But she didn't want to marry Cody. She only wanted to marry Mr. Logan. Oddly enough, she still could not think of him as anything except "Mr. Logan," in spite of what had happened between them. Or maybe because of it. She wasn't too clear on that point. She only knew that whenever they were together, her feelings frightened her. But she still wanted to see him.

Or at least she had until last night. After all the furor over the photographs had died down and the men went back to the bunkhouse to admire themselves, Mr. Logan and Felicity were alone for the first time since the night he proposed to her. Felicity tried to distract him by showing him the pictures again, but he seemed far more interested in looking at her. And touching her. And kissing her.

"Stop it!" she had exclaimed finally, jumping up from where he had cornered her on the settee.

"Stop what?" he demanded in exasperation.

"You know 'what'!" she informed him furiously, carefully backing up until she was out of his reach. "You won't trick me again."

"Trick you!" he said, standing as if to come after her. "I have no intention of tricking' you. We're engaged. It's perfectly proper for me to kiss you."

"Not with me, it isn't," she lied. She began to back away from him, but he was too quick for her. He caught her easily.

Just the touch of his hands weakened her resistance, but she was determined not to surrender to him again. If she had nothing left in this world, she had her pride. She would fight to keep what was left of it intact. When his face came down to hers, she turned her head away and struggled frantically until he released her, thrusting her away from him angrily.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked.

"Your language, Mr. Logan!" she remonstrated, trembling with reaction.

"And stop calling me 'Mr. Logan,' damn it," he replied, daring her to correct him again. "There's no reason why I can't kiss you. We're getting married in a few days."

"We're not married yet," Felicity pointed out, knowing he wanted to do far more than kiss her and understanding that if she allowed the kisses, she would allow the rest only too willingly.

Judging from his irritation, he understood that, too. He reached for her again, but she dodged him, stepping behind the settee, where she felt safer. "I think you'd better leave now," she had said.

After another angry exchange that Felicity could not even bring herself to remember, he had left, slamming the door behind him. She had been certain that he would call off the wedding and send her packing at first light. Instead he had come to the house that morning and informed her they would be going to town. He did not look very pleased with her, but he still seemed determined to go through with his wedding plans. Felicity knew she should have been grateful, especially after she had made him so angry, but for some reason, she only felt angry herself. Perversely, she determined to continue calling him "Mr. Logan," knowing how that annoyed him.

She heard his voice out in the ranch yard as he instructed one of the men to hitch up the wagon. He would be coming for her soon. Swiftly, she put the picture she had been staring at on the bottom of the pile of photographs and tucked them all into the cigar box Candace had given her.

Josh paused on the porch to finish his cigarette before going in to fetch Felicity. He was still nursing his anger like a sore tooth, even though he knew she had been right to refuse him. As she had reminded him, they weren't married yet. He would not be entitled to marital privileges for several more days. Although he had to respect her wishes, that didn't make it any easier to sleep at night, not when he kept dreaming about making love to her, and waking up in a cold sweat.

At least the men weren't teasing him the way they would have teased one of their own who was planning to marry. In fact, their reaction had been surprisingly subdued. They seemed awed at the very thought. Even Cody, whom Josh had informed first thing the next morning, before the other men returned, had reacted differently than Josh expected.

Far from being jealous, the boy was thrilled. His first remark had been, "Now she can stay here and teach me all about photography!" So much for Josh's theory that Cody was in love with Felicity himself.

And Candace. The woman was a caution. Nobody could have acted more surprised at the news. She'd even had the nerve to ask him, with great concern, whether he shouldn't ought to get to know the girl a little better before he took her to wife. As if she hadn't planned the whole thing herself. As if she wasn't just delighted at the prospect of supervising his wedding. As if she hadn't already knitted booties for his first child.

Yes, everything had been pretty peaceful so far. Now, like a fool, he was going to take Felicity to town and parade her in front of the townsfolk. Every tongue within a hundred miles would be wagging about Josh Logan and his "child" bride. Normally, such a prospect would have annoyed him beyond reason, but he found himself smiling at the thought. The joke would be on them. Josh knew his child bride was all woman.

His smile widened as he remembered the fire in those blue eyes when she had sent him packing last night. As frustrating as her refusal had been for him, he could not help admiring her spirit. She was quite a little handful. Desire stirred in him, hot and swift. She might not be willing to go to bed with him again before they were married, but that didn't mean he had to quit pestering her about it. In fact, the thought of pestering her held a lot of appeal. She was awfully cute when she was angry. Even though he didn't think for a minute he could change her mind, the prospect of a little tussle over the matter was appealing. Yes, very appealing, he decided, tossing aside his cigarette.

He had turned to enter the house when Gus called from the yard. "Mr. Logan! We got company!"

Josh looked back, easily spotting the buggy that was rapidly approaching the ranch. Josh swore, briefly and succinctly. "Now what the hell does she want?" he muttered.

Felicity checked her hair one last time and smoothed down the skirt of her blue calico, but she waited in vain for Mr. Logan to come through the front door. He had been standing on the front porch for an awfully long time. Felicity was about to go open the door anyway when she heard a wagon rattling up outside. A female voice called out, "Hello, the house!"

A visitor! A female visitor! Paying a morning call! Suddenly aware of her questionable position in the household, Felicity wondered frantically what on earth she should do. Should she hide or should she welcome the woman as if she were the hostess? Felicity had never entertained company in her whole life and did not have the faintest idea where to begin.

"It's just that Delano woman," Candace sniffed, glancing disdainfully out the front window. Felicity had not even noticed that Candace was in the room.

"What should I do?" Felicity asked, perilously close to panic.

Candace seemed startled by the question, but she took in Felicity's predicament in an instant. "I expect you'd better let her in, for starters. I'll make some tea, and in a few minutes you can come get it. Ask her to set down. Knowing Blanche Delano, you won't have to worry too much about making conversation." With those instructions, Candace slipped quietly away, leaving Felicity with nothing to do but open the front door. She was instantly sorry that she did.

"What's all this I hear about you getting married, Joshua, and to some little girl that you found out on the range during a thunderstorm?" Felicity heard the woman say.

Felicity hardly had a chance to feel insulted, however. She was too shocked by the sight of Blanche Delano. Her visitor was tall, although not nearly as tall as Candace, but she seemed much larger because of the fullness of her figure. A tightly laced corset thrust forward her magnificent bosom to accentuate the slenderness of her waist, which gave way to fashionably full hips made fuller still by an elaborately draped bustle. But what made Felicity's eyes widen was the fact that the whole stunning package was clothed completely in purple. Royal purple, the brightest purple Felicity had ever seen, yards and yards of crisp, crackling purple taffeta. And when the woman lifted her skirt to execute the steps, Felicity saw that her well-turned ankles were encased in purple stockings embroidered with hundreds of bunches of tiny grapes.