Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Huh.” She pokes her head in and then turns back my way. “This spot is fabulous.”
“I’ve always liked it, too.”
I can tell that her wheels are turning when she joins me, and we walk back to the barn.
“There’s still a lot to see today.”
“I could stay here all day, daydreaming,” she admits and laughs. “But I definitely want to see the rest. I’ll come back another time.”
“Not by yourself.”
She frowns up at me. “I don’t think my stalker is hiding in the barn, Grumpy.”
“It has nothing to do with that.” I shake my head and open the door for her. “I don’t want you to get hurt by an animal.”
“Oh, yeah. Bears. Okay, deal.”
I drive through some of the same terrain that we traveled the other day with Erin’s family. I slow down at my family’s favorite spot so we can take it in, and then I push on again.
“This ranch started out at fifty-thousand acres,” I tell her as I drive. “Now, we’re closer to eighty thousand. I bought the property next door. The former owners kept their house and barn and five acres for their horses, but they’re done ranching and didn’t have children to leave it to. They wanted the land to be worked and used, so we bought it.”
“Are we on that property now?”
“Not yet.” I grin over at her. “We’re getting there. It’s worked great for us because we also took over his cattle, and we now have more pasture space.”
“So, you can continue to expand,” she guesses correctly.
“That’s right. Now, hold on, because I’m going to climb that hill over there.”
“Like, in the Jeep?”
“Yep.”
I put the Jeep in four-wheel drive and push on the gas to get us up the steep grade and then stop at the top.
“Uh, Grumpy?”
“Yeah, Doc?”
“Did I mention that I hate heights?”
I glance over, and her eyes are clenched shut, so I reach out and take her hand in mine.
“You’re fine. We’re not even getting out of the Jeep, I promise. Open your eyes.”
“As soon as we get off this hill, I’ll be happy to do so.”
With a chuckle, I reach over and brush my fingers over her cheek. “Come on, pretty girl. The view into Bitterroot Valley is insane up here.”
That gets her to slit one eye open, and then they both go round as she stares at the view.
“How is this possible? We’re so far out of town.”
“We’re higher in elevation here, and it gives us the perfect view. It’s pretty wild at night, with all the lights.”
“I’m going to have to see that,” she murmurs.
“There used to be a fire lookout up here,” I continue. “The Forest Service paid to rent out this hilltop in the summer months, and they stationed a man to live up here and keep an eye out for fires.”
“Why don’t they do that anymore?”
“Technology. Some towers are still in use, especially in remote areas, but we have drones and satellites now.”
“I think that would be a lonely job.”
“Some people thrive in it. Okay, we have to go back down so I can take you to the next spot, where we’ll have lunch.”
“Oh, shit.” She sucks in a breath and clenches her eyes shut again.
I shake my head, laughing. “Your confidence in me is awe-inspiring.”
Chapter Twenty
Erin
“I have confidence in you,” I insist, still clenching my eyes closed. “But I don’t like the ascent or the descent. I think I must have died in a plane crash or something in a previous life. I’ll have to ask my cousin, Haley, about that.”
“Haley would know about your past lives?” He doesn’t sound so sure.
“Maybe. I don’t know. Are we down yet?” I do not want to have the first panic attack of my life sitting next to the man that I’ve fallen in love with while he’s trying to show me his ranch.
“Almost,” he murmurs. After a few minutes, I finally hear him say, “Yes. We’re down.”
I crack one eye open, and when I see that we’re level again, I open the other one. “Whew.”
“So, aside from a possible fatal plane crash in a past life, you don’t know why you’re afraid of heights?”
“Not really. There wasn’t one specific incident or anything, if that’s what you mean.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a peppermint and pop it into my mouth. “Mint?”
“Sure.” He accepts it. “So, no specific scary heights incident.”
“Nope. But I’ve known since I was little that I didn’t want to go on the scary rides at the fair or at any of the amusement parks. They make me feel sick, and I don’t like being up high.”
“A lot of people get motion sick.”
“I know, and it sucks. Anyway, I avoid it.”
“How do you do in a plane? When you travel?”
“Not bad, actually. I just make sure I’m in an aisle seat toward the front of the plane. Did you know that if you’re prone to motion sickness, it’s not usually as bumpy toward the front of the plane when they hit that unexpected rough air?”