The gravel crunched under my boots as I stepped out of the barn, brushing dust from my jeans with one hand. The ranch was still too quiet, too new, like a house that hadn’t quite realized someone was living in it yet. The horses were restless in the corral, ears flicking back and forth, still not fully used to me either. Guess we were all strangers here.

That’s when I spotted the truck rolling up the drive, white paint faded, the kind of vehicle that had seen a hundred fields and never once cared about the city.