Renne almost dropped the bags of groceries in her hand when she saw who was sitting at the kitchen table with Mamaw and Papaw. The person stood, coffee mug in their hand, staring Renne up and down, a smile beginning to peak out from under their pair of brown eyes.

Feeling like her feet were frozen in place, Renne looked over her shoulder at Swayde. His jaw was set firm, and based on how the thick veins were bulging in his arms, Renne could tell that he was clenching his muscles tight, probably wanting to take a swing at the person, just as bad as Renne wanted to.

Seeing Swayde made her feet come unglued, but when she looked back at who her surprise was, Renne felt her stomach drop. Walking over to the counter, Renne slammed down the bags of groceries, and began to put stuff away; Swayde did the same, never once leaving her side.

"Um, hi, Renne." The person said in an irritated voice since Renne was ignoring them.

With a can of corn in her hand, Renne spun around to glare at the person. "What are you doin' here, Matt?" Just saying his voice gave Renne an uneasy feeling.

Matt walked slightly closer to Renne. "I came back for you." Taking another step put him about two feet from her. "I miss you." The three words made chills run up and down Renne's body, but not in a good way.

"I told you I was comin' back once my sister passed away, Matt." Renne didn't try to hide the bite to her words. She turned back to the counter to grab a few more cans before making a trip to the pantry. "It was very irresponsible and wrong of you to leave the ranch alone just so you could come back here."

At some point in this conversation, Mamaw and Papaw had slipped out of the room, but Swayde still occupied the empty space, which Renne was very thankful for.

"Renne, can you please let me just talk to you?" Matt's hand was now on Renne's arm. He shot a glare at Swayde. "Alone?"

Looking down at his hand on her arm, then looking back up to him, Renne jerked her arm free, motioning for Matt to follow her outside.

"Can we talk now?" Matt asked once Renne and him were outside in front of the barn.

"What is there to talk about? We are on a break, end of story." Renne stood with both of her hands on her hips. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that he was actually here.

"Actually, I was hopin' we could eradicate that." And with that, Matt dropped down to one knee in front of Renne, holding out an engagement ring in his hand.

Renne took a step back in surprise. This was not at all what she had expected to happen. "Matt, what are you-"

"Renne, I know that I have not treated you well recently, and I know that I have said and done some things to make you really hate me, but there's nothing more I want than for us to relinquish the love that we once had. I know we talked about this a while ago, and when you left, all I could think about was how bad I missed you, and how you are the only girl I want to spend the rest of my life with." Matt took a breath and raised his voice just a bit to talk over Renne when she began to refuse his proposal. "Now, I'm not expecting you to say yes right now, I'm just askin' that you put the ring on your finger and think about it." With that, Matt grabbed Renne's left hand, slipping the white gold ring on her finger, smiling a little bit when he saw how perfect it fit. Standing up, Matt put both of his hands on Renne's shoulders. "Renne, you really are the one for me, and I hope that I can make you see that in the time I am fixin' to spend here."

Renne, still in shock, drew her eyes off her ring, and up to look at Matt. "Then why did you cheat on me?" She said the words to him that she had never said out loud.

Renne expected Matt to deny it, and she expected his eyes to turn sorrowful, but instead, his shoulders slumped, and all she could see was regret in his eyes. "Rein, I messed up, okay? I'm sorry."

Renne shuddered at the nickname Matt had given her when they first started dating. At one point, she used to like it, but now it just irritated her. With a scoff, she said, "I was hoping you would deny it." Stepping back, Matt's hands fell from Renne's shoulders.

With down turned, regretful eyes, Matt ran a hand over his face. "I can't lie about something that did happen, as much as I wish I could deny it."

Not wanting to believe that he just admitted to cheating on her, Renne felt tears beginning to swell in her eyes, but reminded herself that a man like Matt was not someone who deserved the tears. "What did happen?" She asked through partially gritted teeth.

Letting out a long sigh, Matt turned his eyes from Renne. "I missed you. Just hearin' your voice or lookin' at your pictures wasn't enough for me. I physically needed you there, but you were here, a whole other state away." Pausing, Matt closed his eyes to open them a second later, taking a deep breath. "There was a girl who had just started workin' for the ranch...she reminded me so much of you, and she even looked kind of like you. And it only happened right when you said we were fallin' apart, just before our break. I was so desperate for us to be back together...but either way, it never should have happened and I regret it."

"'It' happened? What 'it'?" Renne squinted her eyes at Matt, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.

Matt drew his eyes back to look at Renne. "The times her and I shared. It was meaningless because she wasn't you. No girl could ever replace you." He replied, not fully answering her. Matt reached out for Renne again, but she pulled back, not wanting his cheating hands to touch her.

Tears threatened to spill from Renne's eyes, but she swallowed them down so she could talk to Matt. "So you sl-" Renne cleared her throat, the words burning already. "You slept with her?"

"Rein, I wish I could say-"

"It was a yes, or a no question, Matt!" Renne raised her voice.

After a couple seconds of silence, Matt answered, "Yes." Seeing the hurt he just caused Renne, Matt wrapped his arms tightly around her, and she let him do so, but only because of the shock of his words. He knew, and appreciated, that she was still a virgin, and early on in their relationship, Matt had vowed to stay abstinent until marriage for her, but he regretfully slipped up when she left him. "Renne, if I could go back, I would change everything. Everything. I know I messed up, and I know you may never forgive me, but I'm praying in time, you can. Renne, I love you more than you could ever know." He pulled back to look at her eyes. When he saw the tear fall to her cheek, the floodgates began to fill in his own eyes.

"So, since I never gave you what you wanted, you felt like you had to rebel and cheat on me, getting it from some other girl? Do you have any idea how used you just made me feel? That makes me feel like I'm nothing." Renne no longer tried to contain her tears, she let them fall to her cheeks.

"Renne, I wish there was something I could do to show you how sorry I truly am. I fully regret it, and I have cut ties off with that woman for forever. I never want my mistakes to stand between us, ever again."

"Matt, I'm not sure that I can spend the rest of my life with someone who's heart can falter so easily when they're in a relationship. Do you remember when we first met in college? You were still datin' that other girl? That shows me that you are not ready to settle down and who's to say that same thing won't happen when we are married?"

"We were in college. I was young, immature, and didn't know what I wanted until you and I started dating. Plus, that relationship with the other girl was set up by our parents, there was no feelings in it. And, I can promise you that if you agree to marry me, I will be a changed man, and I vow to never make these mistakes ever again." He rubbed his hands over Renne's arms. "Renne, please, please make me know this wasn't a wasted trip out here. Please say you will marry me, and make me the happiest man on earth." Matt did what he did best: sweet talked, and Renne was beginning to fall for it just like she always did.

Renne looked back to the house, where she was sure Swayde was watching the scene. Her mind thought about her time back here, her time with Swayde, and the four years that she had spent with Matt. Her and Matt had had some truly good times, and she still felt like she owed it to him for everything that he had done for her with helping her with the ranch and whatnot. Just thanking him and his family, and paying them back, would never be enough for everything that Matt's family had done for Renne over the years.

Looking back to Matt, Renne said, "Matt, I cannot agree to marry you right now, but I can say that I will think about it." Renne grabbed her left hand, about to take off the ring to give it back to Matt, but he grabbed her hand in his, pushing it back to her side.

"Keep the ring until you say yes. Hopefully it will make your decision easier." A grin rose to Matt's lips. "It can show you the life that I will be able to provide you with. A great life, at that."

"Okay, I will think about it." Renne agreed, unsure why she didn't just turn him down and run him off the ranch, and out of her life forever, what she probably should have done a long time ago. If she was being honest with herself, it was probably because Matt intimidated her, and she knew he would do almost anything to get his way.

"That's progress." Matt chuckled. He moved both of his hands up to Renne's face. "Rein, can I please give you a kiss?" His voice was low as he leaned closer, hardly waiting for a response before his lips landed on hers. The kiss was hard with no feeling in it, whatsoever; at least, Renne didn't feel anything. In other words, it didn't feel like what it did when Swayde kissed her. The realization made Renne pull back from Matt.

"I don't want to move too fast." Renne said, almost wanting to wipe her lips from Matt's kiss.

"Okay, we won't then. But, what can I do to speed up your decision?" The impatient side of Matt showed.

"Honestly, Matt? Giving me space. That's what I need right now. I have enough on my plate already and don't need you hounding over me, trying to pressure me into a decision, okay?"

Matt, looking slightly taken aback by Renne's comment, backed down. "Alright. You want space? I'll give you space." He turned to walk away, but Renne's voice drew him back.

"How long are you staying? And where are you staying?" Renne ran a hand over her forehead, letting out a sigh.

"I wanted to ask you that. I was hopin' to stay here at your grandparents some nights unless you didn't want me to. And, I'm fixin' to stay as long as you want or need me to. I'll be here at least until you move back to Montana." Matt stood back in front of Renne.

"Okay, that's fine, I guess. I'm fine if you stay here, but some nights I stay at Swayde's ranch." Renne slipped, realizing only after she said it how bad it would sound to Matt.

Before Renne could explain, Matt asked, "Why do you stay at Swayde's house? What's wrong with staying here?"

"Well, nothing is wrong with stayin' here, but sometimes, Swayde needs help at his ranch, and it's just easier for me to stay there than to drive back here after workin' there. There's nothing to worry about there, Matt." Renne waved a hand in front of her face, attempting to also convince herself that there was nothing to worry about between her and Swayde. Looking at Matt, Renne tried hard to tuck away what all had happened between her and Swayde while her and Matt were on a break, but she found the task hard. Recently, Swayde was all that was on her mind.

"Are you sure I have nothin' to worry about there?" The jealous boyfriend side of Matt asked.

Renne hesitated for a second. Her and Matt had already fought enough today, she didn't want them to fight anymore. "What happened to us always trusting each other, huh?" Before Matt could reply, Renne brushed past him, walking into her grandparents house.

Letting the screen door slam behind her, Renne stopped in her tracks when she saw Swayde, still in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter with his hands in his pockets. He looked at Renne with a sad expression. "So, y'all are engaged now?" It was more of a statement, than a question.

Renne, unsure how to answer, just lifted her hand for a second, long enough for Swayde to see the ring, then let her hand fall back to her side. Before either of them could say anything else, Renne turned and ran upstairs to her room. Once inside, she closed the door, sliding down against it and leaning her head back against it's wood. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Renne closed her eyes and said a prayer as she tried to sort out what exactly did just happen.