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“Are you meeting up again tonight?” the first woman’s friend asked.

“I tried to text him, and it didn’t go through. I’m going to find him after. He’s always worth the wait.”

In the stall next to me, Cam cleared her throat. “Rhett’s taken.”

The women were quiet for a moment. Finally, the first one said, “What?”

“He’s dating my friend,” Cam said through the stall.

The second woman laughed. “Sure he is.”

Cam piped up. “He is.”

“Did he make it official?” the first woman asked.

“Of course he did,” Cam said, “Tell them, Maggie.”

My mouth went dry. Now wasnotthe time to be having this conversation. But I finished my business and left the stall, trying to put on my big-girl pants. I was not the kind of person to be arguing with another woman in a bathroom.

But when I came out of the stall, there they were. Two women a few years younger than me. Thin. Wearing jeans and cute shiny belt buckles and tight shirts that showed off their assets. They were conventionally beautiful, not like me. And I had to remind myself that Rhett chose me.

“We’re together,” I said.

The first woman, white with blond hair and dark brown eyes, looked me over. “Sure you are.”

Her obvious disbelief rubbed me the wrong way. “He said he loves me,” I told them. “So I don’t think he’ll be hooking up with either of you tonight.”

Cam came out of the bathroom just as the blond and her red-headed friend started laughing.

My cheeks heated, and I couldn’t find words, but Cam said, “What the hell are you laughing about?”

The girls exchanged a look, and the one with red hair tilted her head at me. “I’m sorry, honey, he says that to everyone he sleeps with.”

They exchanged a glance with each other and left Cam and me in the bathroom, people walking in and out around us, and I wished the floor would swallow me whole. I was so freaking humiliated.

“Mags...” Cam said gently.

I shook my head, going to the sink to wash my hands. “Who was I kidding? He has all these women to choose from. He might like me now, but maybe my dad was right. I’m just another notch in his bedpost.”

I finished washing my hands and turned off the water. Cam walked behind me toward the paper towels saying, “They’re a couple jealous twats. You can’t believe everything they say.”

I turned and looked at Cam. “Why are you Team Rhett? Is it just because you’re happy with Coop and you want me to be happy too?”

She smiled, rubbing my arms. “Babe. Of course I want you to be happy. I think you’re so afraid of history repeating that you’re not really giving him a chance to be different. He’s a good guy, Mags. Iknowhe is.”

“But last time...” My jaw trembled. “I was a mess.”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit for all the ways you’ve grown. Even if he hasn’t changed, you have. You’re not one to lie around and wallow about a man. Not anymore.”

I loved her faith in me, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her. Rhett wasn’t just any man. For better, for worse, he was the man who could bring me to higher highs and lower lows than I’d ever known.

44

MAGNOLIA

Camand I left the bathroom, and she called Cooper to see where he and Rhett were. We agreed to meet at the pickup, and when we got there, Rhett held up a thick envelope.

“What’s that?” I asked.