I kiss her then, tasting salt and relief and hope. When we break apart, she's still smiling.
"So, what now?" she asks. "Do we go back to the ranch? Pick up Rosie?"
I glance at the clock on the dashboard. It's barely past three. Tucker said not to rush back, that both girls are sleeping soundly. We have time. Time to celebrate. Time to just be together without responsibilities or pressure.
"Now," I say slowly, "we could go back. Or we could take advantage of having a few more hours alone."
Her eyes heat. "What did you have in mind?"
"There's a spot about twenty minutes from here." I start the truck. "Up in the hills. Beautiful view, completely private. Usedto go there when I needed to think, back when everything felt like too much."
"You want to show me your thinking spot?" She sounds pleased, touched by the offer.
"Yeah." I reach over and take her hand. "Want to share it with you. Show you something that matters to me."
"Then let's go." She squeezes my fingers. "Show me."
I drive out of town and up into the hills, taking the winding road that most tourists miss. The landscape opens up as we climb: vast stretches of Montana wilderness, mountains in the distance, sky so blue it almost hurts to look at.
Lily's quiet beside me, taking it all in. Her hand stays in mine the whole drive.
When we reach the spot I'm thinking of, I pull off onto a dirt road that leads to a clearing. From here, you can see for miles. The ranch in the distance, the town spread out below, the mountains rising up like ancient guardians.
"Mason." Lily's voice is awed. "This is beautiful."
"Yeah." But I'm not looking at the view. I'm looking at her: the wonder on her face, the way her eyes reflect the sky, the softness in her expression that wasn't there yesterday. "It is."
She turns to me and smiles. "Thank you for bringing me here. For sharing this with me."
"Thank you for saying yes." I pull her close. "To the date. To us. To taking a chance on something that probably seems crazy."
"It is crazy." But she's still smiling. "But the good kind of crazy. The kind that might actually work."
"It will work." I'm certain of it in a way I've never been certain of anything. "Because we're going to make it work."
She kisses me then, soft and sweet and full of promise. And sitting in my truck overlooking the valley, holding this woman who stumbled into my life less than twenty-four hours ago, I know with absolute certainty that everything's about to change.
For the better.
Finally, for the fucking better.
Epilogue - Lily
Four Years Later
The Blackwater Falls Saloon is packed tonight.
Friday nights always are, but Harper and I have the rhythm down to perfection. Sarah sold us the business eighteen months ago when her arthritis got too bad to work the long hours, and we've kept everything exactly how she liked it while making it our own.
"Two Coors Light, one whiskey neat, and a vodka cranberry!" Harper calls out, her short hair catching the neon lights as she works her section of the bar.
"Got it!" I pour the drinks quickly, my hands moving on autopilot after thousands of nights doing exactly this.
It's strange to think about how terrified I was that first Friday night four years ago. How convinced I was that I'd fuck it up, that Sarah would fire me after one shift, that this fragile new life I was building would collapse.
But I didn't fuck it up. I showed up on time, worked my ass off, learned everything Sarah taught me. And slowly, so slowly I almost didn't notice, Blackwater Falls stopped being a pit stop and became home.
"Mama!"
