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twenty years hadn’t dimmed that pleasure.
    â€œI will reserve my judgment on that just now,” Lucas said. “I most certainly didn’t like his provocative manner of speaking to her.”
    â€œOh, yes, he is a rogue, isn’t he?” She smiled brightly. “But I knew he was teasing her. And you did, too, or you would have stopped him.”
    Lucas nodded. “I admit I admire his resourcefulness. But I’m not sure why Jessica would object to cooking for him.”
    Meggie floated back down and faced Lucas. “I suppose you think a woman should be thrilled at the idea of slaving over a hot stove for a man all day?”
    Lucas wrinkled his brow. “It’s a woman’s duty. Why should she object?”
    Meggie put her hands on her hips and frowned. “You are an oaf, Lucas Kincaid. Things are not the same as they were for us. Men and women have both changed. Their thinking is quite different.”
    He loved the way her nose wrinkled when she was irritated with him. “Perhaps what men do today might be different from our time, my dear, but what they are thinking is certainly not. And Mr. Grant’s thoughts regarding Jessica are precisely the same thoughts I had when I first met you.”
    In spite of her annoyance at Lucas, Meggie couldn’t help but smile. “Every time Dylan stands close to Jessica, I feel something. Almost like a pulse of energy that moves from them into me. Did you feel it, too, Lucas?”
    He nodded. “Yes. I feel it. I don’t understand it or what it means. But we will soon, my love. Very soon.”
    Meggie leaned close to Lucas, wanting his nearness even though there could be no physical contact. “Put your arms around me, my darling. Let’s pretend, if only for a moment, that we are truly holding each other.”
    Lucas held out his arms and Meggie moved into them, wishing desperately that Dylan Grant was the answer to their prayers.
    â€œI love you, Lucas,” she said quietly.
    â€œAnd I, you,” he answered.
    They stood there quietly, pretending it was another time and place. “Lucas,” Meggie asked, “do you think Jessica will be angry when she finds out Dylan hasn’t been completely truthful with her?”
    Lucas smiled. “Of course not. Why would she be angry? She’ll understand.”
    â€œDo you really think so?”
    Lucas smiled reassuringly. “Don’t let it bother your pretty little head. Men know about things like this. She’ll laugh about it.”
    But Meggie wasn’t so sure, and as she closed her eyes, she prayed that Lucas was right.

Three
    H annibal trotted alongside his mistress while Dylan stayed a few feet behind, listening carefully as Jessica described the town of Makeshift. The wooden sidewalk echoed with the sound of their boot steps, and he made a mental note that the first order of business would be to replace the missing and rotted planks before someone broke a leg.
    And speaking of legs, Dylan thought as he scanned Jessica’s slender body, she had the kind of legs men dreamed about. They were long and curvy, and the thought of running his hands over her smooth calves and up her thighs brought an ache to his loins. The ache tightened as he watched the sway of her hips.
    With a curse, he yanked his gaze from her and stopped to stare through a cracked window of what had once been a general store. Assorted cans and boxes lay toppled on the dusty floor-to-ceiling shelves, and a rusty scale sat on the sales counter. Curtains of spiderwebs draped the entire room.
    â€œI’m surprised you haven’t had any vandalism or theft,” Dylan said when he spied an antique cash register.
    Jessica moved beside him and cupped her eyes to peer through the window. “Few people know about this place. And those who do know better than to bother anything here. I want to renovate this shop and sell items the kids make themselves, plus novelties of