Travis opened his eyes, turned around, and smiled as three boys between the ages of eight and twelve years old chased each other down the trail from his old cabin on the opposite side of the stream. They ran over to the grassy bank by the water, and after stopping to catch their breath, rolled up the pants legs of their jeans and waded through the shin-deep water. They splashed each other, howling with laughter when the frigid water hit their skin.
A young couple followed at a leisurely pace behind the boys. They spread a blanket on the grass, sat down, and leaned against each other, smiling as they admired each other, then the view.
And it was a spectacular view.
Travis shielded his eyes from the sun’s beating rays with one hand and scanned the terrain in front of him. The steep incline leading to the cabin where he used to stay had greened up nicely, and the thick swaths of grass covered every inch of the grounds.
In the distance, the mountain range still bore scars of the brutal wildfire, but the majority of the landscape had rejuvenated itself. Lush green foliage had fought its way through damaged earth, feeding off the nutrients left behind by ash and scorched woodland debris, and the increase in sunlight to the newly bared forest floor had encouraged new, diverse growth that added splashes of color to the landscape and breathed new life into the majestic mountains.
Blue mist had returned, creating an elegant contrast to puffy, white clouds and golden rays of sunlight, and the smoke that had hovered over the mountain for days after the wildfire had long since departed. Pounding hammers, the playful shouts of happy children, and the faint sound of music echoed across the grounds.
Travis smiled. Since the day Gloria, Vernon, Liz, and Zeke had come, groups of wildfire refugees had arrived every day for two weeks. Word had spread quickly that Paradise Peak Ranch was a welcoming haven, and before long, every room in the lodge was occupied and every cabin on the property was full.
Guests had been eager to help turn the once neglected cabins and outdated rooms in the lodge into temporary homes while they waited through long delays in getting financial assistance to rebuild their own homes and businesses. In the lodge, guests had removed aged wallpaper in the room and applied fresh coats of paint to the walls, pitched in to renovate bathrooms and repair old plumbing. They had helped prepare meals from donated supplies each night, full of comfort foods, to help everyone feel more at home.
Families staying in cabins had helped repair roof damage, stained their decks and porches, and had planted vegetables and flowers in gardens that hadn’t been touched in years. And every night, families gathered in the newly restored banquet hall to enjoy meals and listen to the occasional guitar music from guests.
Everyone had come together over the last two months to bring out the best in Paradise Peak Ranch and make it into a home.
Travis studied the boisterous boys and their parents relaxing on the other side of the stream again. The couple waved and he raised his hand and called out a greeting in return.
The Carrollton family—Andrew, Kate, and their three boys, Xavier, Jacob, and Drew—had moved into Travis’s old cabin two days after he’d moved into a spare room in Hannah’s place. The accommodations had been small for such a large family, but the Carrolltons had been relieved to have a place to call their own while they waited for their damaged house on the other side of the mountain to be rebuilt. They’d lost almost everything in the fire, except for each other, but were grateful they’d all escaped unscathed and had remained optimistic in the two months since they’d arrived at the ranch, pitching in to renovate the cabin they occupied as well as two others.
Kate had even volunteered to sing at a spring dance Red had arranged for tomorrow night—the first event of such kind at Paradise Peak Ranch. Red had been in an unusually anxious mood of late, which Travis chalked up to nerves as he prepared to throw his first ever dance at the ranch.
The scent of charcoal burning drifted by on the spring breeze. That’d be Red, firing up the grill in preparation for a late-afternoon dinner on the lodge deck. It had become a tradition every Friday night at the ranch for himself, Margaret, Hannah, and Travis.
Stomach growling, Travis wiped his hands on his jeans and strode up the dirt path toward the stable. The children’s laughter faded as he walked away, and he smiled, recalling the way the boys’ joyful shouts had traveled across the stream and echoed against Hannah’s cabin last night as they’d chased fireflies after dark.
Their happy sounds had enticed Travis and Hannah outside to sit in rocking chairs on her front porch, where they’d watched the boys play for over an hour. He flexed his hand, the warm feel of Hannah’s palm against his own still tingling on his skin. She’d held his hand, rested her head against his shoulder, and smiled as the kids had played.
“Can you imagine having that many rambunctious sons under one roof?” she’d asked.
Her voice had been light and teasing, but there had been something else in her tone and the depths of her blue eyes as she’d looked up at him. Happiness, hope, and . . . love?
He had imagined having sons. Many times.
Each night, as he’d lain in the large double bed in the bedroom across the hall from Hannah, he dreamed of falling asleep with her in his arms and waking up to her soft, even breaths whispering across his chest as she slept. He’d fantasized about rousing her with gentle kisses, making love to her to the slow tempo of the sunrise, and undertaking a full day of ranch work with her by his side.
He’d thought of children—his and Hannah’s—and he’d wondered if their daughter would inherit Hannah’s red curls and feistiness, or his black hair and reserved disposition. He’d wondered if their son would grow as tall as he and envisioned teaching him to become the kind of compassionate man he endeavored to be. And he’d imagined how full his heart would feel holding Hannah and his children close, protecting them, supporting them, and loving them right here on this mountain for years to come.
He hadn’t said any of
that out loud.
Instead, he’d simply answered, “Yes.” And when he’d walked Hannah to her bedroom later that evening and had shared a slow, lingering kiss good night—as they did every night since he’d moved in—it had taken every ounce of restraint he’d had to pull away from her caressing hands and desire-filled expression and return to his bed across the hall.
He loved Hannah. Putting down roots at the ranch and nurturing a family with her would be sheer heaven. But that choice didn’t belong to him. His future in Paradise Peak—and any mercy he might receive—resided in Margaret’s hands.
“Hi, handsome,” a familiar, feminine voice called. “You looking for me?”
Travis smiled, left the dirt path, and walked over to the paddock fence where Hannah waited, leaning over the top rung.
“Always.” He cupped her cheek, dipped his head, and covered her mouth with his, savoring her soft moan of pleasure as he kissed her.
When he released her, she eased away slowly, a dazed look of pleasure in her eyes and a pretty pink flush on her cheeks. She gestured over her shoulder. “After a month of lessons, I do believe Zeke has the hang of it.”
Across the paddock, Zeke, wearing a helmet and wide smile, sat astride a small pony. Liz, laughing and praising the boy, held Zeke protectively in the saddle with both hands as Margaret led the pony in a slow walk around the paddock. Blondie padded along the grass on the other side of the fence behind them, tail wagging.