Tears stream down her cheeks, and she covers her mouth with her hand.
“Don’t cry, babe. Please.”
“I’m just...” She pauses, trying to compose herself. “I’m so overwhelmed. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll stay. Say you’ll take this place, and me, and we’ll live happily ever after. We can figure out the details later, but please, just say you’ll stay.”
She wipes the tears from her eyes and smiles. “I can’t believe this. This is a dream come true. And I don’t mean the ranch. I mean, the ranch is amazing, but you, Colby. You’re the dream.”
I rush over to her, closing the distance between us in two long strides. “Does that mean you’ll stay?”
She wraps her arms around my neck and laughs. “Hell, yes, I’ll stay.”
I grab her hips and pull her closer. “I fucking love you, River Thurston. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you.”
“You did not,” she teases.
“Okay, maybe not the first time. But pretty damn close.”
“I love you too, Colby Burke. I’m just sorry it took me so long to admit it.”
“Better late than never.”
Her lips brush mine, and we kiss. It’s the kind of kiss that’s all-consuming. The kind that makes everything else disappear, and that’s just fine by me. Because in this moment, the only thing I care about is her. And our future together.
?Epilogue
?River
The thing about Montanasunsets is they’re so breathtaking, they almost make you forget you’re knee-deep in cow shit half the time. Almost. But tonight, as I stand by the fence line with Colby’s hand in mine, the golden light spilling over the mountains feels like it’s wrapping around me, cradling this moment in a kind of magic that doesn’t come around often.
I feel it in my bones, the connection we have. The connection I have with this place.
And him.
The man who stood up for me, the man who believed in me, the man who loves me.
