The next morning, everyone woke up early. The men went fishing and collecting wood while Rihanna and Adelaide made breakfast. Renée and Anastasia cleaned the cabin. "We'd make perfect stay-at-home wives, don't you think?" giggled Renée.
Anastasia rolled her eyes. "I want to be a fashion designer like my mom."
"I love my lazy Fordsville. I'll maybe look after my husband's ranch," said Renée.
"I'll move to LA and start my fashion brand," said Anastasia, with dreamy eyes.
"You'll forget me then." Renée pouted at the thought of separating from her best friend.
"Never. You'd remain my bestie forever. I'll come back for your wedding."
"That means you'll never come back because I'll never marry," said Renée with a sad smile on her face.
"It will happen, Renée. He cares for you more than he shows."
"Maybe as a sister." Renée looked at her friend dejectedly.
"Are you kidding me? I saw no sisterly affection in him towards you."
Renée sighed. "I've stopped thinking about it, Anna. I love him and that's all there is to it." Both were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice that the men had returned. Sawyer stood leaning against the door as he silently overheard what they were discussing. He wanted to go inside and pull Renée into his arms and escape to some remote place with her where he could show her how he felt about her.
Breakfast was ready, and he went to the dining room quietly. He served himself and sat down with the others. "What's wrong with you now?" asked Rex.
"Nothing important. So where are we heading to after this?" asked Sawyer to divert their attention away from him.
"We'll go hiking on the Continental Divide Scenic Trail right away and then, after lunch, we can go boating on the Coyote Creek," said Rhett.
The others, too, liked the idea, and all were ready in twenty minutes. They locked the cabin and drove towards their destination. The girls were excited to see herds of elk, deer, and families of white-tailed deer crossing their path at regular intervals. There were lots of bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and antelopes everywhere, but thankfully they didn't find any bears anywhere.
Rhett showed them the Antelope Basin teeming with wildlife and an abundance of wildflowers, beautifully hued aspen and willow thickets, and lush grasslands.
"It's beautiful Rhett," said Adelaide, clicking pictures with her phone.
"We need to go hiking from here," said Rhett. They all parked their trucks and started the hiking trail, following the beautiful and picturesque Antelope Basin Road, crossing other trails, and passing through grasslands, and open stands of Douglas fir, and aspen. In places, the grass had grown over the constructed tread, so they had to be careful not to lose track of the trail. This route closely followed the actual Continental Divide, dipping in and out of the Montana/Idaho border.
Terrific vistas of the Madison and Centennial Ranges came into view as they followed the relatively easy hike. "Look at that cave on the other side. A black bear is sunbathing," Ryan pointed out, and Adelaide gasped at the sight of it. Living at Fordsville, they had all seen bears except Adelaide and Anastasia, of course.
"What if a grizzly blocks our path?" asked Rihanna and Adelaide looked at her with horror, going towards Rhett and clutching his arm.
"They usually avoid the trails," explained Rhett, clasping her hand in his. "Stay by me."
YOU ARE READING
Only You (Wild Creek Ranch Series Book 4)
Roman d'amourTwenty-three-year-old Sawyer Grace was an orphan, abandoned at birth on the banks of Bearhead Creek, Montana. It was by God's grace that he was alive when old Joe Wilson found him. He provided Sawyer with everything and brought him up like his gran...
