Rhett didn’t know what to do with himself as things proceeded. Nat gave a statement to Crawford, who took Durbin and his henchmen away in cuffs shortly after. The ambulance came and checked her out, but she refused to go to the hospital, and the EMTs said she should be fine, that the bump on the back of her head wasn’t a concussion, and that she just needed rest and quiet.

Unable to trust this opinion, once they got back to River Run, Rhett had his personal doctor come out to the house, where she was snug on his couch, her father never leaving her side. Dr. Thomas arrived and told them the same thing as the EMTs.

“I’m fine,” Nat stressed as the doctor left. “And no, I don’t need another blanket.” She batted at his hands as he tried to put another over her legs as Big Stan chuckled.

“I still can’t believe Durbin was, like, this drug kingpin,” Nat said, shaking her head and then wincing.

“Does your head hurt?” Rhett asked, getting up instantly. “Do you need a heating pad? Maybe a cold compress?”

“I need you to sit down and stop freaking out,” she said. “I’m okay. My head just kind of hurts. Now I have an exciting story to tell at the office. Technically, I busted a drug kingpin!”

Of course that’s the attitude she would take. Rhett tried not to smile.

“You did a good job, sweetie,” Big Stan said. Rhett’s father had gone back to the lodge to give them privacy once he was sure Nat would be okay. “Though I’ve gotta admit. Durbin’s plan was kind of kooky.”

“I think the eventual goal was to strong-arm Rhett into giving up ownership of the tanks,” Nat said. “That way he could siphon into his poppy fields, and Rhett wouldn’t have reason to monitor the water going in and out of them. And he couldn’t revoke access.”

“And to think we were suspicious it was about mineral rights,” Rhett said.

“Maybe he wanted us to think that,” Nat said. “Who knows? Detective Crawford said that the drug dealers from the house they busted might be more willing to cut a deal now that their boss is in prison, so we might get more details.”

Big Stan shook his head. “Whatever happened to a man doing an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay?” he said. “Criminal and thieves, even here in these beautiful forests. Breaks my heart.”

“There’s lots of good in this community, too,” Nat said, making Rhett smile.

“That’s my girl, looking on the bright side,” Big Stan said with a grin that turned into a yawn as he checked his watch.

“You should go get some sleep, Dad,” she said. “Rhett, why don’t you go walk my Dad back?”

“I’m not sure I should leave you alone—”he started.

“Son, let’s do what she wants,” Big Stan interrupted him. “She probably wants to call her friends and brag about what a bad-ass she was.” He winked at her and she stuck her tongue out. “Night, sweetheart,” her father said, giving her a long hug. “Scare me like that again and I’ll rethink my policy on whooping asses.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be back in a little bit,” Rhett said.

He and Big Stan began their walk back to the lodge in the kind of quiet, companionable silence that came from experiencing a huge adrenaline rush and high-stakes situation in such a short time.

“Today has been a very intense day,” Big Stan said. “I didn’t quite expect such upheaval.”

“I promise, it’s usually not so dramatic,” Rhett said.

“You’ve created quite the place here,” Big Stan commented as they rounded the final curve and the cozy lights of the lodge came into sight. “Seems like you’ve got a big heart.”

“I try,” Rhett said carefully, coming to a stop with him.

“You work hard,” Big Stan said, and it wasn’t a question, more like an observation. “My daughter… she works very hard, too.”

“Nat is one of the hardest-working people I know,” Rhett said. “I’m sure she gets that from you and her mother.”

“Natalie is… she’s always pushed herself,” Big Stan said, staring hard out at the dark shadows of the mountains that rose behind the lodge. “Any goal she had, she was always very dogged, like she had tunnel vision. She was the first girl to ride broncs in our county. The boys made fun of her, hazed her, and the coaches were indifferent, but nothing could stop her. She was a whirlwind on a horse, this cyclone of speed. I’ve been blessed with a lot of good memories in my life, but being in those stands, watching her on those broncs… they’re some of the best moments of my life.”

“She was that good, huh?” Rhett asked.

“My daughter excels at anything she does,” Big Stan said. “Which isn’t normally a problem.”

Rhett’s chest tightened. “And now it is?” he asked.

“I’m not stupid. I know my daughter has a social life, a dating life, but there’s clearly never been a man who has held her attention for long. And then you come along and you’re friends already and she’s done this enormous thing for you, married you, faced down a drug dealer for you, and that tells me some very important things.”

Rhett took a deep breath, not wanting to hear more, because he had a feeling he knew where Big Stan was leading this conversation. But he needed to hear it. Maybe if he did, he’d be able to finally let go of this fantasy in his head.

River Run was no longer being threatened. Durbin would be going to prison, and his farm would be sold to someone else—hell, after this ordeal, he felt like buying it himself just to be safe.

Which all meant…

He and Nat didn’t need to be married anymore.

“What does it tell you?” he forced himself to ask Big Stan.

“It tells me she’s already making sacrifices for you,” Big Stan said. “And my girl? She’s a good girl. A strong girl. But she doesn’t stop for anyone. She doesn’t let people hold her back.”

“I would never hold Nat back,” Rhett said, horrified that he would think that.

“Not purposefully,” Big Stan said. “But love… relationships… marriage… it all requires compromise and sacrifices. And giving up everything you’ve got on a silver platter, leaving something huge behind for love is a romantic thought, but when reality sets in and you’re living day to day, it’s a lot harder.”

Rhett turned to face him, leaning against the face, quizzical. “Something tells me there’s a personal story behind that.”

Big Stan smiled. “Nat’s mother Vivian gave up grad school for me and the life I was building on the ranch. She didn’t have to, I would’ve made it work long-distance, even back then when that was fairly unconventional, because God help me, I love that woman more than anything. But she chose to sacrifice for me and Nat the life we were building. Not just for us, but for me. She changed her dreams. And I’ve spent our life making it up to her, because it was a lot to give up. And what she ended up with is an incredible life, but it was different than what she pictured when we met.”

“That is very noble of her,” Rhett said. “I’m glad it worked out for you two.”

“My daughter is not like my wife,” Big Stan said, his dark eyes glittering with a fire that Rhett recognized. “If she gave up everything for you, she would not flourish. She’d wither. She’d become a shell of the incredible woman she’s grown up to be. And if she loves you? If she truly loves you? She will try to give up everything for you if she thinks that’s the solution.”

“I wouldn’t let her,” Rhett croaked out.

Big Stan laughed. “Have you met my girl? Because once she’s put her mind to something, she’s pretty much an unstoppable force.”

“Then why tell me this?” Rhett asked. “If you don’t want us together…”

“I never said that,” Big Stan said. “Son, I’m not trying to sabotage you. You’re a good guy by all accounts, and you and my daughter have obviously got some really deep feelings about each other to work out. I’m just giving you the tools to do that.”

“By telling me that by being with me, what makes Nat herself will wither away?”

Big Stan sighed. “She’s not the only one who can change, Son,” he said. “Think about that.”

He strolled away, disappearing into the lodge, leaving Rhett in the middle of the road, dumbfounded.

She’s not the only one who can change.

“Well, fuck,” Rhett said out loud.

Looks like his life was about to be uprooted.

When he got back to his house, Nat wasn’t in the living room anymore. He found her curled in his bed in a sea of blankets, her hair fanning out against the pillow.

“Long day,” he murmured, crawling into bed with her.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she said.

He stroked her arm, a little surprised when she turned around, tilting her face up expectantly.

He kissed her, keeping it gentle, but she was having none of that. Her fingers wound in his hair, her tongue slicked across his bottom lip, and then her teeth followed, scraping exquisitely against his skin, making his cock stir.

He was at her mercy, helpless against the pull of her as she wiggled out of her panties and straddled him, her wetness grinding against his cock, making his eyes roll back in his head.

When she sank down on him, he couldn’t stop the hitch of his hips, the groan in his throat, how his fingers dug into the flesh on her hips. He was lost in her, words falling out of his mouth before he could stop them, sweet little words of confession, skirting on the edge of love, tilting into bright desire and worship. Wanted you forever and Just this, just you and Gonna make you mine.

She rose and fell on his cock, her head tilted back, her face a revelation of ecstasy as he gave her everything he had, as he drove her to new heights and she broke around him, trembling and crying out, her eyes wet and her fingers tight around his on her hip.

She was so beautiful, so fucking incandescent, that he came just from watching her own orgasm ripple through her, the tight grip of her pussy too much, and as they came down together, clutching each other close, his eyes drifted shut, and he knew.

This had to be forever.