To Not Let Go

Chapter Nineteen

       "Here ya go, darlin'." Swayde handed Renne a cup of coffee as he took a seat next to her at the dining room table. 

        "You're the best. Thank you." Renne willingly accepted it, hugging her hands around the cup.

        "Getting an early start I see." He said with a chuckle as he scooted the chair closer to the table, looking at the screen of Renne's computer. "Whatcha workin' on?" 

          After taking a sip of her coffee, Renne replied, "I am tryin' to find out information about how much I could sell the house for, and how much the land out here is worth." Scrolling on her laptop screen, Renne stared at the numbers and charts. 

         "Man, perks to you because I don't know how you can do mathy stuff first thing in the morning." Swayde chuckled, taking a long draw of his coffee.

          With a grin, Renne nodded at Swayde. "Yeah, says the one who is already dressed for the day before eight in the morning." Swayde was dressed in his Wranglers and a black undershirt that was tucked into his jeans. Renne, on the other hand, was perfectly comfortable in her pajamas. 

         "I don't know, darlin'. I think you're looking awfully adorable in your sweatpants and sleep shirt." Lifting his porcelain mug to his lips, Swayde attempted to hide his grin.  

          "Next thing I know, you're goin' to say that my bed head looks cute, too. Good thing I put it up in a ponytail today." She continued her research on her laptop until she felt Swayde's eyes on her. Looking up, Renne saw him giving her an adoring look. "Oh don't even say it." 

         "But you do look so stinkin' cute, even with bed head.  It's literally impossible for you to not look cute." 

       Renne sputtered like a horse, shaking her head as she focused back on her work. Changing the subject, she chuckled, "Y'know. It's awfully hard to get a good estimate on my house when no one in Montana is selling their houses. And, finding a real estate agent out here is awfully slim pickings. However..." An idea sparked in Renne's head. "No...I don't want to even think about getting involved in that. Never mind." She waved a hand in front of her face. 

          "What's that?" Swayde stood up from the table, walking into the kitchen to get a second cup of coffee. 

          "Matt's dad is a real estate agent." She said in an emotionless voice.

        Swayde returned to the table, standing behind Renne. Resting his hands on her shoulders, he replied, "Yeah, you really don't want to get involved with that. Here's an idea. I know you won't like it, but...what if you just skip all the formalities of listing it and having an agent and everything and just make Matt an offer? That way it's a one and done sort of thing and it'll get done quicker and hopefully less trouble in the long run." 

         "I know that is what I should do, but part of me doesn't want to sell the house to Matt. I mean, I know that he is still living here, and he loves the house, but I just don't want him to have any part in my ranch at all." She continued scrolling through the listings on her laptop, tapping her fingers against her coffee mug. 

         Swayde began to softly rub Renne's shoulders in an attempt to relieve some of her stress, knowing how easily she got worked up when dealing with the business side of things. "I understand that, sweetheart, but as much as we do not like it, Matt is one of the reasons why you even have this ranch, and if you sell the house to someone besides him, that puts him in a position where he has to find somewhere else to live, and you did just mention how there isn't much of a housing market here right now. Don't get me wrong, I am not tryin' to take his side at all, nor am I tryin' to back him up, but I am just trying to get you to think of all sides of it."