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He leaned over toward her. "Thank you for making them accept her," he whispered, ducking to avoid being slapped by her ridiculous feather-covered hat. "I don't suppose you'd tell me why?"
She gave him a knowing smile and patted Bonnie's shoulder. "I always said you were handsome as sin, Justin Kincaid. I might be old enough to be your grandmother, but I'm not dead or blind. Besides, I like the child. Now, hush and pay attention to the preaching."
By the time the sermon ended, Justin's legs were cramped and his back ached from the uncomfortable pew. "No chance of falling asleep here, is there?"
Mrs. Dobson laughed. "No, Gene wouldn't like that one bit." She rose and tapped her foot impatiently. "Hurry up, Justin, we've got a social to get to. You're the guest of honor, you shouldn't be late."
He stood up and waited in the center aisle. People flowed around him, some giving him greetings, others simply smiling politely, but no one daring to ignore him or Bonnie. Not while they were under the protection of the formidable widow.
Mrs. Dobson moved past him to speak to one of her friends. He waited until Megan made her way to the center aisle.
"Good morning," he said.
Megan mumbled something he couldn't hear, then ducked her head. He saw the faint blush on her cheek. Only when he noticed her biting her lower lip did he realize the reason for her shyness.
Today she looked different than she had just a few nights before. Her blond hair was pulled up into an elaborate coiffure, with a small straw and ribbon hat perched on her crown. Her pink silk dress outlined her curves enough to help him remember what he'd seen, touched and tasted. As if he could forget. He didn't even have to close his eyes to recall exactly what had happened between them, and how much more he'd wanted. This morning she was every inch the respectable lady. He missed the mussed young woman more than he would have imagined. He missed her easy smile and teasing, he missed the sense that she was ap-
proachable. This Megan Bartlett was as remote as her sister.
He glanced down the center aisle to the entrance of the church. Gene Estes and his wife stood greeting parishioners. Colleen was in an overstarched green dress that looked stiff enough to hold up a building. Her tightly pursed lips and military posture made him shudder. Perhaps he'd been hasty in comparing Megan to her sister.
"What are you smiling about?" Megan asked.
"The fact that you don't look much like Colleen anymore. There was a time people had trouble telling you two apart."
"You always knew."
He stared into her almond-shaped hazel eyes. He could smell the scent of roses from her hair and feel the seductive warmth of her body. She swayed toward him. There was a time he'd thought he would marry Megan Bartlett. When he'd proposed and she'd accepted, he hadn't believed his luck or the fact that a woman like her would want a man like him. She'd promised to be his bride back when the most he'd been able to offer was the hope that one day he would be able to buy the old livery stable in town.
None of his dreams had come true. He'd been forced from town, and when he'd asked her to go with him, she'd refused, lashing out viciously so he wouldn't make the mistake of asking again. Now he was back in Landing, back where he never thought he would be, and Megan still had the ability to bring him to his knees.
"Bonnie and I made a cold dinner yesterday for the picnic. Would you like to sit with us?" she asked.
He raised his eyebrows. "You know what sitting with me at the social will mean?"
She nodded slowly.
"Colleen won't approve."
"I don't need her approval."
Brave words, if he didn't look too closely and see her lips quivering at the corners. "All right, Miss Bartlett, I would be honored to join you." He bent his arm and offered it to her. She took it with one hand and with the other pulled her
skirt train out of the pew. With Bonnie walking in front of them, they made their way outside.
Families had already collected on blankets spread under the many trees around the freshly painted church. Megan led him to a basket she'd left in the shade. Before they could find a place to settle, Mrs. Dobson called to them from where she was already reclining. "Megan, Justin, I've saved room."
