Hismom?
She looks so young, so put together, so perfect. I’d never have guessed she was old enough to be his mom, but now that I look, I can see the similarities. They both have the same sloped nose—I always thought it looked oddly delicate on Bennett, but it suits Sophia perfectly. Their eyes are different colors, but they crinkle the same way in the corners.
“Oh.” It’s all I can say, all I can even think.“I’m Maggie. I don’t—no one calls me Magnolia.”
Not anymore.
And probably never again. Sophia may look kind and sweet, but I’m terrified of what she has to say. Is she going to tell me to leave? Tell me that Bennett’s not interested in me, and that she won’t ever let me anywhere near her son again?
“Maggie, then. It’s nice to meet you. I’m glad you didn’t head straight for the airport,” she says with a laugh. “I was worried I was going to have to chase a flight to track you down.”
Track me down? How did she even find me here?
“I didn’t tell Bennett where I was going.” My voice wobbles over his name, and I grit my teeth against a fresh wave of tears. “I just told the Uber to take me to a cheap motel. How’d you find me?”
I don’t even really know why I’m asking her. I went all in, bet everything on my stupid idea working, and it all fell through. Now I’m in Texas, alone, with a baby on the way and a man who wants nothing to do with me.
I’ve never been more miserable in my life.
“A friend of mine owns this place,” she answers. “I run the fundraising campaigns for most of the orphanages and battered women’s shelters around here. This is one of the places I put folks up in if they’re on the run from a bad situation and need a roof over their heads. I put some calls out after I talked to Bennett, and Heidi said you’d just checked in.”
Any other day, I’d probably try to make polite conversation, but my mind is somehow both utterly blank and completely full of thoughts of Bennett.
“Right.” I tug a tissue out of the pack with trembling hands, needing something to distract myself with. I feel like enough of an idiot for having come here in the first place, and standing in front of Bennett’s perfectly put-together mom with tears and snot on my face isn’t helping. “I’m only staying for tonight. I’ll book a flight and go back home tomorrow, you don’t?—”
“I was actually stopping by to see if you’d let me give you a ride back to the house.” She cuts me off without remorse. “Bennett has a lot of apologizing to do, don’t you think?”
My tattered heart soars at the thought of seeing him again, even after he cut me so deeply. I can’t imagine just walking away, going back to a life without him in it.
“Does he really want to see me?”
I don’t meet Sophia’s eyes when I ask, my chest tight with terror. She tips my chin up, keeping her touches soft and careful, and snags a tissue from the pack still in my hand to dab at my cheeks as she talks.
“You two didn’t know each other for very long, and Bennett has had some… issues in the past. I’ll tell you some of it on the way back because I think it’ll help you understand.” Her smile softens, affection lighting her eyes as she crumples the tissue and lets my chin go. “I’ve never seen him care so much about anyone, and I don’t want to watch him lose you. Come back with me?”
I nod, scared to agree out loud for fear that it’ll make all this disappear somehow. Sophia can surely see the anxiety written plainly across my features, but she doesn’t say anything. She just tilts her head toward the door, and I grab my bag and follow her out to the only car in the lot. It’s a neat little sedan, the glossy paint covered in splotches of dust.
My lungs seize up as she unlocks the car, and I take a deep breath. It doesn’t do as much to calm me as I hoped it would, but I pull the door open regardless.
“Ready to go?” Sophia asks.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I clip my seatbelt on and let silence settle over us for a bit as Sophia merges out onto the road. Traffic is light this time of day, and the motel isn’t too far from their ranch. Curiosity and anxiety burn inside of me, and I don’t manage to keep quiet for long. “You said… about Bennett’s past?”
It’s not exactly a question, but stringing words together is hard right now. Thankfully, Sophia seems to understand what a mess my head is, and she starts talking, her voice a low, soothing hum in the car.
“Bennett’s the oldest. He’s got a little brother, Benji, who we adopted when they were both young. He’s always been protective, but he’s not the best at protecting himself. He had a girlfriend in high school who cheated on him with his best friend. She lied to him about being pregnant, and he found out a week before their wedding. She and his best friend were planning on ripping off the family fortune in the divorce and had been seeing each other behind his back the whole time.”
She says it matter of factly, just the slightest hint of bitterness creeping into her tone, but anger slams into me at the thought of someone hurting him like that.
“The whole time? How could she?” I ask, brows furrowed as I clench my fists on my lap. A realization slams into me as I remember the fury that flashed across his face when I said I was pregnant. “Is that why he?—”
“Was an asshole?” Sophia says with a wry twist of her lips. “Yes. It’s been hard for him to trust people ever since, and he hasn’t even considered dating anyone after her. He still needs to apologize for what he said, but I thought knowing might makeit a little easier to understand his side of things. I’m telling you this because I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt. I’m trusting you not to hurt my son, Maggie. He never moped like this over Chelsea, just closed himself off and refused to open up. He cares about you. I’m trusting you to care about him. I won’t let history repeat itself.”
I nod slowly, guilt churning in my gut even though I had no way of knowing. “No, I… I get it. My brother, Bo—well, they weren’t dating, but someone tried to do the same thing to him. I wanted to kill her when I found out, so I get it. That kind of thing isn’t easy to forget about. I wouldnever. Especially not to Bennett. I—I care about him, too. A lot.”
There are more parallels between me and Savannah Ward here than I’m comfortable with, even though I know the situations are completely different. I don’t want to be anything like that bitch, and if the decisions I’m making are putting me on a remotely similar path, maybe it’s time I take a good look at what thefuckI’m doing.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says, reaching over to pat my knee. “But I’m glad you can understand, even a little. He looked miserable when he came home. When he found out about Chelsea, he brushed it all off. Didn’t even cry. He didn’t miss her the way he’s missed you. I don’t know much about you, Maggie, but I think you were good for him. I think, if he’ll open himself up, you could continue to be good for him.”
