THIRTY-SIX.
Ever
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Rose and thorn.
I toss carrots, celery, and potatoes into the pot on the stove, then give everything a quick stir before placing the lid on top.
I glance out the window above the sink and pause—the sun is already dipping low, painting the sky in wide strokes of purple, pink, blue, and orange.
My favorite kind of sunset, the one that makes the whole world feel quieter for a few minutes.
I just need to finish a few more things for dinner, then I can step out onto the front porch and watch the colors deepen until Tobias gets home.
Home. The word echoes through me with a weight and warmth it never carried before.
This house—this land—feels different now that it’s ours.
Tobias was true to his word: three weeks to renovate the master bedroom and bathroom.
He ordered supplies, rallied Jesse and Wyatt, even Ruben, when he needed extra hands, and turned the space into something entirely us.
It surprised me at first how quickly and efficiently they worked, but then I remembered they’d done a full overhaul on Tobias’s smaller ranch house years ago.
A bedroom and bathroom were nothing to them.
He spared no expense—new fixtures, fresh paint, wide-plank flooring—and he kept me in the loop every step of the way.
He taught me how to lay tile, trusted my taste on hardware and faucets, let me choose the furniture, even ordered a new mattress and sheets so everything could feel like ours from the first night we slept in there.
Ours. I haven’t been able to stop using that word lately.
It fits everything now—our mornings, our routines, our future. Our life.
The walkie on the counter crackles to life with static.
I freeze, staring at it, holding my breath as I wait for a voice to come through.
The longer the silence stretches, the more my stomach twists.
I glance at the clock—almost 6:30, almost time for the boys to wrap up the day.
A call this late usually means something’s wrong.
“Hey, Ever?” Jesse’s voice finally breaks through, casual but clear.
I rinse and dry my hands quickly and pick up the walkie. “Yeah?”
“Are you busy?”
“Not particularly,” I say, waiting a beat too long for him to continue. The quiet makes my nerves spike. “Is something wrong?”
“You know that oak tree on the hill at the back of your house?”
My heart stutters. “Yeah… why?”
“Can you go to your back porch and look at it for me?”
My feet are already moving before he finishes the sentence. Panic floods through me—did something happen to the tree? Lightning? A branch come down?
“What am I looking for?”
“I thought I saw a cow up there.”
“A cow?” The word comes out sharp with relief. The panic eases instantly.
“Yeah. I’m down by the white barn and I don’t know why, but it just looks… light to me. And I thought I saw something up there earlier, so now I’m curious if it was a cow.”
I chuckle under my breath and shake my head.
This is classic Jesse—spotting movement from half a mile away and convincing himself it’s a crisis.
I slide open the glass door to the sunroom at the back of the house and step up to the large windows, scanning the hill where the old oak stands against the sunset.
“I don’t see anything, Jess.”
“Oh, really?” He sounds genuinely disappointed. I keep sweeping my gaze across the horizon, searching for any sign of movement, but there’s nothing—just the familiar tree against the fading light.
“How certain are you that there was a cow up there?” I ask, turning to look toward the white barn where the cow pasture begins. It would be a long walk, even for a cow.
“I really thought I saw something.” He sighs, long and dramatic. “I’m gonna have to go up there to see.”
I chew my bottom lip for a second, weighing Jesse’s disappointed tone against the fading light outside.
It’s the end of a long day—he sounds tired, probably worn out from the morning rounds and whatever else the ranch threw at him—and I know how much it bugs him when something doesn’t add up.
“Well,” I start, “I’m right here. I can walk up there and check for you while you wrap up. ”
“Are you sure?” he asks, surprise threading through his voice.
“Yeah, why not?” I say, already feeling the pull of the idea. “I was gonna sit out on the porch anyway.”
“It’s gonna be a nice sunset,” he confirms, and the thought sparks something in me.
Now that he mentions it, the view from up on that hill is better than the porch.
The sky’s already shifting into those deep purples and pinks I love, and the idea of catching the whole show from up there suddenly feels like the perfect end to the day.
“I’ll go check it out,” I tell him. “Don’t worry.”
I’m already moving, grabbing a light jacket from the hook by the door and slipping it on as I step outside.
The air hits me crisp and cool, carrying the scent of fresh grass and distant hay.
I start up the sloping hill behind the house, the path worn familiar under my boots from all the times I’ve walked it just to think.
My eyes trail over the rolling green fields, down to the pastures, past the road that cuts through the valley—nothing but open land stretching out in every direction.
I can’t believe it’s almost summer again.
Almost a year since I moved here. My life has changed so much in that time: I own a ranch now, I’m in love with a man I’ve been half in love with since I was twelve, and Marissa’s coming back in two weeks to see her “not-boyfriend.” I chuckle under my breath at the thought of her ever considering moving here permanently, but my offer still stands.
Tobias’s old cabin sits empty now that he’s moved into the main house with me, so there’s room for her if she ever wanted it.
I know it would take a miracle for her to leave her family and the city, but I can’t help feeling hopeful.
Especially if things keep going well with her and Jesse.
I stutter-step when I hear movement near the top of the hill, my breath catching.
Did Jesse actually see a cow up here? I pick up my pace, already calculating how much of a pain it would be to herd one back down to the pasture from this far up.
Rounding the crest, I jump back as Dale and Sally burst out from the other side, tails whipping, circling me in frantic, happy loops.
I drop to a crouch and pat their heads, laughing under my breath as they press against my legs.
When I straighten I see someone standing on the far side of the oak tree, hands in his pockets, watching me with that quiet intensity that still makes my stomach flip every time.
“Tobias?” I ask softly, stepping around the trunk. His eyes catch mine without hesitation. “What are you doing up here?”
He closes the distance in a few strides, his gaze sliding over me smoothly before he slips a hand around my waist and pulls me flush against him.
I smile as he leans down and kisses me—slow, warm, lingering just long enough to make my knees feel unsteady.
I grab the front of his shirt and tug him closer, craving the press of his breath against mine, but he keeps it short and sweet before pulling back.
“Are you looking for the cow?” I tease.
He grins, but doesn’t answer right away. Instead he lets his eyes linger on my face, chewing his bottom lip like he’s deciding something. “Are you not looking for a cow?” I press, amusement curling through me.
“Jesse said there might be one up here,” he says, but there’s no real conviction behind it.
I glance around halfheartedly, already knowing if Tobias is up here with our dogs, there’s no stray cow to find.
My eyes lift to the distant horizon instead—the rolling hills, the grassy green slopes, the clouds hanging low and streaked, their edges igniting in bright orange and pink as the sun sinks lower.
It’s breathtaking from up here, even more than I imagined.
Tobias turns me and wraps his arms around my waist, holding me tight against his chest. I lean my head back against him, soaking in his steady warmth, the solid rhythm of his heartbeat.
“Should we tell Jesse he’s gone mad?” I ask softly.
Tobias chuckles, the low sound rumbling through his chest and into me. “I already told him,” he murmurs.
I sink deeper into his arms as the sun continues its slow descent, letting the warmth of him and the quiet beauty of the moment wrap around me.
I trail my eyes up to the higher clouds, watching them shift from vivid orange to soft pink and then gradually deepen into purple, like a time-lapse unfolding right in front of me.
I lose track of how much time passes—minutes, maybe more—but neither of us moves.
It feels like we’re both afraid that if we do, the spell will break and this perfect pocket of beauty will vanish.
“You wanna know something?” he says softly against my ear, his lips brushing close enough that I feel the warmth of his breath.
“Hmm,” I hum in response, gentle and content.
He presses lightly on my hip and turns me in his arms until I’m facing him.
His perfect, green eyes are smiling, glistening in the golden light of the fading sun, and I’ve never been more in love with him than I am in this exact moment.
The feeling never stops growing—it just keeps expanding, filling every quiet corner of me.
“After we met,” he starts, voice low and steady, “I made up every excuse to come to this ranch, just in the hopes that I would see you.” My chest swells at the admission, emotion rising sharp and sudden.
“I’d come up here, replaying our conversation over and over—the way you looked at me when I said we should run away together, the way you grabbed my hand and trusted me even though you had no idea who I was.
I think I knew even then that my heart belonged to you. ”
“Tobias,” I whisper, the word sweet but barely audible because my eyes are already swelling with tears.
“Everyone says this ranch gave me purpose and straightened me out, and in some ways they’re right,” he continues.
“But it was you I was searching for here. You’re the one who gave me purpose, a meaning to my life.
” I grip my hands around him tighter, holding on like I’ll never let go again.
“I think life brought us together exactly when we needed each other most, and all the years we spent apart were just us becoming who we needed to be in order to make this work—so we could see each other for who we are, not who we used to be.”
He reaches up and brushes stray hairs from my eyes, then cups my face gently in his hands.
His thumbs trail lightly across my cheeks, and suddenly I realize what he’s doing—what he’s about to do.
I lean back just enough to see his face fully, to see the raw honesty in his eyes, the quiet nerves flickering beneath his certainty.
“Everette Grace,” he says softly, his voice breaking on my name. Tears flood my eyes instantly.
He steps back, pulling his hands from my face only to reveal that he’s been holding one fist closed this entire time.
He drops to one knee, takes a shaky breath, and opens his hand.
A ring rests between his fingers—a simple gold band topped with a green gemstone in the center, and small diamonds trailing down the sides.
“Will you marry me,” he asks, “and make me the happiest man alive?”
I nod slowly at first, then fiercely, all at once. “Yes,” I manage, the word barely making it past the lump in my throat as I hold out my trembling hand.
He smiles wide and bright and so full of love it steals my breath, then quickly takes my fingers and slides the ring onto my finger with careful precision.
“I love you.”
“I love you,” I tell him in return, but the words feel too small for everything rushing through me.
I jump at him the second he’s halfway to standing and wrap my arms around his neck.
He catches me easily, arms banding around my waist as he spins me once before grabbing my thighs to lift me higher.
I wrap my legs around him and hold on tight—so tight I’m sure it’s almost painful, but I couldn’t care less.
I love this man, I love our story, and I love that I get to spend the rest of my life with him on this ranch. Just the two of us.
The Princess and Mr. Grump.
The rose and the thorn.