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“Help.”

“Well, I don’t need help either. I hired a staff, and we can do this.”

“What if I buy half the property from you? You can maintain partial ownership and still have the weight of MBE behind you.”

She frowned. “Really? We’re back to this, Bennett?”

“Back to what?” Confusion bloomed in his chest. “I think it’s a fair offer.”

“It’s the fact that you’re offering anything other than your support in this matter. First it was buying it outright, then it was just a little help now and then. Now we’re back to you and your dream of owning my family’s land and the canyon.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Will there ever be a time you don’t try and pull the rug out from under me with this ranch?”

His brows and lips pulled tight. This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, will you stop offering to buy me out at every turn? I know this is hard, and I know it’s going to take work. But I can’t do it if every time I tell you I’m struggling with something your answer is going to be to buy my dad’s ranch.” She took a deep breath. “If we’re going to do this,” she said, gesturing between them, “then I need to know I can trust you enough that I can show up as my authentic self. If I’m tired, overwhelmed, or even just pissed at this work, I need to be able to sit in that while I work it out without worrying you’ll see it as a plea for help. If I need or want your money, or buyout, Bennett, I’ll ask for it.”

Her frustration settled between them, heavy and earned.

“I’m sorry. You’re right.”

She looked up but didn’t reply.

“I guess the part of me that has worked doggedly toward this one goal—working this land from your part of the canyon to the hills behind Jensen’s old property—is still there. But I want you here more than that. I’m sorry if I conflated the two, Maggie. I really am.”

“Thanks. Can you put that aside, though? I know how badly you wanted that.”

“I want you—us—more. But if we’re being honest, it’s not buying your ranch that’s on my mind.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know if you’ll stay, and I’ll always be reticent with you until I know you’re making a life for yourself here. It’s not an ultimatum, but the truth. My business and family are here, and I know you love the city. So did Jenny. And she left me to go back to it, just like you did when I headed to college.” Recognition seemed to dawn on Maggie’s features. “In hindsight, I didn’t truly care about her, but Maggie, if I give everything to you and kick up these feelings again, only to have you disappear on me, it’ll break me in half.”

She took a sip of her wine, then frowned, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. “I can’t answer that right now, so where does that leave us?” She tried to keep her composure.

He could see it in the tensing of her muscles, but they shook anyway under the stress. Stress he’d caused. Gander nudged her under the table and that was the only crack in her tension. She scratched his head between his ears, then fed him a slice of turkey.

“I don’t need you to answer that right now. I just need you to know where I’m coming from and to accept that you’re in a different place than me.”

“I’m not in a different place than you, Bennett. I agreed to go out with you because I care about you, and I wanted to see where this could go without anyone getting in our way.”

“I want that, too.”

“Then I guess I don’t see what the problem is. We’re not planning on getting married or anything, so why can’t we just enjoy this and let it go where it will go without putting it in a box and labeling it? You…” Her voice cracked and he winced. “You told me we could take this slow.”

His throat constricted. Swallowing felt like he’d ingested sandpaper.

We’re not planning on getting married.

But he wanted that.

“Sorry, Maggie. I can do better. I will do better.”

“Will you be able to get past your fears that I’ll leave? Because, right now, there’s nothing I want more than to make this work. The ranch, Steel Born, you—all of it.”