It was just after six when they landed back in Bozeman. Chance carried their bags back to his truck and opened the passenger door for Hope. She planted a kiss on his lips before she climbed in.

“Thank you so much for this weekend. I had a great time.”

“Thank you for going with me. I had a great time, too. I feel as though we just overcame the only major hurdle we had left. This trip helped me get everything straight in my head.”

Hope nodded. “I know. Before we went, I felt like it was taking a risk.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I thought that maybe when you took me there, you’d discover that you couldn’t love me.”

He shook his head. “I never doubted that I could love you or that I do love you or that I’ll love you for the rest of my days. There was no risk there. What I wanted to know was whether I could let go of the past enough to give you the future you deserve.”

She smiled. “You’re so sweet.”

He rolled his eyes and closed the door on her. He went around and climbed into the driver’s seat and she laughed. “You really are. You think you hide it so well underneath the badass cowboy exterior, but you’re as sweet as Emma.”

He chuckled. “No way. I might have a soft center, but I’m nothing like her. She’s a smart woman, but she’s just a mushy little romantic at heart.”

“She is, and Missy was telling me she’s a bit of matchmaker, too. I still like her idea of introducing Jack and Dan’s mom to my dad. Wouldn’t that be awesome if they hit it off.”

Chance started up the truck and shook his head at her. “I’d leave it alone, if I were you. I doubt either of them would thank you for it.”

“I know.” She sighed. “Maybe I’m a bit of a mushy romantic myself.” She looked as though something about that bothered her.

“There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”

She shrugged. “I guess not, as long as I don’t let it blind me to reality.”

“What are you getting at?”

She shrugged again. “I’m just thinking about my dad and wanting him to be happy.”

Chance nodded, but he had a feeling that wasn’t all she was thinking about. For the first time, he felt like she wasn’t telling him the whole truth. He couldn’t figure out what might be bothering her, though, and she didn’t want to tell him. The safest bet was probably to let it go. She wasn’t backward about coming forward and she’d no doubt tell him in her own good time.

When they reached the Davenport ranch, Chance slowed as he drove by Dr. Johnny’s house. There was no sign of life. He’d half expected to see them out on the porch or in the yard.

Hope looked around. “Maybe they’re out.”

He nodded and followed the driveway on toward her dad’s place. “Yeah. I’m sure we’ll catch up with them soon.” He knew she liked to check in with them whenever she could.

Seymour was standing on the front steps when they pulled up. Chance smiled at the way Hope jumped out of the truck and ran up the steps to hug him. He was glad their relationship had improved so much in such a short space of time. Back in Oregon, she’d talked about her father as a cold, distant man whom she didn’t really know. Now, she threw herself into his arms like a little girl who’d missed her daddy. That made Chance happy; that was how it should be.

Seymour smiled at him as he trotted up the steps to join them. “Chance. I trust you had a good visit?”

“We did, thanks. My dad sends his regards and says he’s looking forward to meeting you.”

“I look forward to meeting him, too. Do you have any idea when that might happen?”

Hope answered before Chance could open his mouth. “It won’t be for a while yet, not unless you want to take a trip to Summer Lake. Frank’s not up to traveling much, is he?” She smiled at Chance, but he sensed a weird tension he didn’t understand.

“I think I could be persuaded to tag along, if you two go down there again anytime soon.” Seymour smiled. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t expect you to hang out with me, but it’d be nice to meet your family, Chance, and I think it’s time I paid the Hemmings a visit.”

Hope smiled. “I didn’t get to meet them, but I did meet their son, Pete. He’s a good guy. Chance knows him well, don’t you?”

“I do. He’s got a good head on his shoulders and he’s built a very successful company.”

“I thought he’d do well in life. I kept tabs on him for a while.” Seymour’s smile faded as if he were lost in some thought of his own. He smiled brightly, seeming to remember he wasn’t alone. “Maybe I’ll give Graham and Anne a call.”

“Do it, Dad,” said Hope. She looked at Chance and reined in her enthusiasm. “If you think you’re ready.”

Chance had to smile. She wanted the best for both of them, but she didn’t push them. He hoped for Seymour’s sake that when he decided he was ready to start exploring the possibilities of living again, he’d discover, just as Chance had himself, that he’d waited so long that he was more than ready.

“What can I get you both? It was kind of you to invite me to dinner, but I thought you’d be tired after your trip. This way I get to see you for a little while and you can still get home with some evening left to enjoy.”

“Thanks.” Chance appreciated his thoughtfulness. “Plus, this way we get to see you twice. You can come for dinner another night.”

“I was thinking that the two of you could come here for dinner.”

Hope laughed. “What? Are you going to cook?”

Chance sensed Seymour’s discomfort. “No, but the caterers in town would rival any private chef I’ve had.” Seymour looked less confident than Chance had seen him before. “And I was thinking I could try my hand at dessert, so at least one course would be homemade.”

Hope’s expression softened. There was obviously some significance to that statement that Chance wasn’t aware of. “Aww, that’d be lovely, Dad.”

Chance smiled as a thought struck him. Seeing Seymour get sentimental seemed to have the same effect on him. “If you’re going to make dessert, I’ll volunteer to grill.” He looked at Hope. “How would you feel about doing the veggies? That way, we could have an entirely homemade meal.”

Hope beamed at him. “I love it. Not just homemade, but a family-made meal.”

Seymour caught Chance’s eye and raised an eyebrow. Was he wondering if Chance had popped the question yet? Chance shook his head slightly. He wanted to ask permission before he did.

At eight-thirty, Seymour looked up at the grandfather clock that stood in the corner of the family room. “Do you need to be getting home?”

Hope laughed. “No, but we’ll go if you want rid of us.”

Seymour gave her a stern look. “You know better than that, Hopey. I’m thinking of Chance. You’ve had a long weekend and he has to be back out on the range tomorrow.”

Chance nodded. He usually took an extra day off whenever he visited the lake. He needed that extra time when he came back to transition between his lives. He wasn’t sure that made any sense, but it felt right to him. At least, it had. This time he was going straight back to work in the morning, but his two worlds didn’t seem so separate anymore; Hope was helping him build a bridge between them.

As he walked them down the steps to the truck, Seymour put a hand on Chance’s shoulder. “Have you had any more time to look over the ranching contract?”

“I have. I was going to call you about it in the morning.” For some reason, it seemed important to him not to discuss the business side of things during family times. “My friend Gabe has gone over it for me.” He met Seymour’s gaze. “He told me he thinks you must be my biggest fan.”

Seymour smiled. “He doesn’t need to be smart to see that.”

Chance smiled. “Thank you.”

“I drew the contract up with Hope in mind, of course. But Hope loves you and that has a huge bearing on how I see you.”

Chance nodded and stopped. “Would you come back inside with me a moment?”

Seymour nodded.

Chance threw the keys to Hope. “Could you start the truck up? I’ll be right there.”

He turned and went back up the steps with Seymour at his side. When they reached the top, Seymour held the door open for him and they stepped inside.

“What is it? Is there a problem?”

Chance shook his head. Now that the moment was here, his heart was pounding in his chest. “No, sir. There’s no problem. There’s just something I want to ask you.”

“What?”

“I … err. I mean …” Chance drew in a deep breath to calm himself. He needed to get a grip. He didn’t want Seymour to think of him as a mumbling idiot. “Sir, I’d like to ask your permission to marry your daughter.”

Seymour smiled and nodded.

When he didn’t answer immediately, Chance felt the need to go on. “I know I’m not the kind of guy you’d want her to spend her life with, but I love her. I’m not a rich man, but I’ll always take care of her. I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy.”

Seymour smiled kindly. “I know you will, son. You must understand that? Do you think I’d have drawn up that contract the way it is if I didn’t believe in you, if I didn’t believe that the two of you love each other and only want the best for each other?”

“I don’t think you would have, no. I’m honored and I’m grateful that you did that, but that’s business. This is much more than that. I don’t want to be just some business partner who you keep on board to keep Hope safe; I want to be the man you’re happy to see your daughter with. I want your blessing, not just your permission.”

Seymour grasped his shoulder. “You have it, Chance. You have my blessing and you have my respect. I’m happy you’re the one she loves, I’m proud of her that she chose a man of your caliber. Believe me, there aren’t many like you.”

Chance nodded, he couldn’t help smiling. This was what he’d wanted—what he’d needed—to hear. “Thank you.”

“What are you two up to?” called Hope.

Seymour grinned. “You’d better get going.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

“Do you know when you’ll ask her?”

Chance shook his head. “I’m waiting for inspiration to strike. I want it to be special.”

“It will be, no matter what you do.”

~ ~ ~

The next morning, after Chance had left for work, Hope took her coffee out onto the back porch. She smiled. This place felt like home now and she was glad to be back. She was going up to see her dad in a little while. Now that she was back in town, and didn’t plan to take off again for a while, they were going to get down to work. She couldn’t wait. Her cell phone rang and she ran back inside to get it from the kitchen counter. It didn’t ring much these days, so she’d gotten out of the habit of carrying it around with her the whole time. She smiled when she saw Gina’s name on the display.

“Hi, Gina.”

“Hey. How are you? Did you have a good weekend?”

“We did, thanks; it was wonderful.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. I was a bit worried about you.”

“Why?”

Gina laughed. “Because, to all of us, Summer Lake is like this mythical place. We’ve heard of it, but none of us have ever been there. Chance has always kept his two lives very separate. We’re his Montana family, but he has his California family down there. It’s always seemed that the two would never meet. You’re the first one he’s ever allowed to see him in both his lives. I was a little concerned how he’d be with you there.”

“I don’t think it was as hard for him as he expected. Taking me there was like testing himself, seeing if he could let his two worlds collide.”

“So, it went well?”

“Very well. It felt more like his two worlds, Montana and California, but also, past and future were merging and blending, rather than colliding, you know?”

“Damn! That’s great. I was worried it might have been a tough time for you, or at least have had some tough moments.”

“No, not really. I think he had a few tough moments, but not nearly so much as he’d expected.”

“Great, then perhaps someday he’ll allow us to meet them. I’ve heard so much about his sister, Missy, over the years. I’d love to meet her.”

“Oh, you’ll love her, Gina. She reminds me of you in some ways. She doesn’t take any crap, and she speaks her mind.”

Gina laughed. “We should get along well, then. What about Renée, did you meet her?”

“I did. I really like her. She was so kind and understanding. She made me feel welcome. Before I went, I was kind of worried that she might see me as an intruder, you know? The woman who was coming in to take her dead sister’s place.”

“No! That’s not what you are, and besides, Chloe’s been gone for eighteen years.”

“That’s what she said. She wants to see Chance happy. They share a bond because of Chloe, but she’s more realistic than he is about what that means. I feel close to her, like she’s his other sister.”

“That’s awesome. I can relax now. I kept thinking about you all weekend, hoping you were doing okay.”

“Aww, thanks. Gina.”

“Hey, it’s what friends do, right?”

“I believe so, but I haven’t had many friends.”

“Well, you do now. You’ve got four of us here, and it sounds like you made a bunch more in Summer Lake.”

Hope smiled. It was true. Thanks to Chance, she now had all these amazing people in her life. He was so much richer than she was in many ways. She might have more money, but he was better off in all the ways that mattered. He had friends, lots of people who cared about him, and he was sharing all that wealth with her. She wished he’d be more relaxed about letting her share her wealth with him. “I did. He keeps saying that I’ve turned his life around--turned him around—but I feel as though he’s done just as much for me.”

“That’s awesome. You two are perfect for each other. It seems to me that after your trip to the lake, you’ve got a clear path ahead of you. You just need to get on with your happily ever after now, right?”

“Right,” agreed Hope. It really was that simple, wasn’t it? Chance would ask her to marry him when he was ready and that would be it; they’d be able to get on with their new life.

“You don’t sound convinced. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. I just hope there’s not going to be anything else that comes up to get in our way.”

“You’ll be fine. Life will always throw something at you, but you’ve weathered the worst of it. You’ve already proven that you’re strong enough together to overcome the storms.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you around later this morning?”

“I’m not, no. I’m going up to see my dad to get down to working with him. He gave me a crash course in the basics last week, but today we’re going to get down to business.”

“Great. I hope you’ll have fun.”

“I think we will. Sorry, why did you ask?”

“Nothing important. I was just wondering if you wanted to come and ride out with me, if you were free. We can do it another time.”

“Oh, I’d love to, let’s set something up, can we?” Hope was disappointed to miss out on riding with Gina, but spending time with her dad was more important. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Do you think Chance would think I’m crazy if I bought him a horse?”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that. Maverick’s his special buddy, and he loves all the others as if they were his own.”

“I know. I don’t just mean any old horse for the sake of buying him one. When we were in Oregon, we went riding one day. He rode a big, gray gelding named Hercules. He had a soft spot for him. He’s talked about him a few times since. I asked why he didn’t buy him, but he said that Hercules isn’t a cow horse and he doesn’t get to ride just for fun anymore. I’d like him to ride for fun with me, and I think Hercules would be the perfect horse for him. I think he felt sorry for him because he was stuck there just doing trail rides for tourists, but he used to be a dressage horse.”

Gina chuckled. “Hercules sounds perfect for him. Chance learned to ride fast when he came out here; he has a natural bond with the horses. Maybe you should do it. It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission, right?”

Hope sighed. “It is, but I was kind of hoping it might be a good idea, a great one even, something that would show him how much I care.”

“You don’t need to buy him anything to do that.”

“I know, it’s not about the buying, it’s about the horse.”

“If you think Chance had a special bond with him, then I say do it.”

“Thanks. I think I will.”

“Okay. Well, I need to get going if I’m going to take Annie out for an hour before I head up to town. I hope you have a great time with your dad and I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Okay. Thanks again for asking.”

“Bye.”

Hope hung up and finished her coffee. She was already loving her life here. Maybe she should set up a regular time to ride with Gina. She’d like that—and Chance didn’t seem to have the time very often. She didn’t want to depend on him to always be the one to take her. Maybe soon she’d be confident enough to ride out by herself.