Bittner, Rosanne (54 page)

He put his hands to her waist. "Because you're beautiful and brave and tough, let alone damn smart and a hard worker. You're everything a man could want, Katie, and you were raised on a ranch, so you know what that kind of life is like. Mostly I want you just because you're sweet and good-hearted, and I just plain love you. I think I loved you the first day we met."

She managed a faint smile through her tears, feeling the heat come back into her face again. It continued to amaze her that she actually enjoyed his touch. "I feel the same way about you, Brad, but I was so afraid that once you knew... I'd lose you."

He smiled the fetching grin that had a way of melting away her inhibitions. "You've got to have more faith in the man you love, Katie girl, especially when he's going to be your husband."

She studied the sincerity and determination in his gentle eyes, and did not resist when he leaned closer. With a pounding heart, Katie closed her own eyes and allowed his lips to touch hers lightly. It was a sweet, tender kiss. She wondered how one man's touch could be so horrifying, while another's could be so wonderful. The kiss grew deeper, and he pressed her close. She felt on fire with feelings she'd never thought she could possibly have for a man, yet when she thought of letting him invade her the way the Walker boys had done, she stiffened in his arms.

Bradley felt her resistance, and he left her lips, kissed her hair. "It will be okay, Katie. If you'll be my wife, I promise you I won't come to your bed until you feel like you're ready; but I also promise you that when you decide to be my wife in every way, you're going to be surprised at how nice it will be. And then you'll start having babies, and you'll forget all the ugly things and see the beautiful side of being with a man."

She thought about her own mother, how she had found that happiness with Luke, in spite of what she had been through. Now she understood what Lettie meant when she told her the right man would come along some day to erase all the ugliness. She relaxed again, meeting his gaze. "I do love you, Brad, and I do want to marry you. Three months might not seem like very long to some, but from that very first day we met, I felt so comfortable with you. I'm glad you know. Now we can share everything."

A strange, almost guilty look came into his eyes then. He kissed her forehead, then pulled away with a deep sigh. "The trouble is, we have to get your pa's permission first to marry."

Katie frowned. "He won't object, once he meets you and finds out what a good person you are; and especially when he realizes I love you. My parents will be thrilled that I have found someone who can take away the bad memories. They want nothing more than for me to be happy and to live a normal life. And with you being a cattleman and all—"

"That's the trouble," he interrupted. "Now it's my turn to 'fess up, Katie." He sighed and walked a few feet away, studying a row of books for a moment before turning to face her. "You're right that we should share everything. Now it's my turn to tell a secret, Katie." He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "All I said was that I was a rancher, Katie. I never said it was cattle that I raised."

Katie frowned thoughtfully, then her eyes widened. "Not
sheep!"

He nodded. "It's all I know. My grandfather raised sheep, my father, and now I want to get started on my own, but I can't do it down in Colorado or even in Wyoming. Between the drought we've been having and the trouble with cattlemen, I've got to try someplace new."

She put a hand to her lips. "Oh, dear."

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes. "Now do you see our problem? It's bad enough we haven't known each other all that long, and that your folks have never even met me yet, let alone the fact that your pa probably expects you to marry some rich rancher's son. Not only am I not rich, but I'm not in cattle at all. Your pa will probably blow to high heaven when he finds out you're in love with a sheep man, and it will probably mean we'd have to live far away from here. He'd never allow me to graze sheep anyplace around here." He shoved his hands into his back pockets and paced. "This doesn't change how
you
feel about me, does it?"

Katie folded her arms, watching him longingly. "No. I just know how my father feels about sheep." She sighed thoughtfully. "Brad, my father isn't the monster you think he is, and there is one way he can be convinced, one person who can keep him calm and reason with him."

"Who's that?"

"My mother. As powerful and determined as my father can be, he'll do anything my mother asks. I just have to talk to her first." Yes, Lettie would understand more than anyone what it meant to her to find love, to find a man who could overlook what had happened to her. "My mother will come to get me this weekend. I'm going home for Christmas. Pa probably won't come with her to town this time because he already attended a cattlemen's meeting last week, and he said he had to stay at the ranch this week. He's going out to the north section with some of his men to bring in some stray cattle that could starve this winter if they aren't brought closer to the main ranch. It will take several days, and he'll get back just in time for Christmas. Mother will probably just bring a couple of men from the ranch along to accompany her, so you and I will have some time alone."

"You and I?"

"Yes. You're coming to the Double L for Christmas, Brad. It's time you met my family, and we can tell Mother about our plans and about you being a sheep rancher. That way at least
she
will be prepared and ready to handle my father when he finds out. Please say you'll come."

Brad rubbed at his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling this will not be a very merry Christmas?"

"It
will
be, Brad, once my father realizes how much we love each other and how determined I am. Mother will know how to smooth it over."

"What if she doesn't like me?"

"Oh, but she will. I'm not worried about that. We can make this work, with my mother's help. We'll tell my pa flat out that we're in love and intend to be married. Maybe between the three of us we can present the sheep issue without any big problems. Maybe pa will even let you try raising sheep on his land."

Bradley chuckled. "You're a dreamer, Katie girl."

She walked closer, taking hold of his hands. "Maybe. But ornery as my pa can be, one thing I know is how much he loves his family and wants what's best for us. It was Pa who came for me when I was abducted, and I'll never forget the look on his face when he found me." Her eyes teared again. "And when he told me never to hang my head. And with all those men surrounding us, he grabbed me up and rode off with me, took a bullet in the back that could have killed or crippled him. No matter how he reacts, don't hate him right away. He's a good man. He gets a little stubborn in his ideas sometimes, but he can be reasoned with, and my mother is the one who can do it."

Bradley sighed deeply. "All I know is that I'll do whatever it takes to make you my wife, but I won't bow to any man or give up what I know how to do best. And with or without Luke Fontaine's blessing, I want you for my wife, Katie. Will you still marry me, even if he doesn't approve?"

Katie could not imagine going against her father; but now she could also not imagine letting Brad Tillis ride out of her life. "Yes, I'll marry you, even if Pa doesn't approve."

CHAPTER 27

The entire Fontaine family sat around the elegantly set table in the dining room of the family mansion. It was Christmas Eve, a time when there would normally be a great deal of talking and celebrating; but everyone was quiet, the younger children all gawking at Brad Tillis. Tyler sat at his father's right hand, scrutinizing Brad with the same possessive, untrusting eyes as his father.

Brad could hardly eat. He had hoped Luke Fontaine would not be the big, domineering man he had pictured; but upon meeting him, he felt his case was even more hopeless. When Luke came to the parlor to meet him after coming in late and first cleaning up, his big frame had seemed to fill the room, in spite of the fact that the parlor itself was huge, with high ceilings. Luke Fontaine fit every picture of the cattle tyrant, powerfully built, a weathered face, piercing blue eyes, a firm handshake, raw power emanating from his very being. He had looked Brad over, then announced he had paperwork to do and that they would "discuss this thing" at the supper table. Before leaving the room, he had announced that "no young man I've met for the first time is going to tell me he's marrying my daughter, nor should he even dare to ask me if he can."

"Brad, would you like some more turkey?" Lettie asked, interrupting the silence.

Brad glanced at the gracious, beautiful woman, whom he already liked a great deal, as he did Pearl and Robbie, who had been receptive and full of questions. If it was only those three he had to deal with, this would be easy, but Luke Fontaine was protective of his daughter, and he could understand that protectiveness was even stronger because of what had happened to her. Her brother Tyler was equally protective, and now Brad was not so sure that it was true Lettie Fontaine could help their situation. When he and Katie had talked to Katie's mother alone earlier and explained that he raised sheep for a living, the woman had at first been aghast. "Sheep!" she had exclaimed. "Katie, it's one thing to ask me to help you convince your father to let you get married; but to a sheep man! Even I might have trouble talking him into that one!" She had not been rude about it, only worried, for she seemed to understand how much Katie loved him, and how important finding love was to her, for more reasons than the average young woman.

Brad glanced at Pearl, who he could see was ready to giggle at the odd silence at the table. The children knew he wanted to marry Katie, but no one except Lettie knew yet that he was a sheep man. He had never been so nervous in his life, and it irritated him that Luke was silently devouring his meal, making him wait for the "discussion" he intended to have. He decided that there was only one way to approach a man like Luke Fontaine, and that was to stand right up to him, be honest and open and take no gaff. At the least, the man would want his daughter to marry someone who was unafraid of challenges, and who was proud of what he did for a living. For the moment the only thing Luke knew was that he was a "rancher." He had hoped Lettie would break the news first, but he realized that that might not be best after all. He didn't need any woman to do his talking for him! He set his fork down and leaned back in his chair.

"Mr. Fontaine, everybody is just about finished eating, and I can't take this silence any longer. Katie told me how this house is always full of good times on Christmas Eve, and there's a big tree in the front parlor where she says you always gather to listen to Pearl play Christmas carols."

Luke swallowed his last piece of turkey and scowled at him. He picked up a glass of wine and took a sip. "Well? You apparently have a lot more to say, so say it." He leaned back in his chair, his handsome blue eyes drilling into him.

Brad looked from Luke to Tyler, holding his chin a little higher, then looked back at Luke. "May I stand, sir?"

Luke nodded. "Go ahead."

Brad took a deep breath and rose, scooting back his chair. Pearl and Robbie stared wide-eyed, and Lettie watched Luke closely. Katie sat staring at her plate, her cheeks flushed. She felt like crying for the hard time Luke was giving poor Brad.

"Mr. Fontaine, it's like your wife told you when you got home. I love your daughter very much and she loves me. We met in town. I work at the livery, but I actually came here looking for land. Since all the good land around here is taken, I'll have to go farther away to find it, so I'll wait till spring because a man can't travel far out here in the dead of winter, and because I wanted to stay close to Katie awhile longer. We want to get married, and I came here to ask your permission. I understand you'd be skeptical because you don't know me from Adam, but I assure you, sir, that I come from a good family. My father is John Tillis, from Iowa. He and my mother and two younger brothers live in Colorado now. I want to strike out on my own. I didn't come to Montana looking for a wife—just land. But when I met Katie—" He sighed deeply. "I kind of ran into her by accident at the library, and then we found out I had taken a room at Stowe's boardinghouse and we eat our meals at the same table, started taking walks, what have you. Anyway, that's how it all got started, and now I'd like to marry her. I'm old enough—twenty-four—and I'm a hard worker. I know she comes from a rich family, and I intend to take good care of her. And don't think I'm marrying her for her money. I couldn't care less if you totally disinherited her, except that it would be pretty unfair to Katie. I just happen to love her for the wonderful woman that she is." He swallowed. Should he say anything yet about the sheep? Why couldn't he make the words come out?

"Pa, I love Brad," Katie spoke up quietly, meeting her father's eyes. "You and Mama know what a special thing that is for me. I never thought—" Her eyes teared then, and she looked back down at her plate. "I never thought I'd feel like this about any man."

Luke glanced at Lettie, who arched her eyebrows. He knew she was remembering their own beginning, and that her situation had been similar to Katie's. He understood that was why Lettie would sympathize with Katie's predicament, but that didn't make her marrying a man they knew little about right. He looked back at Brad. "You know then, about what happened to Katie?"

"Yes, sir, I know, and it doesn't make any difference to me. It sure wasn't her fault. I don't love Katie just because she's the prettiest girl in Billings." Pearl finally giggled, and he felt the color coming to his own cheeks. "I love her for her strength and courage," he went on, "for her intelligence, and because she comes from strong stock, a good family. She understands ranching life, and she knows the meaning of hard work, although I don't intend for her to have to do much of that. I just
want
her to be comfortable and happy. I can't promise she'd live like a queen right off, but I'd do everything I can to give her the good life she deserves. And I'm not so insensitive that I don't understand her situation. If you think I'd ever hurt her or push her into anything, you're dead wrong, Mr. Fontaine... sir." Was that a hint of a smile he saw at the corner of Luke's mouth?