"I thought you'd be out here." Swayde greeted. The wooden screen door slammed shut behind him. Renne looked over at him from her laptop screen. "Coffee?" He asked, holding out a mug to Renne. Renne gladly accepted the steaming cup of rocket fuel. "So you're up early." Swayde said, sitting down next to Renne on the porch swing.
     "Yeah. I couldn't sleep." Renne replied, taking a sip of the hot coffee Swayde brought out for her.
     "Is my bed too hard? I've kinda gotten used to sleeping on the ground with my saddle as a pillow, so to me, my bed is like sleeping on a cloud." Swayde said, partially teasing, but also serious. He folded his leg so his ankle rested on his knee. He sipped his steaming coffee.
     Renne let out a small chuckle. "You're bed was very comfortable. I was just thinkin' about stuff." Renne pulled the blanket that rested on her shoulders tighter around her in the brisk early morning Wyoming breeze. She pulled her legs tighter under her.
     "So how did you sneak out here without wakin' me up? You know I'm a light sleeper." Swayde asked, looking over at Renne from under his cowboy hat.
     "Oh, I just snuck out your back door." Renne replied as she looked out at the gorgeous Wyoming scenery. Swayde's view from the house looked like something from a postcard. It was magnificently beautiful.
     "Ah, that sounds familiar. D'you remember when I would drop you off after one of our dates and I would sometimes have to sneak out through your back door?"
     "Or my window. That was your typical escape route." Renne hid her smile by lifting her coffee mug up to her lips.
     "Sometimes I wonder what your parents would've done if they were still alive when we were dating." Swayde said it with a smile on his face, but as soon as he processed what he said, his smile quickly faded. "I'm sorry I didn't mean-"
     "It's okay, Swayde. I often wonder what they would've done too." Renne replied. She stared at the picture on her laptop screen.
     "What are you lookin' at?" Swayde asked, changing the subject. 
     "Oh, just some pictures of Mallory and I as kids." Renne turned her laptop so Swayde could see. "I was workin on stuff for my ranch, but got distracted." Renne flipped to the next picture. It was a picture of her and Swayde in the last year that they were dating. She quickly kept clicking to the next picture, but there were several pictures of them together. "Sorry, I didn't know these were in this folder." Renne kept flipping through them. Swayde's hand on Renne's made her stop her frantic clicking.
     "Those were some good times, weren't they?" Swayde said when he looked at the picture they had stopped on. The couple was at a pumpkin patch and Renne had picked out the biggest pumpkin she could find and Swayde picked the tiniest one. In the picture, Renne was turned sideways, facing Swayde, and Swayde had one arm wrapped tightly around Renne's waist. They were both looking at the camera, but Swayde had a goofy smile on his face as he held the palm sized pumpkin in his hand.
     Renne smiled at the memory. "Yes they were." They had so many great memories together, despite how things ended between them. Renne genuinely missed their once in a lifetime relationship. No one, not even Matt, had ever looked at Renne with that much love or shown that they care so much about her as much as Swayde did. Attempting to get their memory out of her head, Renne minimized the picture screen and pulled up the stuff she was working on for her ranch. "No offense, but I have to get back to work on placing these orders and paying the bills for the ranch."
     "No offense taken. I should probably start breakfast for us anyways." Swayde said, standing up from the swing.
     "Ooh, well I should probably hurry up with this so I can make sure that you won't burn the house down cooking eggs." Renne cast a teasing grin at Swayde.
     "Ha ha. Very funny, missy." Swayde teasingly shook his head. "I'll call you when it's ready."
     "Okay. Thanks for the coffee." Renne said as Swayde walked into his house. There certainly were things that she missed about him.

     "Did you want to swing by your grandparents house now to pick up your clothes, or do it after we get done at the hospital?" Swayde asked Renne later that day as he drove them to visit Mallory in the hospital.
     "Um, we can do it after we see Mallory." Renne replied. "Are you sure you're fine with me stayin' at your place?"
     Swayde glanced over at Renne. "I'm positive. I know that you need time to process everything that's goin' on, and I know that you could use a break from your family and the kids."
     "Thank you. I really appreciate it." Renne smiled at Swayde.
     "That's what friends are for, right?"
     Renne nodded in response. "So I was thinkin' I could make tuna fish casserole for supper tonight, does that sound good to you?"
     "You know I love everything you make, Reagan." Swayde said, flipping on his turn signal.
     "Okay. Tuna noodle casserole it is." Renne replied, glancing out her window at the scenery flying past. Something in her snapped and she realized just how much she missed this tiny town. With everything going on now, Renne wished more than anything she could go back five years and change the fact that she left. Renne was beginning to realize that that was the biggest mistake of her life.

     Once Swayde and Renne arrived at the hospital, they signed the visitor's log, then made their way down to Mallory's new room. Sometime this morning, she had been moved to a private room, and would stay there as preparations for hospice care were being arranged.
     Renne knocked before she opened the door to her sister's room and walked in with Swayde behind her. Mallory had her bed adjusted so she was sitting more upright. Doug sat beside her bed in a chair holding on to her hand as he talked to her. The television was on, but neither Doug nor Mallory was watching it.
     "Hey, darlin' you have some visitors." Doug said to his wife after Swayde and Renne walked in.
     Mallory slowly turned her head from Doug to look at the door where Swayde and Renne still stood. "Hey, y'all, come on in." Mallory said, her voice tired and weak.
     "We brought you some flowers." Renne said, showing her sister. "Blue carnations, your favorite." Renne smiled as she walked to the side of her sister's bed. She placed the bouquet on the nightstand that was crowded with so many other bouquets of flowers, cards, and little stuffed animals.
     Renne bent down and gave her eerily thin sister a hug. Mallory's hands slowly wrapped around Renne. "I never wanted for you to see me like this. I'm sorry." Mallory's soft voice whispered into Renne's ear.
     Renne pulled back to look at her sister. "It's okay. You don't need to apologize. Besides, I know my big sister. She's way to stubborn to stay sick." Renne forced a smile. She said it to be encouraging, not necessarily because she believed it.
      Mallory smiled a weak smile and attempted to chuckle. "Thanks for the flowers, Rebel."
      "You're welcome. Swayde helped me pick them out."
     "Thank you, Swayde." Mallory said, turning her head to look at Swayde.
     A knock on the door welcomed a nurse who carried in a brown plastic tray. "Ooh, looks like it's a party in here." The nurse said, looking between Swayde and Renne.
      "Reagan, Swayde, this is Melissa, our favorite nurse. She's been incredibly kind to Mallory." Doug made the introduction. Melissa stood about 5"5', 210 pounds, and about 34 years old. Her black hair matched her ebony skin. She looked like the type of person who never ran out of energy, nor needed caffeine to keep her awake.
      "Hi, it's nice to meet y'all. You must be Reagan, Mallory has told me so much about you." Melissa stretched out her hand to Renne. Turning to Swayde she said, "And you must be the handsome Swayde I've also heard lots about."
     "Yes ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you." Swayde replied.
     Just for safety precautions, Melissa washed her hands at the sink, then slipped on latex gloves before returning to Mallory's bedside. "Well, sweetie, it is time for your supper. Tonight's feast consists of strawberry jello, corn, and the typical hospital mystery meat that I think is supposed to be a hamburger. Oh, and I also brought you your apple juice." Melissa said, lifting the lid off of the plate. "And it's also time to take your medicine." Melissa said, handing Mallory a little plastic container that had her pills in it.
After Mallory took her medicine and took a couple nibbles of her jello, Melissa told everyone, "The doctor should be in soon to talk to y'all. You behave young lady." Melissa winked at Mallory.
Once Melissa left, Doug helped feed Mallory her supper as they waited for the doctor to come in. To pass time, Swyade and Doug told funny stories about anything and everything. Just as Swayde was making everyone laugh as he retold the story of a runaway calf that Doug had a hard time catching, Dr. Whitley walked in.
"I see that you finished most of your supper, Mallory. And you took your medicine?" Doctor Whitley asked.
"Yes." Mallory responded.
"Okay. Good. Well, I would like to speak to you about your chemo." Dr. Whitley said to Mallory. He glanced over at Swayde and Renne.
Before Dr. Whitley could ask Renne and Swayde to leave, Doug spoke up. "They can stay."
Sighing, the doctor started his speech. "Mallory, the results from your MRI came back. I'm afraid that the chemo has stopped working, which you already knew, but now we know why. When you had breast cancer a few years back, we treated you with chemo therapy. Although it was an early stage, it still weakened your immune system to the point now where your body no longer responds to the current chemo treatments...we will..."
Renne stopped listening to Dr. Whitley's diagnoses the second she heard the words "breast cancer." At that moment, Renne looked over at Swayde for an explanation. He gave her an apologetic look before looking away, his jaw set firm. Renne knew she would definitely need to have a talk with Swayde later. She shook her head in disbelief; this was just yet another secret that her family had kept from her...and she knew for a fact it wouldn't be the last.

The truck ride back to Swayde's ranch was the longest hour of Renne's life...and one of the quietest. Swayde must have picked up on the fact that Renne was mad at him for keeping yet another secret from her. Whether if it was the way that she made sure she walked at least two steps in front of him out of the hospital and to his truck as fast as she could...or the way that she slammed the truck door a little bit harder, whatever it was, Swayde obviously caught on that she was upset.
Once Swayde put his truck in park once they got back to his ranch, Renne jumped out of the truck and immediately walked up to the front porch. Trying the door knob, Renne hoped it wasn't locked. Relieved when it was unlocked, Renne opened the door and walked inside. She walked straight to Swayde's kitchen.
The sound of cowboy boot heels hitting the hardwood floor told Renne that Swyade was right behind her. The footsteps sounded heavy as if Swayde knew there was about to be a tense conversation. Renne threw her purse and cowboy hat on the kitchen island, then turned to get a glass out of the cupboard. "When were you goin' to tell me?!" Renne slammed the cupboard door shut and turned back around to face Swayde who just walked into the kitchen. 
"Tell you what?" Swayde said. He didn't sound angry, just confused. Swayde set his Stetson and keys down on the kitchen island beside Renne's hat.
"Oh you know exactly what." Renne said, glaring at Swayde.
"Actually no, I don't. Please, tell me why you're upset." Swyade reached a hand out to Renne's shoulder.
Renne reeled back. "Don't touch me." She growled.
Swyade retreated his hand. "Then tell me why you're upset!" His hands were spread out wide; they slapped his thighs as he let them drop to his sides.
"How about the fact that my sister had breast cancer and none of y'all told me! And she was only given a year to live then. Oh yeah, and she got married and had another child. None of which I was notified about." Renne filled up her water glass, then turned back to Swayde. "It's like I'm not even part of this family anymore! What else have y'all kept from me? Hmm? What other secrets are y'all not tellin' me? It seems to be a Walker-Lawrence-McAllister family tradition to keep secrets." Renne squinted her eyes at Swayde and stepped closer to him. She slammed her glass down on the counter. "You do remember the secret that y'all kept from me for over ten years, right? You do remember that don't you, Swayde?" Renne could visibly see Swayde getting upset. Good! He deserved to feel the pain that she felt. Renne's voice got louder and louder with each word that she said. "Y'know, the secret about the accident that killed my parents. About what really happened. About who was drivin' the car that killed my-"
"I lost someone too in that accident!" Swayde snapped. He yelled, his voice conquering over Renne's. It was a tone that she hadn't heard in over five years...since their last huge fight. Swayde lowered his voice when he saw that he hit the nerve in Renne that would hush her up. Swayde's eyes were sad, and his voice held traces of anger still, but mainly hurt. "I lost someone too. Don't you remember that? How could you be so selfish and forget that? I hurt every year on the anniversary too. Not just because your parents were friends of my family, but also because I also lost someone that I loved in that crash as well. I hurt too, Reagan. And every day, I think to myself what would've happened if I had just stopped-" Swayde couldn't finish. He ran a hand over his face as he took in a breath. He rested his hands on the kitchen island, turning away from Renne.
"Swayde, you know that there was nothing that you could've done...you were only nine at the time. You couldn't have stopped your brother even if you tried..." Renne stepped closer to Swayde. She placed a comforting hand on his back. "Swayde, you do know that, right?"
"He was supposed to be babysitting me, but he decided to invite his friends over, and one of the older guys brought booze...I guess my brother was the one who'd had the fewest beers, and even though he was still drunk, they sent him out to go get more beer. His buddy gave him his license since my brother wasn't 21. I was too scared to tell him to stop. But lookin' back now, I should've told him that he was supposed to stay home and babysit me, but I didn't. I was a coward...I just sat on the couch drinkin' my juicy-juice and watched him walk out. Before he left, he ruffled my hair and told me he'd be right back. But he never came back..." Swayde stared at the counter on the kitchen island.
     "Swyade, that was his choice. There was nothin' that you could've done..." Renne said, placing a hand on Swayde's arm. "Swayde, please look at me..." Renne pleaded.
Swayde drew his gaze over to Renne. Renne placed both of her hands on the back of Swayde's neck when he turned to her. Swayde just kept his hands at his sides. "Swayde, that accident was not your fault. Please tell me that you seriously don't feel guilty about it."
"Reggie," Swayde ran his hands up and down Renne's arms. "If I had stopped my brother that night...he would still be alive...and your parents would still be alive. I've never forgiven myself for that."
"Swayde...honey...it was just a coincidence that my parents were out on that road that same night. It was your brother's choice to invite friends over, and to even get in the car and drive." Renne started. Swayde looked away, but Renne drew his face back to look at her. "Swayde, you had just turned nine, and your brother was nineteen. There was nothing that you could've done. It was not your fault. At all." Looking into Swyade's hurting blue eyes, Renne added, "I never knew that you felt this way. I had no idea that you blamed yourself for it. I'm so sorry...Please tell me that you rally truly believe that you don't blame yourselves for my parents death."
"Reagan, I don't want to talk about this right now." Swayde said, pulling away from Renne. He stepped back.
"Swayde, please..."
"I said I don't want to talk about this, Reagan! Please, just leave it alone." Swayde turned to walk away.
"Swayde, don't walk away from me! We need to talk about this." Renne said, but Swayde kept walking; he went into the guest bathroom to change clothes and take a shower. Once he was in the bathroom, he slammed the door. Renne sighed and took her glass of water over to the breakfast bar in Swayde's kitchen. She took a seat and waited for Swayde in hopes that they wouldn't end their night fighting.
     After almost a half hour later, Swayde came out from the bathroom, and on his way to the living room couch, he passed the kitchen. As he stopped in the doorway, Renne stood up from her seat, but didn't say anything. Swayde looked at Renne and looked like he wanted to apologize, but instead he looked away and said, "Goodnight, Reagan."
     "Swayde..." Renne started. She knew how much Swayde hates fighting and he knew how much she did to, so she was really hoping to resolve this tonight, but she knew they wouldn't. It was late and they were both exhausted. Granted, she was still very upset that her family kept yet another secret from her, so it was probably better that her and Swayde don't try to resolve this tonight. At this point, it would most likely get worse, not better.
Defeated, and hurting, Renne took her glass of water into Swayde's bedroom and set it down on the bedside table. After slipping on the pajamas that Swayde was letting her borrow, Renne slid into bed. Grabbing her phone, Renne dialed Matt's number. She needed to tell him that she wasn't going to drive home tomorrow after all, and was hoping that he could comfort her after her fight with Swayde tonight. Matt picked up right before her call went to voicemail.
"Hello?" Matt answered. "Hey, yeah, just open that gate. Phil, you get behind them." Matt said, giving orders to folks on his end of the line.
"Hey, Matt. It's just me. Sorry, I know it's late."
"Yeah hey babe. What's goin' on?" Matt asked Renne before saying something to one of the other cowboys on his end.
"Matt, I wanted to talk to you about something. I need to fill you in on Mallory and I had a really bad day and am upset and I was hoping we-"
"Now's not really a good time, Renne. We are really busy with the horses and they're not cooperating. I need to focus on this right now. I'm sorry."
"Wait, why are the horses just now being brought in?" Renne asked, rubbing her forehead. Could tonight get any worse?
"You're not the only one who's had a bad and hectic day, babe. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? I'm sorry; now's just not a good time. But we will talk tomorrow and you can fill me in then. I love you."
Renne hesitated. She just wanted to talk to him...they had a lot to talk about and she just wanted him to be there for her. "Yeah. Yeah okay." Renne replied. She hung up before he could say anything in response.
     Sighing, Renne out her phone back up on the dresser right beside the bed, then closed her eyes, attempting to fall asleep so this day could finally be over.

     The morning sun rose without fail the next morning, waking Renne. Checking her phone for the time, Renne saw that it was close to six. Renne slipped out of bed and went into Swayde's bathroom to brush her teeth. After a few minutes, Renne exited the bathroom and went into the kitchen to make her and Swayde breakfast.
     Renne was pulling her hair into a ponytail when she walked into the kitchen. "Mornin'." Swayde said, from the stove. He was "expertly" pouring pancake batter onto the griddle, and flipping the pancakes just before they could be considered burnt.
     "Hey." Renne replied and grabbed two Mason jars from the cupboard. Turning to Swayde, Renne started to apologize for last night. "I'm really sor-"
     "About last night-" Swayde started at the same time as Renne. He chuckled. "Go ahead."
"I just wanted to apologize for last night. I'm sorry." Renne said, placing the glasses on the kitchen island.
"I'm sorry too. I was under the impression that your grandparents told you about Mallory's breast cancer. And I had tried calling you several times earlier that year, but you never picked up, so I assumed if I called you when Mallory was diagnosed, you wouldn't have picked up then, either. But I'm sorry that no one called and told you."
"It's okay. I understand that everyone was probably still mad at me during that time anyways...and I know that Mallory's cancer wasn't too terrible."
"I know, but I agree that someone should have notified you about it." Swayde said. He turned to his stove to flip the pancakes on the griddle. Turning back around, Swayde said, "And I'm so sorry that we fought last night. I lost my temper and I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I forgive you. Can you please forgive me? I accused you of something that wasn't your fault at all. I brought up the past, and that was wrong of me."
"Apology accepted. And I think that it was something that we needed to discuss, and we were bound to at some point. I hope soon we can finish that conversation and you can hear my side of why it was kept from you that my brother was the drunk driver that killed your parents."
"I hope that we can talk about it soon too...without fighting, of course."
"Without fighting." Swayde smiled.
"Milk or orange juice?" Renne changed the subject to ask Swayde which beverage he wanted for breakfast.
"Coffee." Swayde said with a smile on his face.
"Right. Of course. Coffee it is." Renne said, putting back the Mason jars in the cupboard. She walked over and started them a pot of coffee.
"You go sit, I got this." Swayde pointed at the breakfast bar with his pancake flipper.
"Alrighty cowboy, but the second the smoke alarm goes off, I'm comin' back over here." Renne said with a teasing smile on her face.
"You just go sit down." Swayde returned the smile.
Renne followed Swayde's order and took a seat at the breakfast bar. She watched him carefully as he cooked, flipping every pancake with ease. By the last of the batch, he was getting pretty good at judging when the pancakes were done.
To get her mind off of Swayde, Renne pulled out her phone to send Matt an "I miss you" text, but halfway through the word "miss" Renne remembered that today was the day that she was supposed to leave Wyoming to go back to Montana. Sometime today, Renne needed to call Matt and tell him that she was staying a couple more weeks. That call was definitely not something that she was looking forward to doing today, especially since Matt seemed a little annoyed last night when she asked if they could talk.
"Syrup?" Swayde asked, knocking Renne out of her worrying.
"Uh, yes please." Renne replied. She realized that she was still staring at her half written text. Pressing the backspace button, Renne deleted the text and put her phone away.
Swayde turned off his stove and brought over two plates of steaming pancakes. With a second trip, Swayde brought Renne her cup of coffee.
"Anything else we need?" Swayde asked, looking at their plates and Renne's coffee.
"Umm...silverware, napkins, and your coffee." Renne replied. She tried to hide her chuckle.
"Right." Swayde drew out. Finally, after a third trip, Swayde sat down next to Renne. "Let's say grace." Swayde said, holding out his hand to Renne. Renne slipped hers into his and instinctively interlaced her fingers. She closed her eyes and tried hard to listen to Swayde's prayer to distract herself from how good it felt for her hand to be back in his again. He thumb was rubbing circles on Renne's hand, just like he always used to.
      After the prayer, Swayde let go of Renne's hand and cut off a piece of his pancake. Lifting it up halfway to his mouth, Swayde said, "So I was thinkin' that it'd be nice if we took the kids out today for some ice cream and pizza or something. Y'know, to give your grandparents a break." Swayde's fork, with a piece of pancake on it, made it's way inside his mouth.
     "I think that that's a great idea! I definitely haven't gotten to spend as much time with them as I would have liked these past couple weeks." Renne replied. She spread the syrup around on her pancakes with her fork.
     "Too much syrup?" Swayde asked, pointing at Renne's uneaten stack of pancakes.
     "Oh no, they're perfect. You did a great job cookin', by the way. I'm thoroughly impressed." Renne said after taking a bite of her pancakes.
     "Well, thank you. I happen to have a very good teacher." Swayde said, smiling at Renne. "But don't be too impressed, I used a pancake mix, so they aren't from scratch."
     Renne let out a chuckle. "But still, they're still good." She said, taking another bite. "So, I was thinkin'...since we are goin' to be taking Mallory's kids out anyways, maybe we could make a night out of it. Slumber party at Uncle Swayde's?" Renne said, giving Swayde a mischievous smile.
     "Uncle Swayde? Geez, thanks for makin' me feel old." Swayde teased.
Renne chuckled as she took a drink of her coffee. "Isn't that what they call you now?"
"Yeah they do. I hadn't thought of them staying over here, but I reckon it'd be fine. My couch has a pull out bed, and I think I have an air mattress around here somewhere."
     Renne looked at Swayde. "You're tellin' me that your couch is a sleeper sofa, but yet I've stayed here, what, two, three nights and you haven't pulled it out yet?"
     Swayde chuckled. "I told you I'm used to sleepin' on hard surfaces, besides the couch is more comfortable then the bed beneath it."
     Renne chuckled. "Okay. If you say so. Oh, thanks for lettin' me borrow your pjs, by the way."
     "You're welcome. They look much better in you then they ever have on me." Swayde smiled, taking a sip of his coffee. Swayde glanced at Renne's plate. She had only eaten about two bites of her pancakes. "Sumthin' else botherin' you, darlin'? You always loved your pancakes. But you've barely touched them."
     "No, they're great. I'm just thinkin' about stuff."
     "Uh oh." Swayde said, teasing. He took another bite of his pancakes.
     "Oh hush up." Renne countered.
     "What're you thinkin' about?" Swayde asked, sipping his coffee.
     "I have to call Matt today and tell him I'm not coming home for another couple weeks." Renne said. "I'm just dreading how he's gonna react since today was the day I was supposed to leave."
     "He loves you. He'll understand." Swayde paused and turned to give Renne his full attention. "You know I never want to stand between y'all, right?"
"What do you mean?" Renne asked, her eyebrows pushed together.
"You being back here...it's...resurfaced a lot of old feelings. And as much as I would like to go back to what we had before you left me years ago, I know that you're with Matt and I respect that. I don't want to stand between y'all and make you choose between him or me. I don't want to be that guy who breaks two people up because they get caught in a love triangle, y'know? I guess what I'm trying to say is that...I want you to know that my feelings for you haven't changed at all in the last five years, if anything they've gotten stronger. But, if the time ever comes when you feel the same way, I want you to be the one who makes the first move." Swayde let out an awkward chuckle. "I don't know if I'm sayin' this right. I'm sorry."
     "No, I understand, and I really appreciate it. Thank you." Renne said after hesitating. She knew- or, at least she thought she knew- she wanted to be with Swayde and not Matt, but she was committed to Matt and didn't want to break what they had.
Swayde looked away from Renne. His body language had changed since Renne essentially turned him down. It's not that she didn't meant to, but she just felt still tied to Matt and they really did have a good relationship, but like every relationship, they had hardships....a lot of hardships... "Well, I have to go feed my horses. I'll be back in in a bit, then we can go pick up the kids." Swayde said, standing up, taking his plate and coffee mug with him to the sink.
"Would you like some help?" Renne offered, taking her plate with her to the sink.
"That's okay. I appreciate the offer, but I have kinda gotten into a routine." Swayde replied.
"Okay. That's fine. It'll give me a chance to call Matt and do some laundry then."
Swayde nodded. "I'll be back in a bit." He turned and walked out of the kitchen, grabbing his cowboy hat on the way out.
Renne sighed as she made her way back to Swayde's bedroom to grab the dirty clothes. After she had enough for a full load, Renne went into the mud room and threw the clothes into the washer. Still in Swayde's shorts and T-shirt that she slept in, Renne made her way out onto the porch swing to call Matt since it seemed to have better cell reception than in the house.
Matt picked up on the second ring. "Hey baby, I was just about to call you. I actually have a while to talk, so this is perfect timin'. What's up? You halfway home by now?" Matt answered in a great mood.
"Actually, that's why I called you." Renne started. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm not comin' home today." Renne knew she had just ruined Matt's mood with her news, but it was better to tell him now rather then when she just doesn't show up back at her ranch tomorrow.
There was a pause. "Wh-what do you meant you're not comin' home today?" Matt asked in a confused, and slightly upset voice.
"I mean that my sister has taken a turn for the worse and I really need to stay here to be there for her and the kids." Renne paused. She could tell Matt was upset the second she said she wasn't in her truck, on the way back. "She's been placed in hospice care. The doctor said that she has less then a month to live...I'm sorry, but I need to be here right now."
"Okay. I'm sorry to hear she ain't doin' well, and I'll definitely be prayin' for her, but, babe, you promised me two weeks ago that you wouldn't be gone for more then fourteen days no matter what..."
"I know. I know I said that, but I honestly thought that Mallory would get better, not worse. And if she was on the mend, then maybe I could just drive down here every other weekend, but she's not on the mend. In fact, when we saw her yesterday I...I really thought it would be the last time I would ever see her." Renne replied. She could tell that Matt was getting upset with her, but she couldn't leave her sister when she's this sick.
Matt let out an annoyed sigh. "So how long you stayin' this time?"
"I'm not sure...two weeks...maybe..." Renne closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead.
"Two weeks?! Renne, you realize that you've already been gone for two weeks and everything has been so hectic since you left. Now you're sayin' you'll be gone for another two weeks? Please tell me you're not serious, babe."
"I am. I am serious." Renne said, letting her hand slap her thigh. "And it might just be one week, I don't know, but it all depends on how my sister is doin'. Matt, I know you're upset because I broke a promise, and believe me, I feel horrible about that, but, honey, you got to understand...this is my family we're talkin' about here. This wasn't some decision I made overnight."
"Renne, you have a family here, too. All the kids we have helped and seen grow up here...me...we are all your family here too."
"I know, but my real family is here, in Alpine Ridge, and this is where I need to be right now."
"Your real family? Who am I to you then if I'm not your family?"
"Matt, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry."
"At least you're sorry about somethin'." Matt mumbled. "Okay, well, like I said, I have a while to talk for once, and I really don't want to spend it fightin' with you, so can we please talk about something else?"
"Sure. Like what?" Renne said, still irritated. She had figured Matt wouldn't understand when she made this phone call, but she had at least hoped a tiny sliver of him would tell her she was doing the right thing in staying.
"Like how are you fixin' to run the ranch, your ranch, from there for another two weeks?"
Renne wanted to tell Matt that he wasn't changing the subject, but she knew better. Instead of being a smart-aleck Renne just answered Matt's question. "Same way I have been. Payin' bills and everything online. I still make nearly a dozen phone calls every day. We'll manage. We always have. These two weeks will fly by. It's just a few short days, right?" Renne asked, trying to convince herself and not just Matt.
"I'm not sure if our motto is really workin' anymore, to be honest Renne...I don't know how much more I can take. I want you back here so badly. I miss you like crazy, and I have been doin' what I can to help pass the time and manage your ranch for two weeks, but now you tell me you're goin' to be gone for yet another fourteen days?"
"Or maybe just seven, Matt. Or less."
Matt hesitated before responding again. "Is there another reason you're stayin' longer? An ex-boyfriend or somethin' I need to be worried about?"
Renne froze. This wasn't happening. Now was not the time to tell Matt about Swayde. "No. No baby, not at all." Renne said in the most convincing voice she could.
"You sure about that?"
"I thought you didn't want to fight with me right now?" Renne avoided the question. She could hear herself getting defensive.
After at least another ten minutes of Renne and Matt shouting at each other, saying all kinds of accusations and things they didn't mean, Renne eventually hung up her phone. The call went about exactly how she had figured it would.
"Everythan' alright?" Swayde's voice made Renne look up from where she sat, knees brought up to her chest with her arms folded over them, her head in her hands.
Swayde had just gotten done with his chores in the barn when Renne got off the phone with Matt. He had hay all over his shirt and jeans and Renne could smell the horse and manure scent from where she sat about eight feet away. He leaned against the porch railing and looked at Renne, concerned.
Taking in a deep breath, Renne rubbed her palms on her thighs. "Yeah. Yeah I just got off the phone with Matt."
"And..." Swayde drew the word out. He walked forward until he stood in front of Renne with his arms folded.
"And he's mad at me for havin' to stay longer then I promised him, but he said that he understands because it's my family, and once we got past that, he then accused me of wantin' to stay longer because of an ex-boyfriend." Renne made eye contact with Swayde.
"He doesn't know about me, does he?" Swayde gave Renne a look.
"Not a clue. He didn't even know I still had family in Alpine Ridge until two years ago. I never told him about you...or our past because I knew how he would react."
"Are y'all goin' to be okay?" Swayde asked, looking worried for Renne. Somehow he seemed to know that Matt and Renne were fighting.
"We'll be fine...I hope. This kind of thing happens a lot when we aren't together. We've gotten so used to bein' around each other 24/7 that when we are apart, pretty much all we do is bicker...or fight. When we are together in person, we really do have a fantastic relationship. He works really well with the kids and we make a great team, it's just hard when he's not by my side. Especially in times like this when I need him most."
Swayde stepped closer to Renne. "Well, you always have me as a friend. I'm here for you if you need to talk. I always will be. You know that."
"Thanks, but you're kinda the reason Matt and I are fightin' right now, so..." Renne let out a chuckle.
Swayde chuckled. "Come on inside. We have to pick up the kids in a hour."
And with that, Renne made her way inside of Swayde's ranch house. A part of Renne kind of hoped that her and Matt wouldn't work this out because then her and Swayde could finally be together again. And that is what they both wanted...right?