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“Shall we get back in the air?” his father asked.
Liv hugged Paige, and told her she’d be in touch. They hadn’t talked about how long she’d stay with him, and he didn’t want to. The last thing he wanted to think about was her leaving and them being apart again.
With clear skies, the fifty-minute flight back to Gunnison went quickly. Liv was no stranger to the area. With plenty of beginner and intermediate slopes, it was their favorite place to ski when Renie was growing up. And then when she got better, there was enough challenging terrain that they never got bored.
The valley at the base of Mount Crested Butte was surrounded by the most spectacular scenery in the Rocky Mountains. Roads led to remote canyons where groves of Aspens splattered the hillsides. Driving in from Gunnison, the butte rose majestically to the east.
“I love Crested Butte,” she murmured as they drove into town.
“My grandfather played an important role in the town’s development,” answered Ben.
“I have to admit, my daughter filled me in on the Rice family’s role in the history of the town.” Liv laughed. “She gave me a lecture about not ever reading the magazines left in our hotel rooms.” She sighed and grinned. “That was the night I met you for the second time, at The Goat.” Her cheeks turned pink again.
“Nice memory?” his father asked.
“An embarrassing one,” she laughed.
“What was it that made you run from me?” he whispered.
She smiled, but didn’t answer.
They turned onto a remote road before they got all the way into town.
“Where are we going?” Liv asked
.
“The Flying R Ranch, darlin’. This is our family’s ranch.” Ben answered.
“We’ll stop in at my parents’ place and drop my dad. My mom will want us to stay, but I told them we’d be having dinner at my house tonight.”
He watched as she studied the scenery of the ranch, and thought back to one of their first telephone conversations, when she told him she’d gone riding, and that she had a ranch. He remembered beating himself up for not asking her about herself, but now he realized that he’d never told her much about where he lived, or that he came from a ranching family.
Looking east from the entrance to the Flying R, the valley of tall grasses opened up to a perfect view of the south side of the butte. The Rices kept cattle on the north side of the river that ran though the center of the valley, and horses to the south.
It was beautiful in the winter, but in the spring the entire valley bloomed in an artist’s palette of color. The deep blue sky, touched with billowing white clouds looked like a pastel painting, and the land, as far as the eye could see, belonged to the Rice family.
“It’s breathtaking.”
Ben experienced the same awe he heard in Liv’s voice every time he drove these roads.
“Wow,” she gasped when they pulled up in front of his parents’ house. “It’s wonderful.”
Ben had to admit the ranch house was idyllic. Built of dark wood, it was as though it had been there forever, part of the surrounding land. The wraparound porch offered views of the valley in three directions and the peak of Mount Crested Butte in the fourth.
Ben’s mom came out to the porch to greet them.
“Mom, this is Liv.”
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” Liv said as she extended her hand in greeting.
“Please call me Ginny, and come here, give me a hug, sweet girl. I don’t shake hands.”
Liv looked at Ben and they both laughed. “Dottie,” Ben said and Liv nodded.
“Who’s Dottie?” Ginny asked.
“Someone who reminded me very much of you, Mom” Ben answered.
