I chuckled, then quieted, a familiar lump of fear forming in my throat. I couldn’t just stand there and talk about the weather. This night was a gift, and I had to say what was on my mind before the moment slipped away.
“You did good tonight,” I said, the words a raw, honest confession. “All of this… it wouldn’t have happened without you.”
She looked down, her smile flickering. “I wasn’t sure I belonged here at first.”
“I know,” I said, and the admission felt like a heavy weight lifted. “I wasn’t sure I belonged here, either.”
She tilted her head, curious, and met my gaze.
“I mean, I’ve lived here my whole life,” I confessed, the words feeling foreign and freeing all at once.
“But it wasn’t until recently that I realized I’ve just been holding on. Keeping things going out of duty. Out of habit. I was Max the rancher, a caretaker of an inherited debt. And then you showed up.”
Her eyes were wide with surprise. “Max—”
I stepped closer, the snow crunching faintly under my boots, my heart pounding harder than it had in years.
“You reminded me what this place is supposed to be. What it can still become. You saw things here that I forgot to see. And you saw me, Ella. Not the rancher. Not the guy barely holding it together. Just… me.”
Her eyes shimmered. “I saw someone who cares more than he lets on. Who keeps showing up, even when it’s hard. Who would rather risk everything for a home than give it up for a profit.”
I looked away, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I’ve been scared to admit how much I need you here. How much I want you to stay. Not just for the ranch. For me.”
She was quiet for a long moment, the only sound the faint music from the tent and the gentle descent of the snow. Then she whispered, “I haven’t told you everything.”
My brow furrowed. The tone of her voice, so full of vulnerability, made a fresh wave of concern wash over me.
“I lost my job in the city,” she said, her voice barely audible. “Before I came here. I didn’t just leave—I was pushed. I was… a failure. I thought I was coming here to close a chapter, tie up loose ends. But the truth is… I had nowhere else to go. I just kept fighting because I didn’t have a plan B.”
I stepped closer still, close enough to see the glint of unshed tears in her eyes. "You could’ve left a hundred times. You had every reason to. But you didn’t. You stayed and you fought for a place you barely knew. That’s not failure, Ella. That’s courage. That means something."
She let out a shaky breath, a small, choked sob. “It does. I just… I’m scared to hope. Scared that if I say yes to this, it’ll all fall apart.”
I reached out and brushed a perfect snowflake from her hair. “It won’t.”
She smiled then—small, vulnerable, beautiful. “I have a decision to make. The ranch… this life… you. It’s not the plan I had. But maybe it’s the one I need.”
My gaze dropped from her eyes to her lips, and then back again. I leaned in slowly, not rushing, not pressing, just waiting to see if she’d meet me there. Her eyes fluttered closed, a silent invitation.
Our lips met—soft, hesitant, but sure. A kiss that wasn’t about fireworks or a flash of heat. It was about a promise. A beginning. It was the feeling of two people, lost for so long, finally finding their way home to each other.
The cold night air was forgotten in the sudden, gentle warmth of her lips on mine, the feel of her hand resting on my chest.
When we pulled apart, I rested my forehead against hers, my hand still cradling her cheek. “You belong here, Ella.”
Before she could answer, her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She pulled it out, frowning at the screen. “Unknown number.”
“Could be the lawyer,” I said softly, my heart rate spiking with a fresh wave of anxiety. I suddenly felt sick with the fear that this perfect, fragile moment could be undone by a single phone call.
She stepped away to answer it, her voice hushed, pacing toward the porch. I watched her go, my chest tight, the cold returning in full force. The ranch was one thing, but if she left…
She turned back toward me, her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.
“What is it?” I asked, my voice strained, crossing the space between us.
She laughed—a breathless, shocked sound. “It’s over. The challenge is dropped. The ranch… it’s officially mine. He said they just... backed off.”
