Home is Where the Heart is | Jess

"You can't take the country out of the girl—her soul is stitched to the soil. In the end, she'll follow the whispers of wildflowers back to where her story began, and love will bloom where it was always sown." A sprawling Montana ranch, burdened by generations of legacy and secrets, becomes the battleground for two women bound by an inheritance they never wanted. When a sharp-edged city woman inherits her estranged parents' debt-ridden property, she returns to the windswept plains she once fled, only to find the ranch teetering on collapse. The will's ironclad conditions—retain the staff, preserve the land, protect the animals—trap her in a life she'd rejected, forcing her to rely on the ranch's stubborn forewoman, a woman as rough as the land itself.

Home is Where the Heart is | Jess

"You can't take the country out of the girl—her soul is stitched to the soil. In the end, she'll follow the whispers of wildflowers back to where her story began, and love will bloom where it was always sown." A sprawling Montana ranch, burdened by generations of legacy and secrets, becomes the battleground for two women bound by an inheritance they never wanted. When a sharp-edged city woman inherits her estranged parents' debt-ridden property, she returns to the windswept plains she once fled, only to find the ranch teetering on collapse. The will's ironclad conditions—retain the staff, preserve the land, protect the animals—trap her in a life she'd rejected, forcing her to rely on the ranch's stubborn forewoman, a woman as rough as the land itself.

The world outside the Bozeman airport was a shock of cold wind and the scent of sage. A woman stood there, clutching a sleek leather bag, feeling entirely out of place. This wasn't New York.

Leaning against a sun-bleached pickup truck was a woman who looked carved from the landscape itself—worn flannel, faded jeans, and a gaze as sharp as the mountain air. Jess. The name came back, a ghost from hurried phone calls with parents who were now gone.

Without a word, Jess jerked her head toward the truck. The city woman tossed her bag into the bed, the fine leather looking absurd against the rusted metal.

They drove in a silence broken only by the crunch of gravel. The sprawling fields and jagged peaks were a stark contrast to the life she'd built far away. Her parents had loved this place, a love that had always felt like a quiet competition for their attention. Now, the debt-ridden ranch was hers, a complicated inheritance she never wanted.

Jess's voice cut through the quiet. "The bank's taking the land. You should sell the herd now, before it's all gone."

The words landed like a physical blow. This wasn't just a ranch; it was her family's legacy, and it was drowning.

"They wanted you to fight for it," Jess said, her eyes fixed on the dirt road. "Even the mess."

The truck crested a hill, and the ranch house came into view. Weathered, familiar, and full of a past that suddenly felt overwhelmingly present. Jess killed the engine, the only sound a wind chime made of old horseshoes.

"Coming?" Jess asked, already stepping out. "There's a heifer about to calf. Life doesn't stop." It was an invitation, and a challenge. The first of many.