Then there was the music. Never had Emma heard music like that. Two men stood inside the barn on a platform, one playing a fiddle and the other a banjo. The tunes were lively, giving one’s feet the impulse to tap along with it, which Emma’s did, all evening.
She watched the dancers before getting up the nerve to get out there herself and try some steps. Prudence danced with several men, and Emma was itching to try it. Finally, Alan dragged her outside for a jig. He showed her the steps and before long she had caught on and no longer had to follow Alan’s steps. The music accompanying the jig sounded Scottish. Emma loved doing the jig and after it, several men asked her to dance. The next dance she learned was one Alan had called square-dancing. The man who played the banjo stood up on a table as he called out the steps and moves. Everyone laughed when someone made a mistake, and there was no embarrassment.
Then, they played a waltz. Emma had waltzed in Springfield at a social dance, so she was pleased when Alan rushed over to claim her as his partner. He swung her around, and she thought she’d died and gone to heaven. The music, the lights—it was all so beautiful.
Afterward, the excitement of the evening kept Emma from falling asleep right away. She kept seeing the swirling dancers under the bright lamps and hearing the upbeat music. Emma liked Alan. Why couldn’t Logan be as outgoing and fun to be with? At first, she didn’t think Alan was good-looking, but the more she got to know him, the handsomer he became. He seemed smart, too. She wondered how two such different personalities had been best friends for years.
Despite the amazing evening, she still cringed at the thought of Dallas in Hunter’s Grove. She prayed it was a coincidence, but she doubted it. He meant to get even for the kick she’d given him and for rejecting him.
When Emma sat down to breakfast, Prudence and Logan were already eating. Prudence was telling Logan about the barn dance.
“Now, aren’t you sorry you didn’t go?” Prudence asked.
“Not one bit,” Logan said. He stood to pull out a chair for his wife. “Good morning, sweetheart.”
“Good morning to you both,” Emma said.
“I was just telling Logan about our wonderful evening. Alan outdid himself, showing us a good time.” Prudence sighed. “If I weren’t married and a few years younger, I’d set my bonnet on Alan Hershel.”
“I agree,” Emma said. “He really is an exceptional young man.”
Emma noticed Logan’s eyebrows raise when she'd said that. Was he surprised that she and Prudence had sung Alan’s praises?
Logan cleared his throat, pushed his plate away, and turned to Emma. “We need to visit Mrs. Grant today. She’s the town’s best seamstress, and I’ve commissioned her to make your outfit for the auction. Then, we’ll go to the general store and order a pair of fancy boots from Kansas City. They have a catalog there, and if we order today, we should have them by auction day.”
“All right. What time are we leaving?”
“In an hour. We can ride our horses rather than taking the buggy. Agree?”
“Agree.” Emma turned to Prudence. “What will you do today?”
Prudence yawned. “I’m still tired from all the dancing last night. I think I’ll sit on the porch and relax with a good book.”
“I’ll saddle our horses,” Logan said as he left the table.
Mrs. Grant was a thin woman with nimble fingers. She had Emma measured in a matter of seconds. “What color would you like for the riding suit?”
Emma looked up at Logan.
Logan studied Emma before shrugging. “With her coloring, I think she’d look good in any color. What do you suggest, Mrs. Grant?”
“Green or blue with cream-colored cuffs and collar,” she answered.
Logan turned to Emma. “Green or blue?”
“Green’s my favorite color.”
“Make it green, Mrs. Grant.”
Logan and Emma paged through the catalog at the general store. “See anything you like?” he asked.
“I see a lot I like,” she said with a chuckle, “but the prices are ridiculously high.”
“Don’t worry about the prices—our auctions do very well.” He pointed to a rhinestone-studded pair. “I like these.”
“They’re beautiful. I've always wanted white boots.”
“I’ll order them,” he said, signaling the clerk. “We’ll take these.”
Emma and Logan mounted their horses and had pointed them toward home when Logan stopped abruptly and squinted at a couple coming down the wooden walkway, their backs to them.
Emma saw Dallas walking with a woman. The woman turned and waved at Logan while Dallas gave Emma a sneer.
Emma urged her horse forward. She needed to get as far away from Dallas as she could. She heard Logan following close behind her.
“What’s your hurry?” he yelled.
Emma tried to think up a reason why she needed to get home as soon as possible. She slowed her horse to let him catch up with her. “I’m feeling poorly,” she replied.
“Let’s get you home quickly, then,” Logan said.
Prudence was sitting on the porch with her nose in a book when they arrived. Logan helped Emma down from her horse and put his arm around her to guide her up the steps.
“Emma’s not feeling well, Pru.”
Prudence set her book down and stood. “I’ll take her upstairs. I’m sure she’ll be fine. It’s warm today, and it’s probably too much sun.” Prudence took Emma from Logan and escorted her into the house and up to
