One way or another, he’d find a way to fix this. To make it up to her that he’d believed the worst of her, when she’d done nothing but show him the best.
She deserved better, and he’d be the one to give it to her.
Chapter Seventeen
A week and a half later, on December Twenty-third, Maggie stood outside in the cool sunlight, wearing jeans and a plaid shirt and feeling anything but merry. They’d been busily cleaning out the house ever since she’d arrived, brokenhearted after realizing that Benjamin hadn’t cared about her, and never would. He’d used her to get his fiancée back, and she’d fallen for every single word he’d said.
Like the stupid, naive idiot she was. Well, not anymore. She was done. With New York City. And him. Just…done. She didn’t belong in that city, or his world.
Since she wasn’t going back to New York, she would never have to see him or his deep blue eyes ever again. And she couldn’t be happier about that. Ecstatic. Thrilled. Happy
as a pig in mud, or a horse with a fresh pile of straw.
Rolling her eyes, she tossed the garbage in the can.
Even she didn’t believe herself.
She was miserable, flat out miserable, and she missed him more than she’d have ever thought possible. He’d left a hole in her soul that she was beginning to suspect would never be filled, and he didn’t even know how much he broke her heart.
And that hurt, too.
But for the sake of her parents, she’d been doing her best to act as if there was nowhere she’d rather be than back home, because if she didn’t, they would feel bad. They’d been through enough already.
Mrs. Gale, for her part, had held to the bargain…so far.
She’d offered an extremely generous buying price, and her parents had accepted. They were now looking for a new home to buy with the profits, and had also started a job search. Everything was working out the best that it possibly could, and everyone was happy, all things considered.
Everyone except Maggie.
Benjamin kept calling and leaving voicemails on her cell, but she hadn’t listened to any of them. If he left long messages thanking her for giving him what he’d always wanted…she’d throw up all over herself. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for him. She was. But she would rather die than listen to him tell her how happy he was.
Especially when she so wasn’t.
The farm truck flew up the driveway and skidded to a stop. Maggie squinted and held a hand over her brows, shielding her vision from the sun. “What the—?”
“Maggie!” Her mom hopped out like the freaking Energizer bunny on crack, brandishing a piece of paper over her head like some kind of award. “Look! Come look!”
She dusted off her hands and bolted to her mother’s side, her heart leaping. If Helen had backed out last minute… “What? What is it?”
“We’ve been awarded a grant. Some big league heavy hitter in New York paid off our debt and is letting us keep the farm.” She waved the paper again. “Some sort of new forgiveness program for little food-producing farms like ours. Can you believe it?”
No. She couldn’t believe it.
Not at all.
She snatched the letter out of her hand, skimming over it. Sure enough, she saw exactly what she expected to see. Benjamin Gale’s name on the letter. But…why would he do that? He’d done the very thing she’d asked him not to do. He paid her off.
After breaking her heart.
The anger and hurt rose up, choking her, but she forced a smile for her mother’s benefit, because now that he’d done it, there was no going back. Her parents got to keep the farm, which was great, but it had come from the man who’d ruined her…which was not so freaking great. “Wow. Go tell Dad. He’ll be so happy.”
“I know.” Her mother hugged her, and ran off for the house. “Glen!”
She let the smile fade as soon as her mom went inside. How dare he pay off her debt, as if that made up for all the lies he’d told her? All the pain he’d caused?
It didn’t.
And she would tell him as much.