Jordan's Star

Orion the hunter... Bootes the herdsman... Leo the lion . . .," Jordan Randolph murmured dreamily. "See, Charlie?" Sitting beside her on the oak swing, Charlie Maddox obediently searched the night sky with a wrinkled brow. "Ah-lion, did you say?" Jordan ignored him, staring upward, her lips slightly parted. She was not a woman who would appeal to every man's taste, but there were those who found her beautiful-clouds of auburn hair forming a halo around her head, wide-spaced, entrancing gray-green eyes, a trim, shapely figure, a whisper-soft voice. "Ursa Major, Ursa Minor... did you know, Charlie, that ursa is the feminine form of ursine, or 'bear,' so they should actually be called the Great She-bear and the Little She-bear?" Jordan whispered. "Bears?" Charlie repeated helplessly, once again sweeping the sky with mystified eyes. He was a rather heavy young man of thirty with brown hair, blue eyes, and a ready smile. Jordan sighed and turned slightly on the swing to face him. "Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, Charlie. You probably know them as the Big Dipper and Little Dipper." "Oh, sure I know them. There's the Big Dipper and there's the Little Dipper, right over there," Charlie said, relieved. It was difficult for him to follow when Jordan went off into her fantasies. She would use a dreamy, unconnected voice, soft and almost inaudible, and the things she said rarely made sense to Charlie. "Big Dipper," she repeated, and sighed. "Such a boring name for such wondrous stars." Charlie was an earnest, solid kind of man. "Well, speaking of dippers, Jordan, we've got some new well dippers down at the store. Fit right on the swivel of the well bucket, you see, so-" "Oh, Charlie! How can you even think of well buckets on a night like this?" "A night like this?" Charlie repeated, staring around. "It's dark and cold, just like nights in February always are." Dark and cold, that's all he sees! Why can't he see the beauty all around us? To Jordan the night was dramatic, with winter's last cold breath sending shivers over her hot cheeks and bare shoulders, the smell of wood smoke acrid on the air, the stars distant and godlike in their frosty brilliance. The only touch of warmth on the scene was the golden aura of the house they'd left to come outside, and the faint strains of lively music that ran by them like quick-flying birds on the wing. Bemused, she stared at Charlie and pulled her wool shawl closer about her. Suddenly she looked vulnerable, childlike. Charlie stared at Jordan, suddenly overtaken with awkward tenderness and clumsy longing. "Jordan, you're so pretty!" He turned and threw his arms around her and kissed her roughly. "Charlie! What do you think you're doing?" Jordan cried, pushing him with all her might. "Jordan, listen, I-I-," Charlie began, still hoping to some-how show her how he felt. "You know how I feel about you." "Charlie," Jordan said brusquely, jumping up and disentangling herself, "this is not the way to romance me. Assuming, of course, that that's what you are trying to do." "Of course that's what I'm trying to do!" Charlie said earnestly. "You know how much I want us to get married." She stared down at him. "You want us to-you mean, that's your marriage proposal? 'I want us to get married.' That's it?" He jumped up, rubbing his hands together nervously. "Well, yes," he gulped. "I mean-what else is there?" Jordan whirled, her long full skirts making a crisp arc around her stamping feet. "I'm going inside!" she said between clenched teeth. Closely trailed by Charlie, Jordan practically ran across the flagstone patio, then swept inside the French doors. Charlie stared after her, then went toward the refreshment table that flanked one wall, while Jordan paused at the edge of the polished oak floor crowded with dancers. She tried to compose herself, hoping that the anger she'd felt for Charlie didn't show on her face. Nervously, she fussed with her hair, tucking a few strayMorris, Gilbert is the author of 'Jordan's Star' with ISBN 9780310227540 and ISBN 0310227542.