Ellie's room was more luxurious than anything she'd ever seen. She loved the light pastel and dark color accents of the décor. However, she went straight through the elegant room to her ensuite bathroom.

She hadn't had the chance to use the toilet.

Her gaze went longingly to the shower, but apart from not having enough time, she didn't want to ruin her makeup.

With a sigh, she finished up and returned to the room, where she found her suitcase waiting.

Arielle had placed a pair of navy slacks on the bed, matched with an ivory silk blouse and lacey undies.

She even set out a pair of comfortable, flat sandals.

The clothes fit her as if they were made for her.

She'd never owned anything as fancy, and the designer labels almost made her eyes pop out of her head. The style was way too formal for the sixteen-year-old twin teenagers.

Arielle had fibbed to make me feel more comfortable, she realized. She guessed I would protest against a change of wardrobe when Ranger and I aren't married yet.

However, at this stage, it was a matter of semantics.

A small price tag on the inside of the blouse confirmed her suspicions and almost made her swallow her tongue.

When she curiously opened the suitcase and dug through it, she discovered a toiletry bag inside.

Arielle has some serious organizational skills, Ellie admitted, shaking her head.

Everything'd been bought with her in mind, and the makeup was specifically for her skin tone.

The twins were much fairer-skinned than she was, and Arielle's complexion was slightly peachier.

The contents of the bag could easily devour a month of Ellie's salary, and even Jaden didn't have such nice things.

She didn't even want to speculate what the clothes cost.

"Ellie?" Arielle called from the sitting area. "Are you dressed yet?"

Ellie grabbed her clothes and ran toward the bathroom.

"I need another minute!" she called out.

When she left the room, only Arielle waited for her.

Some other sense told her that the men had gone—maybe they were off on a mission of their own.

Strangely, Ranger's absence left her feeling slightly abandoned.

His scent lingered in the room, and it lessened her sense of loss.

What fresh nonsense is that? she wondered. I don't need anyone else to make me feel whole.

"Ready?" Arielle asked, grabbing her keys and handbag.

Ellie nodded, steeling herself.

The soft click of their heels against the marble floor echoed behind them until they entered the carpeted hallway.

Even as she took in the fancy hotel, Ellie couldn't help being nervous about where this was leading.

Ellie followed Arielle out the door and down to the reception. They exited into the night and the air was still lukewarm as they reached the limo waiting for them out front.

"What stores are even open at this time of the night?" she asked.

"Don't worry about that," Arielle said, a smirk tugging at her lips.

They didn't drive long before approaching a private home.

The sleek building looked like it should be on Architectural Digest.

All the windows were covered with blinds or frosted glass. Walls surrounded the property, and every inch of the front courtyard was paved in concrete.

"Let's go inside," Arielle invited as they exited the car and watched it drive off.

They approached the large, carved door and pushed a button beside it.

Ellie heard chimes echo faintly deep inside.

Since the driver had already given their details to the guard at the gate, the door unlocked and swung silently open.

It was eerie to see a heavy wooden door open without any assistance.

Ellie glanced around with the first stirrings of curiosity.

The entire setup reminded her of the main house at the ranch... and she half felt as if she shouldn't be entering through the front door.

"You're about to become Elizabeth MacPherson," her rational mind reminded her. "You'll be walking into much fancier places than this. And you've already had a taste of it at the hotel. Why didn't it bother you then?"

A frown tugged at her brow.

Maybe it was just all starting to gain clarity in her mind.

"Don't dawdle, Ellie," Arielle teased quietly.

The interior vied with the opulence of their hotel—the building was empty, wrapped in the stillness of after-hours.

"Welcome to Casa Silva," an elegantly dressed and perfectly manicured woman greeted them as she emerged from a hallway.

"I'm Vera, and I've booked you for a full-body treatment," she said, accessing the computer system at the front desk. "Cassidy will show you our delectable array of wedding dresses when we're done."

Vera finished her task and guided them through the minimalist front reception—a space that exuded understated elegance.

The well-lit corridor, with its white walls and marble floors, looked like it belonged in a movie set.

"When you ladies have chosen the perfect dress," Vera said, "we'll help you both get ready."

Her slightly accented English went with her East Asian features yet had a faint British twang.

"If you want or need anything, just ask for me."

Vera ignored the doors to the left and right, continuing to the back.

"I'm at your service."

Another door led into a private room with twin massage beds. Two women were preparing various vials and lotions at stations that looked slightly medical.

Ellie had never been inside a massage parlor but recognized it from the television.

Junior wouldn't allow such extravagances.

She suspected it had less to do with money issues and more to do with her biological mother's love for such luxuries.

Her mother had believed in pampering herself as though she deserved it for putting up with life on the Range.

Lissa and Jaden were more practically minded—like Junior. Although they cared for themselves, they spent very little money doing so.

Thinking of them dampened the moment more than thoughts of her birth mother ever could.

Ellie felt out of her depth.

It was as if she'd been dropped from an alien spaceship into a deceptively friendly world, hostile underneath its polished surface.

"This is Lilly and Willow," Vera introduced the ladies. They politely bowed, smiling brightly. "You'll be in good hands."

Vera nodded and left them.

"Don't look so tense, Ellie," Arielle said, disappearing behind a partition. "We're here to relax."

"This way, please," Willow said with a very American accent.

She had that striking blend of East Asian and Caucasian features that gave her an enigmatic and mysterious quality, almost as if she had secrets you would never uncover.

Willow guided her toward the other partition.

"Take off your clothes, please. Dress in one of our complimentary robes, and when you're ready, we'll start."

She politely left Ellie, who just stood there, frozen.

"Take off your undies, too," Arielle instructed from behind the screen, almost as if she knew Ellie had no idea what to do. "We're here for a massage, spa treatment, facial, manicure, and pedicure."

Ellie's hands trembled as she peeled off the borrowed blouse and slid out of her slacks.

The subtle scent of coconut hung in the air. It brought to mind her favorite suntan lotion, a comfort that felt oddly out of place here.

Cool air blasted from somewhere above, and she could almost forget she was in the desert.

She hesitated before slipping off her underwear, then quickly pulled on the robe.

Taking a deep breath, she felt as if she were about to step off a diving board, unsure if there was water below.

Ellie had never experienced anything as soft and comfortable as the robe.

She returned to Willow, startled when the masseuse casually removed it before she could react.

The woman didn't bat an eyelid, as if this were perfectly normal, and helped Ellie onto the table.

Arielle pulled off her robe and was as comfortable in her own skin as her son.

"Just relax," Willow said to Ellie in that soothing voice. "And please, lie face down."

Ellie happily complied as her cheeks heated.

Willow, thankfully, covered her buttocks when she was comfortable.

"Don't worry, Ellie," Arielle said with a smirk. "It's just us girls here."

Willow worked her muscles in firm, smooth strokes. Ellie flinched when the woman found a sore spot but relaxed incrementally as the tension in her body melted away.

It irked her that she was starting to understand why her mother liked this so much.

The thought leached a little of the enjoyment from the moment.

I must be the first groom to get a spa day or night with a MacPherson, she thought irrelevantly.

She was still fighting the sensation that this was a dream, and she didn't belong here.

By the time she lay with her face mask on in the next room, a peaceful stillness had settled over her, and she drifted off to sleep.

"Ma'am?" Willow said seemingly moments later. "Time for your next appointment."

Though her catnap had refreshed her, she was a little disoriented and yawned.

Their lives were so different from the glamorous, elevated world of the MacPhersons, she realized. Yet it didn't protect them from pain or humiliation.

Would I fit in?

This was a lot to take in, and it was just a sample of Arielle, Hunter, and Ranger's lives.

A worried little frown creased her brow as they made their way to the sauna.

"Ellie, get out of your head and just enjoy the experience," Arielle said, rubbing the furrow between Ellie's eyes away with her thumb.

Senior used to do that, and Ellie's heart ached.

"I'll try," she said, forcing a smile.

"Do or do not; there is no try," Arielle quoted, and Ellie blinked, momentarily startled by the unexpected reference.

A bubble of laughter escaped before she could stop it, and for a moment, the heaviness in her chest became lighter.

Her serious boss quoting a movie was the last thing she ever expected.

Even Victoria suddenly appearing in one of the doorways would have been less strange.

The thought dampened her laughter.

"That is more like it," Arielle said, continuing toward their next appointment.

Hours later—or so it seemed—they were lying beside a sparkling blue indoor pool in a vast open space.

Ellie had never felt so relaxed or pampered in her life.

Her skin glowed, and she loved the acrylic nails that made her hands look more feminine—a stark contrast to her usual short, clipped, and unadorned nails.

She nodded off again when she heard the sharp click of heels.

Her eyes snapped open.

The image of Victoria striding in there, oozing malice and drama, played vividly in her mind.

Ellie could almost hear her cutting remarks.

Instead, a tall model wearing a rather fluffy wedding dress appeared from behind a large white screen.

It probably concealed a doorway.

The model strutted down the raised walkway as if she were at Paris Fashion Week.

Relief flooded Ellie.

She was in no mood for a confrontation with Victoria.

The display seemed almost surreal.

Ellie made herself more comfortable and wished she could've shared the moment with Lissa and Jaden.

They would have loved all of this.

Lissa would have marveled at the luxury, making dry remarks about how the "other half" lived.

Jaden would have poked fun at the absurdity of it all while secretly enjoying it way too much.

This was so far removed from their normal day-to-day lives that it would have been as much of an experience for them as it was for her.

The staccato clip of the model's heels on the wooden walkway echoed hollowly and pulled Ellie from her musings.

It reminded her of the day at Ranger's house when she'd caught him skinny dipping.

Her cheeks heated at the memory, and she quickly pushed it from her mind.

Until the model appeared, she'd been drowsy. But seeing the impossibly tall, ethereal creature—so poised and polished, with the kind of beauty that seemed to exist only in magazines—knotted Ellie's stomach.

All her old insecurities rushed to the surface.

Ranger deserves someone like that, she thought. Not a girl with calluses on her palms and a body toned by hard work.

He needs a wife who starts her morning with a perfect blowout and delicate makeup, instead of a half-asleep tumble through the shower. Someone who doesn't pull her hair into a sloppy bun on the way out the door, munching on an apple and a piece of toast.

Then again, I'm just the placeholder for the real thing, she thought bitterly.