Page 35 of Maggie’s Match

They rode across the fields until they came up against a fence, then rode along it for a while. Several times, she kicked Starburst into a gallop for a while.

He could tell she was enjoying herself. She was even smiling and laughing when they returned to the barn a few hours later.

“Lunch is ready,” Becca said as the climbed off the horses. “Go on inside. Bent and I will cool these two down for you and put them up.”

Bent appeared and took the reins from him. He helped Maggie down and then took her hand in his and strolled towards the house.

“Thank you,” Maggie said when they stepped up on the porch.

“Don’t thank me,” he said, holding onto her. He wanted to tell her the truth. That he felt guilty for not getting to her sooner. “He should have never laid a finger on you,” he growled.

Maggie took a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m more upset about being so stupid. I allowed myself to be vulnerable. I knew the statistics about women getting drugged. Knew better than to leave my drink with someone I didn’t trust all the way.”

He was happy that she’d admitted she hadn’t trusted Royce. Still, it nagged at him that he hadn’t been more cautious of the man.

“Did you leave your drink with him?” he asked with a frown.

“We both did when we went onto the dance floor,” she said, surprising him.

“Right,” he growled out. “I guess I never even thought about it. I was there. I hadn’t planned on taking my eyes off you for a moment.”

“Neither did I,” she added with a weak smile. “I mean, I wanted you to keep your eyes on me.” She sighed. “Now, I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t.” He pulled her close. “We were both played.”

“Don’t feel guilty,” she said against his chest.

“Who? Me?” He closed his eyes.

“I know you too well. You’re going to dwell on the fact that you walked away or that you didn’t get to me before…” Her voice caught and his arms tightened around her. “Rick?”

“Hm?”

“Can I stay with you down in your room?” she asked, and his heart melted.

“Yeah,” he said, pulling back to look at her.

She smiled and then slowly leaned up on her toes and brushed her lips across his.

Chapter Thirteen

It took a few days for things to settle down, for her to feel like her life wasn’t on fire. She moved her bags into Rick’s room on the main floor and after that first night was thankful his arms were wrapped around her to fend off the nightmares.

Even though they shared a bed, they had only kissed that one time briefly. She knew he understood that she needed time. Needed to recover from… that night.

One thing Rick had never been was pushy or selfish. He would allow her however much time she needed, and she was thankful for it.

She knew it was absolutely killing him that he’d allowed something to happen to her. But she didn’t think that was the way he should think about it.

They’d all made mistakes. The first one had been to trust Royce. She should have guessed something was up when he’d refused to tell Rick his last name. Refused to talk about his family or his past to her.

Royce had acted like he came from money and, well, the only real money in town was her aunt and uncle and the Tillersons. The more she thought about it, the more obvious it should have been to her.

Even Becca was behaving as if she hated herself for not seeing the deceit. Since Royce hadn’t attended school in town, she and Bent had no idea who he was. Besides, Royce was also a few years older than Bent.

She’d believed Royce to be in his mid-twenties, like she was, but he was actually in his mid-thirties, almost ten years older than she was. To her, age didn’t matter, what did matter were the lies he’d told her about how he’d just returned from school.

Rick filled her in about what his uncle had found out about Royce. He had several DUIs that had all been washed clean after his return home. He’d even gotten his license reinstated, probably thanks to his father or uncle.