Renne woke the next morning smiling. Reaching a hand up to her face, Renne fingered her lips as she remembered last night. Allowing herself as much time as she needed to bask in the memory of last night, Renne slowly got dressed for the day. Remembering everything that she had to do today made Renne's smile slightly fade at the craziness that was to be expected today, but then she just reminded herself of the kisses that she and Swayde shared last night, and she instantly felt better.

After getting dressed for the day, and pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Renne grabbed a ball cap as she walked out of the bedroom. Practically skipping down the stairs, Renne smiled as she made her way into the kitchen to grab a couple apples for the horses. Once she was finished with her barn chores, Renne was supposed to head over to Swayde's ranch where he would drive her to visit with Mallory, Doug and the kids. Renne was excited to spend time with Swayde, but also to visit with her sister.

Chuckling to herself, Renne tried to think of the last time that she felt so dadgum giddy. The last time that she could remember feeling this way was when her and Swayde dated when they were teenagers. Renne vividly remembered the morning after her and Swayde kissed for the very first time; she had felt much like she did now. The thought only made her smile grow.

As Renne made her way outside to the barn she checked her phone to see if she had any messages from Swayde; there were none. Renne opened up the barn door after putting her phone back in her pocket. Immediately, she walked to Riot's stall. Opening the stall door, Renne held out a piece of the apple that she held in her hand. The mare quickly ate it, and the other five pieces Renne offered her.

With a promise to work with her more once she had time, Renne closed Riot's stall door, and walked to the tack room to prepare the feed for the horses. As she was scooping out some sweet feed for one of the horses, Renne's cell phone rang. There was only one person that it could be, calling at this hour. "Good morning, handsome." Renne greeted sweetly, not looking to see who the call was from.

"Well, this call might be easier than I expected." The voice on the other end of the line replied, slight sarcasm remained in the statement. "Good morning, pretty girl." It was said in a mocking tone.

"Matt?" Renne glared, but knew he couldn't see. Her tone of voice did the glaring, however.

"Who did you think it was?" Matt asked, that frustrated tone in his voice that Renne thought was there permanently because she had heard it so often recently.

"Not you; that's for sure." Renne's comment dripped with sarcasm. The smile that had been plastered on her face was now turned into a scowl. Stacking a few of the full feed buckets, resting them on her hip, Renne walked out of the tack room. "What do you want?" Renne set the feed buckets down on the floor in the aisle way of the barn.

Matt sighed on the other end. "I called to apologize for our fight the other day. I think that we are missin' each other a lot. Y'know how it is when we are apart. I think that is why we are fighting so much recently."

Renne sighed into her phone as she poured the grain into Riot's corner feeder in her stall. "I think it is more than that, Matt." Laurie's words from the other day echoed in Renne's ears. Was Matt cheating on her? She wasn't sure, but for his sake, Renne really hoped he isn't.

"I don't know what you mean by that comment, Renne." Matt's words were stiff.

Irritated, Renne set down the feed bucket she had in her hand to prevent her from throwing it across the barn. "Matt, I really don't have time to do this right now." Renne didn't even try to hide the frustration in her voice. Her knuckles turned white as she balled her fingers into a fist at her side.

Matt let out a sigh. "I'm tired of fighting, Renne."

Renne could picture him rubbing his forehead as if to try to smooth out the wrinkles he got whenever he was stressed. "Okay, and?" She asked, irritated. The other day when they had another one of their typical big fights, Renne had mentioned that she wanted them to take a break. Not break up, per se, but just take some time apart from each other. Needless to say, Matt didn't like that idea too much; he had quickly shut her down. Later today, however, when Renne had more time to talk to Matt, she planned on making their break official. These past few days had really shown Renne how clingy and controlling Matt really was. Being back with Swayde again had helped Renne to see what she really wanted and how smothered she felt when she was with Matt.

"And I really miss you..." Matt paused. Renne wanted to be sarcastic and tell him that he had a funny way of showing that he missed her, but she refrained from the comment. "So I want to come down there and see you..." Matt's voice added. It wasn't said in a caring voice, rather a voice that said he suspected Renne was doing something that she shouldn't be, so he would have to come down there and set her straight.

This was not how Renne wanted to start her morning. All she wanted to do was visit with her sister, and curl up on the couch with Swayde, maybe work with Riot some. No matter what she did today, Matt was not involved in the plans...in any way, shape, or form. Well, besides when she calls him later tonight to make their break official, once and for all.

Renne knew that Matt would keep pestering her about coming down until she agreed to it, but right now she needed to stand her ground and not cave in. "No, Matt. I need you there in Montana to take care of the ranch." What Renne had really wanted to say was, "I don't ever want to see you again, so just stay in Montana." But, Renne refrained from the comment, knowing it would start a whole new fight that she was not in the mood to have.

"Lacey and Slade have been helping out and we got others out here, so it's not a huge deal if I leave. Plus, I won't be in Wyoming for long. Just long enough to bring you back home with me." Matt's demanding voice said.

"Matt, my sister is dying. I am going to see her today. I'm sorry that you have a problem with it, but I need to be here for her and help in any way that I can." Renne's voice was raised and she had begun talking with her hands.

"And I get that, but Renne, we need you back here...I need you back here." Matt paused, half expecting Renne to interrupt him. "Also, didn't you say that you sister is gettin' better?" He added when Renne didn't interrupt him.

Renne leaned against one of the horses closed stall doors. Taking a deep breath, Renne replied, "Matt, she's been put on hospice. The doctors say it might just be a week...or two. But it's hard to say." Closing her eyes, Renne added, "I have been tryin' to tell you this all week, Matt, but it seems like you're always busy." There was a double meaning when Renne said, "busy."

Ignoring Renne's last comment, Matt responded, "Wow...I-I'm sorry to hear that. I had no clue she was that bad...I will keep praying for her then." Matt said, actually sounding like he cared. Still, Renne didn't fall for it. She knew better.

Before Renne could respond, her phone beeped, signaling that she had another call. Pulling the phone away from her ear, Renne saw it was Swayde. "Hey, Matt, I gotta go. There's another call on the other line. I'll talk to you later tonight."

"Okay..." Matt hesitated before saying what he said next. "I love you, Renne."

Renne closed her eyes and inhaled. Why did she still believe him? Instead of responding, Renne just hung up to answer Swayde's call.

"Good morning, beautiful." Swayde's deep, warm voice greeted over the phone.

For the second time in a minute, Renne closed her eyes. This time, however, she basked in the sweetness of being called beautiful. "Morning, handsome." Renne smiled, opening her eyes.

"And how are you this morning?"

Picking up the feed buckets she had momentarily forgotten about, Renne answered, "Excited to see you." She decided to leave out that she was actually very frustrated with Matt at the moment.

"Same here, darlin'...Are you sure I can't pick you up?" Swayde offered, being the gentleman he was.

Renne almost giggled; she couldn't remember the last time she had been treated like such a princess. "That's a very sweet offer, but I'm sure."

"Okay. Will you at least let me make you breakfast when you come over?" Swayde asked, dragging out the conversation.

Loving the sound of his voice, Renne smiled. "Swayde, you don't have to do that." Renne replied, giving the last horse his grain. She found it crazy that just a minute ago she was yelling at her boyfriend, but right now she felt like the happiest girl alive.

"Sure I do. I ain't about to let you go hungry. I've seen you when you're hungry...it's scary." There was a smile in Swayde's voice.

"Easy there, cowboy. I could just eat here, then meet you at Doug and Mallory's if you're goin' to be mean to me." Renne wondered if Swayde could tell she, too, was smiling.

"Would it still be mean of me to say that I'm very glad you came back, you're beautiful, and I loved kissin' you last night?" Swayde's voice got slightly higher, telling Renne his smile was only growing.

Renne teasingly hesitated; tilting her head to the side, she basked for a moment in Swayde's words before responding. "Yeah, I guess if you said that then I would no longer think you were being mean to me."

"Well in that case, you're beautiful, I'm so glad you're back, even if your visit is short lived, and hurry over here so I can kiss you good morning."

"What did I ever do to deserve him, God?" Renne asked in her head. "That's probably the sweetest and kindest thang anyone has ever said to me." A bright red blush trickled its way up Renne's neck, stopping on her cheeks. "Thank you." Renne added in a quiet voice; she had so much to thank him for.

"You're welcome, darlin'." Swayde drawled out. Taking in a breath, he asked, "You're positive that I can't come and pick you up at your place? I just feel bad havin' to make you drive when I am more than capable of drivin' you."

"Swayde, I'm positive. That's really sweet of you, but I don't mind." Stacking the empty grain buckets against the wall in the tack room, Renne added, "Besides, it's out of your way to come over here and pick me up then drive all the way to my sister's house, and then drive me back here tonight." Walking down the barn aisles, making sure that all of the horses had full water buckets and a flake of hay, Renne added, "Plus, I am finished with everything that I need to get done here, so I will be heading over to your place shortly."

"I can't wait to see you." Swayde's voice replied as Renne walked out of the barn.

With a smile, Renne said back, "I can't wait either. I will see you in a bit."

"Alright. Drive safe." Swayde said, an evident smile in his voice.

After Renne hung up, she found herself humming as she walked inside of her grandparents house, grabbing her keys and wallet before walking into the living room. "Mornin' mamaw, papaw. I'm headin' over to Swayde's now, then he's takin' me over to Mallory and Doug's." Renne bent down over the couch where her grandparents were, giving each of them a hug.

"Do you want me to make you some breakfast before you head over?" Mamaw asked Renne.

"No, that's alright. Swayde is makin' me breakfast once I get over there." Renne straightened, pulling down on the hem of her pearl snap.

"Are you stayin' the night there?" Papaw asked, lowering the newspaper he was reading to look at Renne.

"I don't know yet. I will probably be back tonight. If I do stay the night, I will be sure to call y'all and let you know." Renne fiddled with her key chain she was holding; it was all she could do to not run out of the house since she was so excited to see Swayde again.

"You don't have to let us know, dear. You are an adult; I just don't want your mamaw up all night worrying about you." Papaw winked at Renne.

"I will let y'all know for sure either way." Renne smiled.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Please tell Mallory that we look forward to seeing her tomorrow." Mamaw asked of Renne.

"Absolutely." Renne smiled in response. "Love y'all." She added before turning from the couch, heading outside.

Renne practically ran to her truck; throwing her wallet onto her passenger seat, Renne stuck the key into the ignition. Turning it, her truck rumbled to life. When she reached up to put her truck into gear, Renne's eyes caught a glimpse of the picture on the dash of her and Matt. It was the first picture they ever took together. With a scoff, and no pang of guilt, Renne ripped the picture off her dash, throwing it into the glove compartment before focusing on how excited she was to spend the whole day with her sister, and with Swayde.

Taking a deep breath, Renne put her truck in drive, pulling out of Mamaw and Papaw's driveway. The whole way to Swayde's ranch, Renne found herself smiling from ear to ear. This unexpected trip down here had begun to feel more like a vacation. When she wasn't hanging out with Swayde or Mallory's kids, Renne was catching up with her grandparents, working with her two horses here, or taking pictures: all things that she had desperately missed.

A few short minutes later, Renne's truck rolled to a stop in front of Swayde's house, right next to his truck. Pulling her mirror visor down, Renne looked at her appearance. After staring for a few seconds, Renne eventually tugged her ball cap off of her head, throwing it beside her. Pulling her hair out of the pony tail holder, Renne shook her head, her wavy hair falling loosely over her shoulders. After attempting to straighten out her crazy mess of a mane, Renne took a deep breath, turning her truck off and jiggling the keys free of the ignition.

Looking through her windshield at Swayde's front door, Renne suddenly felt nervous. A smile tugged on her lips when she thought about why that was. Almost six years it had been since Renne had felt this way- nauseated with love. In love with Swayde McAllister...it was a feeling she could certainly get used to.