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you talking to?”
    “Did someone call for me?” her mother called
out from up the stairs.
    He turned his head in the direction of the
woman who peered around the banister at the top of the
staircase.
    “No, Ma. At least, I don’t think so.” Jessica
looked at him. “Did you mean her?”
    “You mean to tell me that Peter James and
Margaret Williams aren’t here?” he called out to her mother.
    “Peter is out shopping with his mother for
the tablecloths for the reception,” her mother said. “Margaret
isn’t due by until this evening for supper.”
    “What reception?” he tested.
    “The wedding reception of course. What other
reception would a fiancé be planning for?”
    He glanced around the house. It did seem
awfully quiet, and he didn’t think the mother would lie about
something like this. He gave Jessica a wary look. “You’re
engaged?”
    Her eyes grew wide. “Didn’t you know
that?”
    He didn’t like the sudden turn of events. It
didn’t go exactly the way he planned. He had no idea how to get out
of this except to play along...and then get the heck out of there
as soon as possible to avoid any further embarrassment! He threw
back his head and laughed. “Of course, I did. I mean, who doesn’t?
It’s all over town.”
    “That’s what I thought,” she said, seeming
uncertain.
    “Well, my little brother didn’t know, but he
doesn’t pay attention to what goes on.” He glanced at his watch.
“Wow. Is it that late already? I forgot that I have to be back at
the farm in an hour. I better get home before I...” Okay. There was
no way he was going to say ‘get in trouble’ because that would
imply he was a kid. He cleared his throat. “I need to repair a
fence. I can’t have the cattle running all over the place, you
know.”
    “But what about learning to dance? And
lunch?” Jessica pressed as he ran to grab his hat.
    He plopped it on his head. “You taught me to
dance.”
    “Well...” She glanced at the parlor. “Not
really.”
    “Sure you did. You did great. Really.” He
clapped his hands together. “Good luck on the wedding. I’m sure
it’ll be a great time.”
    She grabbed his arm before he could leave the
house. “Tom, won’t you at least get a quick bite to eat before you
leave? You can’t repair a fence on an empty stomach.”
    He had to get out of there. He didn’t know if
she was going to catch on to what he’d been doing, but he didn’t
want to find out. “I can’t. Really, I got to go.” He turned to
leave.
    “But—”
    “Thank you for everything, Jessica. And thank
you, Mrs. Reynolds.”
    He tipped his hat and hurried out of there.
It wasn’t until he made it to his horse that he allowed himself to
take a deep breath and exhale. If there was anything more
humiliating that he could do, he didn’t know what it could be. He
quickly hopped on the steed and rode out of town.

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    Jessica sat across from Peter the next
evening at supper. His mother had invited her over to discuss the
wedding, but Jessica had a hard time concentrating on anything that
Connie James was saying. All she could think about was Tom’s kiss.
Her cheeks still warmed at the memory. It all seemed like a dream,
and yet, she could still feel his lips against hers.
    “I think an assortment of white and pink
napkins will do well, too,” Peter agreed with his mother.
    Jessica blinked and forced her attention to
the two people chatting in the dining room. “Pink and white?”
    Peter smiled and nodded. “Mother decided that
those colors would suit for the wedding.”
    “They are so pretty when they’re together,”
Connie added.
    “But I thought we agreed on red and pink,”
Jessica told Peter.
    Peter shrugged. “We’ll still have pink. What
does it matter what the other color is?”
    “You’re having a winter wedding,” Connie
inserted as she lifted a glass of wine to her lips. “White goes
much better with the season. And if it snows, it’ll be