From the Heart

time being.”
    Kasey wasn’t at all certain what she was agreeing to, but she lifted her glass. “For the time being,” she repeated.
     
    Over the following days Jordan resigned himself to working seriously with Kasey. Harry had been right about one thing: She was unquestionably an expert in her field. She was also unsettling. There was a vibrant sexuality about her which she did nothing to accentuate. She rarely wore anything but the most casual of clothes and almost never bothered with even the most basic cosmetics.
    He watched her as she sat on the window sill in his study.The sun streamed onto her hair. It was Titian in this light. She wore running shorts and was again without shoes. On the third finger of her right hand she wore a very thin gold band. He had noticed it before and wondered who had given it to her and why. He doubted she would buy jewelry of any kind for herself. She wouldn’t think of it.
    With an effort, he pulled himself away from the woman and concentrated on her words.
    “The sun dance was important to the ceremonial life of many of the Plains tribes.” She had a quiet, low-key voice when she spoke like this. “Some practiced self-torture to induce trances and to aid in receiving visions. The dancer would thrust sharpened sticks through the folds of the flesh on his chest and attach the sticks to a post. He would dance, sing and pray for a vision until he tore himself free. It was also a sign of courage and endurance. A warrior had to prove himself—to himself and to his tribe. It was their way.”
    “You approve?”
    She shot him a look that was both amused and patient. “It’s not my place to approve or disapprove. I study. I observe. As a writer, I suppose you have a different viewpoint. But if you’re going to write about it, you’d better try to understand the motivations.” Pushing a couple of books out of her way, she sat on the table. “If a man could endure that kind of pain, self-inflicted pain, wouldn’t he be fearless in battle? Ruthless? The survival of the tribe was the first priority.”
    “Cultural necessity,” he said and nodded. “Yes, I see what you mean.”
    “Visions and dreams were an essential part of their culture. Men who had strong visions often became shamans.” Turning, she began rummaging through the books on the desk. “There’s a rather good picture . . . Blackfoot tribe . . . if I can remember which book.”
    “You’re left-handed,” he observed.
    “ Hmm? No, actually, I’m ambidextrous.”
    “That could account for it,” he said wryly.
    “For what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
    “For the unexpected.”
    Kasey laughed. Her laughter touched something off inside him. “You should do that more often.”
    “Do what?”
    “Laugh. You have a wonderful laugh.”
    He was still smiling, and it pulled at her. For days, she had been able to keep her feelings regulated. Picking up a cigarette, she searched for matches. “Of course, if we laugh too much in here, your mother’s going to camp on the threshold.”
    He watched her pushing through books and papers. “Why would she do that?”
    “Come on, Jordan. You know she thinks I plan to seduce you and abscond with half your fortune. Do you have a light?”
    “You’re not interested in either project?”
    “We’re business associates,” she said curtly. She moved over to the desk, still searching for matches. She could feel the lightest flutter of nerves beginning. She sought to settle them before they grew. “And though you’re very attractive, the money is a strike against you.”
    “Is that so?” Jordan rose and joined her. “Why? People are normally attracted to money.”
    Hearing the annoyance, Kasey sighed and turned to face him. She thought it best for both of them if she made her position perfectly clear. “Normality is relative, Jordan.”
    “So speaks the anthropologist.”
    “Your eyes get very dark when you’re angry; did you know that? Money is very nice, Jordan. I often use it myself. But it tends to cloud reality.”
    “Whose reality?”
    “My point exactly.” She leaned back on the desk. “People with your kind of money never really see life as it is for the majority—day-to-day struggles, budgets, creditors, coupon clipping. You’re removed from all that.”
    “You see that as a defect?”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “Not your place to approve or disapprove?”
    She blew the curls out of her eyes. How had she gotten into all this?