“You did but I was hoping anyway.”Opal sighed.“Well, let me know as soon as you’re cleared for travel.I’ve missed you.”
“I’ll let you know what the doctor says.”Was it wrong to hope he’d tell her she needed more time?If it was doctor ordered, her guilt over breaking her promise to Angelique wouldn’t consume her.
“Good, good.We will figure out a way to get you back.Talk soon.”And the line disconnected.
She stared down at her phone.A way to get you back… Had Opal been serious about Maggie training all their new hires and staff?And, if she was, what would that look like?
“Who were you talking to, Ma?”Cody and Delilah slid back into the booth.
“Work.”She smiled and tucked her phone away.
“How is it going with JenniLynn?”Mike took his seat, too.
“It wasn’t JenniLynn.”She shrugged.“It was Opal.But I do need to get some work done for JenniLynn.”She turned to Mike.
“Go on.Cody and I have pie to eat.”He shook his head.
“Maggie, Maggie.”Delilah stood on the bench and hugged her around the neck and whispered, “Pwease getbetter.I wove you very much.Daddy does, too.So you have to get better, okay, for more pwaydates?And, pwease, come to football.I miss you wots.”
Maggie closed her eyes and held the little girl tightly.“Okay.”She pressed a kiss to her temple.“And I will try to come to the football game so we can cheer together.”Because, even though she’d made things awkward between her and Braden, she adored Delilah.
She drove home and sat on the front porch swing, wrapped in a thermal blanket.Other than the wind whipping through the trees, it was silent.
“Tree whispers.”Maggie smiled as she thought of Delilah’s words on the day of the hike.That had been a good day.Actually, every day with Braden and Delilah had been a good day.Some of her best days ever.
My heart is already yours.I love you, Maggie.That’s all I know.Nothing will change that.So, if you change your mind about us, I’ll be waiting.
She remembered the look on his face when he’d said this to her.Intent.Sincere.Pained.It was enough to amp up the ache in her chest had been constant since she’d pushed him away.Because she loved him.
Life isn’t black-and-white.Braden was right.Life wasn’t that simple.
She ran her hands over her hair, sifting through all the back-and-forth going on in her head.
What do you want?Braden’s question echoed, loudly, through her head.It was a question she rarely asked herself.She was surprised by how quickly she could answer that.
* * *
Braden propped his foot on the lowest rung of the pipe fencing.The sky overhead was gray and glum—just like his mood.“Seems about right.”
On the outside, nothing had changed.He got up with Delilah, made breakfast, got her dressed and took her to school.For the next eight hours, he slogged through whatever work needed doing.The harder the better.As long as his mind couldn’t wander, he was good.He kept his smile in place when he picked up Delilah and tried not to let her see how crushed he was.Because, inside, he was broken.
He’d get over it.He’d done what he’d done because he loved Maggie.And seeing that Cody and Maggie were better made losing her worth it.At least, that’s what he told himself when he was missing them too much—which was more often than he wanted to admit.
Tonight, he’d take Delilah to the football game.If Maggie showed up, he’d dig in and get through it.If she didn’t, he’d try not to look for her or get eaten up with disappointment.
“Get out of your damn head.”He picked up the shovel he’d propped against the fence post.He walked off three feet, then started digging.His father wanted to put in a new, smaller corral.That way Delilah would have a safe place to learn to ride.Braden didn’t think it was necessary, but he didn’t argue with his old man.
Digging holes by hand was grueling work, and an hour later, he couldn’t feel his arms and he was dripping sweat.He pulled off his flannel shirt and hung it on the fence post but he was still hot.He was walking back to the barn for his canteen when he froze.Was he seeing things?He was running on next to no sleep for a while now, but this would be the first time his eyes played such a vivid trick on him.
He wiped his face with his bandana and leaned against the open barn door.
No, it was her.Maggie.Her wild curls were dancing in the wind.He gripped the door frame with one hand until thepain in his heart eased some.She was here, but he couldn’t come up with a single reason she’d be here, walking down the path to the barn.
Unless…she had come to say goodbye?He swallowed again.
“Braden.”She waved.She was waving and smiling like all was right with the world.
He nodded.It was a gut punch to see her, but her smile, somehow, still managed to make him happy.
