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do." Vanessa had worn a mossy-colored satin that had brought out the green in her eyes.
    "Remember how I'd had such a crush on Teddy?"
    The question elicited a chuckle. "No one could forget your crush, sweetheart." Teddy West had worked for Circle Z for one interminable season. Clayton had breathed a sigh of relief when they'd made it through those five months without having to dismiss the randy cowboy, he'd flirted so outrageously with Vanessa.
    "I never told you this, but Teddy kissed me that night."
    Maybe he should have done some damage. "I never knew that."
    "I'd been so excited. We danced, and then Teddy suggested we go out where it was cooler. It was warm in that barn.Remember?"
    She was far too trusting. "Vanessa, honey, it wasn't all that warm. It was March."
    "Don't fuss. This was years ago. Anyway, there we were, dancing and twirling, when all of the sudden, he dipped me, then held me close."
    Clayton gritted his teeth. "And then?"
    "He kissed me." Vanessa said it dreamily.
    She was waiting for a response. He couldn't think of one that wouldn't betray his feelings.
    "I thought that night was just about the most exciting moment of my life, Clayton. A dance, a kiss . . . "
    He couldn't help but interrupt. "It was only one kiss?"
    "Oh my goodness, yes." She turned her head to face him."What did you think I did?"
    "I didn't think anything." Suddenly, he was extremely glad for the darkness surrounding them. He was afraid he was blushing.
    "Well, after that first one, we danced some more, and then Teddy wanted another kiss."
    He really should have sent that boy out on his ear like he'd wanted to. "You should have called for me. I would have made sure he didn't try for more." Ever.
    "Oh, Clayton. I couldn't do that. You were dancing with Charlotte Fleet—and she'd been dying to dance with you forever."Propping herself on her elbows, she stared at him, eyes all sparkling and full of mirth. "Did you kiss her?"
    "I did not. Not that it's any of your business. So . . . what did you do to Teddy, since you foolishly decided that you didn't need me?"
    "I gave him a good hard push and told him no, thank you, then hightailed it back inside."
    No, thank you? She should have kneed him hard enough to making walking difficult. For a month. "I'm glad he listened."
    "Clayton? Right this minute I feel the same way."
    Only Vanessa could say so much and still not make a lick of sense. "How so?"
    "That night I felt like I'd crossed a line. A cowboy thought of me as a woman. I stood up to him, all by myself. I went to bed that night feeling a whole year older."
    She turned to her side to catch his eye, a sweet, sad smile flickering in the fading sparks of their campfire. "I feel older tonight, too."
    Her words shamed him. She should have never felt like that. He should have known to keep an eye on Price. He should have heard her cries, gotten there sooner. Noticed that things were getting dangerous for her. "Van—"
    "Let me finish, Clayton. If someone had told me two days ago that I was going to have to leave my home in the middle of the night, ride with you all day, then go sleep next to a fire, I would have told them I wasn't strong enough. But maybe I am, after all."
    Clayton swallowed hard. "Yes, you are. The Lord provides.' For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord,' " he quoted.
    After another moment, she murmured sleepily, "I think . . . I think I'm gonna be all right."
    Only hours later, when the blazing fire had turned to glowing embers and the winds had died down enough to hear even a twig break in the distance, did Clayton dare answer. "You will be all right, sweetheart. I promise on my life."

3
    S hame weighed deep on a man's soul when there was no hope of forgiveness, Miles Grant decided while wandering through Clayton's empty suite of rooms. During the last few days, the Circle Z had been in an uproar, and all of it was his stepfather's fault.
    First came Price's ugly cursing when he awoke the next morning to find both