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“I…” My words were stuck, and the longer everyone stared, the worse it got.
Rae stood and took my hand. I looked down at our fingers tangled together and exhaled. She probably knew what I was fixing to say. She was smart like that. Her wordless support made it hard to talk, but for an entirely different reason.
I cleared my throat again. She squeezed my hand.
“I’m sure you all know I’ve been trying to buy Coyote Ridge.” A beat of silence and a few nods followed my announcement.
“Hell, yes!” Jameson jumped out of his chair, pumped his fist, and tossed his hat in the air. “Do it already!”
Stunned, we all waited for Jameson to settle down.
I gave him a hard look that would have scared the damn donkeys into good behavior… temporarily.
“Um, let me try again.” He reset his hat and smoothed his shirt. “Atley, everyone at Blue Star will miss you when you resign. Mr. Phillips, with all due respect, I’d like to submit my resume for the position of Blue Star Ranch manager.”
“Send me that resume,” Wilson said, pointing at Jameson. “I like your passion.”
“Yes, sir.” Jameson’s phone was out, and his finger flew over the screen. A telltale ding from the region of Wilson’s back pocket confirmed the resume’s delivery.
“To Atley!” Cami held up her whiskey.
“To Coyote Ridge,” Wilson added.
“Hold on.” Rae stopped us mid-toast.
Wilson groaned at her turn of phrase.
“Sorry, my bad. Honest mistake, not a Wilson Phillips the band joke. I promise.” She crossed her heart. “I have a gift for Atley. I was saving it for a wedding present.” She lifted my hand to her lips and kissed my knuckles. “But this is the group of people that will understand how special it is.”
I smiled, encouraging her to continue. She looked down and nibbled her lip.
“So, I did a big thing.” She winced.
“What?” A small stab of worry poked me in the stomach. I ignored it. Whatever she’d done would be incredible or fixable. That was how our relationship worked.
“I claimed your brand for you, er us… the reverse R R that your family used. Your father didn’t renew it, and after ten years it lapsed. So I filled out the application, and The Rivers Ridge Ranch in Elmer, Texas now owns reverse R R.” Her words spilled out so fast I had to replay them in my head to extract the meaning.
“Rivers Ridge?” It was perfect. And her registering the brand. Shit. Pressure built behind my eyes that forced me to blink hard to keep my emotions in check.
“I hope you like the name.” Her shy, hopeful smile almost pushed me over the edge.
“Rivers Ranch is a housing development.” I barely squeaked the words past the lump in my throat.
“To Rivers Ridge.” Rae lifted her glass.
The others stood, our chunky whiskey glasses thunking together as they all joined in the toast. Wilson slapped me on the back. And Cami hugged Rae.
“I like Rivers Ridge. Coyote Ridge sounded like a cheap nineteen-eighties men’s cologne,” Gabe added as he topped off everyone’s whiskey glass after the toast.
Gabe nailed it with that comment.
I pulled Rae close and whispered in her ear, “I more than like the name Rivers Ridge. I love it. Just like my soon-to-be wife.”
The End
