Page 127 of Hot & Heavy

"Are you sure? Have you been to a doctor?"

"Nay. 'Twould serve no purpose to consult a healer on such a matter. For more than five years my husband tried to plant his seed in me. It would not take."

"Did it ever occur to you that it might have been his fault?"

Madrene shook her head. "No sooner did he wed another than she became big with child." She shrugged. "I have become resigned to my misfortune."

Polly drove her bug into a parking slot and stopped. Turning to face Madrene directly, she put a hand on hers and said, "Number one, the fact that your jerk of a husband couldn't impregnate you doesn't mean another man couldn't. It happens all the time. Two, even if it is your problem, there are things doctors can do today. It might be as simple as a tipped uterus. Three, you could try artificial insemination. Four, if all that fails, you could adopt a child."

Madrene did not understand most of what Polly had said, but she got the gist of it… modern medicine might have an answer for her. She doubted it, but it was worth pondering, she supposed. Later, she would ask for a further explanation.

Inside the food mart—a different place from the one Ian had taken her to—Madrene pushed a cart with Jonathan in front and Polly pushed another with Sharon in front.

"I cannot read," she confessed to Polly, who looked shocked. "I am learning," she was quick to add, "but in the meantime, I cannot prepare many of the foods here because I cannot read the directions on the boxes. So you must help me pick out things that I can make, without needing special instructions. For example, I can bake bread if you will show me where the flour and fat renderings are."

"You mean lard, or Crisco. Don't you need yeast, too?" When she saw Madrene frown, Polly added, "A leavening agent so the bread will rise."

"I usually make manchet bread… a type of flat bread… but I could try the yeast, too, if you tell me how."

Madrene bought fresh fruit and vegetables and several kinds of meat and fish. She made a wonderful smoked cod in dill sauce that people usually liked.

When they got to the personal products aisle—that was what Polly called it—Polly put two objects in her cart. Tamp-axe and co-tax. When Polly explained their purpose, Madrene clapped her hands with glee. What a wonderful country this is that they have such products! She put several in her cart.

While in that section of the mart, Polly picked up her favorite body cream, which smelled of almonds.

Madrene picked up one of the tubes, too, but she bought the one that smelled like lilies of the valley.

She could tell that Polly was baffled by her ignorance of so many everyday things in this country. I wonder what she would say if I told her I have time-traveled. Hah! She was shocked that I cannot read. She would probably think I am a demented person.

When she got home, she made bread. It was one thing, at least, that did not require education. She made half of the dough into flat bread and the other half with the leavening. Setting the oven as Polly had directed, she baked the manchet bread first and let the other rise in a sunny place on the cabinet top.

Was there anything in the world like the smell of fresh bread baking?

Sam settled herself at the base of the stove, attracted by the warmth. Just like her Rose at Norstead, who liked nothing more than sleeping before the fireplace. Madrene stilled for a moment, wondering if Rose had found a good home. She hoped so.

After that, she opened a can in the manner Omar had taught her. Pleased with herself that she was adjusting so well, she took her bowl of chicken noodle soup into the solar and ate whilst she watched Doctor Fill on the tea-vee.

Later, she took a shower, shampooed her hair, shaved her legs and armpits and smeared herself all over with her new cream. I smell like a bloody flower, she thought, grinning. She was not tired but she went to bed anyhow, knowing that the sooner she slept, the sooner tomorrow would come and Ian would be home.

As she lay in bed, she thought about all that had happened to her. The assault by Steinolf on Norstead, her living in the Arab lands, meeting Ian, then being reunited with her family. Is there a reason why I was sent here? Did everything that happened to me need to occur before this fate could be completed?

If so, why? Her father had mentioned miracles. That, she might be able to accept. Even then, why? An idea came to her unbidden. Just before she'd fled from Fakhir's holding, she had said a prayer to the gods, asking for help. Could it be that simple? "Ask and you shall receive." That was a line her grandmother, Lady Asgar, used to quote from her Christian Bible.

She inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of her body cream. She would have to wash the bed linens in the morning, before Ian got home, lest he think he was sleeping in a garden. 'Twould not be manly.

Finally she fell asleep.

Honey, I'm home…

Ian got home at two a.m. after hopping an early flight back to the base.

As he entered the quiet house, Sam came up and meowed a greeting against his leg, then went back to the sofa to sleep again… the sofa she was not supposed to get up on. He shook his head at the hopelessness of trying to teach a cat anything.

Dropping his duffel bag on the hall floor, he walked into the kitchen, where the most delicious smell filled the air. Fresh-baked bread, he soon realized. Cutting off a hunk for himself and slathering it with butter, he glanced around the room. Not only was it spotlessly clean, but he would swear every aluminum fixture in the place shone like silver. Maddie had been a busy beaver.

He turned off the kitchen light and went down the hall. Opening the door to his bedroom, he could see by the hall light that Maddie was sacked out under a sheet. Possibly naked, if her bare shoulders were any indication. He felt an unexplainable pleasure just knowing she slept naked in his bed even when he wasn't there.

The room was humid, and the sliding door to the deck was opened to the ocean air. She probably didn't know how to turn the air conditioner on. He sniffed the air then. Holy hell! It smelled like a funeral parlor in here. Seeing no cut flowers around, he figured she must have sprayed air freshener… enough to wipe out the whole ozone layer.