Swayde checked the time on his phone once again. It was almost lunch time. His time window for making his much needed trip into town was quickly dwindling. The trip required about an hour and a half drive, because this was not an errand that he could go to downtown Alpine Ridge for. No, no this trip required a bigger, nicer, fancier town where not every single person knew Swayde. He didn't want the news of his errand getting back to Renne somehow, before she found out what it was that he was getting. 

           This morning, Kyle had called Swayde, desperate for some help branding and vaccinating some calves. On the phone, Kyle had said it would only be about twenty calves, but as he looked at the calves crowding in the pen, Swayde easily counted eighty. 

          "Twenty, my butt." Swayde mumbled as he prepared his rope to catch the next calf. At least they only had about twenty calves left. The group of five made quick work. Kyle had enlisted the help of his wife, Swayde, and two of his nephews - the only people available today to drop everything and come and help. Swayde was quickly regretting his decision to come and help, only because he had a very important trip into town that he needed to make, and it certainly wasn't one he wanted to rush through. 

           Instead of complaining, Swayde just kept his mouth shut, as he roped another calf around the hind legs, dragging him out of the pen to where Kyle's two nephews caught the calf, one resting his knee on the calf's neck, holding it's two front legs, while the other nephew released the rope from his back legs, holding them out straight as Kyle came by with the branding iron, and his wife had the marker and syringe ready. 

         The group knew what they were doing, only taking thirty seconds or less per calf. 

        After about another hour, Swayde had his horse loaded in his trailer, helped everyone clean up and let the cattle out of the pen, leaving only a few tasks to do, which Kyle's wife said they would handle. While Swayde was getting in his truck, and buckling his seat belt, Kyle came jogging over, handing Swayde a check, for his help. That was the last thing Swayde was expecting; he honestly enjoyed helping people when he could, that's what neighbors did out here, but even more, Swayde knew better than to try turning down the check. With a "thank you," Swayde tucked the check in his wallet, quickly pointing his truck towards his ranch. 

          Unloading his horse, he untacked him, and sent him out to the pasture before unhooking his trailer. Jogging into his house, Swayde quickly changed out of his dirty shirt, rolled on some deodorant, slipped into a clean shirt, sprayed on some cologne, and put on a different cowboy hat. 

        His jeans probably needed changed, but he had worn his chinks when he was riding, so they weren't too bad. But time was running out, and he still had to stop at the bank, and the gas station on his trip to town. 

         Getting back in his truck, Swayde turned on the air conditioning, so he wouldn't start sweating before he got to town. However, his plan failed. The closer he got to town, the more nervous he grew; his truck cab was cool, but his nerves made him perspire. 

      After what seemed like an eternity, Swayde's truck came to a stop in front of the store he needed to go to. His stomach was turning in knots. Taking a big gulp of water from his cup, Swayde took a deep breath as he stared at the store. "Alright, come on, cowboy, you got this. Nothing to be nervous about." He gave himself the pep talk. Finally, Swayde shut off his truck, and entered the store before he could talk himself out of it. 

         As soon as he walked in, he was greeted by a middle aged lady, smiling from ear to ear. "Hi, there, how can I help you today?" 

          "Hey there." Swayde looked around the shop. "I am lookin' to buy an engagement ring today." 

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

             Renne sat on the wicker chaise lounge on her grandparents back, screened in porch, her laptop sitting on her outstretched legs, and a box fan blowing cool air on her face. She sat, staring at her computer screen, ordering some products for her ranch back in Montana. Of course, she had a full staff still there to do all of this, but she knew it was better if she did it herself. 

         Vaccination time was coming up for her horses at Healing Hearts, and Renne liked to use a specific brand of products, and they weren't cheap, but they were good. She knew if she left it up to her staff there, they would have gone with a cheaper product; sure, it would probably still give good results, but Renne took pride in her company, and the health of her horses. 

         There were days that she missed her ranch in Montana, but she realized what she missed most was working with her clients, and training the horses. Both were things that she could easily do here, but Alpine Ridge didn't have a lot of "adolescent delinquents" or "troubled teens," like her ranch in Montana had. Granted, her troubled youth clients were only a part of her clientele. She also worked with normal, every day kids, orphans, and even had had some prisoners in her years. Renne never wanted to turn away a single client, she wanted to be able to help each and every person who wanted to learn, and grow. 

         Moving her headquarters here, to Alpine Ridge, had started to take a back burner for Renne. Every time she got started to plan for it, something else came up. Plus, she needed to find a place to house her ranch. Here, at Mamaw and Papaw's, it would be perfect, but Renne knew it was still a full time, working cattle ranch. It was not set up, nor designed to be a summer camp, or horse camp. 

           Buying property was low on Renne's list of options. Mainly because that would mean being even further from her grandparents, and Swayde, and Mallory's kids. All the ranches and land in this area were already owned, so that was out of the question, and Renne really wanted to avoid having to move any closer to town. Being only 40 minutes away from town was already too close for her liking. 

         After all her supplies were ordered, and being shipped to Healing Hearts in Montana, Renne started to make a list for things she needed to buy for the ranch here, and made a tentative list for supplies that Swayde needed. These, she could pick up in town, so she made sure to be thorough on her list. 

            To her right, on the end table, Renne heard her phone ring, but it only rang once, then the caller hung up. Checking the screen, Renne saw that it was Swayde. It wasn't like him to call, then hang up before she could answer. Dialing his number, Renne tried calling him back, but it went straight to voicemail, so she shot him a text. "Did you mean to call?" 

          "No, butt dial."  Was Swayde's response. 

          Weird. Definitely not like Swayde at all, but Renne let it go. In fact, she hadn't heard from Swayde at all today, and it wasn't like him to go without communicating, but he probably knew that Renne had a lot to do, and she was sure he did as well, so she wasn't concerned. 

          After working on her laptop for another couple hours, Renne decided she needed a break from staring at the screen. Looking at the time, she couldn't believe it was already almost supper time. Shutting off the fan, Renne walked back into the house. Peeking her head in her grandma's sewing room, Renne was surprised to see Mamaw not working on creating something. She was more surprised, however, when Mamaw wasn't in the kitchen, getting something started for dinner. 

          Knowing there was only one more place she could be, Renne walked outside, to the side of the house, where she saw her adorable grandmother on her hands and knees, adorning a sunhat and gloves, as she worked on weeding her garden. 

         "Need some help, Mamaw?" Renne couldn't help but smile. She could only hope she had half as much energy and motivation as Mamaw when she gets to be her age. 

        Sitting up on her knees, Mamaw took a breath, looking at her grandaughter. "No, darlin', I think I am ready to head in for the night. I am about plum tuckered. This heat is awfully unbearable, isn't it?" 

           "It is." Renne was smarter today, wearing a t-shirt, trying to cover up her horrible sunburn she received the other day, fencing with Swayde. "I saw on the weather it's supposed to get up to 100 today." 

           "Well, I say that today is a perfect day for some cold sandwiches, ice cream, and fresh fruit then, don't you think?" Mamaw carefully lifted herself from the ground, pausing for a moment when she stood, to stretch her old, stiff bones. 

          "Sounds good to me." Renne grinned. "I was just about to ask if you wanted me to get started on something for dinner." 

          "Is it that time, already?" Mamaw held a hand out to Renne, asking her to help her walk out of the unsteady footing of the garden. 

           "Yes, it is." 

           "Say, where's Swayde at today?" Mamaw walked slowly, with Renne's help, her garden bag in her free hand. 

            "You know, I'm not sure. I actually haven't heard from him today, besides his usual 'good morning beautiful' text this morning. So, I'm sure he's got stuff goin' on. Plus, he knew I had to get some work done here, and knows how he can be a distraction to that. A good distraction, but a distraction, nonetheless." 

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

               "Dang it." Swayde mumbled under his breath. He had accidentally called Renne, instead of Marjorie. His nerves had made him press Renne's name on his phone, just out of habit, but he had meant to call Marjorie. As soon as Swayde realized the mistake he made, he had hung up, not even sure the call went through, but then Renne had tried calling him back, to which he rejected the call. He couldn't let her know where he was or what he was doing. 

               Renne had sent Swayde a text, asking if he had meant to call. Which, he really hadn't. "No, butt dial." He had texted back. 

             The jewelry store lady was standing, looking at Swayde with an almost pitiful look, picking up on his nerves. Reaching out a hand, she rested it on his forearm, her several metal bracelets clinking as she did so. "You have nothing to be nervous about, sir." She smiled, trying to be reassuring.

          Finally, once Swayde's fingers, and brain, could function properly, and he rung up Marjorie. She answered on the second ring. "Hi, Swayde, I haven't heard from you in a while...is everything okay? Is Reagan okay?" The concern was evident in her voice. 

         Swayde couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the sweet older lady. "Yes, everything is fine. Better than fine, actually. Hey, I need to ask you something, but you have to promise to not say a thing, to anyone. Especially Reagan." Swayde was sure the jewelry store lady just wanted him to answer her simple question, so she could get the ring ordered and get her commission, but maybe not. But, Swayde needed to make sure Marjorie knew how important this was to not tell anyone; he wanted it to be a complete surprise. 

         "I swear to you, I won't even tell my Kenny. Unless you killed someone, then I might need to tell-" Marjorie started off on her tangent.

         "I'm buyin' an engagement ring for Reagan." Swayde interrupted, hearing Marjorie take in a sharp, excited breath. "And I need to know for sure if Reagan is a size six or size seven ring. I'm here at the jewelry store now, and have a ring picked out. I just want to make sure I buy the right size." 

          "Oh, Swayde, how exciting! I am so happy for y'all." Marjorie squealed with excitement. "Oh, she is a size six."

          "For sure?" This was making Swayde nervous. 

          "Yes, for sure. I had asked her a while ago, because we were discussing rings, and she saw my grandmother's ring that I wear. I figured it would be something good to know, in case this day ever came. Oh, Swayde, I am so excited! When are you proposing?" She couldn't hide her excitement. 

         "I'm not sure, yet. I have to special order the ring. It will be at least a month." Swayde looked to the jewelry store associate, then back to the ring. "And please do not tell anyone, anyone about this. That is why I called you, and not Reagan's grandma. She would be cute one day and accidentally let it slip."

         "My lips are sealed, Swayde. You have my word." 

       After thanking her, Swayde hung up the phone, relaying the information to the associate. He picked up the ring, holding the small sample ring in his fingers, looking it over, like a panner looking for gold. The ring was simple enough, but beautiful. It was white gold, with one slightly larger than average diamond in the center, and a twisted/infinity style on the band. 

         Swayde knew the ring was rustic, but simple, and it was just simply Renne. A dangerous thought crossed his mind, and he tried hard to shove it away, but with no luck. He remembered a time last year when Renne was engaged once before...to Matt. At the time, Renne had agreed to marry Matt, simply because she thought it was the right thing to do, and she was trying to convince herself that she needed to start over with her life. Thankfully, she came to the realization what a coward and malignant person cheater Matt was, so she broke off their extremely short engagement, if you could even call it that, and came back to Swayde. 

         In his heart, Swayde knew that this situation was a million times different than when Matt proposed. Well, not even really proposed, mainly just said he was sorry, showed her a gaudy ring, and basically demanded she married him. Thinking back to the chunky, showy ring that Matt had given Renne, Swayde looked at the ring he was buying her. He knew Renne better than anyone, and knew in his heart that she would love this ring. It was simple and elegant, and just what she liked. Renne had hated the ring that Matt gave her; it wasn't Renne's style at all, it was basically a boatload of money jam packed into a ton of diamonds, and an expensive band. The design wasn't even pretty, nor did it make sense.

         Knowing if he stood here contemplating much longer, that he would change his mind, Swayde told the jewelry store lady that he was ready to move forward with the purchase. While she got the ring ordered, Swayde had to meet with the finance lady, who went over payment options, the appraisal on the ring, warranty information, pricing, and the works. She informed Swayde that the ring was actually on sale, and it came up to be about 10% less than what Swayde was budgeting for already. It made him wonder if he should have bought a bigger diamond, but he knew he was making the right choice with this one. 

          Not liking the idea of a loan for this, Swayde made the decision to buy the ring outright, paid for it in full. Plus, they offered a discount for paying with cash, which Swayde was planning on doing anyways. He figured what he saved with the engagement ring, he would put towards the wedding ring, or the honeymoon. Oh, the honeymoon. That was what Swayde was looking forward to, almost more than the wedding. 

         "Slow down, cowboy. You gotta propose first." He told himself in his mind. His nerves getting the best of him, being in an unfamiliar place, making a huge decision, made Swayde realize he had only been halfway listening to what the finance lady was saying. 

         "Alrighty, I think that is everything. Any questions? Clear as mud?" 

         Poof. Swayde popped out of his mind's thoughts. "Uh, yeah, no. I think I am good." Swayde stood from his chair. "Thank you, ma'am."

         "And thank you. We will see you in four to six weeks when you come to pick up the ring." She smiled, seeming excited, too, for Swayde. 

       With a decent size stack of papers in his hand, Swayde walked to his truck, finally letting out a breath that he felt he was holding this whole time. Wiping a hand over his forehead, Swayde wiped off some sweat that had accumulated due to his nerves. 

         As Swayde drove back to his ranch, he thought back to a time, about six years ago when he had been in this almost exact situation...

           Swayde rubbed his sweaty hands over his jeans, looking around Mamaw and Papaw's living room. He had been in this room a million times, but right now it seemed almost foreign to him. His legs, hands, and basically his whole body was wracked with nerves, causing him to shake. Finally, Papaw entered the room, taking a seat in the lazy boy across the room from where Swayde sat on the edge of the sofa. 

         Papaw sat, relaxed in the chair, crossing a leg over the other, leaning back, watching an obviously nervous 21-year old Swayde. "Mamaw said you had something you wanted to ask me?" Papaw chewed on the end of his empty tobacco pipe. No one had ever seen him actually smoke tobacco from it, but it was like his staple, a vice, or tick he had. 

         "Yeah, um." Swayde took off his cowboy hat, running a hand through his hair, and began fiddling with the bill of his hat, thankful to have a task for his anxious hands. "It's about your granddaughter. Uh, Reagan." He felt the need to clarify, so Papaw didn't think they were talking about Mallory. 

         "Yes." Papaw drew out. He already knew where this was going the second Swayde said he had a question, but he was enjoying watching Swayde shake in his boots in the meantime. 

           "I am very in love with your granddaughter...Reagan." He clarified again. 

        Papaw held his empty pipe in one hand, watching Swayde, nodding his head, telling him to proceed. 

         "I have been in love with her for a very long time. And I know we are both young, but I have a good, steady job, er, two jobs, technically." Just get to the point, man. "And I just bought that ranch, and I am a very responsible man. And I love Reagan so so much. I promise to care and provide for her my entire life. I promise I will put her first in everything, and cherish her." 

         "Is there a question here, son?" Papaw shifted in his chair, hiding his grin behind his pipe. This conversation is going about exactly how it went when he had asked Mamaw's father for his blessing to marry his daughter. 

           "Yes. Sorry. I wanted to ask you for your blessing, for Reagan's hand." That sounded weird, come on, dude. Swayde cleared his throat, telling his mind to shut up for a second. "I am asking for your permission to marry Reagan." Realizing that wasn't a question, Swayde reworded it. "May I please have your blessing to marry your granddaughter...Reagan?" There he went clarifying it once more. 

            Papaw let out a breath. He should have saved this poor man all that stress and trouble and just said "yes" when he first walked in the living room, but he enjoyed seeing and hearing how much Swayde cared for Reagan. "My answer is an easy, yes, Swayde. There is no one else that we would want to marry our Reagan. We would love to have you be a part of this family, officially. I would say that I wish y'all were a little older, but I am not one to talk. I was barely eighteen when I asked Mamaw's dad if I could marry her." 

          "So, I can marry Reagan?" Swayde's face lit up, acting as if he ignored everything else Papaw had just said. 

           Papaw couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, son. You can marry Reagan. Have you picked out a ring yet?" 

          "Actually, yes. I have it right here." He pulled the ring out of his pocket. He had made a trip into town on the day after he bought his ranch. Alpine Ridge didn't have a lot of options when it came down to jewelry, but that was okay. Swayde had found a perfect ring for Reagan. It was white gold, a thin, single band with a diamond protruding from the center. Part of him worried it was too simple, too small, but he reckoned that Reagan was a simple woman, and she had told him before that she wanted a basic ring. 

          Opening the small felt bag the ring came in, Swayde showed Papaw, a grin rising to his weathered lips. This time, he took the pipe down from his mouth so his smile was noticeable. "It's perfect, Swayde. She will love it." Handing the ring back to Swayde, Papaw asked, "When do you plan to propose?" 

         "First thing, tomorrow. Reagan is supposed to be coming over to help me move some stuff to the ranch. But I wanted to talk to you first and get your blessing before I proceeded." 

         "I appreciate that, son. We are very proud of you, and excited for y'all." 

         "Thank you." 

          Little did Swayde know that the following morning was the one that Reagan would find the newspaper article that said it was Swayde's brother who was the drunk driver that killed Reagan's parents. Tomorrow morning was the day he would lose Reagan.

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

        Swayde hadn't realized he had been white-knuckle gripping his steering wheel, or tightly clenching his jaw, until he was pulling into his ranch. The memory of asking Papaw to marry Renne had been a good one, but the memory the next day following had been the worst memory of his life. 

        Swayde had held onto that first engagement ring he bought Renne six years ago for a while, even after she left him. In fact, he had held onto it for about two years after she left, but by then, he had started to lose all hope that she was coming back, so he had gone back to the same jewelry store he bought it from and sold it for whatever they would take for it.

        Now, today, Swayde knew things were different than they were back then. Their relationship was even stronger, and Swayde knew that Renne wasn't leaving this time. Today, Swayde was actually glad that he hadn't held onto the old engagement ring. For him, it would have held too many memories, not great ones, and he felt like Renne had changed, so that old ring wasn't "her" per-se. 

          Parking his truck, Swayde took the papers from his ring purchase into his house, finding a spot in his office closet that he knew Renne wouldn't find them. He glanced at the black and white picture of the ring one more time before safely tucking away the papers. 

      Without a doubt, Swayde knew he made the right choice. Though six years had passed, Swayde knew that the next, right step would be to ask Papaw, again, for his permission to marry Renne. 

         Nerves swept over him once again as the thought came to his mind. Swayde had to be careful in his planning to ask Papaw. He had to make sure that Renne wouldn't be at the ranch when he asked, otherwise she would find a way to eavesdrop on the conversation, and even though Swayde was sure that Renne knew it was coming, he still wanted it to be a surprise. 

             Standing with a hand on his hip, as she stared at his hiding spot on the top shelf in the closet, Swayde couldn't help but feel like this was going to be harder than he thought. He was a normally very patient man, but knowing he would have to wait another month for the ring to come in, and then wait however long after that before he actually proposed, then wait for the wedding... Swayde realized maybe he wasn't as patient as he thought. He was ready to be married to Renne, to start the rest of their lives together as husband and wife. It was all he could do to not take her downtown to the court house right now and marry her. However, he had waited this long, what was another month or so?