Page 6 of The Runaway and the Rugged (Dusty Meadows #1)

Above the gate, a weathered sign with fancy carved words hung from the center of the arch. “Hideaway Haven Ranch…” I read under my breath just before we had passed underneath it and headed down the long, dusty driveway.

As the terrain became rough and uneven, Clarke was quickly jolted awake when her head thumped against the passenger side window.

“Ow, fuck!” she shouted, her hand now cradling her head as she blinked her eyes into focus. Both Beau and I turned in her direction.

“Shit, sorry about that. Told Greta that we need to get a skid steer out on this driveway.”

Clarke groaned in response.

“Where are we?” she grumbled before peering out the window.

“Hideaway Haven Ranch.” Beau beamed as he tore down the road, sending dirt and whatever other particles into the air around the truck.

Never in my life had I seen so much gravel and dirt in one place. I don’t even think we're on the same continent anymore. Maybe even a planet, as I absorbed the scenery surrounding us through clouded windows.

“A ranch?” Clarke scoffed in disbelief. “Like, with horses and cowboys?”

“Lot more to it than that, but you’re on the right track.”

What the hell?

I shot Clarke an incredulous look, and almost instantly she was mirroring my reaction.

Ending up in the heart of Texas, I couldn’t shake the skepticism.

Yet, I chose to give Nathaniel the benefit of the doubt, imagining something entirely different for what he had planned.

Somewhere elegant and refined that complemented the Bettencourt name.

But instead, here we were, riding down a gravel-covered driveway with a herd of cattle on one side of the truck, while the other was obscured by Beau’s cowboy hat.

None of this made sense. Not even the made-to-measure, fancy entrance was enough to make it believable for me to think my fiancé had come here.

“So, you’re telling me, Nathaniel Bettencourt, my very polished, pristine, can’t stand the smell of animals, fiancé came here? To a ranch?” I stared disbelievingly into the side of Beau’s head while trying to formulate in my head how he would have even come across a place like this.

To make matters worse, the smell of horse shit was beginning to permeate the air in the truck, making this situation even more outlandish.

“Stayed over an hour too.” He chuckled, but I couldn’t find the humor in his words. With my expression blank, I waited for a more believable answer.

His eyes darted to mine in a synchronized set of three, each gaze softening with understanding.

“Yes, he came here.” His tone was authentic, free of any flippancy. “Greta should be at the lodge waiting for us and will explain everything.”

“Who’s Greta?”

His mouth lifted into a relaxed grin.

“Boss lady. She runs the ranch with her brothers,” he explained while gassing the truck up an incline before slowly descending us farther down the driveway.

Boss lady? Brothers? It was an onslaught of information, but before I could even digest it, a compulsion to look ahead seized all my thinking.

With a swift swivel of my head, I had captured the tail end of Beau’s wiper blades cleaning off the windshield.

And with one final swipe, I had caught sight of one of the most beautiful scenes I had ever laid my eyes on.

Even Clarke was caught in the same daze as her body tilted closer to the windshield.

On the horizon, a breathtaking mountain was nearly piercing the clouds.

It resembled something out of National Geographic.

From the valley of green that plunged down the center of the rocky terrain, to where it seamlessly dispersed into a prairie of lush grass and wildflowers.

I had never seen anything more magnificent.

“She’s a beauty, ain't she?” Beau said, but it seemed discourteous to look away from this beautiful landscape, even if just for a second. But finding the appropriate words to say felt even more challenging.

Gulping, I found myself reaching for my ring, twisting and tugging on it to settle my anxiety. In my heart, I knew why we were here. Why else would anyone come to a place like this, with a view that God had crafted himself? It was the epitome of bliss, of all things romantic and divine.

Knowing Nathaniel, every aspect of his life needed to be grand. And what was more grand than a hidden gem, something that surpassed New York in every facet of beauty.

So for now, before my worries were tragically confirmed, I placed my hand on Clarke’s, intertwining our fingers in a desperate attempt for relief.

I didn’t need to look at her to know she had come to the same conclusion.

Instead, she squeezed my hand in a tight, reassuring hold, letting me know that everything would be okay.

It didn’t take long before we arrived at the heart of the ranch, a large cabin-like building with a covered entrance. It held a certain rustic charm, with large multipaned windows, a towering stone chimney, and a wraparound deck.

It was magnificent in every way. I could only imagine what the other structures on the ranch looked like.

“We made it, ladies.” Beau pulled up next to the lodge before throwing the gear shift into park.

With only a few swift movements, he killed the engine and swung open the door.

Then leaning out, he braced his feet onto the floorboard while half his body hung outside the truck.

“Told you I’d get us all here in one piece!

” he shouted, directing his words to somewhere in front of us.

“Congratulations for doing your damn job, Beau,” a rich, sassy voice countered, shifting both my and Clarke’s eyes forward. A few feet ahead of us, a tall, slender woman was stepping out of a UTV, her attention focused on the truck.

“That must be Greta,” Clarke mumbled beside me.

She looked exactly how I would imagine a woman on a ranch looked.

A long-sleeved, button-up shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans tucked into a pair of leather cowgirl boots, and, of course, a wide-brimmed cowboy hat.

And as she made her way toward us, the raw confidence in her gait and the way she carried herself confirmed to me that this was Greta.

Though her eyes were concealed by a pair of sunglasses, it was quite clear that this woman was stunning. With dark, almost jet-black hair fluttering in the wind, and a toned body that seemed naturally tan by the sun, she had that effortless beauty that women were envious of.

But it was her poised, commanding presence that captivated me.

“Picking up beautiful women from the airport is my job now? Count me in,” Beau teased, stepping out of the truck entirely before greeting Greta.

“Your job is doing whatever I say, Bennett.” She grinned wide, with an obvious edge to her tone. Then playfully, she shoved him on the shoulder. “Now head inside, Garth needs your help.”

With the door still open, Beau’s groan made its way inside the truck.

“I thought he was taking Grace on that field trip today?”

“That’s tomorrow, now go before he starts blowing up my walkie-talkie asking me to help him.”

A few grumbles of reluctance escaped from Beau before he leaned his head back into the truck and a goofy smile settled on his face. “Sunshine, Clarke,” his eyes darted between the two of us, “this is where I leave you. Apparently, my presence is needed elsewhere.”

“Oh, how unfortunate,” Clarke mumbled, her sarcasm unmistakable.

Beau’s grin widened.

“It was a pleasure meetin’ you both.” His Southern drawl was more present than before, causing both Clarke and I to have two entirely different reactions. Where I grinned, she scoffed.

His energy was contagious and oddly pleasant.

“It was nice meeting you too, Beau.” I nodded, and with the tip of his hat, he disappeared into the building.

“Good fucking riddance,” Clarke muttered.

“You must be the infamous ‘boss lady’,” I followed behind Clarke, using humor to try and take the edge off.

With a swift, gentle motion, she pushed the sunglasses from her eyes and slid them to the top of her head. “I guess that depends on who you ask.” She chuckled before extending her hand out to shake. “Most call me Greta.”

“Emelia,” I placed my hand onto hers. “And this is my best friend, Clarke.”

Her smile was warm and friendly as her gaze bounced between the two of us.

“Well, I’m glad y’all made it here safe. I would have picked you up, but we had an issue with one of our fowls.”

“It’s fine, Beau was oddly very pleasant.”

It was true. His energy was contagious, distracting even, so I wasn’t all that surprised when I felt Clarke’s eyes boring a hole directly into my side profile.

“Pleasant?” Greta repeated, her tone slightly perplexed. “Sure.” She giggled. “Anyway, y’all ready for the grand tour?”

Not especially, but we nodded anyway.

“Perfect, let’s go.”