Page 7 of Maggie’s Match

Her eyes ran over him once more before she spun on her heels and marched back into the house without another word.

“You’re not really here to help us get to the bottom of the poisoning, are you?” Bent asked with a chuckle, then he gave him a slap on his shoulder. He chuckled as he turned and walked away.

He’d known the Barrantes family for more than fifteen years. During spring break, Bent and Becca would often come into Fairplay and stay with Maggie’s family.

This was Rick’s first time staying at the Broken B Ranch. It was a lot like Saddleback, his family’s ranch back in Fairplay. There were even ranch houses on the edge of the property. Unfortunately, they were all already occupied, so he’d been put up in the large three-story main house.

He knew that Maggie was staying in Becca’s room on the second floor, while he’d been given a small guest room on the main floor near the back staircase.

He’d just been thankful they’d had room and a need for him. Otherwise, he would have had to explain why he was there to Maggie in front of both Bent and Bryson.

When he’d arrived earlier that afternoon, Maggie and Becca had been in town at the building they were turning into a bakery.

The moment he’d shown up at the ranch, Bryson and Bent had invited him to head out and take a look at a couple of the sick cattle.

Now, after seeing Maggie’s anger, he was questioning his decision to go out there. For one thing, his reason for being there was obvious. She’d have to be blind not to see the infatuation in his eyes when he looked at her.

Just seeing her again made all the feelings he’d been trying to deny for years surface. They’d been good together. Really good. Better than he’d been with anyone else.

Maggie was the only person in the world he felt like he could open up to. He could be himself around her, whereas he always felt like he had to hold a little of himself back when he talked to others.

She was his home, no matter where they were.

He didn’t know why he kept screwing things up with her. Maybe it was his fight-or-flight reflex kicking in?

Whenever she’d hinted at taking their relationship to the next level, or someone had found out about them, he’d packed up and left town as quickly as possible. In a few cases, he’d started a fight he knew would end their time together.

Hey, he may have gotten straight As in school, but that didn’t make him smart when it came to relationships.

Sure, his parents were the perfect role models for a great relationship. His aunts and uncles too. Still, something deep inside him panicked every time he thought of spending the rest of his life with Maggie. That was, until recently.

Lately, it seemed to be all he could think about. Maybe it was because his sister Emma and his cousin Laura were now both married and starting their own families.

His sister had married Trace Butler almost a year before. Then Laura had surprised Rick by marrying his best friend from college, Clay Dawson. The man had thankfully moved to Fairplay to take Rick’s vacant position after he’d freaked out and taken a job in Tyler on the spur of the moment.

He was happy for both couples, and the more he thought about them moving forward in life, the more he realized that he might miss his one chance at happiness with the only woman he’d ever truly loved.

After Laura and Clay’s wedding a few months back, and using his father’s health as an excuse, he’d finally agreed to move back home.

He’d moved his things into one of the ranch homes until he could have his own home built on the twenty acres that he’d been given on his eighteenth birthday. Each of his family members, including cousins, were given land of their own to build on when they started their own family.

His land was nestled deep in the pine trees along the river, as far away from his parents’ home as possible. He’d chosen the land in hopes of one day building a log cabin and barn of his own.

Now he realized that he wanted Maggie to be a part of that process.

Did she even want a home outside of town?

Her parents’ home was in town, just down the street from her bakery. Maggie lived above their garage within walking distance to her shop.

As he walked the horses back to the barn with Bryson, the man continued to fill him in on the problems they’d been having over the past few years.

“It all started with the last election,” he said with a sigh. “Our new sheriff and mayor, the Tillerson brothers, both seem to have a drive to whitewash the area.”

“Seriously? That’s just wrong.” Rick stopped walking and frowned over at the man. “You’ve owned Broken B Ranch for how long?”

“More than fifty years,” he said with pride. “But that won’t stop the group of men in charge around here from trying to run us out. Every week there are new signs on the property telling me to go back to where I came from.” He shook his head and Rick’s anger grew.

“You’re what? Second generation around here?” Rick asked, trying to remember the details of the family.