the wall that was the Jordan Line. All she had to do was walk down the road.
Tarik went on his knees in front of her and held her hands; his eyes were pleading. “The Jordan Line is a stone wall that separates the town, the clean, pure, untouchable Jordans on one side, the riffraff on the other. Did Ruth tell you that the wall is patrolled by armed guards twenty-four hours a day? Did she tell you that any outsiders who try to get near the ivory-towered Jordans are shot at? Strangers can’t just go up to the royal Jordans and talk to them.”
“Why do you say ‘is’ and ‘are’? Don’t you mean ‘was’?”
Standing, Tarik moved away from her to go to the fireplace. “Of course I do,” he said softly. “You said that you were afraid to tell anyone your story because no one would believe it, but I do, and I can see the danger of it. You cannot go back, Kady. Even if the door in the rock opens, you cannot go back.”
“I must,” she said simply.
“No!” he shouted, his fist coming down on the mantelpiece. “I cannot allow it.”
Perhaps she should have taken offense at his words, but she didn’t, for she saw the concern for her in his eyes, and she wanted to calm him. “I don’t think I’ll be given a choice, since every time I look, the door is closed.”
At that he smiled at her, a warm, friendly smile, and he moved to put his arms around her. “Good, I hope it stays closed forever.” Pulling away, he looked into her eyes. “Will you marry me, Kady?” he asked sof
tly.
She hesitated. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? But something held her back. Maybe it was that there had been three men in her life in the last few months and she was a bit confused about them.
When she opened her mouth to speak, he stopped it with a kiss. “The offer will always be open,” he said, “so take your time. Take all the time you need,”
At that she hugged him about the waist and held him tightly to her.
“Come on,” he said companionably, “let’s go to bed and get some sleep.”
“Oh?” she said, eyebrows raised.
“If you can sleep while in the same bed with me, so can I,” he said as though it were a challenge.