Page 4

She rubbed her finger where the ring had once sat.

The last time she’d seen him was talking to a buckle bunny at the county fair the night before he left for college, the night she’d asked for time to consider his proposal. After all, she’d only been seventeen. What did she know about making a life with someone else?

Still, she’d loved him fiercely with everything she had. And it wasn’t enough. He’d gotten frustrated that she wouldn’t stand up to her father, whom he assumed was behind her asking for time, and that night—well, she didn’t get the time she asked for that was for sure.

Who knew when Maggie would’ve figured out his betrayal if her dad hadn’t seen Bennett and the woman walking off together that night. What, exactly, had occurred between them was confirmed early the next morning when Maggie showed up to confront him, only to find him in another’s arms.

Maggie’s chest still ached when she pictured the way he’d kissed the woman.

Her heart might’ve been a pit stop for him, but Bennett had been the end of the road for her. After he shattered her trust, it didn’t take more than a gentle nudge from her dad to send her on her own way. She hadn’t looked back, either.

Maybe if you had, you’d have noticed that while you were rising like a star in the Austin sky, your dad was burning out.

She shook her head. He’d supported her dreams every step of the way. He’d—he’d never said anything. The guilt scratched from behind the memories. Another thing about the city? It didn’t let you wallow in your heartache; working to forget was status quo.

Not here, though. She might have a hay-ton of work in front of her, but she wasn’t gonna be able to forget, was she?

She mustered up enough courage to throw her shoulders back and force the ache from her heart.

“Bennett Tucker Shultz,” she spat. “What the heck are you doing on my property?”

Chapter Two

Bennett tried to swallow but his throat was Texas-summer dry.

Margaret Newman. At least that was her name when he’d known her. He stole a quick glance at her left hand but didn’t see a ring or traces of where one might have been. Only a woman resembling a girl he used to know shooting him an I-wouldn’t-mind-skinning-your-hide look at the moment.

After all this time.

He’d said goodbye to her once thinking it would be temporary. The second time around stuck, though. And yet here she was, asking why he was on Newman land when the real question was what she was doing back in Deer Creek after a decade and a half of avoiding it. Not even a Christmas with her dad, not once. Not that Bennett had come by looking for her.

“Margaret?” he finally choked out. The driver had deposited her and a small leather suitcase before taking off and Bennett couldn’t make sense of either.

“Well, yeah. You expecting someone else?”

You, about fifteen years ago.

“You came back.”

“Of course I came back, Bennett.”

“Forgive me for thinking after fifteen years, the time you asked for might be the forever kind.”

“Not when my father died.”

He considered the juxtaposition between the girl he once knew and the woman before him while he waited for the right thing to say. Nothing added up. Not the sleek shoes with heels that should’ve snapped the second they hit the gravel, not the shine to her hair, straightened like the rest of her. Only her pull on him was the same, which he didn’t appreciate one damn bit.

Bennett removed his hat, ran fingers through his hair in half an attempt to comb it.

“I know. And I’m sorry about that. He was a good man, Margaret.” And deserved better than you disappearing on him like that. Come to think of it, so did I.

“Are you? Sorry?” She flipped the script, giving him a once-over. It was unnerving, her gaze moving over him after so long without it.

“Of course I am, Mags. I checked in on the man every week for almost fifteen years. His pride helped me from doing much more than that, but I tried, at least.”

That admission seemed to buy him an ounce of kindness.

She sighed and nodded. “I know. Well, I didn’t know it was you, but he told me a neighbor came by. Thank you for that. It meant a lot to him.”