Page 73

It really was right in front of her. She need only reach out and claim it, which meant rethinking what she’d previously considered off the table.

There, on her father’s land—her land—as she followed Bennett and took deep breaths of the magnolia-infused air, feeling the tough earth beneath her feet, she was home. The only question was how she’d nudge her head in the direction her heart was pointing?

Chapter Eleven

The route up the ravine was steeper than he remembered. He’d taken them on a slight detour from the run they used to do as kids to one he found by accident a couple years prior.

It led them along a path lined with honeysuckles and bluebonnets, both of which came up to Bennett’s thighs. With the gentle breeze accompanying them, and the chorus of jays and warblers overhead, he couldn’t have painted a more picturesque run if he’d planned it.

Maggie kept his pace, and her rhythmic breathing behind him felt familiar.

But the best surprise was in store for them around the corner. He slowed to a light jog and veered off the path to the right so Maggie could take in the vista in front of them. She ran up beside him and bent down over her knees, taking deep breaths.

He itched to reach out and touch her, show her how she made him feel.

“Whooo. That last hill was a doozy. I don’t think I’ve ever done that part of the—” She looked up and stopped herself midsentence.

He just watched her, smiling as she took in the view in front of them.

“Oh, my goodness, Bennett. It’s beautiful. Where are we?”

“This is what I’ve started calling Newman Outpost, since I get here by cutting through your south field.”

Maggie laughed and wiped the moisture from her brow with the bottom of her shirt. He tried not to notice how fit and, well, exquisitely beautiful, she was, even mussed up with sweat and canyon dust.

“Did my dad know this existed?”

Bennett shook his head. “I offered to take him by horseback after I discovered it on a run, but he didn’t think he’d be able to make it up this far. I took some photos and brought them down to him, though.”

“Thank you,” Maggie whispered.

She shook her head, and he watched her gaze train on each detail.

The whole of Deer Creek was in front of them, but from this vantage point, the canyon carved out the land to the left and Mt. Bonell framed the right, with the Chisos behind it. Every undulating curve of land stretched before them in its jade and evergreen covering. Dotting the green blanket were more honeysuckles and bluebonnets, along with fields of tan and gold, and the sharp reds of the canyon. White siding on some of the older buildings in town acted like land posts marking the passage of humans through the vast valley. It was a rainbow of wealth, and it was only for their eyes.

He pointed between the trees to the top of an A-frame barn. “That’s the edge of Richardsons’ property, so mine is to the left, and yours even farther beyond that copse of birch trees.”

“This is stunning. I can’t believe I never noticed the trail you took before now.”

“To be fair, I only did when the deer started taking a new route along the hills to get to the water faster. They carved this out and I’m thankful they did.”

“Me, too.”

Maggie walked to the edge and Bennett’s pulse sped up. She was safe where she stood, but he couldn’t help the fear that welled up inside him. He couldn’t lose her. That much he was certain of. They might have different views, different lives, different paths that led to where they were at. But he cared for her with the same intensity he had when he was seventeen years old.

She gazed out over the town that had raised them both and shoved them out of the nest to spread their wings. Her hair, which she hadn’t straightened since the first day she’d arrived back, blew in the gentle breeze. Her hands sat on her hips and a confident smile played on her lips. Though she wasn’t the lithe, thin runner she’d been back then, her curves spoke of a life well-lived with balance she’d lacked before. She was more beautiful than ever.

Finally, she turned to face him. He thought he knew her face, could read every smile, every arched brow. But the way her lips sat, full and relaxed, left him perplexed.

“Bennett, I need to tell you something.”

“Anything. I’m here, Maggie. I always have been, and I always will be.”

She took a deep breath and a single bead of sweat trickled down the bridge of her nose. Oh, how he ached to wipe it away, to have any excuse to touch her.

Bennett’s chest expanded with a dizzying mix of hope and trepidation. On one hand, her full, bright eyes he wanted to fall into said he had nothing to worry about. But their pasts reminded him not to take anything for granted.

“There’s no easy way to say it, so I’m just going to come out with it.”