Ethan blinked his eyes noticing the slice of chocolate cake in front of him. Somehow there'd been a transition between dinner and dessert.

He'd been too busy daydreaming to pay attention to what Missy and Dakota had been discussing or rather arguing about…when had the tone changed?

"Really I think you're too rough around the edges to know what the genteel crowd likes as entertainment."

Dakota snorted.

"Hardly…I hang around the saloons where most of the people go…play cards, do some drinking, and have some fun with the ladies there."

Amelia sat there eating her cake. She seemed to enjoy it but then she'd always loved chocolate. He'd used that weakness against her more than once when trying to coax her into spending nights with him.

"I don't think you speak for everyone…thank goodness…Ethan do you think he does?"

He growled inwardly not wanting to be drawn into arguing with his own deputy…or his fiancée. He'd loved what he'd been thinking about…back to chocolate and the woman who loved it. And had loved him at least once.

Tasting the hint of chocolate when he kissed her mouth after walking her home or better yet being inside her home before taking things in his own hands by literally sweeping her off of her feet. He loved how she looked dressed up now, but he loved her wearing less down to the little beauty mark she had in her lower back.

"Ethan…really I need to know what you think," she said, "Dakota's not right is he?"

"Well…"

Amelia chimed in.

"He's both right…and he isn't…you want to attract all kinds of people to town as long as they have money to spend on your businesses. That's what you want, Missy isn't it? You and your father?"

"Yes…but we don't want riff raff in this town either…"

Amelia chuckled.

"You think Dakota is that ilk? You don't know him very well then," she said, "I wouldn't be here right now with him if he were riff raff."

Missy snickered.

"Well…your view of him could be off…couldn't it?"

Amelia shook her head.

"I know him better than you think you do," she said, "I don't make snap judgments about people and I have to say, Dakota is a wonderful dinner companion."

Dakota smiled at that. Ethan tried to smile and Missy just wiped her mouth with her napkin dropping the topic.

"I'm hoping for a goodnight kiss when I walk her home."

He winked at Ethan who just tensed in his chair. Not liking it one bit…even though it wasn't his position to care. He was engaged to Missy after all and Amelia was not bound to any man. That's what he kept telling himself anyway. But the thought of Dakota kissing her…it made sitting still in his chair mighty difficult right now.

"We'll see…."

She answered simply and then returned to her cake.

"I heard you took sick Amelia…"

She looked up at Missy and so did he. Amelia shook her head.

"It's the heat nothing more," she said, "I feel just fine right now. Food's delicious."

"Oh…that's not what I heard. You fainted, didn't you?"

Amelia looked up at her.

"What are you getting at?"

"Nothing…just concerned that's all."

Ethan found that difficult to believe but Amelia didn't seem to care. She just seemed focused on her chocolate cake.

She took a piece home to Rose who agreed that it was delicious.

"So did he kiss you when you arrived home?"

"Kissed?"

Rose looked at her pointedly.

"That nice man…Dakota," she said, "the one who took you out to dinner."

Amelia shook her head.

"Just on the hand…but Ethan didn't act too friendly towards him."

Rose chuckled.

"What do you expect? He was hating every minute of it I bet. He wants you for himself."

Amelia tilted her face.

"He's engaged to another woman," she said, "Why would he do that if he still wanted me?"

Rose sighed.

"Are you that obtuse? It's probably because you didn't want to go home with him."

"I couldn't…I wasn't ready," Amelia said, "I still had to figure out what I wanted…what to do next. I married so young the first time. Too young for me and I still don't know what marriage means."

"You had a bad experience with it but not all marriages are the same"

"I know that…but I couldn't go through with it before and I loved him."

Rose got up to go bring them both some of her special tea. Amelia leaned back on the chaise, feeling suddenly tired. It'd been tiresome having to listen to Missy carry on so much about what she thought was right for people in a town she didn't know well.

"You still love him don't you?"

"It's not that simple," Amelia said, "I was so prepared to tell him about the baby until I found out about the engagement."

"He's not married yet and I don't think he'll stay with her when he finds out about you."

Amelia got up and started pacing. That's not what she wanted, not that way. She didn't want him to propose or push marriage on her out of a sense of duty or obligation…solely to prevent his child from being illegitimate.

"I don't want to marry a man who doesn't love me Rose," she said, "That's what I did last time and it didn't work out."

Ethan rode back home and only Claire remained up, preparing her lesson plans at the table. She had made sure the boys had done their own homework before heading to bed.

He felt tired and he didn't know how it'd gone between Amelia and Dakota when the deputy had taken her home. Had he kissed her goodnight, was something brewing between the two of them? His hands clenched into fists and his body tensed just thinking about it.

No reason to feel that way now that he was getting married in a month or so but he couldn't stop himself. Amelia coming back to Paradise even on vacation had changed him.

He didn't know what to do about that either.