Colorado Dreams (Rocky Mountain Romances Book 7) by Heather Horrocks

Author:Heather Horrocks [Horrocks, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Word Garden Press
Published: 2017-07-27T18:30:00+00:00

After two hours of instruction, the women had created a small painting each. They would improve as they continued to take classes and, even more thrilling for Emily, they were excited about continuing lessons with her.

As she showed them how to clean their brushes and then put away their paints, talk turned — as it often does — to men.

Eligible men.

Mrs. Holderman started by saying, “Have you ladies met the new doctor in town?”

“I did.” Marie Adams flushed. “He’s very handsome.”

“And young, too, I heard,” Mrs. Easterwood said. “Barely thirty.”

Matilda nodded sagely, “Marie’s just turned twenty this year, and it’s time she found a husband.”

Marie playfully swatted the older lady on the arm. “Grandmama, it’s not as if I’m quite a spinster yet.”

“Hmph. Not yet, but good men are rare as hen’s teeth in this untamed wilderness. You need to find a respectable gentleman to settle down with while you’re in your prime!” She took the sting from her words with a smile.

“I agree, Marie, you’re nowhere near spinsterhood.” Emily smiled at the girl, then turned to the women and decided to take the heat off of Marie — by inviting it onto herself. “I have decided not to marry,” she declared.

They gasped, as if she’d said she was planning to pinch off her own head and feed it to a bear. She shrugged. “I had a bad experience in New York, one that helped me realize I do not wish to be under some man’s controlling thumb.”

Miss Bates agreed with her, if only silently with a nod and a smile.

Mrs. Holderman waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, honey, it’s different out here in Colorado. The men are different, too. They tend to like their women more independent. Just look at us.” She pointed to herself and Mrs. Easterwood. “We are under no controlling man’s thumb.” She giggled. “And our husbands love it. Why, a simpering woman wouldn’t last a month out here. This land takes backbone to tame.” She winked at Emily. “And so do the men!”

That got a giggle out of everyone.

“The banker certainly seemed taken with you the other day, Miss Maxwell.” Emily blushed.

Mrs. Easterwood smiled at the other women and proclaimed, “He asked to escort her to dinner.”

Marie sighed. “He’s so handsome.”

“He is,” Emily admitted.

“When are you going out?” Katherine asked.

“Oh, we’re not. I told him no.”

“What?” Mrs. Holderman shook her head in apparent shock. “Why on earth would you do that?” She sounded as offended as if Emily had turned down her own son.

When the women continued to stare at her, Emily began to wonder if she’d made a mistake. She smiled. “So you think I should tell him yes?”

“He’s rich, he’s handsome, and he’s interested,” Mrs. Holderman said. “Strike while the iron’s hot, I say, dear. And if you turn him down again, perhaps...” Mrs. Holderman paused and looked at her granddaughter. “Then perhaps Marie and I will visit the bank next week.”

“Grandmama,” Marie began, but her grandmother shushed her and turned back to Emily.

Feeling the weight of the women’s gazes as well as their opinions, Emily laughed.

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