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another.
               
“You okay?” he called above the roar of the engine and the whistling wind.
               
She was about to nod, but shook her head. A moment later, the snowmobile
skidded to a stop. He turned off the engine and helped her off the seat. She
struggled with the helmet strap and he took over, unclipping the strap and
pulling the helmet off her head.
               
“Come on, Jellybean! That didn’t scare you.” His teasing laugh quickly faded.
“What’s wrong?”
               
“Everything!” She dragged her glove beneath her nose. “You were my best friend,
Ben. I could go to you for anything. You were the only man I ever wanted to be
with. The only man I’ve ever loved.” She couldn’t stop the tears if she wanted
to. “I don’t know what happened – how I let it happen. The kids miss us. I miss
us.”
               
He pulled his gloves off and tucked them into his pockets. He’d never looked at
her so intensely before. “What are you saying?”
               
“I don’t know what I’m saying.” She bit her lower lip and drew a cold, shaky
breath. “I mean, I do know, but I don’t know if you….”
            “I miss us,
too, Joely.” He gripped her shoulders. “Hell, don’t you know that I think about
you and the kids every single day?”
            “You do?”
               
“Yeah. I wish those bad years never happened, and we were still living in Apple
Valley in that little house we first bought together.” His eyes crinkled at the
memory. “I remember when we first brought Ian home. Those were the best years
of my life, Joely. If I hadn’t been signed then….” He shrugged and sighed. “Who
knows?”
               
“I let my career get in the way, too. It all happened so fast. We were young
and stupid.”
               
“I know.” His hands chafed her arms beneath her borrowed jacket. Like all of
his clothes, it hung on her, but it felt good being wrapped in something that
he’d worn.
               
“So…” Now was the awkward part. He’d tell her that it was just Christmas blues
upsetting her. That it was normal to feel maudlin about an ex when you’d just
had the hottest guy in Hollywood break up with you in a very public way. That
it was great seeing her, and hey, that kiss was pretty nice, but….
               
“So I love you.”
               
“What?” She’d been prepared for the opposite, and wasn’t sure what to do, even
when he pulled her toward him and lifted her face. For a moment, the sun
dazzled her, but then his shadow blocked the rays. She gazed back into his
eyes, and saw the familiar look of understanding and forgiveness in them. For
everything else she forgot to say or do, she did remember one, little thing.
               
And that was to kiss him back.
     

 
    Epilogue:
     
     
    A small notice appeared in The
Rancher newsletter:
    “Local rancher and former NFL tight end
Benjamin Titus remarried Joely Burbank on New Year’s Day at their ranch on
Silver Fork River. Ms. Burbank is known for her role as the malicious Kirby
White on the long-running daytime show, Love My Enemy . Their two children
were in attendance.  The family will divide their time between the ranch
and their home in California.”
               
Joely clipped the article neatly out of the paper and pressed it into her
scrapbook. Her phone buzzed. It was her agent, probably calling to let her know
about a new acting gig she would never make. The airport was open for business,
but she didn’t foresee leaving Montana anytime soon. Outside, the hum of the
snowmobiles grew louder as Ian revved the engine.
               
“Hurry up, Mom!”
               
Molly and Ben soon took up the chant, and Joely snatched her coat before
heading outside into the bright sunshine to play with her