To Have and To Hold Page 26
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