“Great.” He flashed a smile at Abigail. “Thanks.”

Outside in the hallway, they moved three doors farther down. Caleb inserted his own key card, opening the door to a larger room with a king-size bed and a massive lounge area beside a pretty bay window.

They entered the room. He dropped his bag on the floor. The spring-loaded door swung shut and, before she knew what was happening, Mandy was up against the back of the closed door. Caleb’s hands had her pinned by her wrists, and he was kissing her hard and deep.

She was too stunned to move. “What the-”

“I’ve been going crazy,” he groaned between avid kisses. “You’re making me crazy. I thought we’d never get here. I thought we’d never get checked in. I thought we’d never get a second alone.”

Mandy recovered her wits enough to kiss him back. So, not the sale of the ranch. And okay, this was definitely a heat-seeking missile.

She relaxed into the passion of his kisses.

His lips moved to her neck, pulling aside her shirt. A rush of desire tightened her stomach, tingling her skin. Her eyes fluttered closed and her head tipped back, coming to rest against the hard plane of the door as her toes curled inside her boots.

“I don’t understand,” she managed to mutter, clinging to his arms to balance herself. “You’ve ignored me for two days. I didn’t hear a word.”

“That was Travis. He used every trick in the book to keep me away from you.” Caleb pulled back. “What did you tell him, by the way?”

“I didn’t… Well, I mean, I didn’t tell him. But he knows.”

“Yeah, he knows,” Caleb agreed. “But can we talk about your brother later? I figured we’ve got about three minutes before they come looking for us.”

She blinked at him in astonishment. “You don’t mean?”

“Oh, man. I wish. But, no. I was only planning to kiss you some more.”


The regional water rights review meeting was shorter than Mandy had anticipated. The state representative introduced the process and told participants how they could provide written comments in advance of the next meeting. Having five people attend from the Jacobs and Terrell families, along with dozens of other ranchers from the Lyndon Valley area served its purpose in showing the organizers the level of interest from the valley and from the ranching community.

There were also a number of people representing nonranching interests. That had been one of Seth and Abigail’s concerns, that ranchers might be pushed out as the area tried to attract newer industries.

Caleb asked questions, and Mandy was impressed with both his understanding of the process and his ability to zero in on the significant details. If she found Reed, and if he returned to the ranch, she hoped Caleb would stay involved until the end of the review. Even if he had to do it from Chicago.

As the meeting broke up, and the group made their way toward the doors of the town hall, Abigail linked an arm with Mandy. “Did you bring along a dress for tonight?”

“A what?”

“A dress. You know, that thing that replaces pants on formal occasions.”

Mandy gave her sister a look of incredulity. “No, I didn’t bring a dress.” Why on earth would she bring a dress? This was a community meeting. In Lyndon.

“Well, we’ve got a couple of hours before dinner. Let’s go to the mall and be girls for a while.”

Mandy glanced over her shoulder at Caleb. She’d been hoping to steal a few more minutes alone with him before they all convened for dinner. “I’m not sure-”

“Come on. It’ll be fun.” Abigail raised her voice. “Wouldn’t you guys like to escort two gorgeous women out on the town tonight?”

Travis stepped up. “Why? You know some?”

She elbowed him. “Mandy and I are going for a makeover.”

“Great idea,” said Travis, voice hearty. “You two ladies take your time. Have fun.”

Mandy shot Caleb a helpless look.

He came back with a shrug that clearly stated “see what I mean?”

“Fine,” Mandy capitulated, mustering up some enthusiasm, even as she wondered whether Travis had co-opted her sister to the cause of keeping her and Caleb apart.

“I haven’t been in Blooms for ages,” said Abigail, towing Mandy toward the SUV. She called back over her shoulder. “You guys okay to walk back to the hotel?”

Seth waved them off. “We’ll see you at the restaurant.”

Abigail hit the unlock button for the vehicle, and its lights flashed twice. “They can go find a cigar bar or something.”

“Did Travis put you up to this?” Mandy asked across the roof of the vehicle.

Abigail gave her a blank look. “What do you mean? Why would Travis care what we do?”

Mandy peered closely at her sister. Abigail wasn’t the greatest liar in the world. And she always had been much more interested in hair, makeup and fashion than Mandy. Maybe this was some kind of a bizarre coincidence.

“So, you just want to go shopping?”

“No,” said Abigail. “I want to go shopping, hit the hair salon and get our makeup and nails done. I’d also suggest a facial, but I don’t think we have that kind of time.”

“Fine.” Mandy threw up her hands in defeat. “Let’s go be girls.”

Abigail grinned and hopped into the driver’s seat.

They drove the five miles to Springroad Mall, parked next to the main entrance, stopped to make sure the salon could fit them in later in the afternoon, then made their way through the main atrium to Blooms, the town’s biggest high-end ladies’ wear store. It occurred to Mandy that the last thing she’d purchased here was a prom dress.

“Something with a kick,” said Abby, leading the way past office wear and lingerie. “I want a little lift in my skirt when I’m dancing.”

“What happened to you in Denver?” Mandy couldn’t help asking.

“I realized life was short,” Abigail responded without hesitation. “I should be out there having fun and meeting people. So should you.” She stopped in front of a rack of dresses.

“I’m really interested in the campaign,” Abigail continued. “But I’ll admit, at first, I wasn’t crazy about the idea of spending so much time in Lyndon and Denver. But now I’m really looking forward to it. I’m going to stretch my wings.”

Suddenly, Mandy become worried. “You’re not planning to leave the ranch, are you?” They’d already lost one sister to the bright lights of a big city.

“Of course not. Not permanently, anyway. But I do want to test other waters. And this seems like a good time to do it.” She held up an emerald-green dress. “What do you think? Does the color go with my hair?”

Abigail’s hair was shoulder length and auburn. Colors could be challenging for her, but the green was perfect.

“Absolutely,” Mandy replied.

A salesclerk arrived, offering to start a dressing room for each of them. She took Abigail’s choice of the green dress, and they moved on to the next rack.

Abigail quickly selected another. “You should go for red,” she exclaimed, holding up a short, V-necked, cinnamon-red dress. It had black accents and a multilayered skirt that would swirl when she danced.

“Oh, sure,” Mandy drawled sarcastically. “That looks just like me.”

“That’s the point. ‘You’ are blue jeans and torn T-shirts. We need to find something that is completely not you.”

“My T-shirts aren’t torn,” Mandy protested. Okay, maybe one or two of them were, but she wore those only when she was mucking out stalls or painting a fence.

Abigail waved the dress at the salesclerk, who promptly took it from her arms and whisked it off to the dressing room.

Abigail’s next choice was basic black. She considered one with a sequined bodice, but discarded it. Mandy had to agree. They were going to the Weasel. It was a perfectly respectable cowboy bar, but it wasn’t a nightclub.

They ended up with four dresses each. Mandy considered they were all too formal, but her sister seemed to be having such a good time, she didn’t want to be the wet blanket.

In her dressing room, she put off the red dress to the very last. She tried a strapless, straight-skirted design in royal blue, but they all agreed the neckline didn’t work. Then a basic black cocktail dress, which was too close to one of the few she already owned. Then she tried a patterned, empire-waist, knee-length concoction, with cap sleeves and a hemline ruffle. It made her look about twelve. Abigail actually laughed when she walked out to model it.

Abigail had already decided to go with the green, so she was waiting in her regular clothes when Mandy exited the dressing room in the red dress.

Her grin was a mile wide. “It’s stunning,” she pronounced.

The salesclerk nodded her agreement. “I wish I had legs like that,” she commented, looking Mandy up and down. “It fits you perfectly.”

Mandy glanced to her legs. She didn’t see anything particularly interesting about them. They held her up, helped her balance on a horse and could walk or jog for miles when necessary. That’s all that counted.

“You probably want to shave them before we go out.”

“Thanks tons, sis.”

“But I’ve never seen you look so beautiful,” Abigail declared. “You absolutely have to get it.”

“I don’t know when I’ll ever wear it again,” Mandy glanced at the price tag. It was about three times as much as she’d ever spent on a dress before.

“Well, you’ll wear it tonight,” said Abigail.

“And after that?”

“After that, who knows. You’re about to become the sister of the Mayor of Lyndon.”

The salesclerk gave Abigail a curious look.

“Our brother Seth Jacobs is running for mayor this fall,” Abigail put in smoothly. “Make sure you vote.”

“There’ll be the swearing-in dance,” the clerk offered to Mandy. “And that’s always formal.”

“We’re only going to the Weasel tonight,” Mandy noted, considering different angles in the mirror.