Montana Sky

Chapter 9: Moving On

I want to thank you for the ride
We did a dance and took a chance
Nothing we ain't tried, see'est la vie
Time, you and me, moving on
I'm moving on
I'll see you somewhere down the line
– B.B. King: I'm Moving On –

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The Saturday morning was stunning, probably the most gorgeous she had seen in this state so far, or possibly anywhere ever; the sky was an otherworldly shade of blue, the mountains in the distance looking like they were blanketed with millions of tiny sparkling diamonds, the air cool and crisp. Stefani pulled her lungs full of it, stepping out of the house and tightening the warm blanket around her shoulders; she had woken to a slight pain again, but it had drifted through her body quickly and left just some stiffness behind. She was very carefully optimistic, finally daring to hope that maybe she was indeed on the mend, that the bad flareups might soon be history at least for a while; in all honesty she had expected something far worse after the conversation she'd had with Bradley, visiting many painful places of her past.

Releasing a long breath, she started to make her way across the yard; he had already gotten up when she had woken and it wasn't the beautiful morning alone that had driven her outside this early, only a little after seven, but the need to see him too. After everything they had shared on the day before, she felt immensely closer to him now, their bond so much deeper following that talk and another night spent sleeping securely on his arms; sharing the bed had happened without any hesitations this time, had felt easy and natural, just like everything in their relationship so far. Charlie barked a happy greeting, rising from his spot by the stable door and trotting over to her; then Willow jumped down from a small table nearby and claimed her, twisting herself around her legs possessively and glaring at the dog with a little hiss. Stefani laughed, leaned down to stroke her soft fur.

"Good morning, cuties; no need to fight, I adore you both."

She gave Charlie a good scratch, straightened at the sound of hooves against the stable floor; Bradley and two horses appeared a moment later, his blue eyes looking slightly surprised at first, then a soft smile spread onto his face and she swallowed at the shivers of warmth and something else that moved through her. Jesus, he was so gorgeous, especially so in the dark blue denim shirt that highlighted his eyes in a rather unreal manner; somehow the horses added to his allure immensely too, beautiful, sleek and regal on both sides of him, this cowboy that made her heart race and her knees wobble with a mere look.

"Hello there." He grinned, stopped the horses; she whispered a greeting in return and crossed the distance, reached up for a deep kiss, moaning against his soft lips. There was just nothing that could beat this, the way she felt every time he was close, every time they shared this intimate connection; it had been a little over three days now since they had first met and Stefani felt quite stunned and rather dizzy about everything that had happened already, about everything that lay ahead. She kept kissing him until one of the horses gave a small snort, turned its head and pushed them both a little; Bradley laughed against her and she sighed, reluctantly pulled her lips from his, smiling as her eyes fell on the mare's belly.

"Oh. Is she pregnant?"

"Yep. Both of them." He gave the light brown horse a pat; the other one was grey, moving her ears back and forth and watching her with friendly brown eyes as Stefani reached to rub her forehead in greeting. She carefully touched the brown mare's belly, ran her hand along the roundness, taking a deep breath when she felt a slight movement of the foal beneath her fingers.

"I can't wait for the little ones to be born. Can I help you with anything?"

"As soon as your shoulder heals, absolutely. But not yet." He grinned as she pouted, pressed a kiss on her cheek. "I'll be right back."