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Slowly, Macie disentangled herself from Holt at his news. Knox was coming to Prosper? After all these years? Why? She turned away from Holt, because she’d just had the most amazing kiss of her life, and she was still burning for the man. She didn’t want to let him go, but then he’d delivered this blow.
“Why?” she said in a choked voice. When Holt didn’t answer, she looked over at him. “Tell me why.”
Holt exhaled, then shoved his hands into his pockets and lowered his head. “He’s entering the rodeo. Wants to win the prize money.”
Macie’s breath stalled. Sounded like Knox, but he’d sworn up and down that he’d never step foot in Prosper again. “What changed his mind? Has he reconciled with your dad?”
“Not yet, but he plans to.” Holt’s voice sounded dull, tired.
Macie closed her eyes. Surely, Knox would come around the ranch, then. Ruby would finally see her dad. Then what? Despite all of her criticisms of her ex-husband, she wasn’t ready for these new complications. What would she say to him? How would she act? Especially if they were both around his family at the same time?
“I can’t be here when he comes,” she said. “I can’t see him.”
Holt exhaled. “Are things really that estranged between the two of you?”
She opened her eyes and gazed at Holt across the space now dividing them. She’d just kissed this man, went through every exhilarating feeling, and now . . . Macie rubbed the sides of her neck with both hands. “Your mom . . . She’ll be so happy to see him, and she’ll think that we’re getting back together.”
Holt set his hands on his hips and pressed his lips tight.
“What?” Macie asked.
“He does want to get back together with you.”
Macie frowned. “He told you that?”
Holt’s slow nod was all the confirmation she needed.
“I have to leave the ranch,” she said, panic shooting through her. “I mean, he has the right to see his daughter. Our custody is joint, but . . .” Tears started, and she blinked them away.
“Macie, I have to ask you something.”
She wiped at her stubborn tears. “Okay.”
“Knox says that he’s changed and that he aims to win you back,” Holt said. “And if you can put everything between us behind you, count it as a temporary distraction or something, don’t you think getting back together with Knox would be best for you? And Ruby? The family?”
Anger and shame bubbled inside of her. Is this what Holt thought she should do? Accept and forgive and pretend that Knox hadn’t trod on her like the dirt beneath his feet so that the family could be happy? What about her? And what kind of example would she be to her daughter if she let a man treat her like dirt?
Macie had given him multiple chances. And maybe he would change, one day. But it wouldn’t be for her.
“Do you think he’s truly changed?” Macie asked Holt point blank. “When you last talked to him, did he sound like a changed man?”
Holt’s gaze shifted. “I don’t know, Macie.”
“Tell me the truth. What does your gut tell you, Holt Prosper?”
His blue eyes slid back to hers. “He’s borrowed money from me multiple times. I’ve been able to cover some of it with ranch profits, but those are depleted right now, so the last loan was from my personal savings. So, as far as his usual money issues, that hasn’t changed.”
Macie lifted her chin. “Did he tell you what he did to me?”
“He said he messed up with a woman, and he’s not proud of what he did.”
She folded her arms. “It seems that being broke has given him a conscience, but am I the one who has to continually be punished over and over for it? I can’t trust him, Holt, and I’m sorry if that offends you or your mother or anyone else in Prosper. Your brother doesn’t love me, not really. No man who’s in love with his wife would do the things Knox has done to me.”
Holt closed the distance between them and gently took ahold of her arms. “What happened between the two of you? He told me he messed up with a woman. Were there more?”
“There were multiple women, and I ignored the evidence for too long.” Macie said, pulling out of his grasp, because Holt’s hands on her were changing her focus. “He went on drinking binges that incapacitated him for days. I never once felt like I could leave him alone with the baby. I was a single mother the moment I became pregnant. Even the early days were laced with his agenda, his partying, and the constant accolades he needed.”
Holt stared at her for a long moment. “I’m sorry, Macie. None of us knew—truly knew. I should have come to San Diego and beat the hell out of him.”
