Fred swallowed and straightened her shoulders, sailing past them with a pleasant grin. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she headed out the door.The moment she was outside the bed and breakfast, she exhaled and shuddered. It was too soon to begin courting anyone or to let herself be courted. She wasn’t properly dressed.She went to the General Store, picked out three nice outfits and changed into one of the dresses, wearing the deep blue-black dress with beadwork around the neckline with a certain amount of pride.The dress skimmed over her curves and the beads gave interest to a neckline that only hinted at her cleavage. The hem stopped just above her knees and that was close enough to sexy for her.The friendly—but not creepy—man behind the counter bagged up her purchases and told her that he would bring them over to the Open Heart. The new shoes were surprisingly comfortable, so she was out of excuses to delay the inevitable.She headed for the Crossed Star Bar, keeping her shoulders back and her head high.The music was playing, loud enough to dance to but not loud enough to drown out conversation.
