Free The Texas Ranger's Secret by DeWanna Pace Page A

food, her breath caught and she thought she would choke. There, walking toward her, was Ellie Finchmeister, Atlanta’s most notorious gossip.
    Why on earth was she here?
    Don’t do anything wrong in front of her.
    She has no clue you wrote the stories about Ketchum.
    Maybe she doesn’t really see you and she’s headed toward someone else.
    Willow started backing up as her mind raced on how to dodge Ellie. She bumped a table and heard a slosh.
    Willow turned to discover a huge bowl of pink punch and the largest cake she’d ever seen. Punch now stained the tablecloth but had missed the bouquet. Not so fortunate with the cake. Buttery icing dotted the verbena, leaving one side of the cake stripped barren.
    A gnat landed on the bouquet and Willow shook it off. Would Daisy have to swat bugs away until the moment she tossed the bouquet to hopeful contenders?
    The morning had started out so well. Willow had been determined to prove she could get through this one day without causing any harm and prove herself capable. Would that day ever come?
    “Yoo-hoo, Miss McMurtry!” The reed-thin Georgia native raised the fan she held and waved it at Willow. “Is that really you?”
    No, it’s someone else , Willow wanted to say to the gossip, whose nose seemed to extend the length of her reputation. But it would be rude to ignore her. That would just set Ellie into undue speculation. Best to get this over with.
    While Willow waited for her to catch up, she attempted to wipe icing from the petals and only ended up breaking off a cluster. After Willow tried to hide the gap, the bouquet began looking poorly and Willow wasn’t sure where to wipe the stickiness from her hands. She needed to find a cloth, fast. But Ellie finally reached her and Willow didn’t want to have to explain why she must leave so quickly.
    Offering the best smile she could muster, she announced, “I’m surprised to see you here, Ellie.”
    Ellie’s brown eyes lit with excitement. “Oh, this wedding has been all the talk since I arrived to visit my aunt. You probably know her as Esther Sue Jenkins.”
    Willow shook her head. “I haven’t met her yet.”
    “You will. She’s quite well respected here in High Plains, I’m told.”
    Willow could imagine an older version of Ellie and shuddered. People infatuated with their own importance were the worst of gossips. Had Ellie inherited her tendencies from her relative, as Willow had from her own grandfather?
    “So your aunt knows my sister and that’s why you’re here?” Willow asked.
    Ellie pointed her fan in the direction of an elderly woman walking down the slope dressed in funeral black. “Yes, in fact, she’s certain she played a part in bringing the bride and groom together. I can’t wait to get back to Atlanta and tell everyone I actually got to attend Bass Parker’s wedding. You know he’s one of the wealthiest men in the social register. A captain of industry, I’m told.” She flicked her fan open again and gave a little wink. “But then, your sister must have already made you aware of that, I’m sure.”
    “Actually, no. I didn’t meet the man until just after sunrise and we haven’t had time to discuss his income.” The moment she said it, Willow knew she should have corralled her impulsive nature. But the deliberate attack on Daisy’s code of honor could not go unchallenged. “From the story her cook told me, my sister refused any part of his money for years.”
    Ellie’s eyebrows jerked upward as if attempting to attach themselves alongside her widow’s peak. The insulted gossip would find a way to get back at her.
    Willow decided to stay as far away from Ellie as possible while the woman remained in High Plains. She had a legitimate excuse to justify the action. Children to watch.
    And skills to learn , she added but vowed Ellie would never hear those words from her lips.
    At the moment she needed to salvage a sticky bouquet and ward off any further pests.
    * * *
    “Here, need