Painted Montana Sky: A Montana Sky Series Novella by Debra Holland Page A

here. She tole me so.”
    Oliver couldn’t understand why Pa wasn’t looking excited. He knew Pa was sweet on Miss Lily. He’d seen the way his father watched her when he thought no one was looking. “She can read the book, and she’ll know why we’re special, and we want her to stay.”
    Pa smiled then and gave Oliver’s shoulder a friendly squeeze. “I’ll give your book to Miss Lily, and we’ll see what she says.”
    ~ ~ ~
    Tyler held Oliver’s book and realized his son possessed more courage than he did. Humbled by the gift, seeing the expectant look on the boy’s face, Tyler was unable to deny his child’s appeal for a mother, no matter how much he doubted the outcome of a proposal. When he agreed to deliver the gift, Oliver’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Pa!”
    Feeling protective, Tyler held up a hand to moderate his son’s exuberance. “You need to be prepared that she might say no.”
    The boy gave a little bounce. “But she might say yes.”
    “We can hope. But I don’t want you to be disappointed if Miss Lily says no.”
    “Ah, Pa.”
    Tyler set his jaw. “Guess I’d better go saddle up Domino. You go inside. I’ll bet you have studying you haven’t done because you’ve been working on this.” He gave the book a little shake in front of his son’s face.
    Oliver’s guilty expression gave him away.
    Suppressing a smile, Tyler jerked a thumb toward the house.
    Oliver spun on his heel and shuffled off.
    Tyler looked down at the book in his hands. The boy had written For Miss Lily on the cover page. Will Lily’s liking for the ranch and Oliver…for me…be enough to keep her here?
    Only one way to find out.
    Before he headed to the barn, Tyler made a trip to the house. Entering through the front door to avoid encountering his housekeeper and his son, Tyler hurried through the main room and into the big bedroom that had been his parents and grandparents’ before him. Never his and Laura’s. He’d only moved in after his mother had died. A patchwork quilt made by his grandmother covered the big bed. He tried not to hope that soon Lily might be sharing it with him.
    Tyler quickly stripped and washed up. He ran his fingers over his jaw, felt stubble, and decided to shave again. After finishing, half-naked, he wondered if he should wear a suit, but the thought made him too uncomfortable. He already felt anxious enough. So he chose clean work pants with the nice gray shirt that Mrs. Pendell said made his eyes look good. She was a female, so what his housekeeper liked, hopefully Lily would too.
    In the mahogany bureau, he opened a drawer and pulled out a small wooden box. Inside, on a bed of cotton, laid his mother’s diamond engagement ring. The diamond wasn’t a big gem. Would that matter to Lily? He had a feeling she came from money.
    He shrugged. Can’t be helped. She’ll either take it or not, diamond size and all. He tucked the ring safely into his pocket.
    From the trunk at the end of the bed, he took out his mother’s lace shawl and wrapped it around Oliver’s book. Then to keep the lace clean, he pulled out a fresh neckerchief and folded the cloth around the package. Then, as silently as he’d entered, Tyler snuck out of the house.
    The whole time he busied himself saddling the horse and riding up hill where he’d guided Lily earlier today, dread built in his stomach. He couldn’t remember being this nervous when he asked Laura to marry him. He’d done it all right and tight, too—applied to her father for permission, showed up at her parent’s soddy with a ring in his pocket, asked her in the parlor, kissed her for the first time after she said yes. Then again, Laura had been angling for marriage for months, and he’d had no doubt of her answer.
    With Lily, all he had were doubts.
    He’d left her on the edge of the foothills in sight and sound of the house, a tiny figure sitting at her easel, surrounded by a half-circle of pines. Throughout the day, far too often, he’d