Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,129

green eyes. Little Paul, bright, lively, always running and laughing... now lying under the ground, forever silent. The thought of it still made him so sick inside he wanted to vomit. Sometimes he thought his heart would literally burst from the ache of it. He couldn't face his son's death. He could hardly bear seeing that little grave behind the house. Somehow, someone had to pay for letting Paul die. He couldn't vent his wrath on God himself, so he would vent it on these people who dared to try to destroy what he had built. The ranch was all he had left.

Tex rode back down the hill to gather the men. He wondered at the change in Luke Fontaine. Everybody knew that since Nathan had run back to the Indians, there had been a strain on the Fontaine marriage. Things had gotten worse since their littlest boy died. Luke probably had the prettiest wife in all of Montana, but the man looked for all kinds of ways to stay away from home. It was too bad. He could remember when Luke and Lettie were about the happiest couple he'd ever come across. He'd never been in love like that, never had kids; and now that he saw what loving and losing a son could do to a man... and a woman... he didn't want any. Caring that much was not for him. Some of the men said Lettie Fontaine had lost her mind with grief, and for some reason, she blamed her husband for the boy's death. That was too bad. Luke was a good man. The things he was doing now were simply not the kind of things the Luke he had always known would do, but then frustration over the love of a woman, combined with the kind of grief everyone knew he was suffering, could change a man; and Luke Fontaine had definitely changed.

Lettie walked into the parlor, surprised at the visit from someone she thought she'd never see again. "Nial!" Much as she had resented the man for being so forward the first time she had known him, it was good to have company. For months she had not had the desire to go into town and attend the women's gatherings, had not had the desire to do anything but stay home and visit Paul's grave almost daily. Women friends had stopped coming out, and she knew it was because they didn't know how to comfort her; and they probably knew her marriage had been crumbling ever since Paul's death. They didn't know what to say to her anymore. Poor Henny had had a stroke and couldn't get out. She should go see her again. It had been months. But she just couldn't seem to leave home. Nothing seemed to matter anymore except the house and the children she had left to her.

Nial smiled, removing his hat. "How good to see you again, Lettie. My God, it's been four years since I left for England."

"No one was sure if you would ever come back. What has happened? What brought you back to Montana?"

You did, my beautiful Lettie, he wanted to answer. She had not changed, except that she was too thin. He could see the sorrow in her eyes. Why wasn't Luke here, instead of carousing in town? "Well, you know how I always felt about this land. It's too beautiful for a man to stay away from forever. And the man who was managing the ranch for my father quit to buy a ranch of his own in Colorado. I was getting bored in England, so I decided to come back and take over Essex Manor again. After all, the cattle industry is booming now, better than ever!" He reached out and took hold of her hand, squeezing it in an effort to show how glad he was to see her again, but he longed to take her into his arms. He had thought that four years away would change these feelings, but the moment he set eyes on her again...

"Sit down, Nial!" Lettie pulled her hand away and offered him a love seat. "Would you like some tea? I'll go have Mae make some for us."

"I would enjoy that." He shivered. "The March winds are mean this year."

Pain moved into Lettie's eyes. "The wind is always mean out here." She left the room for a moment, then returned to sit down beside him. "A lot has happened since you left, Nial." Her smile