Apparently oblivious to their audience, Mr. Logan pulled the wagon up in front of the store and hopped down to secure the horses. Felicity tried to match his cool unconcern and studiously avoided glancing at a single person. After what seemed a long time, he reached up to help her down from the seat. The sight of his hands reaching for her set her heart to skittering in her chest. Unconsciously, she drew back.
"Felicity," he whispered impatiently, "I'm hardly likely to do anything to you on Main Street."
Hating the hot color that rushed to her cheeks, Felicity allowed him to lift her to the ground. If her heart was still racing and her blood pounding in her ears, she gave no outward indication of it. Instead she walked calmly up the wooden steps to the sidewalk and on into the store.
She paused inside the doorway for a moment, allowing her eyes to accustom themselves to the interior dimness. Inhaling the mingled odors of leather and spices and tobacco and pickles and the thousand other fragrant items lining the shelves of the mercantile, she enjoyed the delicious realization that today, for the first time since she could remember, she was entering a store to buy something just for herself. How often had she accompanied her father to places exactly like this one and covetously eyed the beautiful goods displayed, only to walk out with nothing more than a sack of flour or a side of bacon? Today would be different.
"You must be Mr. Logan's… uh… friend," a female voice said.
Felicity looked up to see a middle-aged woman wearing an apron and a quizzical look approaching her. "Yes, I…"
"Mrs. Hankins, this is Miss Felicity Storm," Josh said, entering the store behind her.
"How do you do," Mrs. Hankins said, smiling warmly. "I knew it had to be you. I recognized the dress."
Felicity smiled back, remembering that Mr. Logan had told her how the lady at the store had chosen the dresses for her. "I'm very pleased to meet you," Felicity said. "And I want to thank you for everything you did."
"I'm just glad I was able to fit you," Mrs. Hankins said, stepping back a little to examine Felicity's dress with an approving eye.
"We're here to get some more things for Felicity," Josh said. "She'll need a wedding dress and-"
"A wedding dress! Then it's true! You really are getting married," Mrs. Hankins exclaimed delightedly. "We'd heard rumors but… Of course, I should have guessed something of the sort when he told me he wanted the blue dresses to match your eyes."
Felicity's blue eyes widened at this information. Somehow Mr. Logan did not seem the sort of man who would think of something so whimsical. Even Blanche had been skeptical of his impulsiveness. Could they both have been mistaken? Could he possibly have a romantic streak neither of them suspected? Then she remembered that he had mentioned something about matching the dresses to her eyes the day he had given them to her. Might he have some softer feelings for her after all? Felicity turned to him, hoping to find an answer in his expression.
Josh frowned down at her, easily reading the hope on her face. She wanted him to be in love with her, so smitten that he had ridden at breakneck speed to purchase a garment the exact color of her eyes. But he had done nothing of the kind. In fact, Mrs. Hankins had asked him what color her eyes were, and he had just happened to remember. Unwilling to explain all that, however, he shifted his attention back to Mrs. Hankins. "We want the very best white satin that you have, and some lace, too." he said, knowing such a request would wipe all other thoughts from Felicity's mind.
Once more Felicity felt heat scorching her face, but this time her humiliation produced anger. How she would have liked to inform Mr. Joshua Logan that he could take his white satin and lace and jump off the nearest cliff with them straight into the fires of perdition. Only the knowledge of how embarrassed Mrs. Hankins would be to witness such a display stilled her tongue. That and the fact that Felicity was biting her tongue fiercely.
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?"