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Maggie stood up and paced the water’s edge. “What happened,” she spat, “was you proposed, and I asked for time to think about it,” she said, steeling herself for saying the next part out loud.

“I know. That’s what I don’t get. I gave you the space, but you never showed up and never replied to my letters. I deserved something, even if it was a rejection.”

“You didn’t deserve anything. That’s what makes me so crazy. I let you kiss me the other day and as much as it meant to me, I can’t escape the image of her kissing you, her arms wrapped around your neck.” She shuddered.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“That night. You thought I didn’t I see you talking to that rodeo queen? Well, I did, and the next morning when I went to ask you about it, I saw her lips and hands all over you.”

Bennett shot up beside her and turned her gently by the shoulders.

His eyes were feral and angry. “Maggie, nothing happened with her. I don’t know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t me. She met me at the fair because her dad was interested in some of my dad’s horses.”

She snorted and shimmied out of his grasp. “A convenient stance to take all these years later. Too bad my dad filled me in on what he saw after I left that night. Apparently, you two were discussing more than horses with more than words. You confirmed it the next morning. You can’t tell me I’m making this up.”

“I don’t think you are, but that’s not what happened.” He sighed and a whisper of fear ran across Maggie’s skin. “I went home with Jackson that night—you can ask him. I remember it clearly because we got into a huge fight with my dad about selling his horses even though he couldn’t afford to keep them anymore.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain the next morning. You were kissing her, Bennett. Not even twelve hours after asking me to be your wife when you graduated, you were lip-locked on your front freaking porch.”

“No, we weren’t. I wasn’t even there, Maggie. I was in town buying last-minute supplies for school. Jackson was supposed to take her check and send her on her way, but I guess he, well, pulled a Jackson. I promise I never saw her outside of the five minutes by the rodeo fence, with you.”

That meant Jax had kissed the rodeo queen. Jax who looked so much like his barely older brother back then. Oh God. She’d gotten it all wrong.

“But my dad…” Maggie said. Her chest ached and she was having trouble drawing a breath. “That would mean he—” She bent over.

“He lied to you, Maggie. I don’t pretend to know why, but I promise you I’m telling the truth.”

“I know why,” she whispered. “He wanted me to leave. Thinking you’d moved on was the only way I would have gone to Houston like he wanted. The only surefire way I would turn down your proposal.”

Her stomach felt sick, her head light and fuzzy.

“Would he really do that?” Bennett growled. His hands were clenched in tight fists.

“He would. Hell, he did. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“I agree, but it’s not a decision the man I came to know would have made. We were friends, Maggie.”

“I know. I can see that now.” She rubbed at the base of her temple where a headache threatened. “There was really nothing between you and her?”

Bennett shook his head. “Nothing.”

“All this time.” Maggie choked out. He rubbed her back while she fought back tears.

“I was in love with you, Maggie. Do you really think I could have looked at another woman, let alone—”

“I don’t know what to think right now. I can’t even confront him about this, you know?”

“I do, and I know that makes it hard to believe me, but please. Talk to Jackson and hear his side of the story. I’ll even wait with you while you call him, so you don’t worry I’ll try to convince him to lie for me.”

“That’s not necessary. You’ve been a man of your word, Bennett. It’s just… it’s a lot to process.”

“It is. I thought you hated me, Maggie.”

“I could never. But I did think you ran off with someone else and broke my heart.”

Bennett threw his head back and let out a primal keen that matched the one building in her own chest. His breathing raged like an inferno brewed in his chest. When he finally calmed, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh, Maggie. Do you know what this means? We actually have a chance to make this right.”