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“I don’t care if it kills you,” her dad said, looking and sounding so much like his old self Drew stared across the table at him in shock. “If you don’t try, you’ll never forgive yourself.”
“She’s either in Milwaukee or Florida,” Drew said, this time not only getting up from the table but searching around for her keys, eager to get on the road. “Either way, I guess I’d better start driving.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
“Maisie?”Donna stared at her through the open apartment door with the shock of someone who was looking at a ghost. “My goodness. You’d better get inside and sit down.”
Maisie did as she was told, too numb from her long drive to argue or even to speak. She’d been awake the whole journey this time, of course, but while she could officially say she’d been to South Dakota now, she still hadn’t stopped to look around. Her one goal had been to make it to a friendly face before she fell apart.
“When you said you were leaving Wyoming and needed a place to stay, I didn’t realize you’d get here today,” Donna said, heading into the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” Maisie said. “I didn’t mean to impose.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m glad you’re here,” Donna assured her. “Cheryl’s on her way, too. Do you want some chicken soup?”
It was a hot summer evening, and Maisie didn’t have a cold, but somehow chicken soup sounded like the answer to all her troubles. “Yes, please.”
There was a knock at the door. “That’ll be Cheryl now. I’ll heat up some soup, and you can tell us all about what happened at the ranch.
Starting was the hardest part. Maisie sat for what felt like hours, holding the hot bowl with her cold hands as Cheryl and Donna watched from around the table. Maisie hadn’t thought she’d be able to talk about it, but once she got started, the entire story came spilling out, her heart bleeding with every word.
“That’s why I have nowhere to live, and I’ll never get my degree, and I’m going to break the promise I made to my dad on his death bed.” Maisie’s bottom lip quivered, and tears streamed down both cheeks as she reached the conclusion of her tale.
Donna and Cheryl, her former coworkers, made sympathetic sounds, each flanking Maisie on the couch, patting her back.
“I know it all seems bad right now.” Donna hesitated briefly. “But—and don’t take this the wrong way—I think you’re overlooking the most important part of all this.”
Maisie wiped her eyes with her fingers, sniffling loudly. “What?”
“That you and Drew fell in love,” Donna said gently.
Cheryl nodded. “It did sound like that to me.”
“What does it matter? She’s made her feelings clear. It’s over.” Maisie buried her head in her hands and sobbed.
“I feel like you’re quitting before exhausting all possibilities.” Cheryl’s tone was surprisingly firm. “Did it occur to you to stick around and talk to her about the fight?”
“Talk to Drew?” Maisie let out a bitter laugh. “Clearly, you don’t know many Wyoming ranchers. She would communicate entirely by shrugging if she had her way.”
“Yet, it sounds like you managed to draw her out of that shell,” Donna said as if that was a reason for hope.
“So she could snap at me and accuse me of being a gold digger.” Maisie lifted her chin, refusing to give in to the indignity of it. “If that’s what it means for her to come out of her shell, I would rather she went back in.”
“She can’t possibly accuse you of that now,” Donna pointed out. “Not after you signed those papers.”
“I still don’t see why you couldn’t have gotten something from her,” Cheryl said. “You’re in worse shape than when you left here, and it really is her fault.”
“Actually, I’m not.” Maisie perked up a little as she thought of her bank account. “I got paid a little bit each week while I was there. Not much, but I didn’t have any expenses, either.”
Donna’s face brightened. “Enough for college?”
Maisie shook her head, dejection overtaking her again. “Not even close. I think I need to face facts. Finishing college isn’t in the cards for me. What I need is a job.”
“What about taking online classes part-time?” Cheryl suggested, but once again, Maisie shook her head.
“If I do that, I’d have to complete an internship. I can’t handle that. Especially not after getting fired from Taite and Greene.”
“First of all,” Donna’s eyes flashed with fire, “you did not get fired. You quit. And everybody at the office would vouch for that in a heartbeat. Not only that, while you were in Wyoming, HR got involved, and the Jillian woman was kicked out on her buttocks, along with Nate.”
