The Scars That Burn

Chapter 17

We're driving down a winding, tree lined dirt road when Johnathan tells us we are close. Finally. After we landed at the airport, scratch that, airstrip, we were picked up in a giant black Suburban with the words "Anderson Ranch" written in white writing down the side. A charming older man Kyle, the same from the phone call Johnathan had a couple weeks ago, greeted us. He was a hugger and it was fine by me. He was wearing what he called 'his typical ranching outfit'; faded blue jeans, flannel shirt with deer skin vest and work boots. When Jess asked about cowboy boots he gave a hearty laugh and replied "you don't ranch in cowboy boots". Neither of us, except for maybe Johnathan, had any idea what that meant but his laugh made us laugh.

The drive here so far has been incredible. I never realized how beautiful Montana is. It makes me that much more excited to arrive at the ranch. We pull around a bend and I spot the welcoming gate. Weathered lumber cross over the road with a wooden sign hanging from the middle post indicating we have arrived.. We all stare out our windows as the property comes into view.

Large fields sprawl out to the left, while thick forest remains to our right. I can see cows grazing in the distance, there must be over fifty. As we make our way around a bend the house itself comes into view. The sprawling ranch looks more like a lodge resort than a house. The main house is a lightly colored log cabin with wings of the house to it's left and right of equal color timber as to match the main portion. It's hard to tell if it was originally this large or the wings were added on. Either way it's extremely impressive and much more lavish then I would have expected. We stop in front of one half of what looks like a four car garage, separated into two.

"Welcome to the ranch." Johnathan says opening the front passenger door.

Jess squeals and launches herself out of the car. I slowly get out on my side, still taking in the property. In the near distance I can see the mountains peeking over the house. This place is incredible.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Johnathan asks without me even noticing his presence.

"Yes. This is...breathtaking."

"You haven't even seen the best part." He extends his hand. "Come."

I take his hand and he leads me around the car. "Kyle will get our bags. Come on everyone I want to show you the lake." Johnathan says as we make our way to Jess and Thomas.

"There's a lake?" Thomas asks looking around. Jess and I mimic his actions.

"Yep." We start to walk behind the garage which extends quite a bit to the back. We round the corner and there before us is a large, glimmering lake. The house seems to sit on a tip of it. There's a wooden walk way that stretches from the large stone patio out to a large square dock.

"Wow. How did we not see this?" Jess asks as we make our way towards the patio.

"The house is angled in such a way that you can't. It was designed that way so it feels more secluded. Like our own personal lake. Which it almost is, there's only two other houses on it. It's not very big, but she's still beautiful."

That she is. She juts right up to the base of the mountains. With the sun starting to set, it's one of the most beautiful views I have seen in a long time.

Jess pats Johnathan's shoulder. "It's amazing Johnathan. Thank you so much for bringing us."

"Anytime. I mean it." He squeezes her hand. "So you guys want the grand tour?"

****

It takes almost an hour to show us everything. We started outside, Johnathan pointing out the barn and stables in the back. He would show us all of that tomorrow when we went riding. I was really looking forward to that. He told us that he owned 240 acres but most of it was forest, with riding paths carved out. He told us how we was thinking about building another house on the end of the property that he could rent as a vacation home year-round. Thomas asked why he didn't just rent out the ranch but he said he designed it and furnished it for his personal use only. It seems like a waste, not being able to use it that much but maybe one day when we retire this could be our permanent residence. I wouldn't mind living out the rest of my days here.