Chapter 21 #2
“Sienna’s Memories Cavern.” She read the sign with confusion coloring her voice. Crone waited with his breath stuck in his throat. “I don’t understand.”
Taking her hand, he tugged her along with him. “Come, let me show you.”
With pride and more than a little trepidation, he took her on a guided tour. Her eyes widened as realization struck when he opened the door to a red room.
“It’s a studio... you... you built me a photography studio?”
“It’s your studio,” Crone corrected softly, fighting to keep his voice steady as uncertainty gnawed at him.
“I’ve watched you with your camera these past couple of weeks.
The way your whole being lights up when you’re capturing moments others miss is mesmerizing as is the way you see beauty in everything. ”
Sienna moved through the studio in wonder, her fingers trailing over the professional equipment as she went.
The main shooting area was flooded with natural light from cleverly positioned skylights, while state-of-the-art lighting systems waited ready to create any mood she desired.
The digital workstation gleamed with multiple monitors, and a consultation area invited clients with comfortable leather seating and warm wood accents.
Her breath caught as she noticed the wall of frames. “These are…” She moved closer, touching one image reverently. “These are my photos. From my fashion shoot days.”
“The ones you took.” He watched her face carefully. “It took some digging, but these were my favorites and showcase your eye and your talent… so much talent.”
But it was the community wall that finally broke her composure.
Recent photos she had taken around the Ranch of Gloria covered in mud but beaming with pride after her riding lesson, George fast asleep against his father’s chest, and Milly’s radiant face as she felt her baby kick, even an intimate moment between Derek and Sadie caught in the golden-hour light on the Rawhide Ranch porch.
“Every time you pick up that camera, you freeze time,” Crone said quietly, moving behind her.
“You capture the soul of moments that would otherwise slip away. I thought maybe…” he hesitated, suddenly unsure again.
“I thought maybe you’d want to do that for our whole community.
Give them memories they can hold on to forever. ”
Sienna turned to him. It was as if he could see her heart shining in her eyes. “You knew,” she whispered. “Somehow you knew what I needed before I could even voice it.”
“I know you,” he said simply, though his heart was anything but calm.
“I’ve seen how much this place, these people, have become your family.
I’ve watched you gift your knowledge to your students.
I wanted to give you a way to give back, to share your incredible talent, to create your own place here beyond just being my wife. ”
She launched herself into his arms with a half laugh, half cry. “You’re an impossibly wonderful man.” She cupped his face. “You built me a dream I didn’t even know I was dreaming.”
Relief flooded through him as he held her, breathing in the scent of her hair. “So... I didn’t overstep?”
She pulled back just enough to look at him, her eyes shining. “Overstep? Crone Lange, you just proved yet again why I’m marrying you in two days. You see all of me, even the parts I’m still discovering myself.”
His kiss tasted of joy and promises. When they finally parted, Sienna looked around the studio, already planning and dreaming.
“Though speaking of the wedding,” she said with a watery laugh, “we should probably get back before Gloria turns the entire thing into a glitter explosion.”
“Too late for that, love.” He grinned, his heart finally settling as he watched her explore her new domain. “But somehow, I think you’ll want to document every sparkly moment.”
Her answering smile was brighter than any camera flash. “Every single one.”
Crone held her close, his heart full yet nervous about his next revelation. “There’s more.” He took a deep breath. “I sold the winery in Santa Monica.”
She pulled back with surprise etching her features. Before she could speak, he continued, “And I bought the ranch bordering The Double L. I’m moving the winery here.”
“But... the climate, the conditions…”
“I’ll make it work,” he said firmly. “Even if I have to develop different grapes, create a whole new kind of wine. What matters is building our future here, where we both belong.”
“We’re going to move onto our own ranch?” Her voice lifted with growing excitement. His confirming smile triggered a flood of enthusiastic questions. “The house, how big is it? I need to measure for curtains! And furniture, we’ll need... oh! Can we go see it now? Right now?”
Warmth flooded his chest at her bubbling joy. “Easy, love.” He chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “We have the rest of our lives to make our home the warmest, most loving one in the Sapphire Mountains. Besides,” he arched an eyebrow, “I thought you had glittering to get back to.”
Her answering smile outshone the sun streaming through the windows, but then her expression turned serious. “I have one condition before accepting this wedding gift.”
Crone stiffened. “Gifts don’t work that way, love.”
“This one does. I’ll open the studio, provided you sell all the new paintings you’re going to make of the Sapphire Mountains and Rawhide Ranch here.”
“I... don’t paint anymore, Sienna, you know that.”
“Well, I guess then you’ll have to sell this place.” Her jaw set with familiar stubbornness.
Crone looked around, through the windows to the mountains beyond.
The late morning light painted them in shades he hadn’t allowed himself to see in years.
Burnt umber deepening to purple in the shadows with silver-green pines catching golden sunlight, and wisps of clouds dragging delicate shapes across the peaks created visions in his mind.
His fingers twitched, and for the first time in five years, he didn’t immediately suppress the urge to capture that beauty.
Something profound stirred in his soul, an awakening so powerful it nearly drove him to his knees.
The artist in him, the part he had buried beneath layers of darkness and pain, stretched toward the light like a flower kept for too long in shadows.
He’d felt whispers of it these past months, watching Sienna capture life through her lens, seeing the world slowly regain its color through her eyes.
But he’d been afraid to trust it, afraid to believe that part of him could ever truly return.
Now, looking at these mountains, at the woman who had helped him find his way back to the light, he felt that old passion rising, untainted by shadows.
“I can see the colors.” His voice roughened with emotion.
“They’re there, in my head again. Not dark ones, not anymore.
I see light and life and…” He swallowed hard, fighting past the tightness in his throat.
“God, kitten, I see beauty again. Real beauty, the kind that makes your soul ache to capture it.”
His hands were shaking as he reached for her, desperate for her touch as this long-dormant part of himself surged back to life.
“I’ve been so afraid to even think about painting.
Afraid it would all come out twisted and dark like before.
But looking at these mountains, at you…” He touched her face reverently.
“The darkness is gone. And what’s rising in its place.
.. it’s like coming home to a part of myself I thought I’d lost forever. ”
“I knew that, my love. I felt it every time you looked at the mountains. That yearning to put that beauty onto a canvas.” She shifted. “And,” she continued, pointing to the large wall in the lobby, “we hang the last painting you did right there.”
“No, it’s too dark. It represents the vileness I buried for once and for all.”
“I agree.” She cupped his face again. Her eyes filled with love and understanding.
“But like we changed and opened ourselves to the light, so can you change the painting. Add our new light to it, a bright sun overriding the darkness, allowing the beauty to overcome all. That painting drew me for the past year, and as much as it meant to you painting it, I now see it as a sign of our survival and our strength to overcome all obstacles in our way to find each other.” Her voice softened.
“You saved me, Crone, in more ways than one... allow me to do the same for you.”
He gazed down at this woman who made his world vibrant again, who saw not just who he was but who he could be.
When he kissed her, it was more than just a meeting of lips, it was a promise, a new beginning, and a commitment to the light they’d found in each other’s darkness.
As the sun streamed through the studio windows, Crone knew with absolute certainty that this was just the first chapter of their story and all the pages ahead were blank canvases waiting to be filled with their love.