Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,195

Love? You certainly know what love is like. You can remember what it was like for us in the beginning, how it felt to want to be together. Maybe you don't understand the fact that she's willing to go far away with him if necessary. Well, that doesn't make sense either. I believe I remember another young man who wanted to take a young girl far away from her family, too—only that was even worse, because he took her to a very dangerous, unsettled land. And I believe that young man and woman also had not known each other for very long, but they knew they were in love, and she was willing to follow her man to the end of the earth, if that was what it took to be with him."

Luke turned to look at her, the anger in his eyes turning to a mixture of love and guilt.

"And maybe you don't understand that Brad has a dream of making it on his own. Is that it? Well, Luke Fontaine, I remember another young man who had a dream, and who dared to risk everything for that dream. He was proud and determined, too, just like Brad is. Don't tell me you don't understand any of this, Luke, because Brad and Katie's situation is no different from ours seventeen years ago. And I understand how Katie feels. She's found a man she thinks can make love beautiful for her. After what she went through, do you really want to take that away from her?"

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed in exasperation. "You know I don't. Lettie, I can't forget how she looked when I found her with those men. What if this upstart doesn't understand that? What if he's just after the family money? What if he hurts her, disappoints her?"

"Luke, do you think my own parents didn't have the same questions about you? We hadn't even known you as long as Katie has known Brad. And you've always been a good judge of people. I feel good about this boy, and I know that deep down inside, you do, too. If he was after family money, he wouldn't be talking about going off someplace else to start on his own."

"Well, that's another thing I don't like. Katie is special for reasons we both know. I don't think it would be good for her to go far from home like that."

"Like when you brought me to Montana, when it was wild and dangerous country?"

He rolled his eyes and waved her off.

"Luke, my parents would have loved it if you had gone on to Denver and got a job there so we could all be together. But you wanted to do something that was just yours. You had an idea, and you were proud and independent. So is Brad. And if you weren't so damn stubborn about this sheep thing, they wouldn't have to go far away. They could ranch right here in Montana, somewhere close to us. Maybe right here on the Double L. You were ready enough to give them some land when you thought he raised cattle!"

Luke set his whiskey glass aside and took a couple of puffs on his cigar. "For God's sake, Lettie, I am president of the Cattlemen's Association. You know how all those men feel about sheep! How is it going to look, me announcing that my own daughter wants to marry a sheep man, let alone offering to let him raise those sheep right here! Katie is an intelligent girl. How in hell could she let herself get mixed up with the very kind of people I've been running off this place for years?"

"Love knows no boundaries and no rules, Luke. She loves him, plain and simple. She wouldn't care if he shoveled horse manure for a living. A man's worth isn't judged by what he does for a living, Luke Fontaine. You know that. Why don't you give him a chance? Maybe he's right. Maybe it is possible for sheep and cattle to range together. Maybe a lot of men have died needlessly in the range wars, and maybe this is a way to keep that from happening here in Montana. This could be just one more way to keep the peace and show the federal government we're on our way to qualifying for statehood. Range wars certainly won't win us any points."

He set his cigar in an ashtray and studied the only person who could sway