Montana Sky

Lily wet just the tip of her tongue with the champagne. “I’m pregnant.”
     
    L ATER . WILLA WOULD THINK SHE ’ D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING more magical than Lily gliding across the dusty ranch road in her fairy-tale dress on the arm of the man who had become her father, toward the man who became her husband.
    And as the vows were said and the promises made, she let herself forget there was anything in the air but beauty. And as the first kiss was exchanged between husband andwife and the cheers rose up, she cheered along.
    She thought of the child, and the future.
    “How far’d you travel this time?” Ben murmured in her ear.
    Startled, she looked up and nearly stumbled over his feet. “What?”
    “You keep going away.”
    “Oh. You know I have to concentrate when I’m dancing. I lose the count.”
    “Wouldn’t if you’d let a man do the leading and just go along. Anyway, that’s not it.” He eased her closer. “You worried about him being here?”
    “Of course I am. I keep looking at faces that I know, people I think I know, and wondering. If it wasn’t for this damn will, Adam and Lily could go off for a couple weeks on a real honeymoon. I’d have two less to worry about.”
    “If it wasn’t for the damn will they might not have gotten as far as postponing a honeymoon,” he reminded her. “Put it aside, Will. Nothing’s going to happen here today.”
    “I mostly have. They look so happy.” She turned her head so that she could see the bride and groom again, circling in each other’s arms. “Funny, a year ago they’d never met. And now they’re married.”
    “And starting a family.”
    This time she did trip. “How do you know?”
    “Adam told me.” He grinned and, since he was tired of having his feet trounced on, led her over to the buffet table. “I think if he was any happier he’d have to split in two parts to hold it.”
    “I want them to stay that way.” She resisted reaching down to pat the derringer she had strapped to her thigh. It was a pitiful, girlish weapon, but she felt better knowing it was there. “You’d better start spreading yourself out, Ben, dancing with some of the ladies here. People are going to talk otherwise.”
    He chuckled, lifted her chin. For someone as clear-eyed as Willa, she was dead blind when it came to herself. “Darling, people already are.” He enjoyed the way she scowled at that, scanning the crowd as if she would catch someonewhispering behind a hand. “Doesn’t bother me any.”
    “I don’t like people gossiping over their fences about me.” She jerked her chin toward Tess and Nate. “What are they saying about that?”
    “That Nate’s caught himself a slippery one, and he’ll have to be sure-handed to hold on. Now, there’s a woman who can dance.” He snagged two glasses from a passing waiter, gestured with one toward Louella.
    She was poured into a hot-pink dress and kicking up her skyscraper heels with Ben’s father. At least a dozen cowboys pounded their feet and waited their turn. “That’s your father.”
    “Yep.”
    “Look at him go.”
    “He’ll be sore for a week, but he’ll be happy.”
    Laughing, Willa grabbed Ben’s hand and hustled over for a better view. As they watched, a cowboy from a neighboring ranch cut in and spun Louella into a spirited two-step. Stu McKinnon took out his bandanna and mopped his flushed face.
    “She’ll outlast all of them,” Tess predicted.
    Nate winked at Ben and watched Stu hobble off for a beer. “She teach you how to dance like that?”
    “I haven’t had enough to drink yet to dance like that.” Taking Willa’s glass, Tess drank deep, handed back the empty. “Give me time.”
    “Oh, I’m a patient man. Best wedding I’ve been to in my life, Will. You and the ladies have done yourselves proud.” Then he grunted when Louella slammed into him.
    “Your turn, handsome.”
    “Louella, I couldn’t keep up with you if I had four feet. You must keep everything hopping at that restaurant of yours.”
    “Restaurant, hell.” She howled and grabbed his hands. “I run a strip joint, honey. Now, let me show you some moves.”
    “A strip joint?” Willa arched an eyebrow as Nate was dragged onto the dance floor.
    “Oh, shit.” Tess sighed long and hard. “Get me another drink, Ben. I need it.”
    “Coming up.”
    “A strip joint?” Willa repeated.
    “So what? It’s a living.”
    “What’s it like? I mean, do they take everything off and dance around buck