Legend (Legend, Colorado 1)

“I see. And what did you do to him that makes you worry that he may take a shot at you as well as a stranger like me?”

Twisting around, he grinned at her. “You’ve got a brain inside that pretty head of yours, don’t you?”

“Only for remembering ingredients and figuring out lying men.”

“I’m not so sure about that. You certainly seem to allow men to dupe you. Gilford sure pulled one over on you.”

“Gregory,” she corrected, then felt goose bumps rise on her arms as she remembered the way Cole had always pretended to not be able to remember Gregory’s name. “At least I got away from a man who wanted something other than love from me,” she said snidely.

He didn’t miss her reference. “With legs like Leonie’s, who cares whether she loves me or not?”

“You’re disgusting.”

At that he chuckled and, with his free hand, held hers that were clasped about his flat belly. “You know, Kady, I never knew riding a horse could be so very, ah, pleasurable.” As he said this, he leaned back a bit so her ample breasts were buried even deeper against him, and when Kady, not mistaking his meaning, tried to pull away, the horse sidestepped and nearly threw her off. To keep from falling, she had to grab Tarik even tighter, which made him laugh. “Extra oats for you tonight, my good friend,” he said to the horse.

Had the circumstances been different, Kady might have laughed, too, but she didn’t allow herself that luxury. She was not going to become closer to this man than she already was.

But now, standing before his uncle Hannibal, who, with his burning eyes and long, scraggling beard, looked like a prophet from the Old Testament, she was ready to give up the whole idea of trying to help people who were dead.

“Driver’s license says she’s named Long,” the forbidding old man said, looking down his long nose at Kady, as though she were a liar and a sinner and should be eradicated from the earth. Of course the only reason he’d seen her driver’s license was he’d stolen her handbag from her car. So, was stealing and shooting at innocent people okay in his book?

As Kady opened her mouth to ask this, Tarik said, “We’re married and I have the license to prove it.”

“Would you please release me,” Kady hissed, trying to pull away from him, but his grip was like steel.

With amazement, she watched Tarik pull a piece of paper from under his sweater and hand it to the old man.

“It’s a copy, of course,” Tarik said as Hannibal Jordan scrutinized it. “But it says that Miss Kady Long was married to Cole Jordan and, as you know, that’s my name. You can see that it’s all duly signed and witnessed.”

“Let me see that,” Kady said, snatching the paper from the man’s hands. It was indeed a copy of her marriage certificate to Cole. She looked up at Tarik. “This is dated 1873.”

“So it is,” Tarik said, as though he’d just seen the date; then he grinned at his uncle. “No doubt it’s a computer error. You know how those machines are.”

“Don’t know, don’t wanta know,” Hannibal decreed. “Machines are destroying this once great nation of ours.”

With a fierce twist, Kady freed herself from Tarik’s grasp. “That certificate was handwritten, a

nd it was written long before computers were invented. I am not married to this Cole Jordan.”

“Tetched,” Tarik said to his uncle in conspiracy, tapping the side of his head. “But she’s my wife, so what can I do? You ready to come along, dear? Uncle Hannibal is going to let us stay in the old Jordan homestead with him and the rest of his family.” He glared at Kady pointedly. “And we can’t stay there unless we’re married because Uncle Hannibal doesn’t believe in sin.”

It didn’t take a degree in espionage to figure out what he was saying, but Kady hesitated, then fluttered her eyes at Tarik. “But, dear, we’re on our honeymoon. Couldn’t we stay in a separate house of our own?” Lowering her eyes, she tried to look demure. In a house of their own she could have a room of her own. Preferably with a door that she could lock.

“The wages of sin—” the old man said as, to Kady’s horror, he began to advance on her. But Tarik stepped between them.

“Forgive her, uncle, she has no idea what she’s talking about.” He slipped his arm back around Kady’s shoulders and held on tightly. “We’ll love staying with you and your children. It will be our greatest delight. All I ask is that I might take my bride exploring. We’ll help you look.”

For a moment Kady thought the old man was going to raise his arm and tell her she had to leave the mountain or maybe that she was to die in some biblical way, but instead, he just turned his back on them and walked away, mumbling to himself.

The moment he was out of earshot, Kady turned to glare up at Tarik. “Why didn’t you tell me your uncle was crazy?”

“You thought a sane man shot at you? Or even that a sane man would choose to live up here in this forsaken place? What’s your idea of insanity?”

“So why didn’t you warn me that you were going to tell him we were married? Obviously you planned it, or you wouldn’t have a copy of my marriage certificate to Cole so handy. And where did you get that, anyway?”

Without answering her, Tarik turned and looked at the town. “I haven’t been here for years, and it’s difficult to believe, but it’s worse than it was when I was here before. Uncle Hannibal isn’t into maintenance. So, tell me, Kady, my wife, which side of the bed do you sleep on?”

“You touch me and you’ll die regretting it.”