“It might make the difference in the election,” she observed. “Sloan could truly use your help.”

Della stared. Then she grinned, flashing her broken tooth. “Honey, if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s persuadin’ a man.”

“Do you think it wise for us to speak to your friends as well?”

“Mercy, no. They’ll have a conniption if they see such a fancy lady in a whorehouse. You better let me do it.”

Heather forcibly swallowed her embarrassment. “Thank you. I would greatly appreciate any effort you could make.”

“Don’t mention it.” Della regarded her almost admiringly. “You’ve got some kind of gumption comin’ here, I’ll say that for you. But if you’re a friend of Caitlin’s, I reckon I can understand.” Her look turned sly. “I must say, I haven’t seen much of Sloan since he came back married.”

Caitlin smiled. “And you won’t, either, if Heather has any say in the matter.”

Della laughed. “Too bad.”

Heather felt herself wince inwardly. Sloan had no doubt patronized the saloon before their marriage. She wondered if he’d ever come here with the intent of bedding one of the soiled doves—or if he’d ever slept with this woman. It was not a comfortable thought.

Caitlin, however, seemed to take it in stride. “Just you concentrate on getting Sloan elected, if you don’t mind,” she told Della.

“I’ll do my best. And so will the girls. They always did have a soft spot for Sloan McCord.”

Those words echoed in Heather’s mind the following week as she campaigned earnestly for her husband—and again the morning of July Fourth as she dressed for the picnic and supper-dance to be held on the outskirts of town.

She was standing in her lacy underdrawers, trying to don her corset, when Sloan walked into her bedchamber carrying Janna. When his glance raked over her, a warmth rose inside Heather that had little to do with the heat of the day.

“We’re ready,” he announced, settling in the armchair by the window with his daughter to wait. “Doesn’t Janna look pretty?”

Heather gave the child a warm smile. “Beautiful.”

The toddler was garbed in a pale-blue calico dress with a froth of cream ruffles adorning the neck, a dress Heather had lovingly fashioned to complement the one she planned to wear to the celebration.