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“Is this…”

“Our tire swing? It sure is. Obviously, I like the new one more, but this one has some special memories I didn’t want either of us to forget.”

“How did you… Where did you… Who did…” Each of his questions were lost in small hiccups of sobs.

She understood. She’d cried like an infant the moment she’d seen the finished painting. She cupped his cheek and rubbed the pad of her thumbs along it.

“It’s from the photo you gave your mom. Grace is more sentimental than any of y’all give her credit for, you know.”

“But this is a painting, right?”

“Yep. I commissioned it from my favorite new artist who just happens to be a local Deer Creeker.”

“The first commission of many in our home, I’m guessing.”

“I couldn’t love you more,” Bennett whispered into her neck.

“Just wait till you see what I did to our future ranch home. Leave some room to be surprised, Bennett. I’ll do my best to only make them good surprises, though.”

When asked later, neither could recall whose lips found the other, only that when the sun broke through the clouds, they were still locked in a tight embrace, their mouths and futures fused, a happily ever after stretched before them like the desert horizon.

The End