"Do you want to get a bite to eat before we go? It's almost suppertime," Blanche asked when the loading was finished.

"No, I couldn't eat a thing. I'm too excited. I just want to see Joshua," Felicity said, and so they left immediately.

On the long ride out, Felicity kept her mind off the coming meeting with Joshua by entertaining Blanche with stories of Philadelphia life and tantalizing descriptions of her new clothes, which Blanche would just have to wait until another time to see. Blanche in turn filled her in on all that had happened during her absence.

When they both had finally run out of anecdotes, Blanche let a few moments of silence go by before she asked, "Did you see much›of Mr. Gordon while you were there?"

In her own excitement, Felicity had forgotten completely that hers was not the only romance she had determined to mend once she returned to Texas. "No, as a matter of fact, I only saw him once, and that was at the party where my photographs were shown. He asked about you."

"He did?" Blanche asked, betraying far more interest than she had intended to, judging from the way she bit her lip.

"Yes, he did, Blanche Delano, and he acted just as strangely as you're acting. What happened between you two, anyway?" Felicity demanded.

"Nothing," Blanche said with obvious regret, but when Felicity started to light into her again, she explained. "He made me mad when he tricked me, and when he didn't apologize, I figured I was right in thinking he was nothing but a lying cheat. I'd almost convinced myself I was better off without him when he finally did apologize that last day in San Antone."

"If he apologized, then what's still wrong between you?" Felicity asked in exasperation.

Blanche shook her head. "He apologized, but he didn't seem to want to take it any further than that," she said, trying to sound unconcerned.

"What!" Felicity cried.

Blanche gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I know it's hard to believe that any man could resist my charms," she said with irony, "but he obviously just didn't like me well enough to stay and work things out."

"That isn't true!" Felicity protested. "I saw his face when he asked about you, and I know he likes you. He more than likes you!"

For one brief moment, Felicity saw hope flicker in Blanche's green eyes, but it died just as quickly. She shook her head again. "If he did, he'd be here, wouldn't he?"

Felicity opened her mouth to protest again but caught herself just in time. There was only one person who could convince Blanche that Asa cared about her, and he was in Philadelphia. Felicity couldn't help wondering how long he'd stay there if he knew how eagerly Blanche would welcome his return to Texas.


"Joshua! Hurry up. I don't have all night!" Blanche called again.

Felicity fidgeted nervously in her hiding place. Blanche had told her to stand behind the wagon until the stage had properly been set for her presentation, but Felicity didn't think she could stand the suspense much longer. If Joshua didn't come out soon, she was going to run inside and get him.

At long last, she heard the front door open and Joshua said, "What brings you back again so soon, Blanche?"

The sound of his voice seemed to vibrate through Felicity's entire body, quivering along the nerve endings that anticipation had scraped raw. Only one more second and she would be in his arms, she reminded herself as she fought the urge to race around the wagon toward him.

"I brought you a little something from town, something that will cheer you right up," Blanche reported.

Joshua doubted that very much, but then he heard Blanche mutter, "Come on out," and he noticed a woman's skirts moving from the opposite side of the wagon. For one horrible moment he thought Blanche might have brought him some kind of female companionship in a misdirected effort at neighborliness. He had already opened his mouth to protest when he recognized his wife.

"Felicity," he said, stunned. Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was he seeing her face on other women's bodies now? But no, it was her body, too. It was encased in a prim little traveling suit he had never seen, but it was her body nevertheless. And her voice that spoke to him.

"Hello," she replied with a tentative smile. She took a step forward, but stopped uncertainly when he did not move. He was standing at the top of the porch steps, and the setting sun glinted off the silver of his hair. He was as handsome as ever except that he hadn't shaved in several days. Perhaps that was what made him seem so sinister, so forbidding, and why she hesitated to approach him. But why didn't he approach her?

Felicity. Her name seemed to echo inside his head like the roll of thunder. She was here. She was really here, and the implications of her presence shook him to the very foundation of his being. She had come home to him- without being forced, without being begged, without even being asked.

"Isn't somebody supposed to kiss somebody?" Blanche inquired impatiently after a long moment.

"God, yes," Josh muttered as he descended the stairs in one leap and took Felicity in his arms.

The mouth that claimed hers was blessedly familiar, and she gloried in the taste, the scent, and the feel of him against her. He crushed her to him so that her feet left the ground, and she clung with every ounce of her strength. Her joy magnified every sensation, the scratch of his beard, the silkiness of his silver hair as her fingers threaded through it, the iron pressure of his chest against the softness of her breasts, the urgent evidence of his desire.

"Now, that's a lot better," Blanche decreed, startling them back to reality and reminding them that they had an audience. Reluctantly they separated, but not completely, as if afraid that if they broke contact, this glorious moment would fade like a dream. "You haven't said how you like my little surprise, Joshua," Blanche taunted.

"I like it fine…" he began, but his pleased grin suddenly twisted into a frown. "How did you get here?" he demanded of Felicity.

"The same way I left," she said, still breathless from his kiss. "I took the train to San Antonio and then-"

"You came alone? You came on that stage from San Antone alone?" he asked, outraged.

"Well, yes…" she admitted, puzzled at his anger.

"Why on earth did you do a fool thing like that? Do you know how dangerous that is?" His hands tightened on her arms as if he wanted to shake her.

In her former life, Felicity might have bitten her tongue and swallowed the sharp words that sprang to her lips, but those days were gone for good. She was her mother's daughter now. "Would you rather I hadn't come at all?" she inquired haughtily. "Did you want me to stay in Philadelphia?"

Josh blinked in surprise at her tone. "No, of course not," he said. "But you should have waited for me to come for you."

"And how was I supposed to know you were coming for me?" she challenged.

Josh opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it with a snap when he realized he had no answer for that question.

"Kiss her again, Joshua," Blanche advised. "Then she won't be able to sass you."

Josh glanced at Blanche in annoyance. "It's getting dark, Blanche. Shouldn't you be heading on home?"

"Mr. Logan! Where are your manners?" Felicity said tartly. "Blanche, you're perfectly welcome to come in and even spend the night if you want."

Blanche laughed aloud at Josh's disgruntled expression as he dropped his hands from Felicity's arms and stepped back to stare at his wife in perplexity. "It would serve you right if I took you up on that invitation," Blanche said. "But I know my company would not be appreciated tonight. I'm only waiting for some able-bodied men to unload these trunks from my wagon, and then I'll be on my way."

Josh quickly rounded up the required men, who were all almost as overjoyed to see Felicity as he was. The disturbance drew Candace from her cabin for a tearful but happy reunion, so it was a while before Blanche was able to make good her promise. When the three large trunks containing Felicity's new wardrobe had finally been deposited in the house, Blanche took her leave.

"And Joshua, do let the poor girl get a little sleep tonight," Blanche added with a wink just before she slapped her team into motion.

Under normal circumstances, such a remark would have made Josh grin, but the circumstances were far from normal. Felicity was back, and just seeing her and holding her for a moment had stirred all his desire for her to life again. But her return had changed nothing as far as their physical relationship was concerned. He still could not make love to her.

"Let's go inside," he said when Blanche's wagon had left the yard and the others had begun to drift away so that Josh and Felicity could be alone. "Are you hungry?"

Felicity shook her head. "No, I'm too excited to eat," she told him with a smile as he conducted her into the house. She paused a moment, drinking in the sight of this room that held so many memories for her. The rocking chair Joshua had bought her still sat beside the hearth, the chair where she was to have rocked their child. She shivered slightly at this painful thought.

"Are you cold? I can make a fire," he offered, hearing the odd formality of his own voice but unable to shake off the feeling of awkwardness that caused it. He wanted to take her in his arms again, to taste her and feel her and kiss her, to assure himself that she was really here, but he knew such an action would be foolish and dangerous in the extreme. To hold her was bound to lead to other things, and he knew his control was tenuous at best.

"No, I'm not cold," she said, turning to face him. She, too, heard the formality in his tone, and when she studied his expression, she could plainly see that something was very wrong. "Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked, her old apprehensions returning in a rush. Perhaps her suspicions had been correct. Perhaps he really did not want her back. "Didn't you want me to come home?"

"Of course I wanted you to come home," he assured her quickly, seeing the hurt in her eyes. "And yes, I am happy to see you." He longed to go to her, to soothe away that hurt, but he did not dare, not yet. Perhaps in a moment, when he had better control.

For a second she automatically suppressed her response, instinctively seeking to hide her concerns from him, but she almost instantly recognized the folly of such an action. She had hidden her concerns for too long. Now was the time for honesty. "You don't look very happy," she accused. "You look like you wish I hadn't come at all. How long were you going to wait before you sent for me?"

Once again her words startled him. She had certainly turned into a spitfire since the last time he had seen her. Or maybe she was a lot angrier than she appeared to be. She had every reason for such an anger, he had to admit. At least he had the means to pacify her. He gave her an apologetic smile. "I wasn't going to send for you," he said, instantly regretting his teasing remark when he saw the pain of rejection flicker across her lovely face. "I was going to come for you," he quickly amended. "Here, look," he added, motioning her over to his bedroom door.

When she was close, he gestured toward the bed, where his half-packed bag sat. "I was getting ready to start for San Antone when I heard Blanche yelling outside."

Felicity lifted her face to his. "You were coming to get me?" she asked, hardly daring to believe the truth of that statement lest her hopes be dashed yet again.

He nodded. "I figured after I didn't write to you all that time, it might take more than just a letter to get you back."

"Oh, Joshua!" she cried, flinging her arms around him. "All you had to do was write, just one letter, and I would have walked all the way here!" For one glorious moment she held him, inhaling his clean, masculine scent and reveling in his strength.

Josh returned her embrace for blissful seconds, savoring the sweet softness of her. He heard her voice as if from far away, and he had to concentrate to understand the words.

"Why didn't you write? I know you didn't want me to know what was going on here, but you could have sent me a love letter…" She felt his body go rigid, and he pulled away from her.

"How did you know what was going on here?" he asked, forcing himself to concentrate on that so he wouldn't think about carrying her off to the big bed he knew awaited them in the next room.

"Blanche wrote and told me everything after the fire…"

"Blanche! That busybody! She had no right to meddle in our affairs," Josh shouted, grasping at the anger that helped cancel out his more dangerous emotions. "And that reminds me, was it her idea for you to come home by yourself?"