"We'll be smart with it," Winnie said firmly, her hand finding mine and squeezing. "Together."
"Damn right you will. And if you're stickin' around permanent-like, Sterling—" Pops fixed me with a serious look. "—you're gonna earn your keep. No more of this city boy learnin' the ropes nonsense. You're part of this operation now. Which means early mornings, hard work, and dealin' with Pickles without complainin'."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." I looked down at Winnie, who was watching me with something like wonder. "Though fair warning—I'm probably going to need a refresher on fence repairs. I've been in Dallas for two weeks. My hands went soft."
She grabbed one of my hands, examining it with mock seriousness. "Yeah, these are pretty pathetic. We'll have to toughen you up again. Might take weeks. Months, even."
"Guess I'll just have to stick around then."
"Guess you will." She pulled me down for another kiss, shorter this time but no less meaningful.
Pops groaned. "Alright, I need to establish some ground rules here. Rule one, no kissin' in front of me unless I got at least five seconds' warnin' to look away. Rule two, you're sleepin' in the guest room until I say otherwise, and I'm a traditional man, so that means a long engagement and me walkin' her down the aisle first. Rule three—"
"Pops!" Winnie's face was scarlet. "We're not—we haven't even talked about—"
"I'm just settin' expectations!" He was clearly enjoying himself. "Boy shows up with one bag and a truck, quits his fancy job, declares his love in my livin' room? That's husband behavior, not boyfriend behavior. I'm just makin' sure we're all on the same page here."
I couldn't help grinning at Winnie's mortified expression. "For the record, I'm absolutely on that page. Might need a little time to actually ask properly, but yeah. Same page. Very much the same page."
Her eyes went wide, then softened into something that looked like joy mixed with terror mixed with hope. "Beau—"
"Not now," I said quickly, kissing her forehead. "When it's right. When we've had time to just... be together without crisis or deadlines or ultimatums. But yeah, Winnie. That's where I'm headed with this. Just so you know."
She buried her face in my chest, and I felt her smile against my shirt. "You're insane."
"About you? Absolutely."
Pops chuckled, settling back into the couch. "Well alright then. Welcome home, Beau. For real this time. Now somebody get me some water—this romantic reunion is dehydratin' me, and I can't reach the kitchen without my walker."
Winnie pulled away from me reluctantly, wiping her eyes. "I'll get it. You stay put." She looked at me, really looked, and shook her head with that smile I'd missed so desperately. "You really bought a truck. A blue one."
"Midnight blue with silver trim. Extended cab. Great towing capacity." I followed her into the kitchen, unable to be more than three feet away from her. "Figured if I'm going to be a rancher, I should have proper equipment."
"You paid cash for it?"
"Cashier's check. Took most of a morning to process, and the salesman thought I was crazy, but yeah."
She turned to face me, leaning against the counter, eyes shining. "You're really here. You're really staying."
"I'm really staying." I closed the distance, bracketing her with my arms, foreheads touching. "I'm all in, Win. No reservations, no backup plans. Just you, me, this ranch, and whatever future we build together."
"It's going to be hard," she warned, but she was smiling. "Early mornings, tight budgets, backbreaking work. Not exactly the Dallas lifestyle you're used to."
"Good. Dallas lifestyle was killing me anyway." I kissed her softly. "This—you, here, this life? This is living. Everything else was just existing."
From the living room: "Did y'all forget about my water? Or are you too busy kissin' again? 'Cause I can wait, but my throat can't!"
We broke apart laughing, Winnie grabbing a glass and filling it while I watched her move through the space with that confident grace I loved. She caught me staring and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Just appreciating the view. I've got two weeks of staring to make up for."
"You're impossible."
"And you love me anyway."
"Yeah." She handed me the glass with a smile that made my chest ache with how much I felt for her. "I really do."
We walked back to the living room together, and as I handed Pops his water and settled onto the couch beside Winnie—her hand in mine, her head on my shoulder, Pops grumbling about young people and romance—I realized something:
