Page 35 of Christmas with Three Cowboys

Colton flashes a cool smile. “Would you go back to Lincoln after you finish your sentence?”

That’s a good question.

I have an answer, but I don’t think I’m ready to say it out loud. I don’t think I’m ready to admit it either. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had an aversion to drastic changes in my life. Yet coming here was precisely that.

“I think I’ll answer that another day, if you don’t mind,” I tell Colton.

“That’s alright. There’s no rush. We’d like to have you here for as long as possible, though. I figured you should know.”

“You would, huh?” I ask, thinking about the permanent position here when my time is served.

He steers Apex closer to Isabella. Our horses get along great, occasionally nudging one another in a playful manner. Isabella isn’t as fast as Apex, so when we’re racing across the pasture, I noticed Colton’s horse doesn’t dart ahead like he normally would when he’s up against Cosmos or Elias. Apex actually slows down a little so my mare can keep up, and it’s the sweetest thing.

“I know the paperwork has been put in for you to work here after your sentence is over, but you could always choose another path,” Colton says, his gaze softening as it searches my face. “But wouldn’t you agree that there’s something between us? I don’t want it to have an expiration date.”

“Neither do I, but isn’t it complicated? I mean, how would it work in the long run?”

“You’ve thought about it,” he smiles broadly.

My face burns pink. “Well, yeah.”

“That’s sweet. Thing is… if you want something to work, you figure out a way to make it work, right?”

“I’m sure that applies to a car engine or a pie recipe, but not a relationship between four people, for Pete’s sake,” I shoot back, almost laughing as I shake my head. “This is crazy, Colton. I never imagined I’d be involved in something like this.”

“Neither did I. Yet here we are,” he says.

“Yeah. Here we are,” I sigh deeply.

I can see the southern gate about a hundred yards away. Beyond it, a road stretches, connecting the ranch to the outside world, above it is an endless stretch of blue sky.

But a truck that pulls up to the gate is what catches my attention. The uniformed man who gets out of the truck is unfamiliar to me, but I can’t see much from this position. He’s steady in his movements, looking over the entire southern pasture as he gets closer to the gate.

“Colton follows my gaze. “Probably a prospector.”

“A prospector?”

“Yeah, everybody wants to buy this land from us,” he says with a heavy sigh. “Once a week, sometimes even twice during the summer months, people stop by. A few of them keep coming back, surveying the land. It’s almost ridiculous. Though I get it.”

“Prime real estate, right?”

Colton nods once. “For developers, for industrial farming, yeah. But it would destroy the ecosystem here. It would throw the other ranchers in the pit, as well. One of the reasons why the big industries haven’t breached these parts of Nebraska is because we, the ranchers, have stuck together.”

“Passing the lands down through generations?”

“Yeah. We’ll do the same, you know,” he replies, and I look at him. The hint of a smile stretching across his lips fills me with a peculiar, sweet warmth. A promise that has yet to find words. “Our children will inherit this land. And these plains and these hills will remain clean. Green. Like nature intended.”

“You’re brave, I’ll give you that,” I say, glancing back at the man by the gate.

“Why brave?”

“Most people would take the money. I suppose you’ve been offered well above the market value. Or am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong,” Colton chuckles.

Somewhere behind us, I hear Ethan and Mitch are shouting, laughing. The cattle moo as their hooves thunder and crunch in the hardening snow. The dogs are yipping and barking.

“But the money is worthless when you’ve got all of this laid out at your feet,” Colton adds, a beam of pride emanating from his blue eyes and his voice at the same time. “Money can’t beat this view nor the bounty the land offers.”

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