The numbers on the computer screen were beginning to blur, due to the long hours Renne had been staring at them. Letting out a heavy sigh, she slammed down a stack of papers onto the desk beside her laptop, leaning back in the creaky wooden chair. Running a hand over her forehead, Renne was beginning to wonder if running  both locations of her ranch, mainly by herself, was becoming too much for her to handle. Usually, she was really good at her job, but ever since she had gotten back to Alpine Ridge, she had seemed more distracted than usual. 

      As if he had read Renne's mind about being distracted, Swayde walked into the office after politely knocking on the open door. Wrapping both of his arms around Renne's chest, Swayde leaned over the back of the wooden desk chair, kissing Renne's temple. Glancing at the computer screen, he inquired, "Whatcha workin' on there?" He nodded towards the Excel sheet, seeing the numerous papers scattered across the old, oak desktop. 

        Letting out a sigh, Renne rested a hand on top of Swayde's that was still around her chest. With her free hand, she scrolled through the various pages on her laptop. "Financial records, bills, new clients list, cost of production...you name it, I'm lookin' at it." Moving her gaze to the stacks of papers, Renne added, "For convenience, I am trying to copy down everything that is in paper form, and put it onto the computer, but with everything else I have to get done, it's seeming like an impossible task." Sputtering her lips, Renne remarked, "There is just so much to do." 

       Swayde's hands let go of their hold around Renne's chest to move to her shoulders, giving them a rub. It was clear that she was in desperate need of relaxation, due to how tense her muscles were. "Seems like you could use some help." It was a statement, rather than a question.

        "But this is my job. This is what I do for a living. It's just that, and I hate to say it, but it was so much easier in Montana with-" Renne stopped herself; she was about to say "with Matt there to help with the business and financial side,"  but she knew how those words would sound to Swayde coming out of her mouth. Instead, Renne refrained, "with the help of my other employees there. And since we have talked about moving Healing Hearts' headquarters here to Alpine Ridge, there is an unending to-do list." Under Swayde's skilled back-massaging hands, Renne felt herself relaxing just a little bit more, knowing he would always be there to help her, even if it meant helping her regain her focus by encouragement. Either way, the stress of having to break the news about Montana to Swayde was something that was growing concern in her stomach; she had to tell him soon before it was too late. 

       "Well, I have an idea. But first, it sounds like you could use a quick distraction." 

        Renne playfully rolled her eyes as she grinned, turning her head to look up at Swayde. "You have already distracted me."

       "Well, then let me draw out that distraction to make you lunch. Come on." He quit rubbing Renne's shoulders to grab her hand, making the chair swivel towards him.

         "But I have so much to get done." Renne pouted, sticking out her bottom lip in a teasing way.

        "It will be a quick lunch. It won't take much of your time, I promise." 

        "You said that about de-worming last week, and we were out there the entire day." 

        "True, but as soon as we are done eating, I will help you look over the business stuff." Swayde promised, still holding Renne's hand. 

       "You said that the other day as well." Renne winked, smiling up at Swayde. She knew that her stomach was mad at her for not eating all day, and she could most certainly use a break, but she was enjoying watching Swayde try so hard to pull her away from her job.

        Letting out a sigh, Swayde almost seemed defeated. "Just take 20 minutes to come have lunch with me, then I promise I will let you get back to work." Lifting a finger up to her lips when Renne began to protest, Swayde grinned, "No more argument, just 20 minutes, trust me." 

        "Fine. But just remember, you're the one who made me stop what I was doin', so it isn't my fault if I am up all night, and too busy to come over." She pointed a finger right back at him.

       "Yes, ma'am." Swayde drawled, pulling Renne up from her chair, leading her out of the office, through the living room and kitchen, and to the back door, leading outside to the screened in back porch of the house. It was the side of the house that overlooked some of the pastures, with the mountains in the background. It was one of Renne's favorite landscape scenes on the entire ranch. "For you." Swayde grinned, pulling out the chair from the table, offering Renne a seat. 

      Pulling her gaze from the scenery, Renne looked down at the table where she saw an already prepared meal, complete with plates, silverware, and poured glasses of sweet tea. Taking a seat in the chair that Swayde offered to her, she pulled herself closer to the table, taking in everything. 

        "When on earth did you have time to do all of this?" Renne asked, giddy inside. 

       Swayde, walking to his side of the table, removed his cowboy hat as he bent down, grabbing something off of his chair, handing it to Renne. 

      Renne took the bouquet of wild flowers from Swayde, lifting them to her nose to smell. With a smile, Renne felt her cheeks heating up with a blush. 

      "Eh, it didn't take me too long. Just threw some sandwiches together and grabbed some plates from the cupboard. But, I reckoned it was the thought that counts more than the appearance of the meal. Either way, I knew I would only have a mere few minutes to pull you from your hard work, so I had a hankering that sandwiches would be a quick enough lunch for you, so you can have a meal, but get back to work soon enough." Swayde smiled, staring at the most beautiful woman, sitting across the table from him. 

         "Well, thank you, Swayde, it means a lot to me. I'm so hungry." She chuckled, reaching across the table to hold the hand that Swayde held out to her. 

        "Me, too. Let's pray, so we can eat." He grinned, squeezing Renne's hand.

       Renne bowed her head and listened to Swayde as he spoke to God in prayer as if He was the one that Swayde was holding hands with. Every time Swayde prayed, Renne always got chills; Swayde's prayers were just that powerful, even if he was simply praying over their meal. 

        With an amen, Swayde dropped Renne's hand, doling out their lunch, handing Renne her sandwich. 

        Pulling off the top piece of bread off her still-warm sandwich to see what Swayde made, Renne grinned. "You made my favorite type of grilled cheese. Ham, cheese, and onion. You really are the best, aren't you?" 

        "I try." Swayde popped the lid on his small bowl of warm tomato juice to dump his plain cheese and bread sandwich in. 

        "I still can't believe that you can stomach eating your sandwich with tomato soup. I think it's funny how you like to tease me about eating mine with garnishes to make it more tasty, but you dunk yours in tasteless..." She motioned at the bowl of tomato soup. "Goup." 

      Swayde chuckled. "Man, it really does bother you how I eat my sandwich, doesn't it? At least I don't put a bunch of onions on mine that draw from the taste of the cheese and bread." As he teased, he lowered the corner of his sandwich into the red bowl of liquid, lifting the soggy sandwich to his mouth, taking a small bite. "And just for the record, you're the reason I keep my kitchen stocked with onions. Think about the three things I cook a lot. None of them require onions, except for when I make them for you. Granted, I'm not complaining at all; I think it's adorable." He shot his girlfriend a wink.

     "Fair enough." Renne put her hands up in the air, in a form of surrender, before grinning at Swayde as she took a bite of her sandwich that he despised. 

      All too soon, Renne and Swayde were finished with their lunch, but Renne was not finished with her break. Wiping her fingers off on the napkin, she crumpled up the paper, tossing it on her plate. "Well, that was delicious. Thank you so much, Swayde." 

      "No problem. It was my pleasure. I'm glad I could draw you away from your work for a little bit to spend some time with me." Swayde grinned, standing up to walk over to Renne, bending down to drop a kiss on her forehead.

       As Swayde reached down to begin clearing the table, Renne had a thought pop into her head. Softly grabbing Swayde's wrist, she asked, "Can we please sit on the porch swing for a little bit?" 

      Swayde rid his hands of the plates, setting the trash back down on the table to give Renne a sly, teasing look. "I thought you were strapped for time to get back to work since you had so much to get done. I promised you I would only take 20 minutes of your time, but if we sit on the porch swing, I would have broken my promise. You know you have to sit on the swing for at least 20 minutes to really make it count. Are you sure you can spare more of your time to be with your boyfriend?" He loved teasing Renne. 

        "Oh, you just hush." Renne stood up from the table, slowly sauntering her way off the porch, back into the house. 

         "Wait, where are you goin'?" Swayde called after her. 

        "Well, like you said, I really should probably get back to work. You know, deadlines and all of that." She pointed her thumb backwards, towards the house as she faced a pitiful looking Swayde. 

        Reaching out, Swayde gingerly grabbed Renne's arms, pulling her to him, drawing a giggle out of her pretty mouth. "I was just messin' with ya. Please don't go back to work, yet." He lowered his head slightly so he was just a few inches from Renne. She could feel his breath tickling her face as he continued. "Please just stay out here with me for a few more minutes."

        Just to add anticipation to the moment, Renne hesitated for a few seconds before letting out a huff. "Okay, twist my arm. I reckon I can stay out here for a little bit longer. But, here's the caveat." Renne held up a finger in the air. "You have to help me on getting some work done, with no more distractions for the rest of the day. Deal?" 

         Swayde was too busy staring at Renne, his feelings growing stronger for her, to really listen to what she said. "Deal. Now, we have a porch swing calling our name." He grabbed her hand, leading her to the swing. 

       Renne laid her head on Swayde's shoulder as they sat on the old, wooden porch swing on Mamaw and Papaw's back porch. Many a times they had sat there, just like this, before; it was something that Renne had missed. The swing had always been such an escape for Renne, she knew, as she looked straight ahead of her, at the mountain scenery that encompassed part of the land that she was blessed to call home, again. "Thank you." She whispered; she was thanking Swayde for convincing her to take a break, but she was also thanking God for bringing her back here. 

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

          "So, remind me again why you are so concerned about gettin' all this done today?" Swayde asked Renne, who was sitting down at the office desk, pressing buttons on her laptop. Setting down a few papers he was looking at, Swayde leaned back against his desk, crossing his ankles as he faced a stressed out looking Renne.

        "Because I have to have all my ducks in a row before I go back to Montana to make the move back here to Alpine Ridge official." Renne wanted to say exactly what she was thinking. "Because I have been so busy with the other stuff here that I have gotten behind on my ranch stuff. A lot of this is hard to do without physically bein' in Montana to get done. Besides, you know that I have never been that good at math." She mumbled to her computer as she punched in more numbers, frustrated when the document was not cooperating with her.

        "Well, why don't you let me do the math stuff, then?" Swayde rested a hand on Renne's, drawing it off of her laptop keys, making her look up at him. "Please?"

         Renne let out a relived sigh. "Yeah, okay. Thank you. I've always dealt with the business and planning and maintenance side of the ranch, and..." She almost said Matt's name, "Someone else always did the financial stuff. But, you've always been much better at math that I was, so if you're sure you have the time, or gumption, then please, take over." She pushed her laptop towards Swayde. 

         "Good, thank you." Swayde grinned, standing up to walk behind Renne, wrapping his arms around her, looking at the computer screen. "What are we lookin' at here?" 

        "This page is all of our expenses and payments we have received. Feed for the horses, employee pay, board, lesson and payment sessions, vet bills..." She was trying her best to ignore Swayde who was giving her a back rub, his face right next to hers. "Supplements, maintenance stuff, truck, house, and equipment payments. Everything that costs money, or gives us money is in this document. And you're not listening to me anymore." Renne was referring to the kisses that Swayde had begun to drop on her neck. 

        "Mmm. Sure I am." Swayde momentarily stopped giving her kisses to look back at the computer screen, still rubbing her shoulders. "All the expenses- things you have to pay for, and things that bring in money for the ranch- are all within the document. I was listening to every word you said." He resumed his loving on her, trying his best to get her to relax, knowing how stressed out this kind of work made her.

       "I don't think you were listening when I told you that you aren't allowed to distract me, though." She grinned, feeling a blush rise to her face. 

       "Oh, I'm not tryin' to distract you at all. Nope, I am just tryin' to get you to relax." Swayde chuckled, resting his chin on Renne's shoulder, glancing sideways at her.

       Renne dropped a kiss on Swayde's lips before standing up from her chair. "Nope, this ain't gonna work. You're way too handsome and distracting to allow me to get any work done." 

        "Please don't kick me out." Swyade dropped his hands to his sides, teasingly giving Renne a pouty face. 

          "Then you have to behave. No more distractions. Of any kind." Renne playfully grabbed his chin, giving him one last peck on the lips. "That means no more kisses, shoulder rubs, or even talking, deal?" 

       Swayde made a zipping motion over his lips, putting both hands in the air, promising he will behave. 

            Taking a seat across the desk from Swayde, who was now sitting with the laptop in front of him, Renne pulled out her client and customer list, preparing to make numerous phone calls to various companies, seeing if they would be interested in a sponsorship, or a fundraiser of some sort. Her plan, now that she was back with Swayde in Alpine Ridge, Wyoming, was to take all of the financials on herself, completely ridding Matt of any monetary value or stature in the ranch. One way she could accomplish that was by calling up companies to see if they would be interested in donating time, resources, or money to Healing Hearts Ranch. When she was in Montana, she had personally gone to visit said companies, and talked with them in person, but it was hard to follow up with them in person when she was a state away. 

            Throughout the time accomplishing on Renne's to-do list, Swayde and Renne had been catching each other glancing at each other. Finally, Renne chuckled, setting aside her call list to catch Swayde's attention. "You know, we work really really well together once you listen to me and hush up for ten minutes to get stuff done." She leaned back in her chair, giving Swayde a teasing wink.

       "You have no idea how bad that comment makes me want to walk over there and kiss you to get you to hush, but I have a hankerin' if I leave my post, my girlfriend might get ticked at me." Swyade played right back, sitting with one leg on top of the other, his ankle resting on his knee. He smirked at Renne across the desk as he tapped a pen against his lips. 

        "Good point. I would be ticked." Renne dished right back out, turning back to her work, unable to hold back her grin. Yes, she was certainly blessed.