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.
Forcing herself to look at Mrs. Delano's face, Felicity found herself even more intimidated. She saw milk-white skin contrasting vividly with gleaming ebony hair piled high in a cascade of curls. On top of the curls sat a ridiculous confection of a hat which exactly matched the gown and sported ostrich plumes so long they swooped down to brush against Mrs. Delano's fantastic breasts. Lively green eyes stared out of her round face, and too red lips formed a winning smile.
Felicity's photographer's eye told her that Blanche Delano was not a beauty, was not even conventionally pretty, but Felicity doubted anyone would ever even notice that deficiency. Most people would have judged her to be gorgeous.
Green eyes took in Felicity from head to toe. "My lands, is this her?" Mrs. Delano asked in patent disbelief. Her radiant smile flickered and died. For a moment the two women simply stared at each other across the threshold.
Never, in all her years of feeling insignificant, had Felicity felt more so. Compared to this woman, she was a mere shadow, a pale imitation of a woman. She wanted nothing more than to run away and hide where no one would ever see her again. Only her fierce pride kept her rooted to the spot, her chin high, her expression unintentionally defiant.
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Blanche Delano turned to Josh, who had accompanied her up to the door.
"Well, she's a beauty, Joshua. I'll have to give you credit for good taste. But can she talk?"
Long accustomed to Blanche's outspoken behavior, Josh calmly introduced them. "Felicity, this is our neighbor, Mrs. Blanche Delano. Blanche, this is Miss Felicity Storm."
"How do you do?" Felicity heard herself mumble, convinced that this whole episode must be some sort of a dream. Not only was this the most magnificent woman Felicity had ever met, but she had just said that Felicity was a beauty. None of this could possibly be real.
Mrs. Delano's smile glittered to life again. "Why, I'm fit as a fiddle, although you look as if you could use a little more meat on your bones. Hasn't Joshua been feeding you?"
Felicity could think of no response to such an outrageous question, so she simply said, "Won't you come in?" Since Mrs. Delano was already in, having surged by while Felicity was gathering her voice, she added, "And please sit down."
Felicity watched in amazement as Mrs. Delano made a little ceremony out of seating herself on the settee and artfully arranging her quantities of skirt. By the time she had settled herself enough to have removed her orchid-colored gloves, Felicity was itching to go for her camera. The woman was posed perfectly!
"Gome sit here, honey," she commanded Felicity, patting the space beside her with one perfectly kept hand. "I want to look at you."
I want to look at you, too, Felicity thought, but of course she didn't say it out loud. She took the offered seat instead.
Candace had been right, Felicity realized. Mrs. Delano was going to take care of the conversation.
"I could hardly believe my ears," she was saying. "I was no sooner off the stage than folks started telling me all about how Josh Logan had found himself a girl at last and was going to marry her on Saturday. I declare, Joshua, I can't hardly leave you alone for a minute! That'll teach me to go running off to Dallas." She paused as if expecting Josh to make some comment, but he only glared at her from the wingbacked chair where he had seated himself.
Undaunted, Blanche turned back to Felicity. "Where on earth did you come from, Miss Storm?"
Uncertain exactly how to answer such a question, Felicity hesitated a moment. "Everywhere, I guess you could say," she began, prepared to stop in case Mrs. Delano launched into another subject, but surprisingly, the woman simply waited, listening intently.
"My father was a traveling photographer, you see, and we moved around a lot. He… he passed away a few weeks ago, leaving me alone and lost. I wandered onto Mr. Logan's property and he found me." Felicity amazed herself with the way she had mentioned her father's death with no unseemly display of emotion.