“Yes, I am,” she said. “My mother was full Irish and had red hair.”
The way he gazed at her made her feel kind of breathless and hot. She had two men she wanted to know more about.
“I’ve always had a thing for redheads.”
She grinned at him. The man’s smile sent a little tingle down her spine. Both of these men were exactly what she was looking for as long as they were nice. But she needed to know more about them. If one was a gambler, he was out.
“Save a seat for us at your table tonight,” Jakob said.
She moved farther down and suddenly a woman was standing in front of her.
“Sorry, I had to get out of line. Welcome, I’m Grace Sanders. You’ll be staying in our home until you marry,” she said smiling. “We’re so excited to have you ladies. Welcome to Treasure Falls.”
“Thank you,” Blanche said. She’d forgotten all about where they were going to stay the night. She’d been too concentrated on finding herself a rancher to marry.
As she walked down the line of men, she couldn’t help but glance back at Martin and Jakob. There was something about them that drew her, and no, it wasn’t just the fact they owned a ranch.
Though that was a delicious perk.
She made it through the rest of the men and caught up with Daisy.
“What do you think?”
“I think we’re some very lucky women,” Daisy said softly.
Blanche smiled. She thought so too.
When everyone was off the stage, a man named Jesse whistled loud enough to get everyone’s attention.
“We’re having a supper tonight at Uncle Owen’s and Aunt Grace’s home at six thirty. For now, we’re going to let the ladies get settled in, clean the dust off, and rest before the evening’s festivities.”
Sitting on something that wasn’t moving sounded like a splendid plan. That would also give her time to freshen up before she met the men for the second time today. This was it and a spurt of excitement went through her.
She hoped and prayed she had not left everything behind for nothing.
The aunt smiled at everyone. “We have a pig roasting and our cook is making lots of good food for tonight. You are to dress in clean attire to meet these ladies. And, of course, we will expect everyone to be on their very best behavior.”
Aunt Grace walked to the front of the line. “Follow me, ladies.”
As they walked down the street, she noticed all the small shops. Compared to Charleston, Treasure Falls was not even a tenth of the size. It was such a small, pretty town.
Blanche wanted to turn around and gaze one last time at Martin, but didn’t want to appear easy, so she just kept walking. If her man wasn’t Martin, maybe it would be Jakob.
Both were two very fine choices. Both were part owners of the Lucky Strike Ranch.