Page 54 of Rusty

"Thank you, Rusty." Janice smiled through her tears, reaching out for his hand. “You know, you don’t need to worry about not being good enough for me. I don’t care about silly titles or land or any of that stuff. Never had. All I ever wanted was just to be happy. To be free. And now that you and I are back together, I’m both of those things.”

“You have an amazing job now, too,” said Rusty. “Don’t forget that.”

Janice grinned. “Oh, I won’t. I have so much to tell you about. Trent’s had me studying super hard. He’s quite a taskmaster.”

Rusty chuckled. “Is he now? I’ll have to have words with him about that.”

“Don’t even think about it!” said Janice with another laugh. “I’m loving every minute of it.” She took a long deep breath as she looked out at the silvery moon that was appearing low in the sky. “I’m so glad I’m not in Scotland right now. This, here, feels like home. I may have grown up in Colorado, but my life there wasn’t comfortable. Not recently, anyway. This place has it all. Abeautiful ranch. The scent of sagebrush and the sound of cattle. The rugged mountains. Open air. And best of all, you.”

Rusty put his arm around Janice, giving her a big squeeze. Suddenly, though, she felt him stiffen.

"Say, Rusty, what about your family’s ranch in Colorado? Has my father done anything to jeopardize it?"

Rusty nodded. "Yeah. He kicked my cousins off the land.”

“Oh no!”

“But I found a solution,” Rusty said, with a twisted smile. “You met Takis yet? He’ll tell you he’s the groundskeeper here, but actually he’s secretly extremely wealthy. A millionaire, some say. Bought out this ranch from the North brothers when they were in trouble.”

Janice’s eyes widened. “A secret millionaire groundskeeper? Well, well. And here I was thinking the Mischief Makers were the ranch’s biggest secret.”

Rusty arched a brow playfully. “The Mischief Makers?”

Janice’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oops! Nothing. Definitely not a secret society of prankster Littles. Nope. Nothing to see here. Move along please, sir.”

Rusty laughed. “Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, playing along, “but I spoke to Takis about my family’s situation, and, to cut a long story short, he decided to buy the ranch off them. He fell on some hard times a little while ago, but apparently there's plenty in the coffers again now this ranch is working so well."

"Really?" Janice's eyes widened with surprise. "But why would he do that?"

"Well," Rusty continued, his voice tinged with excitement, "he wants to make a sister ranch to Littlecreek Ranch in Colorado. What your father doesn’t know is that my cousins are all Daddy Doms too. Takis wants them to stay where they are and set up another sanctuary for Littles in need."

With that, Janice started to giggle. She giggled and giggled. “My father’s going to love that. His neighbors being a DDlg ranch and all!”

Rusty chuckled. “He sure is.” He paused. “Actually, in all seriousness, Takis has already spoken to him. Told him what he’s got in mind, and let Angus know that Takis has got even more land and more wealth than your father has.”

“He does?”

“Scotland’s not that big, sweetheart. If you own a bit of land there, chances are it’s the size of a postage stamp. And Takis? Well, he owns about a hundred gyms, two ranches, and a fetish club or two, by the sounds of it. Plus, rumor has it, he owns a Greek island.”

Janice’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “And he spends his days pretending to be a groundskeeper in Montana?”

“That’s about the size of it,” replied Rusty. “Likes to keep a low profile most of the time, I guess.”

"Rusty, I can't believe you managed to turn things around like this," Janice said, her eyes sparkling with delight. "I love the idea of another sanctuary. And now we'll be able to help even more Littles!"

Rusty could see the joy radiating from Janice, and it warmed his heart to know that their future together held such promise.

The last of the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow that illuminated Janice's radiant hair. Rusty couldn't help but admire her beauty, her eyes sparkling like emeralds as she gazed out over the ranch spread out beneath them.

Rusty's heart swelled with love for his partner, and he reached out to gently cup her face in his hands.

“I’m so proud of you, babygirl,” he said. “You’re a sweet Little, and an amazing woman. I hope you know that you are more than worthy of happiness, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure you never doubt that again."

“I know you will, Daddy,” said Janice, smiling. “And also, I know I’m worthy. I even told my father as much.”

“You did?” Rusty whistled. “I’m impressed.”

“We’re not silly young things anymore,” said Janice. “We’re brave, and bold, and unstoppable.”

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