Swayde let out a deep, nervous breath, looking in the mirror again, pretty satisfied on his outfit that he had picked out for him and Renne's date tonight. Even though they were going to a local steakhouse, it was the first real date that the couple had gone on for almost six years. Granted, over five of those years, Renne was in Montana, and had a serious boyfriend, Matt Ramon. Matt was everything short of a good boyfriend. The only good thing about him was that it was his family who helped Renne find a place to live, and even helped her financially get her therapeutic riding ranch open for business. Renne has the Ramon family to thank for her incredibly successful business that she had worked hard to have thrive over the last five years. 

        Several months ago, Renne had been in her barn office when she got a phone call from her grandmother with the harrowing news that Renne's sister, Mallory, had breast cancer, and Renne was asked to come back to Alpine Ridge to say goodbye. Sure enough, within just a few days, Renne was back in Wyoming in the town that she never thought she would step boot in again. Figures, the person who opened the house door when Renne got back was none other than Swayde, the one person Renne had hoped that she wouldn't have run into due to the fact that she had broken up with him five years prior, breaking up with the only man she had ever truly loved. 

       Slowly, but surely, Renne began to patch things up with her family, and with Swayde, all while trying to balance her sister being sick, and keeping on top of things with her ranch back in Montana, which included keeping things calm between her and Matt. However, Matt was never one to just settle down with one girl. No, there were things that he wanted that Renne would not give him, and in the end, resulted in Matt cheating on Renne, multiple times. 

       Not long after Renne had been back in Wyoming, visiting with her sister, Matt and Renne had gotten into a huge fight, resulting in them deciding to take a break. In that time was when Swayde and Renne realized they still had deep feelings for each other that never went away in the five years they were apart. The feelings never subsided, despite how they had left things years ago. 

       In the time that Renne and Matt were on their "break," Swyade confessed his feelings for Renne, and she did the same, resulting in a short fling that reignited the old love. The time they had together was wonderful, but both of them knew it wouldn't last because of the separate lives they had been living in the years they had been apart.

      Around the time that Renne's sister passed away, Matt showed up in Alpine Ridge, asking for Renne's hand in marriage. After a long range of emotions, Renne agreed to marry Matt, solely in an attempt to move on from her teenage romance with the guy that she was still clearly in love with, even years later. 

      In an attempt to get back to her life in Montana, Renne tried her best to stay busy with work and planning her wedding, but things very quickly changed. One night, Renne found out that Matt was still cheating on her, and the girl he had been having an affair with was pregnant with his child. That was the last straw for Renne. After giving Matt back the engagement ring, and packing up her stuff, Renne moved back to Alpine Ridge. This time, for good. Sure, there would be times that she would need to make a trip back to Montana to manage her ranch properly, but she was back home in the town she never stopped loving, with the man that she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. 

      Finally coming to her senses, Renne drove back to Alpine Ridge, and immediately went looking for Swayde. When she found him in the barn, she had confessed her feelings for him, sealing it with a kiss. The rest was history. 

        Swayde smiled at his reflection in the mirror as the excitement to take Renne on a date became greater and greater. Checking the time, he saw he had about five more minutes before he needed to leave to pick up Renne at Mamaw and Papaw's.

      Heading to his front door, Swayde grabbed his pair of dressier boots, slipping them on before grabbing his cowboy hat and keys off the peg by the door. 

      Once he got in his truck, he realized just how excited he was to take Renne out on a date, but first, he had to make a pit stop. 

                                                                ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

      Renne checked the time on her phone for the umpteenth time. Running a hand through the ends of her long, wavy brown hair, she glanced down at her outfit, wondering if she was too dressed up to just go to dinner. Knowing that Swayde would most likely show up in his favorite pair of Wranglers, and a comfy shirt, Renne clicked her teeth, slipping out of the dressy pearl snap shirt she was in. Standing in her room in just her bra, jeans, and boots, Renne rummaged through her closet, looking for a more casual shirt to wear. One shirt in general stood out to her because of the familiar teal/blue coloring of it. 

      Pulling the shirt off of the hanger, Renne slid it on, smiling when she buttoned it up. She had remembered how much Swayde had loved the shirt on her every other time she had worn it. With a grin, Renne smiled, knowing tonight would not be an exception. 

      Leaving the top couple buttons undone, Renne whispered, "Perfect" at her appearance. Granted, she knew it was Swayde she was going out with, the man who had seen her in literally every single one of her moods, and at every time of the day from the second she woke up, to the moment she fell asleep. He had seen her all dolled up, and he had seen her looking like she just went through a windstorm, but either way, he still thought she was beautiful no matter what. It was a huge relief to her to not feel like she needed to dress up just to go out with Swayde, but it actually made her want to dress up and look nice for him more often. This was unlike Matt, her ex-fiance; he always made her dress up and wear makeup on every one of their dates; if she didn't, he would get upset with her, and say that she didn't love him since she didn't want to look nice for him. Matt believe that Renne could only look good when she was wearing makeup, with her hair all fancied up, wearing a cute outfit. It was the complete opposite with Swayde, and Renne was thankful for that. 

      With a final appearance check, Renne made her way downstairs, slipping on her boots, just as she heard a truck pulling into the driveway. Peeking out the window, Renne grinned when she saw it was Swayde's truck. 

      Checking her hair and makeup once more using her phone screen, Renne took a deep breath as she opened the screen door, slipping outside and onto the porch just as Swayde hopped out of his truck.

     As he walked up to the porch, Swayde fiddled with his keys, his head down with the bill of his cowboy hat shielding his eyes. Taking the steps slowly, Swayde finally looked up, seeing Renne standing patiently on the porch. 

    Removing his cowboy hat, Swayde took in Renne's appearance, the corners of his mouth turning upward as he did so. "You look beautiful." It was hardly audible. Making eye contact with the prettiest pair of blue eyes Swayde had ever seen, Swayde chuckled, stepping forward to rest a hand on Renne's slim waist. "You look absolutely beautiful." His smile was as wide as the Rio Grande. 

     "Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself." Renne smiled back, teasing Swayde. Looking him up and down, she was thoroughly impressed at his choice of an outfit. The ensemble actually matched, much to Renne's surprise, but then again, Swayde always did have a good sense of style. 

    Swayde sported a red and black plaid pearl snap, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It matched his black Stetson he held in his hand. The shirt was tucked into a clean, new-looking, dark wash pair of Wranglers. A black leather belt sporting a large bull riding championship buckle held up the jeans. Caramel colored leather square toed Justin Bent Rail cowboy boots completed Swayde's look. 

      "Thanks. I thought you would be proud of me for picking the outfit out all by myself." Swayde winked, still staring at Renne. All he wanted to do was hold her and give her a kiss, but he knew with this being their first date in six years, he had to be a gentleman. 

         Renne turned away from Swayde, walking off the porch. "Yeah, I was worried you were fixin' to show up in one of your old t-shirts and your worn Wranglers or something." She teased, having to turn away from Swayde before she began getting nervous all over again. Her plan failed, however, when Swayde stepped in front of her to grab the truck door for her. Immediately, butterflies began to swarm in her stomach.

         Once she was seated in the cab, Renne looked to her left and saw a bouquet of flowers on the center console; a smile rose to her lips as Swayde hopped behind the wheel of his truck, turning to Renne. 

      Picking up the flowers, Swayde handed them to Renne, saying with a smile, "Here, these are for you." 

    Renne grinned, taking the paper wrapped bouquet of flowers, lifting them to her nose. With a smile, she said, "You didn't have to get me flowers." 

       "Sure I did." Swyade grinned, starting up his truck.

     "Well, they are beautiful. Thank you so much." Renne sniffed them again; she always loved being surprised with flowers. 

       "You're welcome." Swayde replied, backing out of the parking spot, heading down the driveway. Tightly gripping the steering wheel with two hands, he tried his best to not let his nerves get the best of him.

                                                         ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

        All too soon, Swayde slowed his truck to turn down the driveway, inching his way closer and closer to Mamaw and Papaw's house. Neither him nor Renne was ready for the night to be over, since their date went so well. 

      No matter how slowly Swayde drove, his truck eventually made a stop in front of the old, white farmhouse. Shutting off the ignition, neither Swayde nor Renne made a move to get out of the truck. Finally, breaking the ice, Swayde said, "I had a really really great time with you tonight. May I have the pleasure of takin' you out on another date?" 

      "Well, of course. I was hopin' you would ask." Renne replied with a smile. "Thank you again for tonight." 

      "You're welcome. Here, I will walk you up to the house." Swayde opened his door, hopping out and quickly walking to the passenger side, grabbing the door for Renne, offering her a hand down from the cab. 

      Renne stepped down from the truck, with her bouquet of flowers in one hand, thanking Swayde. 

        Slowly, the couple walked up the porch steps side by side, the porch lights automatically turning on at the motion. Stopping in front of the screen door, Swayde turned to Renne. "You seriously look so beautiful tonight. I know I have told you before, but I love that shirt on you." He looked her torso up and down again before making eye contact with her again. 

        "Thank you. You looked very handsome as well." 

       Swayde nodded his thanks, staring down at his boots as they stood there in awkward silence. Everything in him wanted this night to not be over with; no matter how much time they spent together, all he wanted to do was spend more time with her. Part of him wished that they could just go back to how things were before this date, but he wanted the ball to be in Renne's court this time. Because of everything that happened in the past five or so years, Swayde knew Renne had been hurt immensely, and no matter what he wanted, he knew he had to leave it to Renne to decide, knowing that was the only way to prevent her from getting hurt again. 

        Taking in a breath, Swayde broke the awkward silence for the second time that night. "Well, goodnight then." He drawled, tipping his hat, before turning to walk off the porch. Renne's warm chuckle made him turn back around, however. 

      "So that's it?" She asked with a smile, letting her hand hit her side. "That's how you're gonna say goodbye? After six years, we finally go on another official date, and that's all I get? 'Well, goodnight, then?' I mean, I know it's been awhile, but I was at least expecting a hug." She teased, silently telling him to come back, and give her a proper goodbye. 

         "Yes, ma'am." Swayde grinned, walking back up the porch steps. Standing in front of Renne, he removed his cowboy hat with one hand, resting a hand on her back with his other. Slowly bending his head down, he closed his lips over Renne's in a kiss, pulling away a couple seconds later. "Goodnight, darlin'." He grinned, placing his hat back on his head.

       "Goodnight, handsome." Renne stood, feeling like she was floating on cloud nine. Her feet feeling like they were glued to the wooden porch boards, Renne watched Swayde walk to his truck. A smile broke out on her lips as she watched him get behind the wheel; under the light of his cab, Renne could see a smile spread on Swayde's lips, a finger softly brushing his lips that Renne's had been on just a couple seconds before. As if he could feel Renne's eyes on him, Swayde looked up, giving her a wave before backing his truck up, heading out of the driveway.

    With a sigh, Renne ran a finger over her lips. Granted, this was not even close to the first time they kissed since she moved back to Wyoming, but tonight, it felt different. Finally, she felt that their relationship was going in the right direction, and she could not be happier.