Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,264

my coming here caused so much trouble for your family, but I also have a family, and I could not let the government take my children away from me. I had no other reason for coming here. Maybe now you will believe that. I could have let you die, and then I could have claimed all of this for myself." He shook his head. "I have never wanted a share of any of this. The Double L belongs to you. You have earned the right to run this ranch. Like your father, you belong here. You are the Double L, but Ramona would have been unhappy here after a while. I knew her better than you did. I knew how it would be." He rose with a deep sigh. "You have something no wise man would ever throw away, and that is a family, a mother and father who would die for you. If I had not come for you, Luke would have, and you might have both been lost. Do not turn your back on a father who loves you so, Tyler. You must stop living in the past. You must think about the future, not just for you, but for the Double L, for your family, for that pretty white woman out there called Alice. She loves you very deeply. I can see it in her eyes."

For the first time it finally hit Tyler how much Alice did truly love him... and how much he still loved her. "You saved Ebony?" he asked aloud.

Nathan smiled and shook his head. "I found him standing and eating the bark from a tree, not far from where I found you. He is a bad-mannered horse, that one. He should be called Devil, not Ebony."

Tyler managed a smile of his own, but then he winced with pain. "It feels as though all my toes and fingers are broken."

"That is the pain of life coming back into frozen limbs. I did my best to keep you from losing them. I had to build us a shelter for one day until the winds died down. I took off your boots and massaged our toes and kept blankets wrapped around them. The same with your fingers. I lay down beside you and held you close to keep you warm."

"In other words... you saved my life."

Nathan grinned sheepishly. "Maybe."

"There is no maybe about it. I was lost and would have frozen to death. I'm not going to be so proud... as to argue the point. I guess I'll just have to admit... you're better than me at some things."

"And you are better at others. We can teach each other, Tyler. We do not have to be enemies."

Unwanted tears slipped out of Tyler's eyes. "No. I guess not." He took a deep breath. "Tell my folks... I want to see them. There are a lot of people... I need to apologize to."

Nathan grinned, pushing back the chair. "Merry Christmas, Tyler."

Tyler held his gaze. "Merry Christmas to you, brother."

Alice knocked hesitantly on Tyler's bedroom door. When he opened it, he stood there clean-shaven and wearing denim pants and a blue flannel shirt. She drew in her breath at the sight of him, so tall and handsome, a different look in his eyes today than she had seen there for so many months. The hatred and sorrow were gone. He was more like the Tyler she had known before Ramona came into his life. His blue eyes moved over her in a way that made her shiver, and she struggled against her own jealousy over the thought of him being one with another woman. What was it like to lie in Tyler Fontaine's strong arms, to feel his naked body against her own? She felt as though she were naked now, as though he could tell how she looked with her clothes off.

He had been helped to the parlor to celebrate Christmas with the family. That was five days ago. Finally he was getting around on his own. Outside the wind was raging again, as yet another blizzard hit. It was obvious they were all going to be holed up there for quite some time. She was more glad than ever now that her father had accepted Let-tie's invitation to come for Christmas. Now she and Tyler would have plenty of time to talk. She held out a package, her face feeling too warm. "I wanted to bring you your Christmas present. I want you to open it here