"We can go into town tomorrow," I offer. "Get you whatever you need. Clothes, toiletries, anything."
"You don't have to buy me things, Rhett."
"I want to," I insist. "Besides, you're going to need proper ranch clothes if you're planning to stick around. Those sneakers aren't going to last a week out here."
She laughs. "Point taken. I'll need boots, won't I?"
"Good ones. We'll hit up Anderson's Western Wear. They've got everything."
The cattle are settling for the evening, their dark shapes moving slowly across the fields. In the distance, I can see Mason checking the fence line on horseback.
"It's so beautiful here," Claire says, stopping to take it all in. "I understand now why you love it so much. Why you'd do anything to keep it."
"This place saved my life," I tell her. "Frank saved my life. When I was drowning after the military, when I couldn't function, when I was ready to give up... this ranch pulled me back. Gave me purpose again."
"And now you're doing the same for me," she says softly, looking up at me. "Giving me purpose. A place to belong."
"You're not a charity case, Claire. Don't think of it that way."
"I don't." She squeezes my hand. "I think of it as two broken people finding each other at exactly the right time."
The sun hits the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink and purple. It's the kind of sunset that makes you believe in something bigger than yourself.
"Can I ask you something?" Claire says after a moment.
"Anything."
"What happens next? With us, I mean. Do we... do we actually get married? Is that still the plan?"
I consider her question. "I don't know. I think we should take it one day at a time, like we said. Get to know each other better. Let this relationship develop naturally instead of forcing it into some predetermined timeline."
"But you still want marriage eventually?"
"With you? Yeah. I do." I turn to face her fully, cupping her face in my hands. "I know it's fast. I know we barely know each other.But something about you feels inevitable, Claire. Like you were always supposed to end up here, with me, on this ranch. And I don't want to let that go."
She rises on her tiptoes and kisses me, soft and sweet. "I don't want to let it go either."
We stand there as the sun disappears completely, wrapped in each other's arms, and I think about Frank. About what he'd say if he could see me now taking a risk on love, opening myself up to someone new, finally allowing myself to believe I deserve happiness.
He'd probably say I was overthinking it. That when you know, you know.
And standing here with Claire in my arms, the ranch stretched out around us, my family accepting us despite the unconventional start, I think I finally understand what he meant.
Sometimes the craziest decisions lead to the most beautiful destinations.
And Claire Dawson, my mail order bride turned genuine love interest, might just be the best crazy decision I ever made.
"Come on," I say, taking her hand again. "Let's head back before it gets too dark. Tomorrow we'll start figuring out the rest of our lives."
"One day at a time," she agrees.
"One day at a time."
We walk back toward the cottages hand in hand, the first stars beginning to appear overhead, and for the first time in years, I'm not afraid of what tomorrow might bring.
Because whatever comes next, we'll face it together.
And that's more than enough.
