Free A Love to Last Forever by Tracie Peterson

and then you’ll see for yourself. I know you like me, or you wouldn’t have bothered to give me a present or have a party for me.”
    “Please, Cubby,” Lacy said, nearly distraught. “I don’t want you to think I feel something for you that I don’t. I don’t feel that way toward anyone, and I doubt I ever will.” She urged the horse forward, not daring to look back. She felt horribly heartless for her words, but she knew in time it would all be for the best. There was no sense in letting him get his hopes up for something that would never happen.
    She rode across the empty field and found the path she often took to make her way to the Shepard ranch. Lacy was glad for the time alone.
    “Poor Cubby,” she murmured. “I never wanted that to happen. I just wanted to be nice to him.”
    Why do men have to be like that? On one hand, they are always looking for meaning where there is none, and on the other, they’re oblivious to details when it matters.
    Dave Shepard came to mind. He didn’t seem to realize that the death of her father had left Lacy with a driving need to make sense of it all. Dave knew that Lacy believed her father had been murdered rather than accidentally killed. But still he refused to pursue the case further.
    Lacy straightened in the saddle and pushed her wide-brimmed hat back just a bit. She couldn’t explain in any reasonable manner why she believed her father had been purposefully shot, but she did. It was just a gut feeling, and it continued to nag at her. Despite her promise to Gwen to try and stay out of it, Lacy knew it was no good. She couldn’t leave well enough alone. Sure, her father would still be dead no matter who was to blame, but at least if Lacy could find his killer, justice would be served. Didn’t she owe Pa at least that much?

    “Do you really suppose you’ll stay in Montana?” Beth asked Millie as they sat together, sewing in the front room of Gallatin House. Gwen had suggested the gathering as a way to chat and get to know Millie better, while also accomplishing some of their household tasks. Nearly an hour had passed, with Millie asking Beth and Gwen all sorts of questions about her new homeland.
    “I do love it here,” Millie admitted. “I loved Kansas, too, but I must say it’s completely different here. It seems so far removed from everything else. I feel as if I’ve driven right off to the end of the world.”
    Beth laughed and knotted her thread. “Sometimes it feels exactly like that. Especially during the winter.”
    Gwen nodded. “It does seem a little bleak at times. At least many more of the stages and freighters are making it through. Used to be that winter signaled the stop of just about everything. Now the roads are being developed in such a way that so long as the drivers take a shovel or two along, they can pretty well dig their way out if needed.”
    “Remember the stage that got stuck about two miles from here?” Beth commented. “That was about three years ago, wasn’t it?”
    “It was,” Gwen replied. “They were on their way up from Virginia City, heading to Helena. The snows were so bad, they had to walk the last two miles because they couldn’t get the stage through. We had those folks with us for a week while the stage company dug out a path. Of course, it didn’t help that it just kept snowing.”
    “Goodness, but it all sounds so exciting,” Millie declared. “I love a good adventure.”
    Beth thought immediately of Lady Effingham. She, too, loved adventure and often commented about it. “I love adventure, as well,” Beth added with a smile. “And believe me, we get plenty right here.”
    Millie laughed. “I’ll say. What with bears on the prowl and Indian attacks, it seems like this is the Wild West so many easterners talk about. But I wouldn’t trade it. I’m glad we came. Evan was always telling me about the letters Nick and Simon sent home after they first came here. He said the place sounded so raw and