Page 57 of Combust
“You’re not being fair!” she protested. “You’ve never really told me anything about your life and why you don’t have a clan. How could I know any of that?”
He nodded slowly. “Exactly.”
He stalked past her, heading blindly for the exit. She didn’t try to stop him.
* * *
Cade drove back to the ranch in a daze. Things had been going gangbusters between Maggie and him. He hadn’t expected his courtship to suddenly blow up like this.
Or for the resulting wounds to hurt as much as they did.
He knew that once they both cooled down, he should talk to her about what had gone so wrong between them. Maybe they could patch things up.
But not tonight. Maybe not even this week.
Or maybe she’d lost all respect for him, after he’d let his little head do all the thinking. And then he’d made everything worse by allowing his temper to slip its leash and do all the talking.
If a duck had my brains, it’d try flying north for the winter.
Cade contemplated having to sit through the Swanson clan’s Thanksgiving dinner and make nice with everyone while his heart was blasted to shreds and bleeding.
In any case, once word got out about how he’d fallen out with Maggie, he figured he’d be about as welcome at Elle Swanson’s as a skunk at a garden party.
Dane had given him the long weekend off. Somewhere on the highway between Bearpaw Ridge and the Grizzly Creek Ranch, Cade decided to use his vacation time to go on a camping trip deep in the wilderness. Hell, in his bear shape, he wouldn’t require a tent or a sleeping bag. Just food.
Yeah, I need some peace and quiet to think things over.
* * *
Thanksgiving
For the first time in Maggie’s life, she found herself enduring Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma Elle’s rather than enjoying it.
It wasn’t only the fact that her brother, Sophie, and Chris were missing. Cade was gone, too. She hadn’t seen him or heard from him since their awful argument on Sunday.
Somberly, Dad had informed her of his foreman’s plans to spend the Thanksgiving long weekend away from the ranch.
Away from me.
She wasn’t the only one struggling this year.
Mom was smiling, but she smelled of sadness. And Dad was quieter than usual, leaving her aunts and uncles to pick up the conversational slack around the big dining table, which groaned under the weight of a huge roasted turkey, a baked ham, and a dozen different side dishes.
Gloomily, Maggie picked at her meal, occupying herself with the pink swirls that cranberry sauce made when she stirred them into her mashed potatoes.
She’d lost her appetite since Cade had left, and she wasn’t sleeping much, either. Her bed was lonely, and she woke up several times a night, missing his warm body curled against her.
Have I ruined everything? First my friendship with Sophie, and now Cade doesn’t want to see me. And I totally deserve it.
I should have been nicer. I shouldn’t have said the things I said. I wish I could take back my words.
Chapter Sixteen - Clearing the Air
Two weeks later
“Oh, Maggie,” Malia exclaimed. “I knew something wasn’t right, but you two really haven’t talked since before Thanksgiving?” Her face filled with sympathy, she leaned over the bakery counter to give Maggie an awkward hug. “What on earth happened?”
Maggie shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it. Only…it was stupid and it was all my fault!”
