She doesn’t know any of it. Not about my Pa’s connection with David, not about my family fortune, not why I left in such a hurry in the first place.
Which leaves only one option.
She’s telling the truth.
I don’t even have time to get dizzy with the realization before she’s talking again, and I can barely hear her over the sound of my own breathing.
“I just want to be with you, Bennett.” She sounds miserable, and it’s my fault. “Just give me a real chance.Please.”
My vision goes blurry around the edges as my panic shifts tides so rapidly, my heart going from paralyzed to beating so fast I can damn near taste it. Adrenaline floods me, a million words passing through my mind so fast that I can’t grab at any of them. All I can do is stare as the real world finally comes back into focus.
This isn’t a repeat of my past, isn’t heartbreak and lies and vicious schemes. This is Maggie,pregnant, who found me after I ran off like a coward and is begging me for a chance. My lungs ache as I try to pull in air, but I can’t seem to breathe past the enormity of the realizations slamming into me one after another. I’m surprised I’m still fucking standing.
“All of that, and you still won’t say anything?” Her voice is so far past broken that the syllables barely even string together properly, but her eyes never waver from mine. “You could at least be a man and turn me down instead of staring at me like that. Just… fuck you.”
I blink, and she turns her back on me.
I open my mouth, and she dives back into the still open door of the Uber.
I finally manage to pull into my lungs, and the door slams shut.
“Magnolia!”
My limbs are still frozen, refusing to fucking move as the car turns quickly in the driveway and speeds off the way it came.
I don’t know how long I stand there, one boot on the dirt of the driveway, the other in the overgrown weeds at the edge of the pasture. Benji’s hand on my shoulder hardly even registers past the urge to run after the car.
“Bennett, are you okay?” Benji asks, worry heavy in his voice. “What was that?”
I laugh hollowly as I meet his pale blue eyes. What the hell can I say? He heard it all—everyoneprobably heard it.
And now, as if my humiliation can get any worse, Ma’s voice rings out from the porch.
“Bennett! Come join me.”
She leans against the railing, a cup of coffee steaming in her hand. Her face is set in the same easy, warm smile she always wears, but I’m not stupid enough to miss the glint of worry in her eyes.
“I’ll explain later,” I mutter, shrugging my brother’s hand off my shoulder. “Sorry, Benji.”
My head is swimming too much to manage much more, and I trudge up the driveway to join Ma on the porch. It feels like the whole world is spinning off center, the balance of my life suddenly not what I’m used to.
My boots thud on the worn wood of the porch, and I keep my eyes down as I stop in front of Ma.
“So,” she says softly, taking a sip of her coffee before continuing, “who was that little spitfire?”
She sounds almost fond, her words carrying the same warmth and brightness she always speaks with. My eyes are unfocused when I look up at her, but the sight of that familiarsmile makes it easier to open my mouth. It doesn’t rid me of the guilt and shame in my chest, but it lets me speak through it.
“Magnolia. David Montgomery’s daughter,” I say raggedly, flinching as the admission falls from my mouth. It’s too late to try to hide it now. “We… we were seeing each other in Montana. It was supposed to be casual—” I’m not about to tell Ma that I couldn’t keep my hands off her, so I just let my words fade to nothing. She’ll put it together, she’s always been good at reading between the lines. “David caught us kissing the day I came home, kicked me off the ranch. I was too scared he’d figure out Pa sent me to check in on him, so I just left. Thought that was the end of it. Apparently, I got her pregnant, though.”
It all sounds pathetic out loud, and I swallow down the heavy guilt that tries to rise up my throat. I’m sure Ma will be plenty disappointed in me for the both of us, even if she’ll understand.
She always understands.
“She’s why you’ve been in such a mood since you came back?”
Ma’s voice is sharper than I expect, but I just nod miserably. There’s no point lying. I already feel like a child being scolded, I don’t need to make it worse.
“So you’ve been miserable and missing her, and when she showed up to tell you she’s pregnant and wants to be with you, you decided to be the most callous, awful asshole I’ve ever seen?” She sounds perfectly cheery, her smile not fading in the slightest as I gape at her, green eyes drilling into me viciously. “It’s been so long since you’ve opened yourself up to anyone, but if that’s how you’re going to treat the poor girl, maybe you deserve to be miserable.”
