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“Sometimes,” she continues, as if she hasn’t just made me hard, “the long-time locals here in Bitterroot Valley get angry that an outsider like me would feel like this is home.”
“I’m not an asshole,” I reply and watch as she pulls a peppermint candy out of her pocket and pops it into her mouth.“I mean, Icanbe, but not about that.Not everyone is born in a place that feels like they belong.Sometimes, you have to find it.”
Her whole face lights up at that, and I feel like I just won the lottery.
“Yeah, that’s it exactly.It’s not that I don’t like Seattle, or even love my family there.I do love them.But I don’t want to live there.”
“Makes sense.”
“Do you have any aunts and uncles, cousins?”she asks.
“I have one aunt.My dad’s sister, Melissa.She’s married to my uncle Brian, and they live in Spokane.They only come over for holidays or special events.”
Erin nods thoughtfully.“Do they have kids?”
“Two.Their oldest, Spencer, is in the military.Last I heard, he was stationed in Germany.Shelly is a real estate agent in Portland.”
“And you don’t see them often?”she asks, as if that’s a foreign concept for her.
“About once a year.”
I glance over to see that my dad has Holly on his lap, and her eyes are drooping shut.Johnny sits next to my mom, his head leaning on her arm.No one has left yet, and that’s fine by me.Ilikehaving my neighbors here, the way we’ve done for generations, coming together to help one another and then celebrating a hard day’s work afterward.
“You love this,” Erin murmurs, and I glance down to see her watching me with those gorgeous green eyes.“Having these people here.”
“Yeah, I do.”I nod thoughtfully as I stretch my legs out in front of me.“We’ve done it this way for a hundred years or more.Times change, with technology and such, but this stays the same.I guess there’s something to be said for that.”
Surprised that I’ve said so much to her, I glance over and see that she’s smiling at me.
“What?”
“You’re not always grumpy after all.”
I can’t help the surprised laughter that slips out at that, and when I smile up at her, Erin’s eyes dilate and fall to my mouth.
Yeah, she wants me to kiss her.
“I’m going to take my kids to bed,” I say as I stand, needing to put some distance between myself and this woman before I do something stupid like kiss her silly in front of my entire family and all our friends.
My brothers would never let me live it down.
I walk over and smile as Johnny looks up at me through heavy-lidded eyes.
“I think I’m tired, Dad.”
“Looks that way to me,” I agree and share a smile with my parents.“Why don’t I take you and your sister up to bed?”
“But the party isn’t over,” Holly says without even opening her eyes.“I have to stay.I’m the hostess.”
“With the mostest,” I agree as I pick up my daughter out of my dad’s arms and kiss her on the cheek.“Everyone will understand.Come on, buddy.”
Johnny takes my hand without a fight, which tells me that my kids are both exhausted.This was the first year that Holly was old enough to really pay attention to everything going on, and she soaked it up with excited brown eyes.
She’s a Montana girl, through and through.
“You did so great today,” I say to both of my kids.“I’m really proud of you.Thank you for listening and helping out so much.”
“It’s our job,” Johnny says.“This is gonna be our ranch someday.”
