"Here, let me take that for you." Swayde said to Renne. He took the heavy suitcase out of Renne's hand and began waking towards the house. Renne pushed her purse and duffle bag further up her arm as she took a deep breath and followed Swayde up the front porch steps.

Just as Renne was about to step inside the house, her cell phone rang. Reaching into her pocket, Renne pulled out her phone. It was Matt. Retreating from the front door, Renne apologized to Swayde, "I have to take this." Swayde nodded his understanding and let the screen door slam as he turned and walked further into the house. Renne dropped her bags on the porch and took a seat on the porch swing. It squeaked under her weight. "Hey, Matt." Renne answered her phone.

"Hey, you get to Alpine Ridge okay?" Matt asked. His voice came across the receiver staticky.

Renne pressed her cell phone tighter against her ear in an attempt to better hear Matt. "I did. Thank you. Sorry for not callin' you right away, I ran into Swa-" Renne stopped herself. Matt didn't know about Swayde and she hoped to keep it that way. "Sawyer." Renne said quickly, hoping Matt wouldn't pick up on her mistake.

"Sawyer?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, he's the...he's my grandparent's dog." Renne lied. Sure, they had had a dog here at the ranch, but his name was Buster, and Renne hadn't seen him since she got here.

"Oh, I see. You stood me up for a dog? Glad to know where I stand." Matt teased.

Renne chuckled. Leaning back on the porch swing, Renne looked out at the view of the ranch land. Mountains filled up the background; green grass and few trees were in front of the mountain range all under a bright blue sky, sprinkled with fluffy white clouds. Cows and a few horses dotted the pastures. She had forgotten how beautiful it was here in Wyoming. Hopefully once she got settled here she could take some pictures. It was something that she loved to do. The walls in her ranch office and house back in Montana were covered with pictures of the "big sky country" scenery in Montana and various pictures of her clients and animals. Renne found out how much she loved photography when her grandma gave her a camera that used to belong to Renne's mom. Never have taken any photography classes, Renne taught herself everything she knows about taking pictures.

Matt's voice drew Renne out of her thoughts. "You know I miss you, right?"

Renne closed her eyes and leaned her ear tighter against her phone, trying to imagine Matt was right here next to her. "I know. I miss you too."

Matt drew in a breath. "How is your sister doin'?" He asked, changing the subject.

"I don't know. I guess she is at the hospital with my grandparents right now. I'm assuming the kids are at a babysitters." Renne replied, opening her eyes. Matt's end of the line was still staticky. Typical for Alpine Ridge to not have good cell service.

"So you're there alone?" Matt asked.

Renne looked over her shoulder and back to the house. She knew that Swayde was in there somewhere, probably listening to her conversation. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, there's no one else here." Renne tried sounding convincing.

"Okay. Well, unfortunately my girlfriend left me a very long to-do list, so I'm goin' to let you go get settled in and such so I can get back to work. I just wanted to make sure you got there safe. I'll call you later."

"Okay. Bye, Matt." Renne said and hung up. Taking a deep breath, Renne stood up off the porch swing, grabbed her bags, and headed inside the house.

Renne stopped in the doorway to take in the house. Nothing had changed. Taking a deep breath, Renne smiled at the fact that it even smelled the same in the house- like fresh mountain air, and homemade apple pie. At the sound of the wooden screen door slamming shut, Swayde entered the foyer from the kitchen.

"I was just makin' some coffee. Would you like a cup?" Swayde asked, throwing his thumb backwards to the kitchen.

A small smile crept onto Renne's face. "You, making coffee? Last I can remember, you were notorious for burning coffee."

Renne's smile was returned by Swayde's warming grin. "Yeah, well I've gotten better."

"Okay. This I have to see." Renne replied and set her duffle bag and purse on the ground to her right. She followed Swayde to the kitchen. The morning sunlight shone through, casting a ray of light onto the smooth hardwood floors.

"Here ya go." Swayde said, handing Renne a coffee mug.

Renne sniffed the steaming cup of coffee. "Doesn't smell burnt." She teased, lifting the mug to her lips, taking a sip. Pushing her lips together, and nodding her head, Renne replied, "Not bad, Swayde McAllister. Not bad. You've definitely gotten better."

"Well thank you. I've had many years to practice perfecting it." Swayde said, leading Renne to the small table in the corner of the kitchen. He took a seat in one of the old wooden chairs. It creaked beneath his weight.

Renne sat down in a chair beside him and took another sip of her coffee. "So, are you house sittin' for my grandparents while my sister is at the hospital?" Renne asked Swayde, setting her coffee down on the table.

"Mamaw didn't tell you?" Swayde's eyebrows pushed together in question.

"Tell me what?" Renne asked, shaking her head.

"I'm helping take care of the ranch for your grandparents." Swayde said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh? For how long?" Renne wrapped her hands around her warm coffee mug.

"I've been hlepin' ever since you left, but when your sister got diagnosed, I started coming out more, so it's been a few months. Mallory had been helping out a lot, but when she got was diagnosed with cancer, she wasn't in the state to help out with the ranch, so I started comin' out every day to help out." Swayde finished, taking a sip of his coffee.

Renne tried to process everything. "What about your ranch?"

"You mean my little three-thousand acre plot of land? Yeah, I still have it. I've made a lot of improvements on it." Swayde got an excited look on his face. "I'd love to show it to you. After lunch, I can take over there."

"Yeah; that sounds great. Okay, so last time you took me out there, the ranch was only what? Fifty acres? You've expanded it quite a bit."

"Well, I mean, it's been five years, Reagan. A lot has changed." Swayde said, a double meaning to his words.

Renne sighed. "Yeah. I know." Her voice was sad. He didn't realize just how much had changed.

"Enough about me. Tell me more about how you've been recently. Who was that phone call from?" Swayde changed the subject, taking a sip of coffee. Renne reckoned he already knew though. "Sorry. It's not my place to pry. It's none of my business." Swayde said after Renne didn't say anything right away. He waved a hand in the air as if swatting a fly.

"No it's fine. It was Matt...My boyfriend." Renne replied. She took a sip of her cooled down coffee.

"Your boyfriend? How long have y'all been together?" Swayde looked at Renne like he was still trying to figure out this whole her actually being there thing.

"Four years." Renne said. She could already feel the tension that was bound to follow.

"Four years?" Swayde practically scoffed. "Seems like you moved on real quick." Swayde mumbled into his coffee mug as he took a sip.

"It wasn't that simple, Swayde." Renne slammed her coffee cup down on the table a little too hard. She heard the bite in her words.

"I bet." Swayde said, in a quiet voice.

Taking a deep breath, Renne calmed herself. She wanted to throw out a bunch of defensive comments and remind Swayde of why she left him and why it was that she has tried so desperately to move on, but instead, she changed the subject. She really didn't want to fight with anyone the whole time she was here. "What about you? You seein' anyone?" Renne asked, almost mockingly.

"Nope. Haven't gone out with anyone since you left me." Swayde replied. Swayde has always been known for being honest and saying what he thinks. It was something that Renne truly admired about Swayde. He was a genuinely good guy. He very rarely lied and hardly ever kept secrets. No, Renne took that back. He does keep secrets. It was a secret that tore their perfect relationship apart. But not just their relationship, but also her relationship with her grandparents. It put a wedge in her close relationship with her family. It was a secret that changed her life...

The air was silent between them. "We should probably get you situated in your room." Swayde said, standing up.

Renne nodded and took her almost empty coffee cup to the sink, then followed Swayde upstairs with her bags in hand. Swayde turned the knob on Renne's old room. Renne was only slightly surprised to see that her room was not how she left it. Everything had been straightened up and put away, but it still looked like someone had been sleeping here. "I've been sleepin' in here every once in a while when I have to stay late. I hope you don't mind." Swayde said, reading Renne's mind.

"No. It's fine. You needed to sleep somewhere." Renne said, walking into her old room. She looked around at the light blue walls and the small desk in the corner by the window. Everything looked like how it was five years ago when she lived here.

"I'll let you get settled. I'll be out in the barn if you need me. I can make you lunch back at my place, if you want. I reckon it'll be a good time to show you around." Swayde stood in the open doorway with his hands in his jean pockets.

"Yeah, sure." Renne forced a smile, looking away from her room and to Swayde.

"Alright then. I'll be back in an hour or so." Swayde said and turned, walking out of the room.

Renne dropped her bags next to her suitcase that Swayde brought up for her. She continued taking in her surroundings. So many old memories flooded her mind. Crossing her room, Renne went to the window that overlooked the barn. Below the window was the porch roof. Many, many nights Swayde had thrown rocks at her window, and she would sneak out her window, onto the porch roof, then carefully slide down the wooden column, and end safely on the ground. Swayde and her would then run off to the barn to grab two horses for a midnight ride, or they would take late night drives down the dirt roads, or he would take her to an open pasture and they'd lay out in Swayde's truck bed and stargaze. A few times, they would drive down to the river for midnight swims, just because they could. They were a perfect couple, perfectly in love, but all that quickly changed.

Forcing herself out of her reminiscing, Renne walked over to the fireplace in the middle of the long wall in her room. The wood neatly stacked in the fireplace told her that it hadn't been used for a long time. Renne had only used it once or twice in the time that she lived here. The fireplace in the living room was the one her family always used. Often in the winter, they would light a fire simply to keep the old house warm, since it doesn't have a furnace. Swayde and her used to cuddle under a blanket and sit by the fire, sharing stories and talking about their future.

A silver picture frame on the old wooden mantle caught Renne's eye. She reached up and grabbed it. Renne remembered the picture very distinctly. How could she forget it? It was a picture of her and Swayde on their anniversary. They looked so happy. Renne remembered the day five years ago when Swayde was here in her room begging her to stay after she found out about the secret he and her family had kept from her for over ten years. She had grabbed that picture off the mantle and chucked it at him. The picture hit him, then shattered on the hardwood floor. Renne screamed mean and hurtful things at Swayde that day, but no words could have described the hurt and pain she felt inside.

After Renne threw the picture at Swayde, the room fell to an eerie silence. Out of the stillness came a shaky breath and then Swayde's hoarse voice saying, "Reggie, I'm so sorry. I love you so much." He then moved closer to Renne to try to hold her. He wanted nothing more then to work this out, but he knew that he messed up terribly bad and nothing he could say or do would keep her here. He knew this was over.

Renne had tried to shove him backwards but he had kept his arms tightly around her and just let her rat punches on his chest. He deserved it and he knew it. Holding her one last time was worth the punches and bruises.

Eventually, Renne had broken free from Swayde's grasp and shouted things to him that she now regretted. She had shoved him backwards with each insult until he was out the door, not caring when she slammed it shut in his face. She then proceeded to pack up all nineteen years of memories. Well, only the essentially parts of her nineteen years which, surprisingly, was only her clothes.

Five years ago, Renne had left this same picture lying in a pile of shattered glass on the floor right where she stood. As she set it back up on the mantle now, and took one more look around her room, Renne realized that Swayde and her family had moved on. Now it was time for her to too.