Page 10 of Maggie’s Match

“Why?” she asked under her breath. It was such a soft whisper, she doubted he could hear her.

His eyes moved to her lips for a moment, then returned to lock with her own eyes.

“Fear,” he answered softly.

“Of?”

He sighed and glanced around as he dropped his hands to his side. “Being tied down, I suppose.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Is that what you thought I wanted?” She felt the hurt surface all over again. He shrugged and avoided her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest and felt her entire body tense again. “Then you obviously don’t know me as well as you think.” She turned on her heels and marched towards the house.

“Hey,” he said, catching up with her and taking her arm to still her. “I didn’t mean to…” He dropped off as Becca stepped out onto the back porch.

“Dinner’s ready,” she said cheerfully.

Without another word, Maggie freed herself from his light hold and disappeared into the house.

The six of them sat around the formal dining table in quiet at first. Then Bryson, Bent, and Rick started chatting about the sick cattle.

Since she’d been there, the family hadn’t missed one single dinner together. Even if they went into town, the family sat around a table together for the last meal of the day.

Her family had its moments like that, but they weren’t as dedicated as the Barrantes. Maggie’s father’s work schedule usually kept him out of town a few weeks at a time, and her mother’s job at the local real estate office often interfered with their dinner. Aubrey was working at the bank in town and often spent her evenings hanging out with friends or heading to the Rusty Rail.

She enjoyed watching the family dynamics and dreaming of how her own family would be once she decided to settle down.

She wasn’t exactly out there actively looking for a long-term thing at the moment. Flirting was fun, like when Becca and she had gone out the prior weekend. They had gone into town to have a few drinks at a local bar, the Bullseye Saloon, and she’d enjoyed dancing with several boys while her cousin hung out with a guy named Colton Brigs.

Maggie was pretty sure Becca and Colton had had a thing at one time since the pair of them avoided eye contact the entire night.

One guy in particular named Royce had shown interest in Maggie. Since that night, he had been a little clingy and had hinted at them going out alone. He was good-looking, with his sandy blond hair and rippling muscles, and she really wanted to prove to herself that she could move on from Rick, so she’d allowed his advances when Becca was around and had even posted pictures of them together at the bar that night.

Still, she kept turning him down for a more private meeting. She didn’t know why, other than he was a little pushy at times.

She even felt a little guilty for leading him on that night. Maybe it had been the beer?

But after seeing Rick on the horse earlier, she knew there was no one that could compare to him. No other man could fill the void in her life.

That thought flared up her sadness. The entire meal, she pushed her meat, potatoes, and vegetables around on her plate. She only took a few bites before she excused herself. She disappeared upstairs to shower and change into her sleep shorts and T-shirt.

She shut herself in Becca’s room and logged onto her computer to go over the finances and her to-do lists of things that had to get done before opening day. Th next morning, she and Becca were going to head into town and hand out baked goods on the sidewalk in front of the store to promote the business.

When Becca finally came into the room, freshly showered, Maggie pretended to be fast asleep. She knew her cousin had questions about her and Rick’s behavior earlier.

After all, her cousin was the only person that Maggie had confided in about her and Rick’s relationship over the years.

“I know you’re not asleep.” Becca sat on the edge of her bed.

Maggie groaned. “I don’t want to talk about Rick.”

“Okay, we won’t,” Becca said, and Maggie opened her eyes. “We’ll talk about you. What his coming here means to you.”

Maggie groaned again. “You tricked me.”

Becca smiled. “Spill.”

Rolling her eyes for show, Maggie sat up, leaned against the headboard, and crossed her arms. “He’s here. I have no clue why, but he’s here.” She shrugged.

“It’s obvious why he’s here.” When Maggie didn’t say anything, Becca added, “For you.”