The wind blown snow crust was solid enough the ATV rolled over the top of the snowdrifts without problem. Brandt tried to follow the tire tracks made from feeding cattle, but the four-wheeler bogged down, so he forged a new path. He was mindful of speed and angle of the dips and rises since Landon sat on her lap. Even so, the somewhat bumpy ride had lulled Landon to sleep.

The night, though cold, was magical. Due to the brilliance of the moon, the sky wasn’t a solid black backdrop, but a dark gray swath punctuated with silvery stars. Moonbeams bounced off the snow, making the icy crystals dangling from sage plants look like rhinestones. The snow itself sparkled as if the wind had swirled glitter across the land. In all the years she’d lived in Wyoming she’d never seen the harsh beauty appear so enchanted. Dreamlike. With no other sounds or noises or lights, it was as if they were the only ones in the world.

The ATV scaled a steep rise and they were on top of a plateau. Brandt cut the engine. With the cloudless night, visibility in all directions was unobstructed and they could see for miles.

“Breathtaking, ain’t it?”

“Yes. I…I don’t even know what to say.”

“I’ve been comin’ here my whole life and I’m still not used to how this view just knocks me flat.”

Brandt put his arm behind her on the seat. “It’s humbling.”

“It is.” She’d always known the ranch meant a lot to Brandt. But in that moment, she knew that he was as much a part of this Wyoming land as the soil and the sage.

“Thanks for sharing this with me, Brandt.”

“No one else in the world that I’d rather be with or share it with, Jessie, you know that, right?”

She nodded.

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“I brought something to help us celebrate the New Year in style.” He reached back in the storage compartment and pulled out a bottle of champagne.

Jessie laughed. “You’re crazy. That’ll be all kinds of shook up after our trek across the frozen tundra.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be nice and cold.” He took off his glove and twisted the wire cage holding the cork.

Then he slowly eased the cork out and not a single drop foamed out the top.

She said, “I’m impressed with your pop topping technique. In more ways than one.”

“But in true redneck style, I didn’t bring glasses. We’re drinkin’ it straight outta the bottle.”

“Works for me.”

Brandt held the bottle to her lips and she drank carefully, enjoying the cold tang of the champagne bubbles bursting on her tongue.

Then Brandt drank. They watched the moon move across the sky as they finished the bottle. When she shivered, Brandt pressed his warm lips to hers and murmured, “Happy New Year, Jess.”

“Happy New Year, Brandt.”

She snuggled close to him on the drive home, still taking it all in. The moonlit ride. The majesty of the place he called home. That simple kiss that held more emotion than any words he could’ve said. A feeling of peace, of rightness drifted over her.

But life was never that easy and she should’ve known her sense of peace wouldn’t last.

Chapter Twenty-One

When Brandt excused himself after answering his cell phone, Jessie knew something was up.

He’d been outside for almost a half hour and she began to worry something bad had happened. Phone sex with her not withstanding, Brandt hated to talk on the phone. His conversations where short and to the point.

Landon smacked his mini dump truck on the coffee table, culling her attention. “Careful, lil’

buckaroo, you might smash your fingers.”

He pushed the dump truck to her; she pushed it back. It’d become one of his favorite games, seeing how hard he could push a wheeled vehicle before it sailed off the table. And any time it went flying, he giggled.

She told Brandt that meant Landon was testing his boundaries.

Brandt told her that meant Landon was being a boy.

The truck made the trek over the flat surface eight times before Landon sent it careening over the edge on top of a sleeping Lexie.

The dog slunk away and now that she was awake, Landon decided it was time to play. He patted her head. Her belly. Lexie put up with Landon hugging her neck, but when Landon tried ride her like a bull, she balked and darted away.

Brandt returned from outside and Lexie shot out the door. Landon attempted to chase her, but Brandt caught him around his midsection with one hand. “Whoa, it’s cold and dark out there. And if Lexie’s runnin’ from you, she’s got good reason, so you need to stay put.”

“Goggie!”

“How about if we have that bath?”

“No!” Landon became as limp as a worm.

But Brandt was wise to his tricks. “Nice try, but you’re getting in the tub.”

“No! No! No!” echoed down the hallway until the bathroom door shut.

Jessie told herself if it’d been really bad news, Brandt would’ve told her instead of allowing Landon to distract him. She tidied up the toys, folded up the blankets, swept the floor. By the time she’d finished, a scrubbed Landon barreled toward her and didn’t stop until he’d hit her knees.

“That was a fast bath tonight.”

“Up!”

She perched him on her hip and he curled into her, nestling his head on front of her shoulder. “I swear when you’re such a sweet-smelling, sweet-acting boy I can almost forgive how you torture my poor dog.”

She smooched his crown.

“Are you gonna read to him?”

Jessie looked up and saw Brandt leaning in the doorjamb, wearing a pensive expression. “I’d planned to. Why?”

“No reason.” Brandt smiled. “He just loves it.”

A snuggly, attentive Landon was a treat after dealing with his rambunctious ways all day. She settled in the easy chair and grabbed the book on the top of the stack—a book about dinosaurs.

Brandt draped Landon’s blanket over him and retreated to the kitchen.

Landon’s eyes were drooping by the time she finished the story. She tucked him in his crib and he didn’t fuss about not having a bottle.

She debated whether to crawl in the shower or find out what Brandt’s phone call was about. No contest.

Brandt sat in the middle of the couch and patted his lap. “C’mere and give me some sugar.”

“In a second. I need a drink.” She poured a glass of water and brought it back to the living room with her. “So you gonna tell me about the phone call? Or just distract me with sex?”




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