"i'm hungry. can i have some cotton candy? i want the pink one."

"we can do that. after supper." heather glanced at the gazebo. "look. miss cindy wants you up there."

bethany squirmed off her chair and ran toward the gazebo where all the preschoolers were gathering. one of the teachers, miss cindy, proceeded to arrange them into two rows, the taller children in the back.

heather rubbed her neck. the physical labor, texas heat, and lack of sleep were catching up with her. at least once the sun set, the temperature would fall a few degrees. jean-luc was smart to wait.

there he was again, in her thoughts. she'd tossed and turned for an hour last night before sleep had finally overtaken her. she'd been tempted to go downstairs and keep him company all night. god knew there was still a lot she needed to learn about him. she'd shared her life story with him, but he'd shared very little with her.

what was he doing in schnitzelberg, texas, when the fashion world was centered in paris? what was the real story behind louie? was she really in as much danger as jean-luc claimed? in spite of all her questions, she was drawn to him. her heart raced whenever she looked into his sky-blue eyes. and she wanted his arms around her again.

but she'd known him only two nights. it was dangerous to fall for a man so fast. it should be dangerous, but it felt wonderful and exciting. even more reason for her to keep her guard up. she'd survived too much upheaval in her life to screw it up now. her first priority should be to maintain a calm, loving environment for her daughter.

fidelia plopped down beside her and set her purse in her lap. in honor of the festive occasion, she'd worn her bright red skirt with gold spangles. "those silly old church ladies. i offered to do a fortune-telling booth, but they turned up their snooty noses and said it was too pagan for a church function."

heather winced. "i'm sorry." no doubt one of those church ladies was cody's mother. mother westfield had already informed heather that she was abusing bethany by allowing a gypsy woman to live in her house.

when it came to her daughter's safety, heather was more concerned with fidelia's gun-toting habits than her card reading. she glanced at the infamous purse. "are you packing?"

"only the glock. i cut back." fidelia hung her head. "i felt kinda bad about the squirrel."

heather patted her arm. "i was relieved to have your gun with me last night."

fidelia nodded. "if that louie shows up, i'll blow his head off. don't care if i go to prison for it, either. you were kind enough to give me a home, even after i failed your mama." her eyes glimmered with tears.

heather turned to face her old friend. "you didn't fail my mother. you tried your best to warn her."

"if i'd kept my mouth shut, both your parents might still be alive. maybe those church ladies are right. maybe i'm no good."

"i won't let you say that! my mother paid for your services, and she would have pestered you to kingdom come for your advice. you know that. it was impossible to tell my mother no."

fidelia sniffled and wiped her eyes. "i'll do anything to protect you and the baby girl. i owe you that much."

"you don't owe me anything. you were always there for me. like a second mother." heather laughed to keep her own tears at bay. "but a lot more fun than my real mother."

fidelia nodded. "she was a strong-willed woman."

"stubborn and fearful," heather corrected her. "i'm not living with fear anymore. i don't want you to, either."

fidelia patted her purse. "i've got my courage right here."

"you've got courage inside you. and you're a good person. if i wasn't a hundred percent sure of that, i wouldn't trust you to take care of my daughter."

fidelia blinked away her tears, then assumed her tough face. "i checked out the crowd and the surroundings like you asked. no strangers with white hair and a cane."

"good. thank you." heather glanced at the sun. about thirty minutes to go before jean-luc arrived. "did you have any dreams last night?"

"i did have a strange one. i think it was juan, but it was hard to tell. he looked like a guy from that movie you watch so much. pride and something."

"pride and prejudice? he looked like a regency guy?"

fidelia narrowed her eyes, trying to remember. "i think so, but only for a second. then he looked like...george washington, but fancier."

"that's weird."

"s