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He knew she was going back to San Antonio. It didn’t have to mean anything.
Yeah, right.
“You look incredible, Maggie. Not that you don’t pull off the ranching look, but—Never mind. Obviously, I’m new to this.” He ran a hand through his hair, and she stifled a smile.
His thumb rubbed circles on her hand and heat flashed on her exposed skin. Thankfully, it was too dark away from the parking lot to show.
“Thanks. I had a good time tonight. This was a good idea.”
“You’ve been working pretty much nonstop, haven’t you?”
She nodded as they took a path along the creek’s edge. It was a few degrees cooler by the water, but she was plenty warm this close to Bennett.
“I don’t really have a choice with the state of my dad’s operation.”
“I mean in general.”
“I guess. I don’t mind it, though. It makes it easier to get through the hard stuff when I put my head down and muscle through my mile-long to-do list.”
“You haven’t had time to do much grieving, though, have you?”
She shook her head and allowed a hint of the hurt plaguing her since her dad’s death past the pile of to-dos she’d hidden it behind. “I’m afraid not. Not for my father or his legacy.”
“What do you need to be able to work through losing him? Because believe me when I say shoving it down only rots everything it touches over time.”
It was like he’d read her mind. And he would know, with the loss of his own father, his own legacy. Yet, he’d rebuilt. Maybe she’d be able to, too.
“I’m not sure. I’m so grateful you leased the cattle back to us, but none of it matters if we can’t get things cleaned up faster. I had no idea he’d let it get so bad. That’s getting in the way of feeling anything else right now.”
“I wish I could have done more,” Bennett said.
“Me, too. Or that he’d told me the truth about how bad things had gotten for him.” She paused before adding, “Can I be honest for a second?”
“Of course, Maggie. Whatever you need to say, I’m here to listen.” Bennett stopped and turned to face her.
The water rushed by, but the cacophony of its passage over the rocks told her the water levels were low. Still, it didn’t stop the juniper and honeysuckle that grew along the banks from blossoming and spreading their sweet floral aroma across the valley.
Maggie had only had one glass of wine, but between the scent in the air and Bennett’s proximity, she felt lightheaded and unsteady on her feet. “I’m angry with my dad.” Guilt flashed hot behind her eyes, and she shut them tight. “Sorry. I’ve never said that out loud for obvious reasons.”
“No, it’s fine. I get it. I’m mad at mine, too.”
She opened her eyes. “You are?”
“Yeah. For the way he left things for Jax, Matt, and me. For the way he pushed Matt away when he was only trying to help, for being too young to pitch in like I wanted, for how he worked himself to death. For not being around to see us become the men we’ve become. And honestly, for leaving my mom alone. I don’t know if she’ll ever love anyone again like she loved him, so where does that leave her? You know?”
“I do. It’s not that I’m not grateful for the things he did for me—the tuition and the chance to become the engineer he saw in me back then. But the way he let himself go, let his ranch die off—how do I forgive that?”
Bennett gave a half shrug, half shake of his head. “I don’t know. It hurts, doesn’t it? To be mad when they can’t make it right or even hear you out.”
“It does. I also don’t think I’ll ever forgive the way he went about things, by lying about what he’d seen at the rodeo. Why couldn’t he have just been honest?”
Bennett smiled, and the light from the moon illuminated the green in his eyes. “Would you have left if he just said, ‘You need to get your degree. Pursue engineering and leave that Bennett guy behind’?”
“Hmm. Maybe not. But still, it was horrible, the way he lied and made me think the worst of you. And all this time, what you must have thought of me…”
Bennett squeezed her hands and took a step closer to her. “I forgave you immediately.”
Maggie tilted her head and smirked.
