Wildest Dreams

by Rosanne Bittner

  A strange, almost guilty look came into his eyes then. He kissed her forehead, then pulled away with a deep sigh. "The trouble is, we have to get your pa's permission first to marry."

  Katie frowned. "He won't object, once he meets you and finds out what a good person you are; and especially when he realizes I love you. My parents will be thrilled that I have found someone who can take away the bad memories. They want nothing more than for me to be happy and to live a normal life. And with you being a cattleman and all—"

  "That's the trouble," he interrupted. "Now it's my turn to 'fess up, Katie." He sighed and walked a few feet away, studying a row of books for a moment before turning to face her. "You're right that we should share everything. Now it's my turn to tell a secret, Katie." He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "All I said was that I was a rancher, Katie. I never said it was cattle that I raised."

  Katie frowned thoughtfully, then her eyes widened. "Not sheep!"

  He nodded. "It's all I know. My grandfather raised sheep, my father, and now I want to get started on my own, but I can't do it down in Colorado or even in Wyoming. Between the drought we've been having and the trouble with cattlemen, I've got to try someplace new."

  She put a hand to her lips. "Oh, dear."

  "Yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Now do you see our problem? It's bad enough we haven't known each other all that long, and that your folks have never even met me yet, let alone the fact that your pa probably expects you to marry some rich rancher's son. Not only am I not rich, but I'm not in cattle at all. Your pa will probably blow to high heaven when he finds out you're in love with a sheep man, and it will probably mean we'd have to live far away from here. He'd never allow me to graze sheep anyplace around here." He shoved his hands into his back pockets and paced. "This doesn't change how you feel about me, does it?"

  Katie folded her arms, watching him longingly. "No. I just know how my father feels about sheep." She sighed thoughtfully. "Brad, my father isn't the monster you think he is, and there is one way he can be convinced, one person who can keep him calm and reason with him."

  "Who's that?"

  "My mother. As powerful and determined as my father can be, he'll do anything my mother asks. I just have to talk to her first." Yes, Lettie would understand more than anyone what it meant to her to find love, to find a man who could overlook what had happened to her. "My mother will come to get me this weekend. I'm going home for Christmas. Pa probably won't come with her to town this time because he already attended a cattlemen's meeting last week, and he said he had to stay at the ranch this week. He's going out to the north section with some of his men to bring in some stray cattle that could starve this winter if they aren't brought closer to the main ranch. It will take several days, and he'll get back just in time for Christmas. Mother will probably just bring a couple of men from the ranch along to accompany her, so you and I will have some time alone."

  "You and I?"

  "Yes. You're coming to the Double L for Christmas, Brad. It's time you met my family, and we can tell Mother about our plans and about you being a sheep rancher. That way at least she will be prepared and ready to handle my father when he finds out. Please say you'll come."

  Brad rubbed at his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling this will not be a very merry Christmas?"

  "It will be, Brad, once my father realizes how much we love each other and how determined I am. Mother will know how to smooth it over."

  "What if she doesn't like me?"

  "Oh, but she will. I'm not worried about that. We can make this work, with my mother's help. We'll tell my pa flat out that we're in love and intend to be married. Maybe between the three of us we can present the sheep issue without any big problems. Maybe pa will even let you try raising sheep on his land."

  Bradley chuckled. "You're a dreamer, Katie girl."

  She walked closer, taking hold of his hands. "Maybe. But ornery as my pa can be, one thing I know is how much he loves his family and wants what's best for us. It was Pa who came for me when I was abducted, and I'll never forget the look on his face when he found me." Her eyes teared again. "And when he told me never to hang my head. And with all those men surrounding us, he grabbed me up and rode off with me, took a bullet in the back that could have killed or crippled him. No matter how he reacts, don't hate him right away. He's a good man. He gets a little stubborn in his ideas sometimes, but he can be reasoned with, and my mother is the one who can do it."

  Bradley sighed deeply. "All I know is that I'll do whatever it takes to make you my wife, but I won't bow to any man or give up what I know how to do best. And with or without Luke Fontaine's blessing, I want you for my wife, Katie. Will you still marry me, even if he doesn't approve?"

  Katie could not imagine going against her father; but now she could also not imagine letting Brad Tillis ride out of her life. "Yes, I'll marry you, even if Pa doesn't approve."

  CHAPTER 27

  The entire Fontaine family sat around the elegantly set table in the dining room of the family mansion. It was Christmas Eve, a time when there would normally be a great deal of talking and celebrating; but everyone was quiet, the younger children all gawking at Brad Tillis. Tyler sat at his father's right hand, scrutinizing Brad with the same possessive, untrusting eyes as his father.

  Brad could hardly eat. He had hoped Luke Fontaine would not be the big, domineering man he had pictured; but upon meeting him, he felt his case was even more hopeless. When Luke came to the parlor to meet him after coming in late and first cleaning up, his big frame had seemed to fill the room, in spite of the fact that the parlor itself was huge, with high ceilings. Luke Fontaine fit every picture of the cattle tyrant, powerfully built, a weathered face, piercing blue eyes, a firm handshake, raw power emanating from his very being. He had looked Brad over, then announced he had paperwork to do and that they would "discuss this thing" at the supper table. Before leaving the room, he had announced that "no young man I've met for the first time is going to tell me he's marrying my daughter, nor should he even dare to ask me if he can."

  "Brad, would you like some more turkey?" Lettie asked, interrupting the silence.

  Brad glanced at the gracious, beautiful woman, whom he already liked a great deal, as he did Pearl and Robbie, who had been receptive and full of questions. If it was only those three he had to deal with, this would be easy, but Luke Fontaine was protective of his daughter, and he could understand that protectiveness was even stronger because of what had happened to her. Her brother Tyler was equally protective, and now Brad was not so sure that it was true Lettie Fontaine could help their situation. When he and Katie had talked to Katie's mother alone earlier and explained that he raised sheep for a living, the woman had at first been aghast. "Sheep!" she had exclaimed. "Katie, it's one thing to ask me to help you convince your father to let you get married; but to a sheep man! Even I might have trouble talking him into that one!" She had not been rude about it, only worried, for she seemed to understand how much Katie loved him, and how important finding love was to her, for more reasons than the average young woman.

  Brad glanced at Pearl, who he could see was ready to giggle at the odd silence at the table. The children knew he wanted to marry Katie, but no one except Lettie knew yet that he was a sheep man. He had never been so nervous in his life, and it irritated him that Luke was silently devouring his meal, making him wait for the "discussion" he intended to have. He decided that there was only one way to approach a man like Luke Fontaine, and that was to stand right up to him, be honest and open and take no gaff. At the least, the man would want his daughter to marry someone who was unafraid of challenges, and who was proud of what he did for a living. For the moment the only thing Luke knew was that he was a "rancher." He had hoped Lettie would break the news first, but he realized that that might not be best after all. He didn't need any woman to do his talking for him! He set his fork down and leaned back in his chair.

  "Mr. Fontaine, everybody is just about finished eating, and I can
't take this silence any longer. Katie told me how this house is always full of good times on Christmas Eve, and there's a big tree in the front parlor where she says you always gather to listen to Pearl play Christmas carols."

  Luke swallowed his last piece of turkey and scowled at him. He picked up a glass of wine and took a sip. "Well? You apparently have a lot more to say, so say it." He leaned back in his chair, his handsome blue eyes drilling into him.

  Brad looked from Luke to Tyler, holding his chin a little higher, then looked back at Luke. "May I stand, sir?"

  Luke nodded. "Go ahead."

  Brad took a deep breath and rose, scooting back his chair. Pearl and Robbie stared wide-eyed, and Lettie watched Luke closely. Katie sat staring at her plate, her cheeks flushed. She felt like crying for the hard time Luke was giving poor Brad.

  "Mr. Fontaine, it's like your wife told you when you got home. I love your daughter very much and she loves me. We met in town. I work at the livery, but I actually came here looking for land. Since all the good land around here is taken, I'll have to go farther away to find it, so I'll wait till spring because a man can't travel far out here in the dead of winter, and because I wanted to stay close to Katie awhile longer. We want to get married, and I came here to ask your permission. I understand you'd be skeptical because you don't know me from Adam, but I assure you, sir, that I come from a good family. My father is John Tillis, from Iowa. He and my mother and two younger brothers live in Colorado now. I want to strike out on my own. I didn't come to Montana looking for a wife—just land. But when I met Katie—" He sighed deeply. "I kind of ran into her by accident at the library, and then we found out I had taken a room at Stowe's boardinghouse and we eat our meals at the same table, started taking walks, what have you. Anyway, that's how it all got started, and now I'd like to marry her. I'm old enough—twenty-four—and I'm a hard worker. I know she comes from a rich family, and I intend to take good care of her. And don't think I'm marrying her for her money. I couldn't care less if you totally disinherited her, except that it would be pretty unfair to Katie. I just happen to love her for the wonderful woman that she is." He swallowed. Should he say anything yet about the sheep? Why couldn't he make the words come out?

  "Pa, I love Brad," Katie spoke up quietly, meeting her father's eyes. "You and Mama know what a special thing that is for me. I never thought—" Her eyes teared then, and she looked back down at her plate. "I never thought I'd feel like this about any man."

  Luke glanced at Lettie, who arched her eyebrows. He knew she was remembering their own beginning, and that her situation had been similar to Katie's. He understood that was why Lettie would sympathize with Katie's predicament, but that didn't make her marrying a man they knew little about right. He looked back at Brad. "You know then, about what happened to Katie?"

  "Yes, sir, I know, and it doesn't make any difference to me. It sure wasn't her fault. I don't love Katie just because she's the prettiest girl in Billings." Pearl finally giggled, and he felt the color coming to his own cheeks. "I love her for her strength and courage," he went on, "for her intelligence, and because she comes from strong stock, a good family. She understands ranching life, and she knows the meaning of hard work, although I don't intend for her to have to do much of that. I just want her to be comfortable and happy. I can't promise she'd live like a queen right off, but I'd do everything I can to give her the good life she deserves. And I'm not so insensitive that I don't understand her situation. If you think I'd ever hurt her or push her into anything, you're dead wrong, Mr. Fontaine... sir." Was that a hint of a smile he saw at the corner of Luke's mouth?

  Luke took another sip of wine. "If I let you marry my daughter, and I ever get one hint that you've abused her in any way or that you forced her or frightened her, I'll break your neck. You understand that?"

  Brad swallowed. "Yes, sir. I'd expect it. You wouldn't be asking any more of me than I would ask of myself."

  Katie looked at her father. "Pa, I told Brad what a good man you are." A tear slipped down her cheek. "You're embarrassing me by being so rude."

  Luke set his wineglass down. "I'll be as rude as necessary when it comes to giving my daughter over in marriage. Once a man is your husband, you're under his control and answer to his whims. I don't take something like that lightly, Katie, and I hardly know this young man."

  "Can't you trust my judgment? It's my feelings that matter here," Katie argued. "I've seen Brad almost every day for three months now. We talk about everything. I felt comfortable with him from the very first day l met him. We enjoy each other's company, and he doesn't—" She looked up at Brad. "He doesn't frighten me. He makes me happy." She stood up and moved beside Brad, and he slipped an arm around her waist. "We love each other, Pa. I never thought I could be this happy. Can't you be happy for me?"

  Luke leaned back in his chair, studying the two of them. He liked the way they looked together, liked Brad's boldness. He was nervous, and had every right to be, but he wasn't afraid. Luke could smell fear, and there was none in Brad Tillis. He met his daughter's eyes. "Of course I want to be happy for you; but you can understand my protectiveness, Katie. This is quite a surprise you've pulled on me and your mother, you know, coming home for Christmas with a man on your arm, a man you say you want to marry without our ever even meeting him."

  "I only waited because I wanted to be sure myself, and because it was only a few days ago that Brad found out the truth about... about what happened. Before I gave my heart away, and before things got serious enough to tell you about him, I wanted to be sure Brad would still want me after he knew. I'm not afraid anymore, Pa. Since I've met Brad I don't have nightmares, and I feel safe and loved."

  Luke nodded. "All right. You have my permission to marry, but not until next spring. And I don't like the idea of you going off with a new husband and living so far away we never get to see you and make sure you're all right. I'll break out a piece of land or maybe I can talk Henry Kline into selling the Lazy K. He's already been thinking about it. If you're going to go into ranching, it isn't necessary to do it clear on the other side of the mountains."

  Katie felt Brad's hold on her tighten. "Well, sir, we might not have any choice."

  Lettie felt her heart pound harder. Now it was coming. She had thought it best that Brad tell Luke himself. Luke liked honesty and courage in a man, and never did Brad need both things more than now.

  "Why is that?" Luke asked with a scowl.

  "Because, sir, I don't raise cattle. I, uh, I raise sheep."

  Pearl and Robbie both gasped, and Tyler slowly rose. "What?" the boy asked.

  After that there were just several long seconds of silence, during which Luke's face darkened with anger. He glanced at Lettie and was surprised that she did not look shocked. "Did you know about this?"

  "Yes," she answered calmly.

  Luke looked back at Brad. "Sheep?"

  "Yes, sir. Sheep."

  Luke closed his eyes and rose. "Sweet Jesus," he muttered. "I've got to get out of here before I do something I shouldn't."

  "Pa." Katie stopped him and breathed deeply to keep from breaking into harder tears. "I'm going to marry Brad, with or without your approval. I would rather you were there to give me away willingly. I want my wedding to be happy. I want my father there."

  He only studied her a moment longer before turning and leaving the room. Tyler sat shaking his head. "Pa's been chasing sheep men off his land for years," he told Brad.

  Brad let go of Katie and folded his arms. "Yeah? Well maybe he doesn't know everything there is to know about sheep. I do. I know them just as good as you and your pa know cattle, and I know sheep and cattle can graze together with no problem. Cattlemen are just so worried about how much land it takes to graze a cow that they think nothing else should be allowed on the grasslands. Well, wild animals have been grazing together for years. Look how many buffalo there used to be, but the deer and elk and moose and antelope and all the other wild animals still had enough to eat. If your
pa would give me a chance, I could prove to him that all the trouble over sheep isn't necessary."

  Tyler studied the young man who wanted to marry his sister. For the most part he liked him, except that he was a sheep rancher. More than that, he loved Katie and wanted her to be happy. He would long remember that first day they brought her back home. He never thought she'd ever want to marry and lead a normal life, and he figured Brad Tillis must be something special to make her so happy.

  "I'll go talk to your father," Lettie told a dejected Katie.

  Tyler rubbed at his chin in a gesture common to Luke. Brad had only just met them both, but he could not help being astounded at the likeness between father and son, not just in looks, but in little movements and the way they walked. "I'll talk to him, too," Tyler told them.

  Lettie looked at her son in surprise, sure he would side with Luke. "Ty, that's good of you."

  The boy shrugged. "I know how Pa can be, but I've worked with him long enough that he sometimes listens to me now. C'mon. He's probably in the library having a cigar and a shot of whiskey."

  "Thank you, Ty," Katie told her brother.

  He glanced at Brad again. "You really love her, don't you? I mean, if you ever hurt her, I'd be next in line after Pa to give you what for."

  Brad grinned. "I really love her. I'd like this to be a happy Christmas for everybody."

  Ty looked at his mother. "You go first. I'll come in a few minutes. I want to talk to Brad about this thing of sheep and cattle being able to graze together."

  "Pa says sheep smell bad," Robbie put in.

  "That's not true," Brad answered. "They don't smell any worse than cattle. You ought to know what a whole mess of cattle smells like when they're shoved together into a corral on a hot, humid day. It's a smell you just get used to, just like you get used to sheep and horses and anything else."