Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,35

You'll be in a nice cabin like Will and Henny have. You'll have that new baby to take care of, your own bedroom, some furniture. I'll get you a real cookstove. Will told me sometimes a salesman comes through Billings with books. We'll buy up the whole lot if we have to, so we'll have things to read come winter. We'll build our cabin farther down toward the valley where I'll build corrals for all the horses and cattle I'll be collecting. They might be able to find some of that good grass through the snow, and we won't go through so much extra feed. Eventually we'll have a big barn, hire some help. Hired help means company in winter. It won't always be like this, Let-tie," he repeated.

She closed her eyes and looked at her lap. "I know. I guess..." She shook her head. "If only the wind would stop."

Luke brought her the cup of milk, holding a hot pad under it. "Here. Hold it with the pad. Drink it all."

Lettie took it gratefully, swallowing some of the warm milk.

"You're okay, aren't you?" he asked. "I mean, the baby and all?"

"I'm fine." She met his eyes and saw a fear there she had not read before.

"Don't think I don't worry about you, Lettie. I promise that when it comes close to time to deliver, I'll get you some help, and I won't do anything that takes me far from home. You won't be alone."

He stood up and removed his boots, walked over to bolt the door, then leaned down to kiss Nathan's cheek. "Must be nice to be a little kid and not worry about anything," he told her as he shoved aside shirts and underwear to get back to her.

Lettie finished the milk and set the cup aside. "Sometimes he's like a little ray of sunshine," she answered. She moved under the covers, too tired even to bother removing her clothes and put on a nightgown. Because there was no one to see her, she'd gotten in the habit of leaving off uncomfortable, stiff corsets and wore only a soft camisole and one petticoat under her dress, so she was perfectly comfortable going to bed this way. Luke removed his gun belt and pants, but left on his wool shirt. He got into bed beside her, pulled several blankets over them.

"At least we don't have to worry about whether or not we'll have eggs tomorrow," he told her. "I don't even know how big the cat was. I saw its eyes coming at me and I shot." He pulled her into his arms. "Don't think I don't get scared, too, Lettie... and lonely." He rubbed a big hand over her stomach. "Any feeling of life yet?"

Lettie put her own hand over his. "Quite a bit of movement the last few days."

He held his hand there a moment, felt the flutter of life. He smiled. "Come spring, you'll see all kinds of new life, Lettie, green grass, wildflowers." He kissed her eyes. "Not long after that we'll have our first baby, yours and mine together."

She met his eyes in the soft light of the lamp they always kept burning in case Nathan woke up in the night. "Nathan won't like having to share you."

Luke grinned, and she realized she had not seen him smile in a long time. "He'll know he's loved."

And you need to know you're loved, don't you, Luke? "I really am sorry, Luke. You brought me here because you thought I was strong and brave and—"

"You are. Hell, a person has to let go of their feelings once in a while or lose their mind altogether. If you need to rant and rail at me, go ahead. It won't change anything, except to make you feel better. With all the snow out there, I couldn't take you out of here if I wanted to."

Lettie smiled, then began to laugh, realizing how right he was. "My mother told me once that sometimes it's better to laugh about things than cry about them. Maybe she was right."

Luke kissed her softly. "Maybe she was. I know I sure like the sound of it better."

He kept rubbing at her belly, and she saw the sudden want in his eyes. They had been so busy fighting the snow and wild animals and keeping warm that it had been days... no, weeks... since they had made love. She'd hardly realized it until this moment. "Luke," she whispered, touching his lips. "I need