Maggie Moves On(50)

18



For the rest of the weekend, Maggie followed physician assistant’s orders and rested, iced, and elevated. Besides giving the promised tour to Mateo, his wife, and Isabella from the restaurant, she’d used the unscheduled downtime to crack open A. Campbell’s first novel. Historical western fiction had never made it onto her To Be Read list before. But she’d found it entertaining all the same, even going so far as to put a plug for Sunset on the Horizon up on Instagram.

May began, and the cure to a Silas Wright Lust Fugue, Maggie found, was to never be alone with the man. To be fair, it wasn’t difficult, since he was still just as mad at her as she was at him. It had been over a week since their fight-kiss. And Sy’s stupid ultimatum.

They glowered at each other whenever the job required them to be in the same vicinity. Though Maggie wasn’t sure how much of it was mad and how much of it was a ridiculous desire to rip each other’s clothes off. Either way, it seemed safer to avoid the man.

Elton, Bitterroot Landscapes’ second-in-command, had taken over the daily walk-throughs, since his boss and Maggie couldn’t seem to get along long enough to not take a few swipes at each other.

Thanks to her jacked-up toe, she’d had a lot of downtime to think about all the wild and wonderful ways Sy could use those big hands and hard mouth on her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ever been this hung up on a guy. They weren’t even dating. It felt like an out-of-control teenage crush. On steroids. In an inferno.

Even when he wasn’t on-site, she was thinking about him. It was fucking annoying. She wasn’t going to apologize to him for looking out for herself. Not even if an apology meant Silas would get off his high horse and into her pants. She had morals. She had ethics. She had…lady blue balls.

That afternoon, Maggie waved off the last of the tradesmen and debated whether she should shower first before heading into town to the inn.

The debate was put on hold when a yellow SUV crawled toward the house. Beyoncé carried through the open windows until the driver cut the engine and stepped out of the car.

She was fitness-model lean with a sassy, messy bob haircut. Athletic, attractive. She took off her sunglasses and eyed Maggie with curiosity. Then she squared her shoulders and approached.

“Maggie Nichols?” she asked.

“That’s me,” Maggie answered, leaning against the porch post.

“I’m Michelle.”

Uh-oh. Michelle as in Silas Wright’s ex Michelle?

“I dated Silas Wright.”

Yep. That’s the one. Well, this should be interesting. And hopefully not terrifying.

“What can I do for you?” Maggie asked.

“Don’t worry. I’m not here to hack you into pieces or hurl insults and tell you to stay away from ‘my man,’” she said, adding air quotes.

“Well, that’s a relief,” she said to Michelle.

“I was just dropping by to say thank you.”

People sure drop by a lot around these parts.

“Thank you for what, exactly?” Maggie asked.

“I know Sy’s told you about us and our on-again, off-again…thing.”

“He may have mentioned it.”

“And I know he’s interested in you,” Michelle added.

Maggie wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“I also know my boy-crazy cousin made a pass at him in front of you,” Michelle continued. “She’s nineteen. Anyway, I guess I’m dropping by to say thank you and apologize for my idiot cousin.”

“Do you want a drink or something?” Maggie asked, hooking her thumb toward the house.

“No. Thanks,” Michelle said. “I’m actually hitting the road. You’re my last stop.”

Maggie noticed that the SUV was full. Suitcases. Boxes. Dear God. Had she somehow accidentally chased this woman out of her hometown?

“Anyway,” Michelle pressed on, sticking her sunglasses in the scoop neck of her T-shirt. “Silas was my dream guy in high school. I had the biggest crush on him. It seemed only natural that we’d end up together as adults. Both being single. Both still here in Kinship. But it never quite worked. And I think I held on for too long because of that teenage fantasy, you know?”

Maggie nodded. “I am familiar with that particular experience.”

“We just never fit right. But we were convenient, and part of me thought that, if we just tried a little harder, we could make it work. We could do the marriage-and-kids thing. And I could tell everyone that I won at life with my high school sweetheart.”

She put a foot on the first step and looked around the yard.

“But when something’s not right, it’s not right, and no amount of forcing it will make it right. And then you showed up.”

“Silas and I aren’t actually dating,” Maggie interrupted. “We’re not anything. Unless fighting is something. In fact, we kind of can’t stand the sight of each other right now.”

Michelle gave her a small, sad smile. “Sy and I never fought. Maybe that was part of what didn’t work. Neither one of us cared enough to fight.”

Maggie thought of herself and Dean as newlyweds. They hadn’t fought either.

“You showing up here, you taking that safety net away from me, was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Michelle announced. “I’d always planned on moving away. Living and working in a city. I want the hustle and energy. Tall buildings and seeing strangers every day. When Silas came into the picture, I just never got around to getting there.”