Expressionless, Shane stared back at him.

“Whatever, man, I never thought I’d see you act like such an ass**le. You don’t deserve her,” Matt spat out as he swept past and toward the front of the bar.

“What is he talking about?” Kendra asked.

“Who knows?” Shane knew, but he couldn’t afford to deal with that. He had to make a clean break and it was better for both of them if he did it harshly but quickly, like ripping a bandage off all at once. He could not let himself care for Maggie. If she hated him, that would never be a problem.

Matt walked over to Maggie’s table and sat down, talking quietly with the three women. Kendra snorted with derision. “Why would a man like Matt waste his time with that woman? She thinks she can put on some new clothes and let her hair down and compete with the real women of Petal?” Her mouth twisted viciously “Janie might be worth it but not that bookworm.”

Kyle stared at them both, mouth open. “You are one stone cold bitch, Kendra.” Disgusted, he threw his cue down on the table. “And you are not the man I’ve always thought you were.” He shook his head at Shane and walked past them to join Matt at the table with Maggie and her friends.

“What did he just call me?” Kendra’s pretty face was pinched.

“Maggie is a friend to some of us. We don’t appreciate people saying nasty things about her.” Marc looked at Shane narrowed his eyes, looking away sadly before heading off as well.

“Hey, Maggie,” Matt said as he approached the table and sat down. “Listen, I just…”

Shaking her head to stay him, Maggie held up a hand. “Please. Don’t. It’s not your fault. It wasn’t like he and I were serious or anything. I was just mistaken about him being a nice person.”

Kyle strolled over then and sat next to Maggie. “Hey, Red. My brother is an ass**le. Please don’t judge the rest of the Chase men by his actions.”

Maggie stood up. The tears were right there but she’d be damned if she’d give Shane Chase the satisfaction of seeing them. “I have to go.” She shoved at Kyle until he moved. Liv and Dee stood as well.

Liv handed Maggie her coat. “Let’s go to my place. I stopped at the package store yesterday and I have a big old bottle of Jose Cuervo Gold just waiting for us. Heck, let’s get some pizza delivered. I’ve got a few DVDs I’ve been meaning to watch, too. I’m pretty sure one of them is Thelma and Louise.” She and Dee each grabbed one of Maggie’s arms.

“Thanks, guys,” she tried to say lightly to Kyle and Matt but her voice broke and she shook her head hard to keep them from saying anything. “I’ll see you later.” The tears sprang to her eyes, bottom lip trembling as she hurried out.

Kyle looked at Matt, scowling. “I can’t believe Shane made her cry.”

The next weeks went by in a blur. Shane hadn’t even bothered to call to apologize or even to say he didn’t want to see her again. She supposed that was the message he sent by going out with Kendra.

But she’d be damned if she’d allow that asshat to chase her away from her own life or make her feel bad for thinking that she deserved to be respected by her dates. So she held her head up high and continued her Friday night Pumphouse-with-the-girls dates. Of course, he’d shown up with women. Different ones each Friday but at least Kendra was gone. For the most part, Maggie just made it her mission to pretend he didn’t exist.

She bumped into Matt at the bank and they’d chatted for a few minutes. She also ended up sitting on the same bench as Kyle and eating lunch once at the park. He talked her ear off and was friendly and jovial. Admittedly, she found him wildly attractive. But he was way off the menu. It still didn’t stop her from thinking of him or sneaking looks at him on Fridays when they were in the back playing pool.

Her life moved into a new stage. One where she was proud of herself for not letting Shane’s actions get her down. For a long time, she’d let people run her over. But no more. From that point on, Maggie realized she had every right to be treated well. She put the Shane incident behind her and she’d moved on.

One thing that did bother her was seeing Alex lurking around her neighborhood several times a month. She did her best to ignore him but she had to admit it did scare her slightly. He usually was doing something that she’d been able to explain away to herself—jogging, riding a bike, that sort of thing—but he still gave her the creeps.

Halloween came and went and Maggie worked in her garden all day the first Sunday of November. She tore out the old beds in the side yard and finished installing the raised beds she’d begun to build during the early fall. After getting her spring bulbs in the ground, she trimmed her climbing roses and fertilized her grass and trees. By the end of the day she’d cleaned out her yard and felt like she’d cleaned out her life. It felt damned good.

Sore but pleased with a very hard day’s work she showered before retiring to her back porch with a novel and a cup of hot tea.

“Wow, you’ve done some major work here.”

She turned and saw Kyle Chase standing there, hands in his pockets. He looked so handsome it took her breath away.

“Idle hands and all of that.” Her words were wary, even as her pulse sped at his presence.

He grinned and raised one hand in a casual wave. “Now that I’ve said, hey, you gonna invite me up there for a cup of tea? You’re a southern woman after all—it’s hardwired in your genetic code.”