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I shook my head. “It’s you, Maggie. It was always you.”

She pulled her panties to the side, and I plunged into her hot, tight sex, letting out a choked moan as she whispered my name. She felt so good against my unsheathed cock, wet, warm, ribbed and so much more than I had words to describe.

“Rhett,” she breathed.

My name on her tongue.

How many more times would I hear that?

How many times would I hear it in my dreams after she left? My waking nightmare of life without her?

As I picked up my pace, her head rolled back, but I said, “Look at me, Magnolia. Eyes on me.”

Our eyes met, and I saw moisture building in hers.

Tears matching mine.

They spilled over my cheeks, falling onto her chest as I put everything I had into the thrusts, into this time we had together.

And when I came inside of her, she cried out my name, taking every drop I had to give, every ounce of love and hope I had in my heart.

And when we finished, I fell to the bed beside her, holding her close as she sobbed into my chest.

Because we both knew we had everything in each other.

And that meant we had everything to lose.

63

MAGNOLIA

I toldRhonda I’d be a little late to work Monday morning and instead drove to the Cottonwood Falls Bank.

I knew I had to do this before I found out what she said, because I was so close to making the selfish choice—the one that would keep me in town with Rhett no matter the cost. But my dad had raised me, alone, after Mom left, putting my needs first even when he was reeling from a broken heart. I had to do this for him, because this town, it wasn’t home without him, without a house to go back to.

The teller at the first window welcomed me over. She’d been a few years ahead of me in school, a pretty, curvy blond named Jessica.

“Hi, Maggie,” she said. “How can I help you?”

“I’m here to pay down a loan,” I said.

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh? I wasn’t aware you had a loan here yet.”

I whispered now in case anyone in the bank overheard and decided to spread gossip. “My dad’s home is going into foreclosure; I want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Her green eyes opened wider. “That is so kind of you, Maggie. I can’t share the details of how much that would be, but if you want to make a direct contribution, I can help you with that.”

I nodded, thinking back to the number Dad said. “Ten thousand dollars,” I said, hoping it would be enough.

She blinked. “Okay.” She began working at the computer and said, “I’m assuming you would like that to come from your savings account?”

My heart felt jittery. “That’s right.” I laid my hands on the laminate countertop, trying to steady myself. “From my savings account.”

She looked at me over the computer. “Are you sure about this, Maggie?”

Was I sure?

Yes.