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now that Shirley was doing the right thing. She'd hate to be called back to heaven for something so silly. If she was slated for trouble, it should be for something worth their while, like a visit to Hollywood. Mercy could get real interested in the movies.

Shirley gently rested her frame on the mare's back. "Hey," she said, smiling down at her two friends, "this isn't nearly as difficult as I assumed." With her hands holding on to the mane, she gently kicked her feet against the mare's sides until the feisty filly started to trot.

"Hey, look at me!" she cried, waving one arm in the air like a rodeo rider.

"Great," Goodness said.

"Say, do you two want to ride next?" Shirley asked.

"Ahh..."

"No thanks."

The horse started to gallop, and before anyone could do anything to stop her, the mare raced at breakneck speed for the fence. Shirley let out a wild scream of alarm.

The mare stopped abruptly just before she reached the wooden poles.

Shirley cried out as she went sliding ingloriously into the air, landing with a solid thump in a pile of hay. Goodness and Mercy carefully dug her out.

"Who would have believed it," Shirley said, brushing the straw from her arms. "Horses are vicious beasts. They're certainly not to be trusted."

Chapter Eleven

"I thought I'd find you here," Blythe said to Ted, smiling broadly as if she'd been expected. She directed her attention to his grandmother. "It's good to see you again, Mrs. Goodwin."

"Catherine," his grandmother corrected graciously. "It's good to see you again, my dear."

Ted frowned, not knowing what to say. "Is something wrong at the office?"

Blythe cast him a look that said he was being ridiculous to suggest such a thing. "Nothing like that. It's just that I haven't seen hide nor hair of you in days."

Ted found that remark interesting since she'd broken their last date. Blythe sat on the chair Ted had vacated and picked up the empty cookie plate. "Ted," she said in a low, teasing voice, "you haven't been eating cookies again, have you?"

"Would you care for a cup of tea, dear?" Catherine offered, distracting her.

"That would be lovely."

"I was just leaving," Ted said, doing a poor job of disguising his frustration. It was true he needed to talk to Blythe, but he wasn't pleased at the way she'd popped in at his grandmother's unannounced. Nor did he want Joy to see him with the other woman. That would confirm everything she was thinking, which was ridiculous.

"Then I'll skip the tea, Mrs. Goodwin," Blythe said, and stood. "Ted, I hope you don't mind my tracking you down like this, but it's the night Bob and Carol asked us out for drinks. I was sure you'd forgotten. I meant to remind you, but by the time I got to your office you'd already left."

"Bob and Carol? Drinks?" Ted's mind was a blank. To the best of his memory he didn't know the couple.

"Wilson," Blythe supplied as if he shouldn't need to be reminded. "As in state senator Bob Wilson and his wife, Carol."

For the life of him, Ted couldn't remember meeting the man, let alone agreeing to having drinks with the couple. "Do I know these people?"

"Of course you do, and if you don't remember them, then you should," she returned. "Bob is one of the most influential men in Sacramento."

"Why would this senator and his wife invite me out for a drink?"

Blythe smiled rather smugly. "Bob phoned and suggested the four of us get together weeks ago. You don't remember? Honestly, Ted, what am I going to do with you?"

"I apologize. It must have completely slipped my mind," Ted hedged, looking for a tactful way to extract himself from the obligation. He'd never been keen on sitting around a crowded cocktail lounge and making small talk with people he barely knew.

"Senator Wilson's just the type of man who can help you," Blythe insisted. "He's powerful and influential and a decent guy. They're few and far between these days. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Don't tell me you're going to back out at this late date." She cast him a pleading look. "It won't take long, I promise. An hour at the most, maybe two."

Her round eyes appealed to him until Ted gave in. It wouldn't hurt to meet the couple, he decided, especially since he'd supposedly agreed to this outing. Although, heaven help him, he didn't so much as recognize the couple's name.

"You'll come, won't you?"

"All right," he said reluctantly.

Blythe checked