To her relief, Jessie appeared willing to give up. She even stood, to indicate an imminent departure.

“Let’s go to Dolan’s and have a milk shake,” she suggested.

Janet blinked. “What?”

“A thick, chocolate milk shake,” Jessie added temptingly. “Come on. I never get anything like that at the ranch. Consuela’s a great cook, but lately she’s constantly worried about killing Luke with too much fat. There hasn’t been so much as a pint of ice cream in the house in months. I have to sneak over here to Los Piños to get a milk shake, if I want one.”

“And just this morning you decided you had a hankering for one and drove...what? Two hours? Three, just to get one?” Janet said skeptically, not believing for a minute that Jessie couldn’t have whipped one up right in her own kitchen if she’d really wanted to.

“It’s amazing the cravings that come on when a woman least expects them,” Jessie said. “Chocolate milk shakes...” Her expression turned innocent. “A man, same difference. Once the idea’s planted in your head, you might as well give in to it.”

That sneaky little reference to men triggered all of Janet’s alarm systems. “Are you suggesting that I should go ahead and marry Harlan, because he’s like some sort of addiction I won’t be able to break?”

Jessie regarded her with another innocent look. “I was talking about milk shakes. You’re the one who brought up marriage.” She tilted her head inquiringly. “Has it been on your mind a lot lately?”

“If I didn’t like you so much, I’d tell you to go fly a kite,” Janet muttered, but she stood. “As it is, though, now you’ve got me craving a milk shake, too. Let’s go.”

They walked down the block to Dolan’s Drugstore and headed for the counter. Melissa popped out of the store room. She’d worked there before her marriage to Cody and still filled in several days a week to keep from going stir-crazy on the ranch.

“Hey, you two, what brings you in in the middle of the morning?” Melissa asked. “Jessie, I didn’t know you were coming to Los Piños today.”

Janet thought the greeting sounded suspiciously cheery, as if they’d plotted this little gathering. When Kelly strolled in not five minutes later, she knew it.

“Okay, what’s going on?” she demanded.

“That’s what we want to know,” Kelly said, propping her elbows on the counter and leaning forward intently. “Harlan’s been grumbling like an old bear for the last week. Jordan, Cody and Luke are practically busting with curiosity, but he refuses to say a single word to any of them. Cody told Jordan you’ve been dropping Jenny off at the end of the lane again.”

“I had no idea everyone was so fascinated with my habits,” Janet said irritably.