Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range by Danica Favorite (summer beach reads txt) 📕

as though a thousand butterflies had taken flight within her rib cage, fluttering, no, pounding to be let out. This man who’d protected her, who looked at her with such seeing... Her pulse thrummed with strange and heady emotions.

Lips dry, she wet them with the tip of her tongue.

Lou blinked and the moment ended. His hand dropped to his side. “I’ll meet you in the dining room at seven.” With that, he pivoted and left her alone at her door, the imprint of his touch still sizzling against her cheek.

It took her a moment to recover, but when she did, she let herself into her room. The spacious interior welcomed her with warmth. A package lay on the bed, but rather than opening it, she flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

So many feelings ricocheted through her that catching her breath, let alone resting, proved impossible. Thoughts of Josie intermingled with memories of The Kiss. Both tangled her nerves. After an hour of futile search for sleep, she sat up and opened her traveling case. Taking out her brush, she went to the private bath, washed her face and then combed her hair. The snarls made her wince, but she persisted until her locks fell in waves against her back.

She glanced at the package, a simple white box, which remained unopened.

“Oh, Lord, I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. Life’s even road had just become twisty and uneven. To find her footing required a wisdom she wasn’t sure she possessed. Inhaling deeply, she went to the box and lifted the lid.

She gasped. With careful fingers, she lifted out a dress more lovely than she’d ever touched. She’d seen beautiful fabrics. French silks, velvets and chiffons. But this... The fabric fell through her fingers, a wispy garment the color of a desert sunset.

She nibbled her bottom lip and surveyed the tiny glass beads across the hem, the swirls of deep reds that dashed across the bodice.

She couldn’t wear this.

She couldn’t.

And yet the simple dress she’d traveled in hardly qualified for a refined dinner.

But this dress was audacious. Every head would turn. Stare. She shuddered and dropped the silky thing to the bed. Why would Lou do this to her?

He didn’t pick it out, she reminded herself. Taking steadying breaths, she paced the length of her room. A rose sachet sat upon the dresser, but she missed the scent of her sagebrush land. She glanced at the clock on the wall.

Six o’clock.

There was time to spend praying or reading the Bible. Perhaps the Proverbs. They’d always been her comfort in times of need or stress.

When she finished chapter one, she moved to chapter two and kept going until six-thirty. Feeling more calm and as though her fears were minuscule, she put her Bible to the side and changed into the dress.

How the agent knew her size, she’d never guess. She wasn’t a tall woman, smaller than most, actually, but the dress fit perfectly. The seams stitched even and small at the hem. The narrow shoulder straps exposed more skin than Mary thought she’d ever shown in her life.

Thank goodness she’d brought her black shawl.

Now for her hair. She twisted and pinned and when a knock sounded at her door, she was ready.

She snagged her shawl and opened the door. Lou faced the opposite way, his head bent as though reading something. She closed the door behind her, hearing a subtle click.

Lou rotated toward her and his face went slack.

“What?” She touched the collar of the dress. “Did I wear the wrong thing?” She patted her hair, but everything felt tidy.

“You are...” He trailed off. Was his face turning splotchy? She stepped closer.

“Are you all right?” She’d never seen him look so...so flustered. At a loss for words. Despite the riotous emotions of the day, an overwhelming urge to laugh bubbled through her.

She covered her mouth as Lou’s jaw worked but no sound emerged.

“Resplendent,” he finally said. He stuffed the paper he held into the breast pocket of his sleek jacket and advanced toward her. Yes, his face colored pinker than normal, but his charming grin was firmly in place.

The giggle bubbled out, perhaps exacerbated by nerves and exhaustion. His smile stretched to show a hint of teeth. “May I have your arm?”

“You may.” Nerves quivering, she offered it to him.

His grasp filled her with warmth. He pressed her arm firmly to his side, effectively encasing her in his cologne and security. They matched steps. Down the stairs. Through the lobby. Into another area that served as the restaurant.

She felt eyes on her, the way they followed and perused, but the tingly apprehension she so often suffered failed to materialize. Hardly daring to breathe, let alone talk, she allowed Lou to lead her to a table.

Dinner passed in an odd mixture of unexplained excitement and lingering sadness over Josie’s absence. She’d gotten used to the girl’s energy and uncontained words. And yet the candlelight on the table, the sound of violins and clinking forks led her back to a reality in which her employer sat across from her, handsome, alive and very, very interested.

At least it felt that way.

Self-conscious, she smoothed her dress, watching as his eyes traced her movements. Heat crept through her. “Thank you for the meal, Lou.”

“It’s nice to see you enjoying yourself.”

“Good food is worth celebrating,” she returned, feeling a tug at the corners of her mouth.

“Indeed. I agree.” He lifted his glass. “And so is good company.”

Feeling flushed, she nodded. They finished their food and before she knew it, they were ready to leave. His eyes sparkled beneath the glow of the chandeliers.

“Care for an evening stroll?”

Why not? She might never visit this place again, and would she even see him after this? She pulled her shawl more snugly around her shoulders and smiled at him. “I’d love one.”

They meandered out of the hotel, away from the perfumes and into a different type of atmosphere. She clutched her shawl closer as a chilly breeze brushed