To Not Let Go

Chapter Twenty Two

      "Alright, that should do it." Swayde double checked everything on the trailer hitch to ensure that it was properly hooked up.

        Renne stepped around from behind the trailer where she was double checking the latches, and making sure the horses were secured safely. "I can't believe that this is goodbye." She let out a deep breath, taking in the scenery of the ranch that was once her home. 

        Looping an arm over Renne's shoulders, Swayde encouraged, "This isn't goodbye; it's just 'till next time'." Facing his girlfriend, resting a hand on each of her shoulders, he reminded her, "We will be back here, Reggie. Moving the headquarters back to Alpine Ridge really is the best decision for you, for us, and for Healing Hearts. God doesn't waste anything, so feel confident in yourself that you are makin' the right decision." 

       "You're right. I am just glad that I have you here with me. I could not do any of this without you, babe." Renne stood on her toes as she leaned forward, wrapping her hands around Swayde's neck, pulling him in for a kiss. Tapping his chest after their kiss, she grinned, "Time to get this show on the road." After one more quick peck on the lips, Renne pulled away, walking to her truck. Opening the truck door, Renne's eyes looked over the door as she took in the scenery, making sure she got one last good look at the place that she had built form the ground up. This place had been home for her for five years. Though it had many negative memories, it also held many good memories. 

         With a whisper, Renne sighed out, "Goodbye. I will see you again." Closing her eyes and opening them again, Renne slid into her truck, starting the ignition, and buckling her seat belt. Giving Swayde a thumbs up, Renne dropped the old Ford into drive, lightly pressing on the gas pedal as she made her way down the driveway. Not once did she look backwards, not even to adjust her mirror. This was now a time of moving forward, and moving on, not looking back. 

                                                      ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          Renne had been humming along to a song on the radio when her phone's ringtone played. After a couple taps of a button, the call was answered, and on speaker. "Yellow."

          "Yellow to you too, cutie. Nice butt." Swayde chuckled from his seat in the old Ford behind Renne. 

          Chuckling, Renne peeked out her side mirror, looking back at the driver of the truck behind her. "You're a goofball. How is the old girl doing?" She trusted her boyfriend to not drive the old Ford home if he thought there would be problems. 

           "It's doing great, actually. Just louder than that truck, but you know I would never complain about a loud truck." 

            "Good. And the horses?" That was Renne's biggest concern. At the start of this trip, she wasn't expecting to bring home more horses, but once she got to her ranch, it only made sense to bring her babies home with them. Besides, it saved an extra trip back to Montana.

       "They're doing great. Safe, sound, and quiet." Swayde ran a hand over the worn steering wheel, giving his knuckles a chance to relax from being tightly wrapped around the wheel just a minute before. "I really do like this truck. Maybe I should buy it off you and keep it for myself. We could always use another truck around the ranch."

       Renne rolled her eyes, grinning as she glanced in her rearview mirror. "Whatever you want, babe. But you don't need to pay me a penny for her. Considering you bought all new tires and did all those repairs. Heck, I'll even throw in the trailer, too."

         "Deal!" Swayde agreed without hesitation. "But technically, I didn't pay for the tires."

          "Yeah yeah." Renne flipped on her turn signal, checking the lane three times before maneuvering the truck over to the left to avoid a broke down truck on the birm.