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  that. Choosing her words careful y, she continued, “My friend is wonderful. You wil be very

  happy with her.”

  His smile widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but she decided to beat him to it.

  “The problem is, my friend prefers men who aren’t so easy to get. I hate to tel you this, but

  you’re a little too excited about courting her. She’l see that and wonder why.”

  “It should be obvious to her why I’m excited about it. She’s beautiful and kind and—”

  Sal y yawned and held her hand up. “But where’s the chal enge? Does she have to fight for

  you? Does she have to wonder if you love her or not? You understand what I’m saying? It’s

  al too easy.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  “Al I’m saying is that women like to know that other women were interested in the object of

  their affection. You’d be more desirable to her if you feigned interest in another woman who

  feigned interest back.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Her heart sped up. He wasn’t fal ing for it! She had to do another tactic, and the sooner she

  slipped something else in, the better. Turning wide eyes in his direction, she sweetly asked.

  “Doesn’t it?”

  “No. If Ethel Mae is interested in me, she should want me even if no one else does. I should

  attract her on my own merits, not because some other woman is interested in me or because

  I’m interested in the other woman.”

  “Hmm… You real y don’t understand women then, do you?”

  Looking uncertain, he said, “Wel …no.”

  “Not only am I a woman, but Ethel Mae is my friend. Men who are too eager to be with her

  simply don’t interest her.”

  He stopped walking and turned to face her. She also stopped, met his eyes and clasped her

  hands behind her back. Putting on what she hoped was a charming smile, she waited for him

  to respond because if he responded the way she wanted him to, then her plan was al set.

  After a glance around them, he returned his gaze to hers and asked, “So what do you

  recommend?”

  Good! That’s exactly what he was supposed to say. Counting to four so she’d sound

  thoughtful on the matter, she said, “Ethel Mae is my dearest friend in al the world, and I want

  to see her with a man who’l treat her right.” That man, however, wasn’t him, but he didn’t need

  to know that. “I propose that you pretend to be interested in me.”

  Shifting from one foot to another, he replied, “I don’t know. It seems rather devious to me. I

  could see making al usions to another woman to pique Ethel Mae’s interest, but it wouldn’t be

  fair to either you or her since you two are friends.”

  Drat! Running through a list of possible arguments, she final y settled on the one that seemed

  to make the best comeback. “But Ethel Mae might not believe you unless she sees you paying

  attention to another woman. Granted, it would be me, and she’s bound to experience some

  jealousy.” More likely relief. “However, when you admit your undying devotion to her, she’l

  know you are hers, and I’l back out graciously while stil being her friend. There wil be no hard

  feelings since I am only pretending to enjoy your attention.”

  “I’d have to think about it.”

  Sighing, she realized she wasn’t going to get anywhere with him, at least not today. What she

  needed to do was talk to her friend, and fortunately, her friend should be more agreeable to the

  arrangement. “Alright then. But if you should change your mind, let me know.”

  Resuming their walk, he said, “It is kind of you to want to help.”

  “I want to see my friend happy. She’d do the same for me if she were in my shoes.”

  Laughing, he shook his head. “It’s a strange way to help someone. I’ve never heard of anyone

  doing something like that before.”

  Stopping in front of the mercantile, she thanked him for walking her to her destination and

  slipped inside the building, ignoring the few patrons in the store. Peering through the window,

  she waited until he was further down the boardwalk before she left the store and headed for

  her friend’s.

  When Sal y returned to Ethel Mae’s house, she saw that her friend was waiting for her on the

  porch swing. As Sal y hurried up the porch steps, she jumped off the swing and rushed over to

  her. “What happened? Is Rick smitten with you?”

  Sal y shook her head. “No. We spent the whole time talking about you and how much he

  adores you.”

  Ethel Mae’s shoulders slumped. “No.”

  “I’m afraid he is one of your more devoted suitors.”

  “Oh no!”

  “Oh no, indeed.” Sal y plopped down on the swing and sighed. “I can’t remember seeing a man

  so in love before.”

  Ethel Mae sat next to her and groaned. “What am I going to do? I have no such interest in

  him. I’m fond of him, I suppose. He’s pleasant enough, but I have no desire to marry him.”

  Crossing her arms, Sal y tried to resist the urge to pout. “And he has no desire to talk to me

  again, let along court me.”

  “Wel , one part of my plan worked. You like him. But then he likes me, so what good does any

  of it do?”

  Exactly. What good did it do? “He doesn’t know me wel enough to want to be with me. I

  need to spend more time with him.”

  “I could invite him over when you’re here.”

  “I don’t know if that’l do any good.” Sal y tapped her index finger to her lips and gave careful

  consideration to her conversation with him. “I was foolish enough to think he’d pretend to be

  interested in me to make you jealous. How sil y is that? Of course, he saw right through the

  fol y of that idea. He’s smarter than my brother Tom. Tom would have went right along with it.”

  Her friend straightened up in the swing and turned to face her. “That’s not a bad idea!”

  “Sure, it was. He said if you were interested in him, you’d be interested even if he wasn’t hard

  to get.”

  “But what if my little sister happens to tel him I’m sweet on a young man who fancies another

  lady?”

  Sal y bit her lower lip. “You think Vivian would do that?”

  “She would if I washed the dishes for her for a week.”

  A smile spread slowly across Sal y’s face. “If Rick heard it from Vivian, he might start thinking

  my idea has some merit after al .”

  “Then he’d spend time with you in hopes of making me jealous.”

  “And he’d get to know me and fal in love with me!”

  “Yes!” Looking pleased, Ethel Mae sat back in the swing and added, “Just be your usual

  charming self, and he won’t be able to resist.”

  Feeling much better, Sal y pushed aside the sting of Rick’s devotion to Ethel Mae and

  contemplated on what she might say the next time she saw him.

  Coming Summer 2012

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ch
apter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six