Through the haze of her fury she heard Mrs. Hankins say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Logan, but I don't have any white satin, or white anything for that matter. I don't get much call for it. I could order some, but it might take a month or more. I don't expect you want to wait that long, do you?" she added with a knowing smile.

"No," Josh grudgingly admitted. Even the thought of waiting until Saturday was extremely unpleasant, but he hated to let anyone know how very desperate he was to have the girl.

Mrs. Hankins expected no other answer, however, and seemed not to notice any cosmic significance in his negative reply. She was already leading Felicity toward the back of the store. "I have a bolt of lovely gold taffeta that I think will be perfect," she was saying.

Felicity threw a triumphant look over her shoulder at him, irritating him all over again, but he swallowed his annoyance, determined not to let her see it.

"Hey, Josh, didn't expect to see you back in town so soon," Mr. Hankins said as he entered the store.

"I brought my…"-Josh had to stop to think of the word-"… fiancee into town to buy a wedding dress," he finished, hating the flush he knew was crawling up his neck.

Hankins grinned expansively. "Congratulations," he said, extending his hand to shake. "We'd heard about it but weren't sure it was really true. So you're finally getting married, huh?"

Josh shook hands with the storekeeper and nodded, unwilling to pursue this line of conversation. In his search for a new topic, he recalled what he had discussed with Hankins on his last visit. "Did that fellow you told me about ever show up in town again?" he asked, realizing he had completely forgotten to even mention the man to Candace in all the fuss about Felicity and the wedding plans.

Hankins frowned. "No. You mean he never showed up out at your place?"

"Not yet," Josh replied, uneasily aware of Hankins's concern. Josh had managed to convince himself that the stranger was harmless, but seeing Hankins again stirred his doubts.

"Mr. Logan, come and give us your opinion," Mrs. Hankins called from the back of the store.

Hankins laughed outright at Josh's startled expression. "She doesn't really want your opinion, you know," Hankins confided. "She just wants to get a feel for how much you want to spend. Now's the time to put your foot down and show your bride who's boss." He sent Josh on his way with an encouraging pat on the back.

More than a little puzzled, because he could not picture Felicity choosing something so expensive it would cause Mrs. Hankins concern, Josh strolled down the aisle to the rear of the building. His confusion grew when he saw the stubborn set of Felicity's jaw, but Mrs. Hankins's complaint put everything back into focus.

"Miss Storm doesn't seem to like the taffeta," she said.

"Oh, I like it fine," Felicity contradicted. "It's just so expensive."

Josh glanced at the counter where Mrs. Hankins had unfurled a length of the golden material. It was the same sort of stuff Blanche's dress had been made of, except it was a color that didn't knock your eyeballs loose. He noticed Felicity's small hand fingering the edge of the cloth covetously, but she said, "It costs a dollar a yard, and I'd need more than eighteen yards of it to make that pattern…"

"I have this lovely pattern," Mrs. Hankins explained, showing it to Josh. "You see, she could use it for her wedding gown, but she could also make it up in calico without the fancy trim for everyday. It's very versatile."

"But eighteen yards…" Felicity protested, eyeing the fabric with longing. She had never seen anything so beautiful, but she couldn't expect Mr. Logan to spend that much money on her. How wasteful for a dress she would hardly ever wear! If she could not please him by wearing a white dress, at least she could please him by saving him some money.

"I'd suggest that you get at least twenty yards," Mrs. Hankins said cheerfully. "You'll want to make a bonnet to match."

Felicity drew her hand away as if the fabric had burned her. "Twenty yards! Absolutely not! What else have you got?"

Josh stared at Felicity. Even he could plainly see she wanted that material. Was she still trying to do penance for what had happened by denying herself something she really wanted? The thought sliced into him, lacerating his already sensitive conscience. He simply could not allow her to make any more sacrifices. "Cut her twenty yards of that yellow stuff and then show us what else you've got," he ordered, contradicting Felicity's instructions.

Smiling victoriously, Mrs. Hankins began to measure out the material.

Felicity stared at him in utter amazement. He actually seemed annoyed that she didn't want to squander his money. "I don't need a dress that expensive," she whispered to him.

No, perhaps she didn't, Josh thought, but he needed to give it to her. "Yes, you do," he said with finality.

"I have some brown velvet that will trim this beautifully," Mrs. Hankins reported, still smiling happily.

"Fine, measure it out," Josh said, pleased to be able to do something special for Felicity to prove how much he thought of her.

Felicity continued to stare at him. His gray eyes seemed to challenge her to argue with him. Fortunately, she was too flabbergasted to do any such thing. After the way they had argued earlier, she would not have been surprised if he had refused to buy her anything at all. Instead he was…

"And I want you to pick out enough material to make yourself three… no, four more dresses. Then you'll have one for every day of the week," Josh continued, determined that she would endure no more self-inflicted deprivations.

Felicity gasped. A dress for every day of the week! Nobody needed that many dresses! He was being outrageous. The spark of acquisitiveness she had felt upon entering the store was smothered under this avalanche of extravagance. "Mr. Logan, I don't want-"

"Get her everything she needs, and put it on my account," Josh told Mrs. Hankins, annoyed over the way Felicity had addressed him. She knew he did not want her to call him "Mr. Logan," especially in front of other people. What would Mrs. Hankins think?

Mrs. Hankins thought the whole thing was rather amusing, he noticed, glancing over in her direction. Well, he had provided.her with enough entertainment for one day. "I'll be back later," he said, and strolled purposefully out of the store.

Resisting with difficulty the urge to call him back and demand he countermand his orders, Felicity tried to remember to remain calm and unruffled in front of the storekeeper's wife. She didn't want to cause talk, and after all, she would get to choose fabric for four more new dresses. Since she had never owned more than two dresses at any one time in her entire life, such an opportunity should have thrilled her. It would have, too, if she had thought for one minute Mr. Logan's generosity was prompted by his affection for her. Instead he was buying the clothes just to be ornery, just because she had objected. And maybe just to prove his dominance over her. Sighing with resignation, she focused her attention on the violet-sprigged calico Mrs. Hankins was showing her.

Josh leaned against the barn wall and watched Felicity's bedroom window fade from light to dark. He tried not to think about the fact that she would, at that very moment, be climbing into bed clad in nothing but a thin nightdress. Sighing wearily, he reached into his vest pocket for the makings to roll himself a smoke.

"You sure did fix that girl up good and proper with clothes," Candace said from beside him.

He whirled, surprised to find she had come so close without his realizing it and annoyed that she had seen him staring at Felicity's window like some love-struck swain. "Not that she appreciates it," he replied, unable to keep the edge from his voice.