Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,181

seemed excited about something. Ty jumped up and ran off with him, and Alice stood up and watched after him with a forlorn look on her face. Then she hurried over to where a girlfriend was standing and grabbed her arm, both of them running after Ty. Lettie grinned. The girl's affection for Tyler was so apparent that she almost felt sorry for her, since Ty still was not old enough to realize how the girl truly felt about him.

"I guess the little 'talk' I had with Nial in the alley behind the cattlemen's hall last year taught him something," Luke said, his mind on Nial rather than the puppy love between Ty and Alice. "But I saw the way he looked at you just now. If you were available, it wouldn't be Chloris on his arm."

"Oh, Luke, don't be silly. Walk me back to the hotel. I want to change into a cooler dress before we eat. I had no idea it would end up this hot today." She walked over to tell Katie where they were going, and Pearl joined Katie in helping serve pie, accepting more praise and congratulations from people who came to the table.

Luke watched, proud of his family. In the distance he could see Ty and Robbie had already discarded their hats and jackets and were preparing to join a sack race, which was not going to be easy, since Ty's legs were so much longer than Robbie's. He watched them practice and fall down laughing, and he thought how this gathering was good for the family, good for Katie. He took Lettie's arm when she returned and headed across the church lawn to the street to walk her back to the hotel.

"Maybe things will go right from now on," he told Lettie. "All we have to deal with are some lingering problems with rustlers, and there has been a new influx of sheep-herders this summer. We'll be meeting later today to talk about how to keep them out."

"Luke, you can't keep out every single person who wants to do something other than raise cattle. Montana is a big territory."

"Not big enough for sheep and cattle together. We've got enough problems putting up with more and more farmers coming in and losing federal land to them. If we let the sheep come, too, there won't be any grazing land left for the cattle."

"Why don't you just try talking to the sheep men first? Maybe there is a way to work things out. From what I hear, they get kicked out of everyplace they go. We've both read about the awful range wars in Colorado and Wyoming. I don't want to see that happen here, too, Luke." She grasped his arm tighter. "And I don't want to have to go through the hell again of worrying about you out there maybe getting hurt or killed. I'm so tired of it all. I want some peace."

"We'll find a peaceful way to stop them, if that's possible. I'm not out to slaughter the sheep or kill innocent men like some cattlemen have done, but we'll do whatever we have to do to get the message across, Lettie. We own a lot of land, but we still need the federal land for extra grass. We'd have to cut way back if we lost it, and I didn't build the Double L to the size it is just to have to turn around and take a step backward. No sheep man is going to make me do that."

They walked past the Lonesome Tree, and Lettie could not help glancing toward the swinging doors at the sound of piano music and laughter that came from inside. Luke led her across the street and down toward the hotel. "She's gone, Lettie."

"Who?"

"Annie Gates. I went into the Lonesome Tree for a drink a couple of weeks ago when I was in town, and she told me she was leaving the next day. She decided to go to Denver to try to start a new life."

They walked quietly to the hotel, each lost in their own thoughts of Nial Bentley and Annie Gates. Luke led her up to the room and unlocked the door. They went inside, and Luke closed and locked the door again. "Why didn't you tell me you had been to see Annie?" he asked. "She told me it was you who convinced her she could change her life if she wanted."

Lettie removed her hat. "I don't know why I