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At the moment? None of them. They were all at Herman’s Hamburgers, the new hamburger joint, downing cheeseburgers, shakes and fries. With a handsome motorcycle-riding stranger....

  Her father hurried out the door, off to have lunch with the mayor, and she leaned her elbows on the counter and moped. And then decided to comfort herself with a chocolate-covered caramel. And another. And another. And just one more. And...pretty soon she wasn’t feeling so good. Hmm. Could a girl really get too much of a good thing?

  She was still pondering that question when Mrs. Lind came in for a box of truffles.

  “These are for my sister’s birthday,” Mrs. Lind said. “I hope I can stay out of them.”

  The way Muriel was feeling after her chocolate caramel binge she was sure she’d have no trouble staying out of the chocolate for, oh, say, the next twenty years. “This might help you....” She put a mint truffle in a small gift bag and slipped it across the counter.

  Janice Lind’s face lit up as though she’d just won the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. “Oh, you’re such a dear. Thank you, Muriel.”

  “My pleasure,” Muriel said. All right, this was the part of the business she loved, the people part. She had to admit, as she sampled a truffle herself, that it was great to have access to such wonderful chocolate treats.

  Still, she spent the rest of her shift watching the clock, willing the time to pass quickly so she could go find everyone and maybe get a glimpse of the new arrival in town. He was probably swarmed with girls right now.

  Olivia was right. There weren’t enough cute boys in Icicle Falls. How was she going to fulfill her dream of living happily ever after with someone special when there was no one here she wanted to live happily ever after with?

  The bell over the shop door jingled. Oh, my. What was this?

  Chapter 2

  IN WALKED PAT AND OLIVIA. Olivia was giggling; Pat was sulking. Behind them came the newcomer.

  He did, indeed, look like a blond Mick Jagger. Muriel’s heart rate kicked up several beats. She wished she’d put on more lipstick.

  “This is Stephen Sterling,” Olivia said. “He wanted to meet you.”

  That would explain Pat’s sulk. Obviously she hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of introducing Stephen to Muriel. She’d probably had plans for this man that didn’t include anyone else.

  And Muriel couldn’t blame her. Man, he was. Stephen Sterling wore an air of maturity the local boys had yet to acquire, and he looked both dangerous and intriguing in his leather jacket and jeans. His hair was long and shaggy, falling around his chin. Did he play in a rock band?

  Muriel smiled and said hello.

  “When I told him about you and your family’s chocolate company he wanted to come see it,” Olivia explained.

  “Do you like chocolate?” Muriel asked.

  “I like sweet things,” he said, and the way he smiled at her sent a flush racing to her cheeks.

  “What kind of chocolate do you prefer, dark or light?”

  He shrugged. “Chocolate is chocolate.”

  That made Olivia giggle. “Boy, have you got a lot to learn.”

  Muriel would be happy to educate him.

  She was just getting ready to sneak them some free chocolate—none for her, thank you—when her father came back in. “Hi, kids.”

  His greeting was amiable enough, but Muriel could see the disapproval in his eyes when he glanced at Stephen. Of course, the long hair. Her father believed that men should look like men. Well, this one looked manly enough to her.

  “Muriel, give your friends each a chocolate,” Daddy said.

  “Wow, thanks, Mr. Patrick,” Olivia said, and Pat, too, murmured her thanks.

  “Thank you, sir,” said Stephen, proving he had manners. Muriel hoped that would score him some daddy points.

  Daddy nodded. “Then I’m afraid you’ll have to go. Muriel has to get back to work.”

  Doing what? Serving imaginary customers?

  With that parting shot, he went upstairs to the office, leaving his daughter fuming over his rudeness and the fact that her friends were going to skip off and take the good-looking newcomer with them.

  Muriel gave them each two chocolates. Petty revenge, but it made her feel better. Slightly.

  Stephen popped a truffle in his mouth and chewed. “This is good.”

  “Of course they are,” Muriel said. “We make the best chocolate in Washington.”

  “Looks to me like you’ve got a lot of good things here,” he said, and smiled at her.

  Pat frowned and tugged on his arm. “Come on, Stephen, we should go.”

  Fine. Eat my candy, take the cute guy and leave. See if I ever give you free chocolate again.

  “Yeah, we don’t want you to get in trouble with your dad,” Olivia said to Muriel.

  “Stephen’s decided to stick around for a couple of days,” she added, “so we’re having a bonfire down by the river tonight.”

  “I’ll be there,” Muriel said. If her father asked her where she was going, she’d say out with Arnie. Daddy liked Arnie.

  “Bring Arnie,” Pat suggested, and Muriel knew she wasn’t concerned with helping Muriel find a cover for the night.

  “I’ll invite a bunch of people,” Muriel said. “Oh, Pat, I’ll be sure to see if Hank can come.” Not that Pat and Hank were a couple. His was simply the first name that came to mind.

  Pat narrowed her eyes, fully aware that Muriel was trying to pull the same stunt she’d just tried. “Don’t do it for me.”

  “Invite everybody.” Olivia was so clueless. “The more the merrier.”

  “Let’s go,” Pat said. “We’re going to show him Lost Bride Trail,” she threw over her shoulder as they left.

  Muriel wanted to call after her, “You’ll never see her,” but she resisted the temptation.

  Everyone knew the legend of the lost bride. Rebecca Cane had come to town as a mail-order bride, but her husband, Joshua Cane, had trouble keeping the beautiful woman to himself. She fell in love with his younger brother, Gideon. There were threats and public fights enough to have the whole town talking. And when Rebecca and Gideon both went missing, there was more talk, especially when Joshua turned into a bitter hermit. Speculation ran wild. Soon the court of public opinion convicted Joshua of murdering both his wife and his brother. And when someone saw Rebecca’s ghost over by Icicle Falls, that proved it.

  For a while, people were afraid to go near the falls. But then a spinster, who was up there picking huckleberries with her cousins, saw Rebecca’s ghost the very day before she received a proposal of marriage. After that, it became a lucky thing to catch sight of the lost bride’s ghost flitting behind the falls—a sure sign that the woman who saw Rebecca Cane would soon be getting married.

  So now Pat was going ghost-hunting. Really, could she be any more obvious?

  “She wants him, doesn’t she?” Muriel asked Olivia as she lay across her bed later that afternoon, talking on her princess phone.

  “Well, who wouldn’t?” Olivia replied. “He’s so cool. You know he was in Vietnam?”

  “My gosh, how old is he?”

  “He’s twenty-two.”

  Another dream-man qualification met. The mysterious man of Muriel’s dreams was older and wiser than her. “What does he do now?” What kind of job did he have that allowed him to ride around in the middle of the week on a motorcycle?

  “He isn’t working.”

  That would not go over well with Daddy.

  “He says he has some money in savings. He picks up jobs when he needs them. He’s already done a year of college.”

  Handsome, smart and older—oh, and he made her heart race. Another important qualification met.

  “I’ve got to go,” she said. She needed to wash her hair an
d redo her nails before dinner.

  * * *

  “What do you have planned for tonight?” her father asked her as they ate macaroni-and-cheese and fish sticks, one of her mother’s standard work-night meals.

  “Arnie and I are going out,” she answered, glad she’d invited Arnie to join the fun. She never liked to lie to her parents.

  “He’s a sweet boy,” her mother said.

  He was sweet, but he wasn’t the stuff dreams were made of. This Stephen, on the other hand...

  “I hope you’re not going to anything where that long-haired hippie will be,” said Daddy.

  Did he listen in on her phone conversations?

  “I’m sure if she’s with Arnie she’ll be fine,” Mother said calmly.

  “You stay with Arnie,” Daddy said, pointing a fork at Muriel.

  It was at times like this that Muriel hated being an only child. There was no one else to take the spotlight off her.

  “Is he coming here to pick you up?” Daddy persisted.

  “No, I’m meeting him at the park.”

  Daddy frowned. “Well, see that he brings you home.”

  “Yes, Daddy,” she murmured. If things went according to plan someone very different would be bringing her home.

  She helped her mother with the dishes, then escaped the house, dressed for a party in bell-bottom jeans and a batik top, a sweater tied around her waist.

  By the time she got to the river, a lot of the newly graduated seniors were already making themselves at home on blankets on the riverbank, some seated on fallen logs, some roasting hot dogs over a roaring fire, others drinking pop. A few, like Hank Carp, were drinking beer. The legal drinking age was twenty-one, but the older teens often scored contraband beer and met in fields or down by the river to indulge in illegal activity.

  Muriel wasn’t much of a drinker and she was worried this thing would get out of control, especially when she saw that Olivia’s ten-year-old sister, Wendy, was present, along with Nils’s twelve-year-old brother, Peter, and Hank’s wild kid sister, Josie. Usually it was just the older kids who came to these parties. If everyone started drinking, who would look out for the younger ones?

  Arnie stood by the fire next to Olivia and Hank, uncomfortable and out of place. He was visibly relieved by the sight of Muriel and hurried over to greet her. “Hi, Muriel. I wondered if your dad would let you come.”

  “He knew you’d be here so he said yes.” That made Arnie smile. Oh, dear. “Olivia looks cute tonight, doesn’t she?”

  Arnie spared Olivia a glance. “Yeah, she looks okay. You look great, Muriel.”

  Why couldn’t boys see what was right in front of their eyes? All Arnie had to do was ask, and Olivia would go out with him. Olivia was frustrated and desperate. At this point she’d probably go out with anyone.

  Not Muriel, though. She was holding out for her perfect man. She smiled at Stephen, who was talking to Pat. He gave her an appreciative once-over, but stayed where he was. Had Pat hypnotized him?

  Lenny Luebecker took his guitar out of its case. “Hey, Muriel, got a song for you,” he called, then began singing Tommy Roe’s “Dizzy,” grinning hopefully at her. Muriel didn’t want to give him any encouragement so she merely smiled. But Olivia drifted over to where he sat with Nils and began singing along. So did some of the other kids. Pat and Stephen remained at the edge of the party, talking, and Muriel found herself frowning. This party wasn’t going to be as much fun as she’d thought.

  Definitely not fun. She kept looking to where Stephen and Pat were camped out, hoping to catch his eye but not succeeding. She tried to channel Scarlett O’Hara, tossing her hair, throwing her head back and laughing uproariously at something Lenny said. “Hah, hah, hah, hah.”

  But all she succeeded in doing was losing her balance and falling backward off the log she was sitting on. Oh, great. This was the way to get a man’s attention. Act like a fool and wind up looking like an upended turtle.

  When Lenny and Arnie pulled her back up her face was flaming. She sneaked a look in Stephen’s direction and saw that he was watching her now, an amused smile on his face.

  Good grief. Here was an article she could write for Seventeen, now that she knew what not to do. “How to Get His Attention,” by Muriel Patrick, town fool.

  The evening wore on, with more revelers arriving. The children darted in and out of the trees, playing tag, while the teenagers drank. The singing got louder and the laughter more raucous. Some drifted to the dark edges of the fire and became kissing silhouettes. Hank and Stephie were going at it as if they meant it. A shotgun wedding in the making, Muriel thought, and then realized she was jealous. She wanted to be off in the shadows necking with Stephen.

  Where was Stephen? He and Pat were nowhere to be seen. Well, maybe he wasn’t the man for her after all. Maybe she’d imagined the similarity between him and that tall, blond vision she’d seen so often in her dreams.

  A shriek cut through the noise, like an ugly obbligato, and a moment later Josie came running to the campfire. “Wendy fell in the river!”

  “Oh, my God!” cried Olivia, jumping up immediately.

  The current could be swift, and a kid trapped in the river at night was enough to mobilize everyone. They ran to the water’s edge, Olivia calling her little sister’s name all the way.

  They’d barely spotted her, a small body bobbing down the angry river, when out of nowhere a tall male form splashed into the water. Stephen Sterling.

  Muriel held her breath and watched as he plunged toward the little girl, fighting against the rushing water. It was a struggle worthy of Greek myth. The river didn’t yield its catch easily and on the first try he missed. The second time he caught her but it looked as if he needed every ounce of strength to get them both back to shore.

  “Somebody help him!” Olivia yelled.

  Hank found a long branch and extended it to Stephen, who caught hold and used it to pull himself and the child back to the safety of the shallows.

  Wendy was in tears now and so was Olivia.

  Josie was crying, too, and Peter looked as if he wanted to.

  Nils grabbed his brother’s arm and said, “What the hell were you guys doing?”

  “We were just playing tag,” Peter protested. “She ran into the water to get away and...” He burst into tears.

  “She went too far,” Muriel finished for him as she draped her sweater around the dripping girl. “Oh, Wendy, what were you thinking? You know better!”

  “I slipped,” the child sobbed.

  “Let’s take her back to the fire,” Pat said, taking charge. “Come on, honey. We’ll get you warmed up in no time.”

  Pat and Olivia were busy calming Wendy down. Muriel picked up a blanket and went over to Stephen, who stood talking with Nils. “I thought maybe you could use this.”

  “Thanks,” he said, and swung it around his shoulders.

  Nils was smart enough to know when a woman wanted a man to herself, and he moved away, giving Muriel the first chance she’d had all night to talk to the newcomer alone.

  “What you did was so heroic.”

  He shook his head and stared into the flames. “Not really.”

  “But it was,” she argued. “No one else went in.”

  “Someone would have. I just happened to be first.”

  “Isn’t that what heroes do, go into danger first?”

  “I’ve had enough of that, believe me.”

  “Some men are meant to be heroes, whether they want to or not.”

  His smile was mocking. “Are you looking for a hero, Muriel?”

  Maybe she was. “Is there anything wrong with that?”

  Now Arnie had joined them. “Olivia’s going home. I’m thinking maybe we should, too.”

  As if he was her bo
yfriend. She could have kicked him. “I’m not ready to go yet.”

  “Okay. Do you want to say goodbye to Olivia?”

  Of course she wanted to say goodbye to Olivia! Except now, just as she was staking her claim on Stephen, here came Pat, smiling at him as if they were already a couple.

  Still, a girl didn’t ignore her good friend for a man. Muriel walked over to Olivia, who was gathering her things and seemed on the verge of tears. “Are you okay?”

  “My parents are going to kill me and I don’t blame them. This is all my fault.”

  “You didn’t push her in the river.”

  “I didn’t watch her. I was too busy flirting with Nils.”

  There was no denying that. But from an early age children in Icicle Falls were taught to respect the river. “It was an accident, pure and simple,” Muriel said. “The important thing is, she’s all right.”

  “No thanks to me,” Olivia said miserably. “Tag,” she added in disgust.

  “We’ve all played it,” Muriel reminded her.

  “Not by the river.”

  Muriel gave her a hug and assured her all would be well. Then, having done what she could to encourage her friend, she looked for Stephen. He was no longer standing by the fire. Neither was Pat. She caught sight of them, walking off toward the river walk, probably toward the Bavarian Inn, where he was staying. Maybe she was ready to go home after all.

  The incident had sucked the energy out of the party, and people began to leave. Having made her point earlier, Muriel let Arnie walk her home.

  She turned to go in the door when Arnie took her arm. “Muriel.”

  She knew by his tone of voice what was coming.

  Sure enough. “You know how I feel about you.”

  She nodded. “I’m sorry, Arnie. I like you, but just...not that way.”

  He frowned. “It’s that new guy, isn’t it? I saw you staring at him.”

  “A girl can’t help who she’s attracted to.” Now Arnie looked heartbroken and she felt awful.

  But he wasn’t the man of her dreams.

  He heaved a sigh. “If you ever change your mind, you know I’ll always be there for you.”