Collision at Roosevelt Ranch by Elise Faber

Author:Elise Faber
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Elise Faber

Fourteen

Sam

* * *

Well, this was awkward.

Maggie stood just inside the front door, a bowl of food overturned at her feet and fury in every line of her expression. She stepped over the pile of what looked to be noodles and strode toward them, eyes flashing.

Sam moved to stand in front of Haley, blocking her from view.

Her T-shirt had managed to hang itself on one of her barstools, so he snagged it then passed it to her.

“What in the fuck is going on?” Maggie snapped.

Sighing, Sam crossed his arms. “Maggie.”

“Don’t Maggie me—”

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

Sam’s mouth clamped closed, and he spun around to face Haley. Um. What the hell was she talking about? This was exactly what it looked like. For fuck’s sake, she’d been topless with her hand down his pants.

“Explain.” Maggie.

“There’s nothing to explain,” he said. “This is between me and Haley.”

Haley didn’t look at him. “Mags. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have. I . . .”

Maggie, the woman he’d once thought would be his wife, didn’t acknowledge Haley. Instead, she kept her brown eyes fixed on Sam. “How could you do this to my sister? You knew she had a crush on you.” A shove to his chest. “What? Is this some sort of check mark on your bucket list, to sleep with sisters?”

“That’s not fair—”

“You knew?” Haley shrieked, her cheeks going pink. “You knew, and you didn’t say anything?”

Maggie shook her head, voice softening, the slightest note of pity lacing its way into her tone. “Oh kiddo, of course I knew. It was so obvious.”

Sam had a lot of love for the girl who’d been his childhood sweetheart, but in that moment, he could have strangled her. It was a painful thing to witness, Haley wilting under her sister’s tone and superior expression.

He tried to rescue the situation. “I didn’t know. I swear, Haley. I mean I hardly noticed you until you came back into town, and I probably never would have even talked—”

Oh, fuck.

That wasn’t rescuing. That was dive-bombing. Dropping a nuke on the situation and blowing it to fucking shreds.

Haley’s face paled and hurt swam in her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Regardless,” Maggie said, chiming in with perfectly terrible timing. “This is bad, Hays. You’re vulnerable, and Sam isn’t right for you.”

“Vulnerable—” Haley began.

“Yes, you’re hurt, and he’s taking advantage.”

Since that particular sentiment hit too close to home, it took a second for Sam to gather his wits.

“He absolutely isn’t taking advantage,” Haley said. “I mean, I know it was wrong to get involved with him—”

Wrong? Sam blinked. They were two adults and—

“Of course, he’s taking advantage. Or rather, he’s trying to assuage his guilt by being with—by making you feel good.” She pointed at Sam. “This is what he does, Hays. He feels guilty and sticks around, and you have to be the one to stand strong and let him go.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Sam gritted out.

Maggie blinked, her face going carefully blank as she slipped out of her preaching attitude.

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