Dancing on Dew Read Online Free PDF Page B

but old enough for him to know better.
    And he’d kissed her. Right before he had told her he was moving to Chicago, he’d kissed her. Why had he done that knowing his mind was made about leaving? He’d taken something special from her and turned it into a painful memory.
    He hadn’t loved her. No man who treated her as Joseph had at the end could have loved her. After years of believing he had cared but they weren’t meant to be, her second heart wrenching epiphany of the day tore her apart.
    She shuddered from the immense blow of it, then arched her shoulder and raised her head proudly. There’d been a time she’d been naïve, but no more. Once and for all she would put Joseph Scott firmly behind in her and leave him in her past where he belonged.
    Marching into the store, she let the door swing shut behind her, then winced when it slammed. Fortunately, the mercantile was busy, and no one seemed to notice. Several women crowded the area where the bolts of fabric were displayed, so Cicely browsed through the ready-made dresses while she waited for the area to clear.
    A lovely, pale green dress with small flowers caught her eye. She pulled it from the rack and turned, holding it up to examine it further. Only, someone was right beside and she hadn’t noticed their approach. The dress slammed into a masculine chest. Cicely’s gaze traveled upward, taking in the sandy-blonde hair and amber eyes she’d dreamt of for so long, about which she had just vowed to forget.
    She briefly glanced upward, silently asking God, “Is this a joke? Or a test to see how firm I am in my resolve?”
    “Hello, Sissy.” Joseph’s taut face led her to believe he didn’t want to see her any more than she wished to see him.
    “It’s Cicely,” she said, reminding him a tad too curtly than propriety allowed.
    “Gloria needs new dresses,” he offered, as though he needed an explanation for being in the clothing area.
    “The young girls’ dresses are right there.” She pointed to a second makeshift rack, which consisted of a pole lodged into holes on opposite walls.
    “Thank you.” His gaze moved to the wall of attire, and when his eyes widened, he appeared overwhelmed.
    Compassion for him temporarily trumped her anger. “Do you need help?”
    His jaw flexed. “No.” He stepped toward the dresses. “Yes, please. Clara always took care of these things. Tallie offered to come with me, but I thought I could do it on my own.”
    “Where is Gloria?” she asked, thinking the choosing of dresses would be much easier if the wearer of them was present.
    “At home, not feeling well.”
    Cicely didn’t miss his quick intake of air and the short flash of worry across his gaze. “Is she all right?”
    “I think so. Doc came out yesterday and said it’s a summer cold that should go away with rest.”
    “If Doc Flynn says it should, then it will.” She conjured images of the few times she’s seen Gloria in town. “Your daughter is about this tall, correct?” Spreading her palm flat, she held it out horizontally, slightly above her waist, approximately three and a half feet from the ground.
    “Yes.”
    Working with that information, she pulled several dresses from the rack and handed them to Joseph. “What do you think of these?”
    He eyed them carelessly, barely looking at them. “They will do. I’ll take them all.”
    “Gloria will be a happy little girl when she sees them.” Glancing to the side, she saw the area she needed to visit had cleared out. “Have a good day.”
    Joseph didn’t move. His eyes remained fixed on the shelf next to the dresses. After several moments, he cleared this throat. “Sissy?”
    “Yes?”
    A touch of pink dotted his cheeks. “Could I impose on you one more time? Gloria needs other items, not just dresses. I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
    She felt her own cheeks warm. Discussing unmentionables—even in vague terms—with Joseph discomfited her. Without a word, she nodded and