“I would if I had a reason,” he replied with a wink.
She smiled at his words and questioned in her mind if she was ready for what was ahead between them.
By the time they landed, the air had changed.
Open.
Expansive.
Untouched in a way she hadn’t experienced before.
A Jeep was waiting, and the drive across the dry plains was stunning, with red-rock canyons, limestone cliffs, and sprawlingsagebrush flats. The landscape alternated between high alpine wildflowers and "rusty" red deserts, offering quiet solitude where she witnessed wild horses roaming free and bounced excitedly in her seat. When they finally pulled up to the house, figures were already stepping outside.
His family.
Real.
Immediate.
Randi was in awe at the expansive log home nestled against the untamed backdrop of the still snow-capped Pryor Mountains. The logged structure, Brew shared earlier, was made of river rock and Douglas fir, honey-hued and polished to a soft glow.
She found its rustic design appealing and charming with its large windows catching the mountain light, and a massive wrap-around porch that offered apanoramic view of the emerald pastures and vast skyline. An enormous barn was set back to the right which Brew told her offered state-of-the-art stables and couldn’t wait to get a tour of them at some point.
It was a true working farm. Native ranch hands bustled about, cleaning water troughs, moving livestock between pastures, exercising horses, mending fences, and more. She counted eight and knew there had to be more.
Beyond the barn were multiple lush paddocks with a pond situated in the middle, and vast, wild acres leading directly into the rugged foothills.
Wow! What a sanctuary, she praised silently.
Introductions came quickly.
His father, Braden—strong presence, tall and sturdy as a tree, handsome features, and steadyeyes that seemed to see more than most.
His mother, Blythe— was petite and a natural beauty, warm, welcoming, her smile immediate and genuine.
His brothers, Brett and Branson, were handsome in their own right. The description Brew shared of them was spot-on. Now that they stood all together, Randi could see how Brew was a blend of both his parents. Still, each carrying their own version of the same rooted strength.
She also became aware of the comfort, of the unfamiliar feeling of being… included.
She was being seen.
And for the first time since she had said yes, she understood what he had meant.
This wasn’t complicated.
It was something else entirely.
CHAPTER 16
Morning came differently in Montana.
Randi woke to the ranch’s roaster
announcing the rising sun. The back noise of horses neighing, pigs oinking, and chickens clucking added to the cadence.
It wasn’t the norm she had grown used to in her apartment, but something fuller—wide and open, stretching beyond walls and into the land itself. For a moment, she lay still beneath the covers, listening. No traffic. No distant hum of city life. Just the faint whisper of wind and something else… something alive beyond her window.
She loved the peace, the quiet, of it and knew it was something she could get used to. Living here in the country was like heaven and madeher realize she needed a change in her life. As much as she loved her cottage, she could become a part of something like this, surrounded by the beauty of nature. Country life was calling her.
