Edward Lassitor, strolled by.
“Evening, Jane, Edward.”
“Evening, Hildy.” Jane flashed friendly smiles at the women. “Mora, Carolyn, Vonnie.”
Simultaneous pleasantries prevailed.
“Janie’s so nice,” Carolyn said as the couple walked on. “I can scarcely wait to see her gown. Vonnie, you can’t keep us in suspense any longer! What’s it like?”
“Ah, but you’ll have to wait until the wedding.” Vonnie tried for a teasing tone, doing her best not to allow her true feelings to show. Beth might be the nicest girl in the county, but few wouldn’t agree that Vonnie Taylor was the prettiest. Coal-black hair, amethyst-colored eyes, dimples men found irresistible. Half Cherokee, half white. Yet no one ever spoke of Vonnie’s mixed heritage. Not even P.K. Baldwin.
“You’re not serious! You’re honestly going to make us wait until the wedding?” Mora and Carolyn chorused.
Hildy’s generous lips formed a pout. “You’re cruel!”
Her words held no malice. Vonnie knew she wasn’t just pretty fluff. Brides came from as far away as the West Coast to purchase one of her exquisite gowns. At the tender age of twelve, she had shown an astonishing ability with needle and thread. By fifteen, anyone who saw her work marveled that she was so gifted. She could craft a simple piece of lace into a work of art.
“I’ll bet the gown’s frighteningly expensive,” Mora guessed.
Carolyn sniffed. “Edward can afford it.”
“Edward won’t be paying for it. Tool Bennett is paying for everything,” Mora confided in a hushed whisper.
“Who said?”
“I overheard Mrs. Bennett telling Martha Gibbings at the church social last week. The wedding is costing a fortune, but Tool won’t hear of anything less than the very best for his only daughter.”
“Oh dear,” Hildy’s voice dipped to a reverent whisper. “Will you look at those eyes? Have you ever seen such a deep blue! There’s not a man here who could hold a candle to him.” To Vonnie’s consternation Adam Baldwin was once again the focus of attention.
“He’s so handsome he makes my teeth ache,” Hildy confessed. “And he’s engaged.” She brightened. “To our Beth—though I’m absolutely blue with envy.”
Vonnie had to agree she was blue, emotionally. Adam, in dark gray trousers, frock coat and burgundy vest, was the best-looking man—not just in Potter County, but the world. But then she was partial to this particular Baldwin. Painfully so.
She picked up a silver tray of bizcotela and brightly offered it around. “Cookies, anyone?”
“I’ve heard he’s quite the gentleman,” Carolyn said as she thoughtfully selected a sweet. “Beth said he hung wash for her when she was feeling poorly last week.”
“He didn’t!”
“He did! Beth said so herself.” Carolyn bent closer. “But she made me promise absolute secrecy, so don’t breathe a word of it to anyone.”
Three heads bobbed. Three pair of covetous eyes returned to Adam’s sculpted features. He was deep in conversation with the governor.
“I tell you, son,” the governor blustered, “the railroad coming in is the best thing that’s ever happened to us!”
“Oh,” Hildy murmured. “He sees us.” She flashed a grin. “Personally? I’d take any one of the Baldwin brothers.”
Carolyn giggled. “To where, darlin’?”
“Who cares?” Mora and Carolyn parroted in unison. Vonnie shook her head.
The four men bore a striking resemblance; it was impossible to say who was the most attractive. They had dark brown, wavy hair, the irresistible Baldwin sky-blue eyes, and skin tanned to nut brown by the hot Texas sun.
Adam, Andrew, Joey, Pat. The brothers were the crème de la crème of Potter County, easily at home in buckskin or expensive Boston tweed.
“Why, Carolyn, what would James say if he heard you drooling over the Baldwin brothers?” Hildy chided.
Carolyn’s cheeks pinked and she daintily lifted her cup to her mouth. “James and I are only friends.”
“Of course, you are.” Vonnie finally entered the good-natured conversation, encouraged by the change in subject.
Hildy suddenly froze, her mouth formed around a cookie. “He’s walking this way.”
The women’s eyes focused on Adam effortlessly weaving his way across the crowded room. His gaze lightly skimmed Vonnie as he approached the four women. “Ladies?”
Carolyn blushed cherry-red. “Mr. Baldwin.”
He cocked his head. “Something wrong?”
“Oh, my stars, no,” Hildy said. She glanced at Vonnie.
“No?” He smiled, showing even, white teeth beneath a dark tan. “Then I trust you’re having a good time?”
“Oh, wonderful,” Hildy said.
“Everything’s so nice,” Carolyn murmured.
“The food’s delicious,” Mora assured him.
He nodded. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourselves.” His eyes returned to Vonnie. Offering his left arm, he smiled. “Would you do me the honor of having a glass of punch?”
Vonnie’s breath caught when his eyes skimmed her with easy familiarity. She swallowed. “Of course.”
Mora, Hildy and Carolyn stood aside as Adam escorted her to the refreshment center.
Sipping from a cup, Vonnie met Adam’s eyes in silent challenge. Eyes the color of a Montana sky stared into hers. Indeed, Adam Baldwin could make a woman’s head spin.
“You look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you. We were commenting that Beth is positively radiant.”
His eyes flicked briefly to his fiancée, who was chatting with Carolyn’s father, the honorable Judge Clive Henderson. “Beth is a beautiful woman.”
His voice set off the same familiar rush of emotion deep inside Vonnie. The resonant baritone left her feeling slightly giddy. Seven years had failed to change anything.
“You’re very fortunate. Beth will make a wonderful mate.”
“Yes, so I’m told.”
“Have you set a date?”
“Not yet.”
The woodsy spice of his cologne circled her. Beneath crystal chandeliers, where dappled prisms of light swirled among the smiling couples, she’d
