Honor and Desire (Gold Sky #3) - Rebel Carter Page 0,11

her all day fittings, though Seylah had mistakenly thought those were only carried out at the behest of the person being outfitted.

A rookie mistake to be sure, where Mrs. Rosemary was concerned. Seylah shook her head, all thoughts of the seamstress’s pins and tape, or how good a silhouette the draping of this or that silk would afford her, clearing from her mind. It was all a mysterious world of color and pattern that Seylah had walked away from many years ago, not that she had ever truly been a citizen of the world of femininity.

She pursed her lips. No, she had been afforded a one night pass that she had promptly revoked herself. That kind of vulnerability was … unsettling. She much preferred sturdy wool for her day-to-day, Montana’s climate was unpredictable at best, depending on the season, and if given the choice between chiffon or a hobble skirt, Seylah would defer to her tailored serge day dresses each and every time. She didn’t understand modern fashions, nor their functionality in a world as rough as theirs. Yes, there were civilized places and soft moments in Gold Sky, but the town, for all its growth and prosperity, was still very much a frontier town.

How was a woman supposed to remain gentle and exposed in such a place? To be stripped of all ones armor and defenses in the name of fashion was far too much for her to endure, even though her sister Rose did so and happily.

Was there something different between them? There had to be even if they came from the same parentage, the same family, the same home. Yet for all their similarities, they were so entirely different. Seylah smiled at the thought. She quite liked how they were different. She knew her sister did as well, even if the ambushing at Mrs. Rosemary’s hadn’t quite felt as much, and that was what had her in such a poor mood.

That, and remembering her one fateful foray into the world of beauty and style. It had been done at such a tender age and had hurt her deeply. But her sister and Mrs. Rosemary had no idea of it. She hadn’t breathed a word of her night at the dance to a single soul, not even her mother, much preferring for the entire evening to to be of the past, to be naught but a memory as she willed the past five hours spent with Mrs. Rosemary.

The women were only trying to help. They hadn’t meant for her to recall unpleasant moments that were still sore to the touch. She would thank them for their time and care as soon as she was able. With a determined sigh, Seylah stepped off the boardwalk and made a beeline for the Sheriff's office a few streets over. She only needed to cross the street and round the corner before Mrs. Rosemary’s dress shop was left in the dust.

Out of sight and out of mind.

So focused was she on her destination that Seylah forgot to do one very rudimentary and necessary thing. One that she had done without fail since she was allowed to cross the street as a child: look both ways.

And that failing caused her to miss the stagecoach barreling down the avenue courtesy of a spooked horse that set both coach and Seylah on a collision track. The resulting crash would have been considerable to both woman and beast, of that there was no doubt. Except that on this particular day when Seylah forgot the most basic of pedestrian rules, there was a newcomer to town in possession of a keen eye and even keener reflexes.

“Look out!” A gruff voice shouted as a pair of powerful arms wrapped themselves around Seylah’s midsection and yanked her back against what felt like a wall.

“Oof!” Seylah spluttered, the air soundly knocked out of her from the sudden crash into the wall at her back. She gasped, eyes squeezing shut as she tried to remain calm. Her hands automatically came to cradle her stomach when her lungs failed to pull in air. The stagecoach roared past in a cloud of dust, a cacophony of shouts from townsfolk narrowly avoiding being rundown following behind it.

“Are you all right?” The wall holding her asked. It was a nice voice, rich and full of dulcet tones that conjured ideas of laying in the sun. Who knew walls could have such lovely timbres?

“Ma’am?” Seylah opened her eyes just as the arms around her moved, turned