This time

Travis sank down further in the seat and rested his head against the window as Angel pulled away from the house. He was upset, hurt and embarrassed and would just as soon sink through the floor of the truck if he could. It was even worse that he couldn't hide the mark on his face.

As Angel asked him what happened, his determination to stay in control of his emotions started to weaken. With each passing second, the tears worked their way closer to the surface. And it was a long wait until he finally found his voice.

"She had a ring on this time," he managed. Before he could stop it, a tear broke loose and ran down his cheek. His jaw tightened so much in an effort to keep from crying that his teeth hurt.

He swallowed hard and shook his head. He knew his reference to "this time" implied it had happened before and he hadn't meant to give that much away. But now it was too late to take it back, and more words followed. "You'd think I'd learn not to defy her, after all these years of..." He couldn't finish it. Several more tears escaped, and he gingerly felt the side of his face, which stung when he touched it, which in turn produced more tears. But they didn't come from the physical pain. They came from his soul's pain.

"When I told her I was gonna stay at the ranch..." He sucked in his breath. "I just...I couldn't..." He shook his head again and gave up. Whether Angel could put his random pieces together or not, he couldn't talk any more. Not right now. Not when he couldn't speak without breaking down. 


Garret wanted to turn and walk away, and yet he couldn't leave either. Maggie's tears cut him to the quick whether he liked it or not, and he just wanted to fix it so it could go away. But like he'd already told her...he couldn't. 

Sighing, he stood back up again. "I don't like losing things I care about either," he admitted. Looking at her trembling hand in his own, and then back at her tear-filled eyes, he finally just couldn't stand it any longer. Pulling her close, he wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry into his chest. It was a completely foreign feeling, and yet natural all at the same time. His body wanted to pull away and get as far away from this as possible, but his heart somehow needed this as much as Maggie did.

 "Of course I'll help you bury it," he assured softly. "Just show me where."