talk to the front desk about booking it to take you to the airport."
"I'm sorry, Maggie," he said quietly. "I'm crazy in love with you. I know I don't deserve a second chance, but—"
"Don't call me, don't text me, just leave me alone," she ordered. "It's the least you can do right now."
* * *
Once Steve had headed downstairs to catch the resort's shuttle, Maggie decided to hole up in her room until it was time to drive to the airport tomorrow.
She just couldn't deal with the thought of going to the hotel restaurant or bar and encountering stares and whispers from her various relatives who worked here.
Room service, she thought, walking over the door to put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign. That's definitely the way to go. And I'll get some work done before finding something mindless to watch on TV.
But staying put proved to be torture. The room still smelled of him…and of sex. It hurt, a deep visceral pain.
Her entire life had just imploded, and it was her fault for putting her trust in the wrong person.
She plugged in her laptop and opened a file of marketing materials, but couldn't focus.
Her mind was racing wildly in circles. What am I going to do now? How am I ever going to face my family again? And how can I possibly repay that loan without bankrupting myself?
She gave up on the marketing materials and began searching for business loans. Given her financials at the moment, it was a long shot. But she had to try.
She was sitting there, filling out an online application form, alternately racked by panic and feeling sorry for herself, when her phone rang.
Simultaneously hoping and dreading to see Steve's number, she glanced at the Caller ID.
Oh God. My parents.
Because of course they—and everyone else in the family—already heard all the juicy gossip. By tomorrow, the rest of Bearpaw Ridge would know, too.
I hope it doesn't hurt Annabeth's feelings. That should be the least of her worries right now, but of all the people that Maggie had misled over the past couple of weeks, Annabeth was one of the few that she felt truly guilty about.
Reluctantly, she hit Answer.
"Hello," she said with resignation.
Do they want to yell at me, too, for messing up? At her age, she shouldn't care what her parents thought about her choices…but she did.
"Maggie, I heard what happened," Mamá began, exactly as expected.
Maggie braced herself for recriminations. They didn't come.
"I'm so sorry, mija. I know that you and Steve really did have feelings for each other. But why didn't you just tell us the truth?"
"Because Abuela was holding that loan over my head like an axe!" Maggie reminded her. "You were there that night! You heard her. She and the others arranged that match without asking me, and she wasn't going to let me say 'no' to Aarón unless I already had another man lined up as my mate."
Mamá sighed. "For what it's worth, I wasn't happy with how she handled that. But you know your abuela. When she makes a plan, she expects everyone to fall in line…or else."
Surprised by the unexpected sympathy, Maggie wondered how many times Mamá had been forced to go along with her mother-in-law's plans. And whether her parents had even wanted to go to Denver, or whether her abuela had dragged them along, forcing them to make the best of it.
"But at least with you and Steve courting, the clan will still get that alliance they wanted with the Lopez family," Mamá continued, making Maggie cringe with guilt. "And I'm sure the elders will see that, once they've had a chance to calm down a bit. Everything will turn out okay. I'm sure of it."
"No, it won't, Mamá," Maggie told her. "Because Steve is the one who told his sister about our arrangement, after I asked him not to say anything to anyone. I broke up with him. He left for the airport about an hour ago." Her eyes began stinging with a fresh round of tears. "Oh, Mamá, I don't know what I'm going to do! Abuela told me that I have to repay the loan by next week!"
"Oh, Maggie," her mother said, with such compassion that Maggie wanted to bury her face in Mamá's shoulder and bawl like a baby. "Well, I know one thing you're going to do. You're going to come here for dinner and eat my homemade tamales, and we'll talk."
Chapter 20
Suspicion
Carmina and Martín Ornelas's House
Bearpaw Springs
Sunday Evening, September 25
"So