The next day, we walked out of the hospital, and rode out with Tina to survey the damage to the ranch. The main house was destroyed with pieces of it scattered in a winding line where the waters were beginning to recede.

It would be a while before the water would be completely gone and the rebuilding could start.

“Wow,” Tina said grimly as she glanced out at the ruins in front of her. “I didn't expect it to be this bad.”

“Well,” Leah said, refusing to be brought down by the whole incident, “the good thing is I hadn’t completely fixed it up yet. I don’t have a ton of stuff to replace, and anything I lost will be covered by insurance.”

“Wow,” Tina said with a sad smile.

“What?”

“Most people would be devastated if something like this happened to them.”

“Leah is far from normal,” I pointed out.

Leah rolled her eyes at me and smiled.

“I couldn't agree with you more,” Tina said. “You have such a big heart, Leah. An incident like this can really knock people down. It’s amazing how you’re just taking it in stride.”

“I’ve already been through the worst,” Leah said. “This is nothing compared to how it could’ve turned out, how I thought it had turned out.”

She looked up at me with a pointed expression.

“I spent a long, torturous night thinking Mustang was gone. Houses and material things don’t compare with that kind of pain. Things can always be replaced, people can’t.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder, and made a silent vow to her, and to myself that I would never allow either one of us to feel that sort of pain ever again.

“Thank goodness your horses were free and able to make it to higher ground,” Tina said. “If they’d been trapped in the barn...” Her voice trailed off, leaving unsaid the horrific thought.

The horses were skittish and hadn’t returned yet, but I’d spotted them standing up on the ridge overlooking the ranch.

“At least we know they were safe and still are,” I said to Tina. “They’ll come down from the upper ridge when they’re ready. If not, we’ll go get them. In the meantime, there are plenty of places for them to graze higher up.”

The rescue workers in the area had advised us to stay on the higher ground of the ranch too, just until the water level went down. They didn't want us to get ourselves into trouble again.

“You’re both welcome to stay over at our place until this water washes away and you can get something set up,” Tina offered. “We have plenty of room.”

Before I could open my mouth to say something, Leah shook her head and said, “Thank you, but no.”

“Are you sure?” Tina and I asked at the same time and Leah looked at us both as if we were crazy.

“Yes,” she answered with a frown. “We’ll be just fine out here. It’s great to have a roof over your head, but it’s not the only way to live. Mustang has been living without a roof for years.”

I smiled at her and squeezed her hand, because now she got it.

After Tina left, we carefully made our way to my cave. We were pleasantly surprised to find it relatively intact. The winds had blown all the loose things away, but my blankets and a few cooking supplies were still there. Much to my relief. Having a few basics would make things easier.

“Don’t look so worried,” Leah said to me.

“What do you mean? I’m not worried.”

“Your expression suggests otherwise,” she said and crossed her arms.

I let out a long sigh. Living alone in a cave was one thing, but bringing Leah to stay in a cave with me was something else entirely.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go stay at Tina’s? I’m okay with being inside again, so it won’t be a problem for me. We can go.”

She walked over to me and placed her hands on my chest.

“I’m sure. The ranch is my home, our home, and this is where we belong. So what if we don’t have a house right now? We’ll manage. I can do it. We can do it together.”

I smiled slightly and brushed her hair off her face.

“You’re right, this is our home, but I want you to feel safe and warm.”

She smiled, took both my hands and wrapped my arms around her.

“This is where I feel the safest and the warmest, Mustang. We could be anywhere in the world, in any living conditions and it wouldn’t matter. As long as you’re with me, nothing can hurt me.”

“I’ll keep you safe.”

“I know, and that is what I love about you,” she said. “You never left, not when I told you to, or when the water tore you from me.”

“Nothing on this Earth can keep me from you,” I said to her, never being as honest as I was right at that moment.

She nodded and kissed me full on the mouth.

Over the next month, I started to secretly rebuild the main house. I usually worked at night and early mornings.

I’d even put up a ‘No Trespassing’ sign just for her benefit.

She wasn't allowed to see what I was getting up to.

I wanted it to be a surprise, especially since her birthday was coming up soon. I was working hard trying to finish it on time, and even though she was dying to know what I was doing, she kept herself occupied with other things.

I wasn't sure what they were exactly, but as long as it helped her to pass the time, I was happy.

The morning of her birthday, I woke up beside her in the cave and watched her sleep.

She was nestled in the wool blanket on the ground and a lock of her hair had fallen across her face. She looked younger these days and more youthful with a golden tan.

Happier even.

Her skin wasn't the only thing that glowed though. She radiated from the inside, and it made me happy to see her content with herself, and her surroundings.

Sure, it had taken a few months on the ranch to get to that point. Every possible thing had gone wrong for her.

But she was finally happy.

I could tell.

And so was I.

“You’re staring at me,” she said softly, without even opening her eyes and I suppressed a laugh.

“Busted,” I answered simply. “How did you know?”

She opened her eyes and looked at me.

“Staring is creepy.”

“Even when I do it?”

“Yes, but not as threatening.” She smiled and leaned forward to kiss me. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” I smiled in return.

“What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

Because I worked on the house in the mornings, I usually wasn’t there when she woke up.

“I have something to show you.”

“Oh, no. What did you do this time?” she asked with a fake cringe.

“Trust me and get dressed.”

“Okay, if you insist,” she said with a frown and threw the blanket off her.

It took her a few minutes to get dressed and to tie up her hair into a ponytail.

“I’m ready,” she announced. “Is this acceptable attire for whatever it is that you want to show me?”

“Yes,” I said with a nod and held out my hand to her. “Let’s go.”

Up until this point, I’d insisted that she stay away from the house. When we arrived there, she took a deep breath.

“It’s okay,” I said to her with a reassuring squeeze of her hand.

She stared at the “No Trespassing: This Means Leah” sign that I had erected alongside the dirt road that led to where the main house used to stand.

She turned to me with an unamused expression.

“First of all, that sign needs to go.”

I chuckled.

“Obviously,” I agreed and led her along the path. “Unless I plan on living here alone.”

As we rounded the corner, the new house came into view and she stopped abruptly in her tracks. She drew in a sharp, surprised breath.

“What is that?” she asked.

“This is our new home,” I answered simply. “Let’s go check it out.”

She let out an excited shriek and grabbed my hand, practically dragging me down the path.

She was clearly excited and there’s no wonder. She’d been living under the overhang with me for almost two months now. Even though I knew that she enjoyed sleeping pressed up against me at night, I realized that she missed the comforts of a real home too.

Our time had been amazing; we cooked together over a campfire, ate our meals under the stars, and made love often.

As great as it was, I won’t miss it.

I knew the future would be even better for the both of us now.

“Are you ready to go see it?” I asked her.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

I smiled and led her down the path.

She frowned when she saw the other sign that I’d planted in the ground closer to the house.

“Honk before passing this point,” she read. “What does that even mean?”

“You’ll see,” I said, and led her further down the path.

When the house came into view, her eyes widened. The sun reflected off the windows and she gasped at the sight of her new house.

Our new house.

“Mustang,” she whispered, realization of all that I’d been doing hitting her full in the face.

“That had better not be tears in those pretty eyes of yours,” I teased quietly.

“I’m done with the tears,” she said as she shook her head.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, the girl who used to cry over silly things like bats and wet laundry is gone. I came up out of that water knowing what was really important in this life. Even though everything had been taken away, I still have what’s important. All I need is you.”

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” I said.

“But this,” she said and motioned to the house, “is just so beautiful, I can’t help myself.”

“Come on, I can’t wait to show you everything.”

As we approached the house, she said, “Ah, now I get it.”

“Get what?”

“The sign, about honking first.”

She waved a hand at the house.

The entire house was made of glass situated within its wood frame. The oak beams stood like a skeleton supporting large paned windows on every side, with skylights making up most of the roof.

“It’s stunning,” she said. “Why so much glass though?”

“I figured this way, I could stay inside too. When I’m inside the house, it’s almost like being outside with the glass everywhere.”

 “So that means that you’ll stay with me? In a bedroom and everything?”

“That’s the plan. I’m really going to try,” I said a little less confidently, but still with a note of hope in my voice. “I can’t say it will be easy, especially at first. You’ll need to be patient with me.”

“I’m not going to push you,” she said. “You take all the time you need, and if it ever gets to be too much, just go back out to your rock until you feel safe again. You can go alone if you need to regroup, or I’ll pack up my sleeping bag and go with you. We’ll do whatever we need to make this work.”

I kissed her and held her pressed against my chest, then released her so she could explore. We scanned the outside first, as I pointed out all the features I’d been able to incorporate within our budget.

There was a solar hot water heater on the roof that meant no more heating water on the stove, and solar shingles running along the glass to keep the power bills down. Tiny wires ran inside of each pane so that in the winter they could heat the glass against the temperature and let the greenhouse-like home do the rest.

“Please tell me there’s a bathroom with a real toilet,” she pleaded.

“Yes, there’s even a bathtub,” I answered with a smile. “A bathtub big enough for two people.”

“Good thinking,” she said with a wink and carried on exploring the new house.

I noticed that her shoulders eased with relief when she saw how sturdy the structure was now. There was a solid cedar room in the middle, a bathroom which was walled-in for safety and a storm shelter beneath the floor for storage and tornados.

She was like a kid in a toy store, going from one place to the other to check everything out.

“Do you like it?” I asked, realizing how much her approval meant to me.

I pulled her close and kissed her behind the ear, nuzzling her neck as I slid my hands around her waist.

“I love it,” she replied. “I don't even have the words to explain to you how much.”

“I’m glad that you like it,” I whispered in her ear. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

She turned her head and looked at me.

“No way. This is my birthday present? You did all this work so you’d have it ready for my birthday?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I wanted to give you a surprise birthday present.”

She placed her hands on my cheeks and tilted her head at me.

“You are the most amazing man in the entire world. This is the best birthday present I could ever imagine.”

As we approached the steps leading up to the wide wrap-around porch that ran beneath a tinted glass overhang, she let go of my hand and walked up the steps.

“Can I go in?”

“It’s your house,” I said with a laugh. “You don’t need to ask me.”

“No, it’s our house,” she corrected me.

It felt good that she now considered everything that belonged to her, belonged to me as well.

It wasn't her ranch anymore, it was ours.

She loved me, the broken-and-fucked-up Mustang.

I didn't have to hide anything about myself from her or be ashamed of things that I couldn’t change.

She accepted me.

I smiled as I thought back to our initial meeting, and how she screamed and punched at me, thinking that her feeble hits would have any impact.

“What’s so amusing?” she asked me when she caught my smile.

“I was just thinking about our first encounter,” I answered. “You were a real hellfire.”

“You mean when I punched you and you didn't even flinch in the slightest?” She cringed. “It was like hitting a concrete block.”

“What were you trying to achieve by the way?” I asked.

“I guess it was just the frustration mixed with fear and irrational thinking.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement.”

“Which part?”

“All of it,” I chuckled.

“Don’t be mean. You scared me that day, with your big muscles and your tattoos. Your sudden presence didn't help the situation either.”

“I’m one stealthy son of a bitch,” I said with a smile.

“That you are,” she laughed and held her hand out to me. “Are you coming in with me?”

I hesitated on the porch.

“Okay, now I am just confused,” she said.

“About what?”

“You went inside this house a million times when you were building it, right?” she asked.

“It wasn't quite a million but yes, I did.”

“What makes this time any different? It’s just like those times, it’s the exact same thing.”

“In some ways it is, and in some ways, it isn’t.”

“Wow, that’s even more confusing.”

“When I was working alone in the house there were no expectations. I knew I could go back outside if it felt too claustrophobic.”

“Why would now be any different?”

“Because you’re here now and I don’t want to look like a damn fool in front of you.”

“That doesn’t change anything, Mustang. You can still run outside anytime you need to,” she said as she took my hand and squeezed it for support.

“But I don’t want to run outside. I want to be a normal person for you.”

I was surprised at how much my voice shook as I spoke.

I’d never opened myself up to another person quite like this before. I felt vulnerable and weak. It saddened me that I was still so caught up with my issues, even after being back home for years.

Normally people would look at me like I was a broken person, about to fall apart at the seams. They’d look at me with pity in their eyes while at the same time telling me what an inspiration I was, and that they were in awe of me.

I glanced at Leah, half-expecting to see the same look, but I was foolish to think she would be like everyone else.

She was different, and the look on her face was not of pity, but of encouragement and love. 

“Don’t you dare change who you are for me,” she said, closing the gap between us. “The weird, scary guy who used to show up in my yard and say crazy things is the man I fell in love with.”

I smiled at her and shook my head.

“See, I knew you thought I was crazy.”

“I never said you were crazy, only that you say crazy things.”

I raised my eyebrows at her.

“I’m serious, Mustang. Any changing you want to do is only for you. Not me. Run in and out all day long for all I care. Just don’t leave the door wide open for the flies to come in. Or other things.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She held her hand out to me again, and I joined her in front of the door. She slowly opened the thick glass door and looked at me encouragingly.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “Are we ready to do this thing once and for all?”

I nodded as I motioned to her to go in.

“I’m right behind you,” I said.

She didn’t go in front of me and instead stayed by my side.

“And I’m right beside you,” she whispered.

Together we stepped in to the house with my heart pounding in my chest. I felt better knowing that I could leave whenever it got to be too much.

“Oh my god,” Leah gasped. “This place is beautiful!”

“I’m glad you like it,” I said with a smile.

“You did all this by yourself?” she asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

“I did. Except the appliances, which I bought, obviously.”

She looked at me over her shoulder and smiled, before turning her attention back to the kitchen. She ran her fingers along the smooth surface of the countertop.

Most of it was all handcrafted. My personal touch was everywhere, from the countertops made from rock off the ranch, to the wood cabinets made from felled trees that had come down in the flood. New appliances stood at odd angles in the kitchen, arranged just so to let as much light as possible come in and not block the views of the outside.

We went from room to room, taking in the details and making plans for what to do with each space. She was delighted that most of those plans involved some very intimate ideas.

“I am so glad that you kept most of the original concept of the former house. I love the bedroom in the loft,” she said.

“I knew how much you loved the loft, so I kept to the original design as much as I could.”

“You know exactly what I like,” she said.

She glanced down from the bedroom loft at me, where I still stood on the lower level. The glass above her head in the bedroom loft was almost close enough to touch with the ends of her fingertips.

It was built without any obstructions as one solid window, meaning that at night we could fall asleep under a pure view of the night sky then be awakened every morning by the sunrise washing over us.

As she descended the stairs back to the main level of the house, I took her hand and steered her towards the living room.

“I want to show you something else.”

“There’s more?”

I pointed out the one feature of the exterior that blocked the view of the wide-open ranch. A stone fireplace was built into one wall, its large chimney running up the side of the house.

“Oh my god,” she gasped and closed her eyes. “I could just see us spending countless nights in front of a crackling fire, my naked body entwined with yours on a thick, luxurious rug.”

“That sounds like a plan, ma’am.”

She giggled and ran her fingers along the smooth wood of the mantle.

“The mantle is very special to me,” I said. “In fact, it’s the most special part of the whole house.”

“And why is that?”

“It’s made from the limb you hung onto all night in the flood.”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

I lowered my gaze so she couldn’t see my teary eyes as emotion welled up in my voice.

“It was the only thing that saved you and kept you with me, even after I couldn’t keep you safe.”

She reached her hand out and tilted my chin up.

“Look at me. You didn’t choose to leave me, and the important part of that story is what you went through to come back to me. Thanks to you, I’m right here, and I’m not leaving. Not ever.”

I nodded wordlessly and kissed her soft lips. She smiled at me, pushing my hair off my face.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“And I love you. The day you walked onto this ranch was the first day of my new life.”

She smiled and turned away from me to admire the rest of the room.

When she wasn’t looking, I dug around in my back pocket, knowing I had to be quick.

I opened the small, black velvet ring box that had a diamond ring nestled within the white satin interior and placed it on the mantle.

Within a second, she turned back to me. Her eye caught the glistening diamond. She took a step back in surprise and stared at it with wide eyes.

“Mustang,” she said breathlessly. “What is this?”

“Leah,” I began. I took her hand and knelt in front of her in the old-fashioned way a man is supposed to when they ask for a lady’s hand in marriage. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes! Yes, I will marry you,” she exclaimed and joined me on the floor, kissing me like she had never kissed me before. “On one condition.”

I leaned back and looked at her in surprise.

“Anything. What is your one condition?”

“Tell me your real name,” she said.

“My real name is Colt,” I told her.

“Like a horse?”

“Or a gun,” I said. “Either one suits me fine.”