Amelia was left to ponder Ethan's last words to her. She knew that he'd promised to pick up where they left off after they'd found Miranda and the baby. She just didn't know how to feel about that…after all, it'd hurt them both when she'd left town on that stagecoach.

She didn't expect that to magically go away when she returned. She'd not been sure Paradise had been the right choice though it seemed the safest for her friend. But safe for her when it came to her and Ethan?

Probably not. When he'd kissed her the other night, it'd had tasted of sweetness but more than hinted at danger. Not the same that Miranda faced but the kind where she knew she might surrender to the feelings deep inside of her about the only man she'd ever loved.

She'd loved him so fiercely. She'd risked her life for him and she'd gone through whatever it took even appealing to her devilish ex-husband to save him from his past life as a gunfighter. That was what she'd run away from, she'd told herself but she'd really ran away from her feelings about him.

Kissing him back had been too easy and she'd wanted so much more than that. She'd wanted him to peel her clothes off of her so she'd do the same for him, frantically as they disrobed to bury themselves in each other's arms. Her favorite place to be was with his arms wrapped around her, feeling the beat of his heart against her cheek, the warmth of his skin and the way he possessed her with more than his body.

It made her gasp to think about it while she watched him leave her. Miranda had to come first because her friend had saved her.

At a high cost to herself. She had been forced to be the mistress of the lord of the manor so that Amelia could leave with Pierce. He hadn't been a savoir but he'd gotten her away from a man who wanted her to serve the needs that his wife had denied him. He'd trapped her in the sunroom pinning her against the wall, kissing her mouth while his hands roamed her body.

If it hadn't been for Alice, the housekeeper…she didn't even want to think about it. She knew she couldn't stay there.

A cup of tea was what she needed right now. She needed to get her mind off of her friend just long enough to get some sleep and she couldn't think about Ethan and what she wanted to do with him. He was trying to choose between two eager women to be his wife.

Marriage, the last thing Amelia wanted right now. She'd used it to escape a lecherous man and she didn't need escape right now. Besides, she and Ethan…they'd never worked it out anyway. She prepared her tea and planned to sit on the chaise in her parlor drinking it, trying not to think too much about topics best kept at bay for now.


Ethan stood there as Stella paced in front of him.

"You weren't here Ethan…Dakota…he just doesn't like me," she said, "I think he's in cahoots with Amelia to drive me crazy."

Ethan felt perplexed.

"Why would he do that?"

She just stared at him.

"Because…because…you and I have a beautiful thing going here," she said, "and I know that Amelia is just jealous."

He frowned at her.

"Amelia's more concerned about finding Miranda than anything else."

She shook her head.

"I'm reading her right Ethan and Dakota…he's threatening to make trouble for me and I don't know why."

"What did he say?"

She shrugged.

"Just that he'd expose me for supposedly stealing money from a saloon owner in Carson City…but I'm innocent Ethan. You know I'd never do anything like that."

Truth is he didn't know her that well. But he didn't know that there'd been anything suspicious about her.

"Is he…right?"

She just looked at him.

"Do you believe him Ethan?"

He saw how indignant she looked and knew he'd have to talk to Dakota.

"I know there are things I've done…I'm not proud of Ethan but I'm not a thief…I was just trying to survive that's all."

He sighed.

"Is that why you answered my ad?"

She bit her lip.

"Well…no not exactly," she said, "Okay maybe partly but when I got off the stage and then I saw you…everything changed in a flash. I knew that we were meant to be together."

He saw the plaintiveness in her eyes.

"Stella I haven't made my choice yet."

She pouted on her lower lip.

"Oh you know you want me. When we kissed the other night…"

Ethan thought about a kiss but it wasn't that one.

"I shouldn't have done that," he said, "I'm sorry but I barely know you."

She flashed a smile.

"Oh come on Ethan…you know that's not true," she said, "You and I…we're so meant to be together. We could really be happy."

He stepped back from her.

"I don't feel the same way Stella," he said, "This marriage is just so I can raise the children in my house. I don't want the judge to take them away."

Her face grew somber.

"You can't be serious," she said, "You can't be so in denial about what's going on between us."

Ethan didn't understand what she was talking about…when he'd kissed her, he'd gone cold because he'd been thinking about another woman.

This wedding plan of his was looking like a mistake.


Amelia drank her tea and thought about what Carlton had threatened to do with Miranda if she betrayed him. He'd tried to beat her up and Amelia had blocked a blow he'd aimed at his wife after he'd broken a scotch bottle.

Her hairline covered it. Her secret, along with the many that Carlton kept from those who surrounded him. His power and wealth afforded him those privileges. He kept his more violent side behind closed doors.

She felt sleepiness threaten to take her over and headed up to bed. She wondered what Ethan was doing right now. Spending time with either Stella or Edwina, she imagined. It was much better not to think about him and how her lips felt after kissing him.

Tomorrow he'd surely come to her with news from the wires sent out and then they'd have to figure out what to do next.

She couldn't afford to let her feelings for him get in the way.