Page 83 of Full Send

If her eyes were open, she could see me nodding. I love these spots where nature collides with civilization and nature still wins out.

We head back towards Teton Village and Moose Wilson Road to tackle some of the bigger private drives and access roads, before finally getting to my favorite ones, usually my last stops.

“Oh my god, what’s that up there?” She points ahead excitedly, her voice almost squealing. In front of us is a gated street, with ornate stone columns supporting a wrought iron gate with an elk pattern formed into the metal. Behind the gate is a long evergreen lined road, showing no signs of what lies beyond.

“This is mysecondfavorite,” I say. “It’s a large ranch. Super private and backs up to the river.”

There’s a stunned look on her face. “This isonehouse? One property?”

I laugh a little, my head nodding. “Well, sort of. It’s one property, one owner. But he’s got his main house, a guesthouse, a caretaker’s house, a horse barn, and a toy barn.”

The look on her face only shows more dismay. “How is this only yoursecondfavorite?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see,” I say, pressing the code to open the gate for the private drive.

We head down the road, passing their toy barn first.

“So what’s atoy barnexactly?”She asks, her eyes glued to the fancy barn as we continue down the road.

“That’s where they keep their ATV’s, side by sides, snowmobiles, dirt bikes, you name it.”

She shakes her head in disbelief. “This place had to be tens of millions, right?”

“Yeah… but I can’t blame the guy. He actually lives here year round. He built the new main house as a place to retire and have his family come visit him. It used to be a big ranch but they’ve letnature take back over most of the land. He enjoys every second of this place though. I have no idea what it’d be like to have that much money, but if I did, this is what I’d want. Well, as long as I had someone like you to share it with.”

That last part gets me a smile. God, I love her smile.

“You know, maybe you could get a place like this one day. Take on a partner with the property management company and have more time for knives, get in some fancy restaurants. Get your name out there.”

I laugh shaking my head. “My knives are expensive but I think it’d take a couple lifetimes for me to make enough to afford a place like this.”

She playfully jabs my shoulder. “You know what I mean,Tanner. You’re good at what you do, all of it. I know you could grow both of your businesses and be great at it, if you wanted to.”

Something warm stirs in my heart and I can feel the corners of my eyes tighten. “Thank you, Ronni. No one ever takes me seriously like you do. So thank you, thank you for seeing me as someone besides that goofy, carefree kid everyone still thinks I am.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” she says as she squeezes my hand. “I’m glad I can be there for you, however you need me.”

A smirk takes over my face as we drive down the road.

“But what you said,if I wanted to, I’ve thought about that… a lot. I’d love to grow the businesses. IknowI could do it, I’ve just never seen the point in it before though. The other day, though, Giselle even asked me if I would consider it. I have been thinking about it more and more. So it means a lot that you think I could too.”

The playful look on her face is gone and taken over by a more serious one. “I’m proud of you, Tanner. We’re proud of you, because I know Collin is too. You work hard, don’t think that people don’t see that. And you’re fearless when you set yourmind to something. Whether it’s running your own businesses or skiing off a cliff, when you want something, you commit. Hard. Not many people can say that about themselves.”

I don’t know why her words cut through me like they do. I believe everything she’s saying. I know what I can do. I’m confident in myself. But hearing it from someone else, that someone really sees me, especially her, means so much.

We continue down the drive past the caretaker’s house, which is now just anextraguesthouse, the other barn, and finally reach the main house and the other guesthouse. Her eyes go wide when we reach them.

“Jesus, this place is nuts,” she says, taking in the massive complex in front of her.

“Well, you haven’t seen my favorite part of it,” I say, turning to drive down a path between the main house and guesthouse.

It takes us down towards the river, to the edge of a clearing in the trees. I throw the truck in park, turning off the engine but leaving the lights on.

She gives me a questioning look. There’s still a smile on her face, but I can tell she’s wondering why we’re here.

“Is this your secret make out spot?” she asks, taking a sip of her coffee, grinning at me.

A quick laugh escapes my closed lips. “Nope. Never brought anyone here besides Rex.”

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