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“Wow.”In front of the mountains is a valley that cradles thousands of evergreen trees of all shapes and sizes.They’re so majestic, sobeautiful, that all I can do is stare in complete wonder.
“I’ve always come here,” Millie says and crosses her arms over her chest.“Most of us do, actually, because it’s not far from home, yet it’s probably the most beautiful view in Montana.When we need some time away, this is where you’ll find most of us.I think we should add a bench here so we can sit for a while, but so far, I’ve been outvoted.”
“You can just sit on the ground.”
And so, I do, just sit on the ground and lean back on my hands so I can look up at those incredible mountains.
“How could you stand moving away from this?”I ask.“You left this for town.”
“I wanted to be closer to work,” Millie says as she sits next to me.“And I needed something of my own.This is myhome—it’s in my blood—but it’s Remington’s now.And I’m not a kid anymore, so it was time to do something else.But I love coming out to the ranch sometimes to just be.It’s my happy place.Oh, look!”
Millie points to the trees, and right before us, a doe walks out of the brush, with two tiny spotted fawns following behind her.They’reso small.
“Those are early babies,” Millie whispers.“And so sweet.”
The mom’s ears twitch, and she sees us watching her.She doesn’t run away; she simply continues to walk, with her babies following close behind.
“I get it,” I whisper when the deer wander out of sight.“I totally get it.”
“Erin!”Johnny comes running from the temporary fence where he is watching the men set up for the upcoming work.He comes to an abrupt stop right in front of me and smiles up, showing off his teeth, and the gap where he obviously just lost one.“You’re here!”
“I am.”I sense Remington walk up to us, but I keep my eyes on the boy and ignore the goose bumps that just rolled over my body.“Something’s different about you.Hmm.”
Johnny’s so excited, he’s practically vibrating.
“Don’t tell me,” I murmur, rubbing my chin as if I’m thinking really hard.“Did you get a haircut?”
“No!”
“New boots?”
“These arereallyold.”He widens his lips and pushes his tongue through the hole in his teeth.
“Well, look at that.You finally lost that stubborn tooth.”
“This morning,” he says with a nod.“Tonight, the tooth fairy will come.I hope I get a million dollars.”
“Wow, that’s one rich tooth fairy.”I turn to Remington now and wink at him.“I hope it’s okay that Millie invited me to come out and watch.”
“I don’t mind,” Rem says simply.If I’m not mistaken, his eyes warm when he looks at me, as if he’s actually happy to see me.“Do you want to come help?”
I eye the pen where a whole bunch of black calves are gathered, and I wince.
“Can I just watch for now?”
“Sure, Doc,” he says and pats my shoulder.“You can watch.”
Rem strides over to the pen, and Johnny runs after him, ready to jump in to help.
“That’s the food tent,” Millie says, pointing to the left.
“That’s more than atent.”
It’s a white event tent, the kind you rent for weddings, with screened-in walls to keep the bugs out.There are about a dozen tables set up with chairs for workers to sit and eat, and on one end is a huge makeshift kitchen area, complete with a generator for powering everything.
“This wasn’t here on Friday.”
“We got everything ready to go yesterday,” Millie says as she walks with me to the tent.“About forty people come to help, and no one leaves hungry, let me tell you.Tonight, once all the work is done, we’ll have chili and cornbread and then s’mores around the bonfire.You have to stay for that.”
