Montana Sky

naked?” Her eyes popped wide, not in shock but fascination. “Does Louella—”
    “No.” Tess grabbed the glass from Ben, drank again. “At least, not since she bought her own place.”
    “I’ve never been to one.” And wouldn’t it be interesting, Willa mused. “Does she have men, too? Naked dancing men?”
    “Oh, good God.” Tess passed the drink to Willa. “Only on ladies’ night. I’m going to rescue Nate before she puts him in traction.”
    “Ladies’ night.” The very idea was marvelous to Will. “I guess I’d pay to see a man dance naked.” Speculating, she turned her head, shot Ben a look.
    “No, not for any amount of money.”
    She thought she could come up with another kind of payment and, laughing, slid an arm around his waist and watched the show.
     
    H E WATCHED TOO . AND WAS HAPPY . THE BRIDE WAS beautiful, glowing, just as a bride should be in her white gown and veil. The music was loud, and food and drink were plentiful.
    It made him feel sentimental, heart strong and proud all at once.
    The day had happened because of him, and he hugged that knowledge, and the giddy pleasure of it, to himself. There had been so much out of his control, all of his life, just beyond his reach. But he’d accomplished this.
    Perhaps no one could ever know. He might have to keep the secret all of his life. Like a hero in a book—a kind of Robin Hood who took no personal credit.
    They’d see about that.
    Saving Lily had changed his direction, his purpose. But not his means.
    It amused him that the police were wandering through the crowds of guests. Looking for him. Thinking they could spot him.
    They never would.
    He imagined himself going on for years, forever. Killing for pleasure. Strictly for pleasure now. Revenge, even harbored resentments, seemed very pale and weak beside pleasure.
    Someone bumped into him. A pretty woman, flirting. He flirted back, making her laugh and blush, leading her into a dance.
    And thinking, all the while wondering if she might be the next one.
    Her pretty red hair would make a nice trophy.

TWENTY-EIGHT
    H E GOT A REDHEADED WHORE BECAUSE SHE REMINDED him of the pretty redheaded girl he’d danced with at Lily’s wedding. A whore wasn’t much of a challenge, and he was disappointed in that.
    But he’d waited so long.
    He’d waited, considerately, until Lily’s parents and Tess’s mother had gone on home. It hadn’t seemed right to him to cause all that excitement with company around.
    Lily’s folks had stayed on a week after the wedding, and Louella ten days. Everybody agreed they were going to miss Louella particularly with her big, wide laugh, her knee-slapping jokes.
    And those tight skirts she liked to wear.
    The woman was a caution, and he hoped she came back to visit real soon. He felt a tie to her now, to all of them. The in-laws and the outlaws, as his ma used to say. That had always made him laugh.
    The in-laws and the outlaws.
    But now the company had cleared out, and the ranch was back to routine. The weather was holding fine, and he waspleased by it. The crops were coming along well, though they could use some rain. But God knew, and so did he, that rain in Montana was usually feast or famine.
    There’d been some thunder headed to the west a time or two, but June had stayed bone-dry thus far. The streams were running well, and the snowmelt was plentiful, so he wasn’t worried.
    The cattle were fattening in pasture, with the spring calves coming along just as they should. There’d been some elk nosing around, which was always a worry. Damn varmints tore up the fences and could carry disease into the herd, but Willa stayed on top of those matters.
    He’d studied on her new ideas, the reseeding of natural grass, the gradual cutting back of chemicals and growth hormones and found that he approved. He’d decided that most anything she did that the old man hadn’t, he approved of.
    It had taken him some time, and some hard soul-searching, but he now believed it had been right and just that she’d been given the reins of Mercy. It still burned that McKinnon and Torrence had a say in things, at least for a few more months, but Willa handled them well enough, too.
    He’d come to care for Lily and Tess, but blood was thicker than water, he’d always said. He now visualized both of them settled on Mercy, all the family rooted on the ranch.
    Family stuck by family. He’d been taught that from the cradle, had done his best to live by it. It had