“I do,” she says as she throws her arms around my neck. “I do feel the same way. I love you so much, cowboy.”
I pull her in, and when I kiss her, the crowd disappears.
All that’s left is us.
Exactly the way it was meant to be.
6 Months Later…
Maisey
We never did go back to Vegas.
There was a brief conversation about it, since we already had the tickets. But in the end, Travis made a few phone calls and had our winning check mailed to us.
The contest organizers were surprised, and probably pretty disappointed, that we’d made it thirty days. But when we told them that we were in love and were going to stay married, they were very quick to spin it for another PR opportunity.
Not that we cared.
We both just wanted to go home.
Home.
That’s what the ranch had become. And it wasn’t just the little cabin—although we did have a lot of fun in there—it was the people. Anna, Wyatt, Cash, and Kali had become the family I always wished I had. Kali and Anna were the sisters I’d always wished I had. There was no competition. No evil plotting or backstabbing.
Only support, love, and laughter.
I still talked to my dad a lot; he was surprised and upset to hear how poorly I’d always been treated by Patty, but apparently, karma had already served up justice to my stepsister. Only a few weeks into her marriage, Carter left her for another woman, and they were filing for divorce.
Dad was planning to come visit soon, especially now that his first grandchild was on the way.
We hadn’t planned it, but I guess it was inevitable, considering the amount of time my husband and I spent in bed. And I hadn’t bothered to refill my birth control prescription.
Life has settled into a comfortable rhythm at the ranch. I spent my days painting and exploring the ranch. I helped Anna with the baby, and of course, Kali and Cash’s new little one, who’d arrived a few months ago.
Sitting on the porch now, my brush in hand and my easel propped up on the railing, I’ve been trying to capture the beauty of the sun setting behind the mountains, but I keep getting distracted by my thoughts and how lucky I am.
I never could have expected that walking into that bar all those months ago would lead to this.
Occasionally, I think I should send Patty a thank-you note for signing me up for that silly contest. But ultimately, I know it’s best to have that kind of toxic energy out of my life for good.
I dip the brush into the watery mixture of pink and purple paint and use light, feathery strokes on the canvas.
Travis had been so concerned that I’d give up my dreams to work in a prestigious art gallery in Toronto, but what he didn’t realize was that it was never my dream. It was only a means to a paycheck.
Painting was always the dream. And now, not only am I living that dream life, but it’s so much better than I could have imagined because of the man I’m sharing it with.
I sell my pieces locally now. Rock Creek has a booming tourism industry, and visitors are more than happy to take a piece of the mountains home with them to hang on their walls.
More and more, I’m getting commissions for bigger pieces to hang locally as well.
It’s not much, but it’s enough that I’ve started to think a bit bigger, too. Maybe an online gallery where I can ship internationally?
Travis encourages it, but he doesn’t push. As long as I’m happy, he’s happy. Plus, he’s working on building me a proper studio space in our new home.
We’re very quickly going to outgrow our little cabin, and as much as I love the cozy space where our love story got its start, we will need a proper house very soon.
It’s a good thing my husband has a lot more money than he ever let on. I had no idea that rodeo wins paid so much and that my husband was such a decorated bronc rider. He also never spent any of his winnings over the years, turning them into investments, most of which were lucrative enough that we’re looking at buying our own plot of land now.
