Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Red Dead Redemption!

Prologue

Kelly's Pub was packed to the brim by the time Maggie Beckett arrived.

She paused just inside the door, letting her eyes sweep the bar searchingly. A group of college-aged kids were hogging the pool tables and were obnoxiously loud as they downed cheap beer like it was going out of style. A big group of girls were celebrating a bachelorette party at the bar, wearing feather boas and drinking their cocktails through penis-shaped straws as they played their little bachelorette games. The rest of the patrons looked to be thirty and above, most of them looking as if they had come with the same intentions as her – to cut loose after a long work week and drink away their stress now that it was finally the weekend.

Maggie finally spotted the woman she had been looking for. Elena Reyes, her best friend since high school. She sat at a high top table by the window, already drinking a gin and tonic and currently oblivious to the fact that more than a few guys were checking her out. When Elena spotted her, she started to wave vigorously. Maggie returned the wave, then made her way over to the table.

"You're late," Elena said when Maggie reached her.

"Hello to you, too," Maggie replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Elena smirked, then pushed a whiskey and coke toward Maggie as she sat down next to her. "For you," she said.

Maggie smiled gratefully. "You're the best," she gushed, before taking a long drink, her body relaxing as the whiskey warmed her all the way to her belly.

"Rough day at work?" Elena asked knowingly.

Maggie sighed heavily and nodded.

For eight years now she had been working as a nurse in the local hospital, and considering how much she dealt with day in and day out, she seemed to have more rough days than not. But as hard and stressful and tiring – mentally and physically – that it was, Maggie loved her job. She was able to help people, had even saved a few of them over the years, and the reward of that far outweighed any of the bad.

"Just the usual, I guess," Maggie answered. "Had an unfortunate encounter with a patient that couldn't hold down their food and decided to projectile vomit right as I was checking vitals," she explained, which made Elena cringe. "I had to go home and shower, hence me being late," she concluded.

"Dude, excuse totally accepted," Elena said. "If you had showed up here with some guy's vomit all over you, I would have left."

"I think the whole bar would have left," Maggie said with a snicker.

Elena snorted, then made a thoughtful noise. "Actually, that's not a bad idea," she said, looking around at the crowded bar. "Quick, make someone throw up on you. If everyone leaves, we won't have to wait so long for drinks," she then encouraged jokingly.

Maggie smirked at her friend. "I don't to have to make anyone do anything. It's Kelly's. Someone's bound to throw up sooner or later." Because if there was anything Kelly's was notorious for, it was the super strong, and super cheap, drinks. People always went overboard there, which meant it was guaranteed that someone would throw up at some point.

"True. Very true," Elena conceded.

They paused to drink, then Maggie gave her friend a questioning look. "How about you? How was work?"

"Just another day in hell," Elena said, rolling her eyes. She worked at the Social Security office, and like any government job, that meant interacting with a lot of very irritable people, which didn't make for the most enjoyable workplace. "The weekend couldn't come fast enough," she added with a sigh.

"You could quit, you know," Maggie said pointedly.

Elena shrugged. "The benefits are too good to give up," she said matter-of-factly.

"So you'll just keep wasting away at a job you hate and be miserable?" Maggie countered.

"I'm a tough girl. I can handle it," Elena assured. "Besides," she added with a grin as she grabbed her gin and tonic, "that's what alcohol is for."

Maggie smirked and grabbed her own drink. "Amen to that."

Then they both laughed, clinked their glasses together, and downed the rest of their drinks.

A few drinks later, they were both feeling buzzed and chatting away enthusiastically, so involved in their own conversation that they were more or less oblivious to everyone else around them. It was hard not to notice the bachelorette party, however, since the girls were only getting louder and rowdier the more they drank. When Elena came back to their table after fetching yet another round for them both, she was shaking her head.

"Poor Phil," Elena said as she set the drinks down and reclaimed her chair. "Think he bit off more than he can chew with those girls."

Maggie looked toward the bar, where it looked like the bachelorette party was trying to coax something out of the bartender, Phil, who looked equal parts terrified and mortified by whatever it was they were asking of him.

Maggie smirked in amusement and raised her brows at Elena. "I'm sure he secretly loves it," she said. "A bunch of young pretty girls drawing attention to the bar and fawning all over him? How could he not love it?"

"You make a good point," Elena said with a nod.

Maggie drank more of her whiskey and coke, her eyes scanning the crowd. There were a lot of regulars hanging around that she recognized, but plenty of patrons that she didn't. When her eyes suddenly met the gaze of a man a few tables away, she paused. She didn't know how long he had been there, nor how long he had been staring at her. He looked to be in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties. He sat with some friends, but he didn't appear to be paying much attention to whatever they were saying. Instead, he smiled as his eyes locked with Maggie's and gave her a little nod of acknowledgement.

Maggie quickly looked away and took another drink. "So," she said to Elena, "what time are you and Jack going down to the river tomorrow?"

Jack was Elena's boyfriend of nearly nine years now. He was a good guy, funny and kind and always willing to lend a helping hand. He also took his trips to the river very seriously, and judging by the groan Elena let out, their impending trip was no exception to that rule.

"He wants to leave ass early to try to beat the crowds," Elena said with a note of complaint in her voice. "That monster plans to drag me out of bed at five in the morning to start getting ready. Says we're leaving at six on the dot."

Maggie pulled a face. "You better take it easy on the cocktails, then," she said, motioning to her friend's drink. "Too many more of those and you'll be dragging some serious ass tomorrow."

Elena scoffed and waved off the warning words. "I'll be fine. I don't get hangovers, remember?"

Maggie snorted. Her friend did seem to have some miraculous ability to drink copious amount of alcohol and never feel the aftereffects of it. She, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. "Wish I could say the same," Maggie grumbled. "Now that I'm in my thirties, I feel like I'm permanently hungover every day."

Elena smirked and nudged Maggie with her elbow. "That's not a hangover. That, my friend, is what we call getting old."

Maggie frowned immediately. "Excuse me. I'm only thirty one, which is not old, thank you very much," she defended, which made Elena cackle evilly. "And in case you forgot, you're gonna be thirty in a few months. So if being in your thirties makes you old, then you're old, too."

Elena rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand. "Either way you're still older than me, and you always will be. So there, old lady," she said, before mockingly sticking her tongue out at Maggie for good measure.

Maggie rolled her eyes, but her friend's antics still made a smile tug at her lips. "Real mature, El." Elena just laughed. "What's the plan for your dirty thirty, anyway?" Maggie asked curiously. "Anything in particular you wanna do?"

Elena heaved and gave her a pleading look. "Hide in a hole somewhere and pretend it's not happening?" she suggested.

Maggie gave her friend a look. "You make it sound like turning thirty makes you a leper or something."

"Doesn't it, though?" Elena countered.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. It's not that bad. Trust me." When Elena just grumbled, looking unconvinced, Maggie shook her head. "Well, if you won't plan something, then I will. And when it's all said and done, you'll feel really silly for putting up such a fuss about it."

Elena just shrugged. "If you say so." She then finished her drink and set the empty glass down. "I'm gonna go pee real quick," she said, already sliding off the bar stool. "Make sure none of these hyenas steal my purse," she added, gesturing to the increasingly drunk crowd around them.

Maggie nodded, and with that Elena was off.

Now alone at the table, Maggie took another sip of her drink and sighed to herself. It had been a long day – a long week – and between getting up early for work and the drinks she'd had, she was admittedly starting to feel pretty tired. A glance at her watch told her it was past eleven, which wasn't too terribly late but still a little past her normal bedtime. As much as she loved hanging out with Elena, she didn't want to stay out too much longer, especially so since she had plans to get up early and head out to the country the following morning.

A rise in volume by the pool tables made her look that way. The game that had been going on had stopped and a few of the guys were talking loudly to each other, gesturing wildly to the table every so often. Judging by their pissed off expressions, she had to guess that someone might have tried to cheat and had gotten caught. The guys were looking angrier by the second, and though the rest of their friends seemed to be trying to diffuse the situation, it wasn't doing much good. The two that were arguing started to shove each other back and forth, which made Maggie shake her head in disapproval.

That just proved it – testosterone and alcohol didn't mix well together.

"Hello."

The new voice made her blink in surprise and look to her left, forgetting all about the fight about to break out across the room. She sat a little straighter upon seeing that it was the guy she had locked eyes with a few minutes ago, the one that had been sitting a few tables over with his friends.

"Er, hi," she said back. She hadn't expected him to approach her. The fact that he had had thrown her for a loop.

The guy smiled at her, and, really, he wasn't bad looking. He had pretty blue eyes and a nice head of dark hair, he looked like he was in decent shape, and even his clothing choices weren't bad. Maggie noticed that his smile made a dimple appear in his left cheek, which was admittedly pretty cute. But even though she found him attractive, she still felt guard go up. The fact that he had approached her meant that he must have been interested, which immediately made her feel uncomfortable.

"I hope you don't mind me coming over here," he said, easy smile still in place. "I didn't want to interrupt while you were talking to your friend, but then I saw her leave and I thought I'd take the chance to come over and introduce myself." He hesitated, then stuck out a hand. "I'm Mason."

Maggie looked at his hand, then, out of politeness, slowly reached out to shake it. "Maggie," she introduced.

Mason smiled a little bit wider. "Pretty name. Guess it's only fitting," he complimented with a meaningful look.

Maggie felt her cheeks heat up a little at the compliment. "Thanks."

Mason took a step closer and leaned an elbow on the table. "I think I've seen you here before," he commented to get the conversation going. "You seem familiar."

Maggie shrugged a shoulder. "I come here every now and again," she said, which was a bit of an understatement. She came to Kelly's frequently enough to be considered a regular, but she didn't necessarily want Mason to know that. She didn't want to give him any ideas about trying to approach her in the future.

"You're from around here?" he asked with interest.

Maggie nodded. "Yeah. Been in the area since I started working full time."

"And what do you do for work?" Mason asked without missing a beat.

"I'm a nurse," Maggie answered.

Mason's brows raised. He looked impressed. "Wow. That's awesome."

Maggie shrugged a modest shoulder and gave him a small smile. "It's hard work, but it's rewarding, too."

"I bet," Mason agreed with a nod. "I have a friend who's a nurse, and she looks like she's dead on her feet most of the time," he said conversationally. "I'm sure you need nights like these every now and again to unwind, huh?"

Maggie nodded. "It certainly helps manage the stress levels, that's for sure."

Mason chuckled a bit, then looked at her drink, which was just about finished off by now. He straightened up and gave her another smile. "Well, in the interest of managing your stress levels, how about I get you another drink?" he offered, motioning to her nearly empty glass. "Then maybe I can join you and you can tell me how you got into nursing?" he added hopefully.

Maggie pressed her lips together. He was being very nice and she wasn't getting any creepy vibes off of him, but she was still hesitant to accept the offer. She had come to the bar tonight to hang out with her friend and unwind after a long week of work – she was not interested in trying to find herself a potential man. The last thing she wanted to do was lead Mason on or give him hope where there wasn't any.

She was in the process of trying to think of a gentle way to let him down when, thankfully, Elena returned. "Holy shit, dude. You called it on the puking thing. One of those girls from the bachelorette party was in there and she was yacking her guts up everywhere. It was so – oh." Elena stopped short when she finally realized that Mason was there. She looked at the man with raised brows, then turned questioning eyes on Maggie. "Who's your new friend?"

"Elena, this is Mason. Mason, this Elena," Maggie quickly introduced.

"Pleasure to meet you," Elena said, shaking his hand.

"Likewise," Mason said. "I hope you don't mind me interrupting your night out," he added with a friendly smile.

"No, no. No problem at all," Elena said quickly, giving Maggie a not so discreet look. She knew what that look meant, and it wouldn't result in anything good if Maggie allowed things to proceed. "Are you planning on joining us?"

Mason looked at Maggie. "I was hoping to, if that's alright."

Maggie shifted in her seat, feeling uncomfortable under the expectant stares from both Mason and from Elena. She looked at Mason, who had hope burning in his blue eyes, to her best friend, who raised her brows and gave a subtle, encouraging nod. After a few seconds, Maggie finally sighed and decided to go with what her gut was telling her to do. And her gut, unfortunately, was telling her to decline.

"Actually, I think Elena and I should call it a night," she said gently. "We both have an early start tomorrow and should probably cut ourselves off so we won't be zombies in the morning. Right, Elena?" she asked, giving her friend a pointed look.

Elena frowned and looked like she wanted to argue, but when Maggie raised her brows, the woman finally sighed with what sounded like defeat. "Yeah. Right," she agreed reluctantly.

Mason looked disappointed, but nodded in acceptance anyway. "Yeah, of course. I understand."

Maggie tried to ignore the small guilty feeling that bloomed in her belly. "Sorry," she offered lamely.

Mason recovered enough to smile and shake his head. "It's fine," he said. "Maybe…maybe we'll see each other around?"

Maggie nodded. "Maybe."

Mason looked at her for a moment, then gave one last smile. "Nice to meet you, Maggie. You, too, Elena."

"Nice to meet you, too," Maggie said, while Elena just inclined her head.

Mason left after that and went wandering back to the table he shared with his friends. Maggie and Elena both watched him go, before looking to one another. When Maggie saw a look on her friend's face that she recognized all too well, she sighed and shook her head. "Don't even say it," she said, before finishing off her drink. "Let's just close our tab and go, okay?"

Elena really looked like she wanted to say something, but she refrained. "Okay," she agreed.

After they had gathered their stuff, paid their bill, and said goodbye to Phil, they headed outside to await the Ubers that they had ordered to take them to their separate homes. They stood outside the bar in silence for a few moments, listening to the racket inside and fidgeting uncomfortably as the humid, summertime heat of Texas swamped them. Eventually, though, Maggie became aware of the fact that Elena was staring a hole into the side of her head. Finally, she sighed and looked at her friend.

"I know what you're thinking," she said bluntly.

"What am I thinking?" Elena countered.

Maggie sighed and raked a hand through her hair. "That he was cute and friendly and that I'm a chicken shit."

Elena shrugged. "You're partly right," she admitted. Then she frowned and looked at Maggie with sympathy. "Honestly? More than anything I'm just…sad."

Maggie pressed her lips together and looked elsewhere just so she didn't have to see the look being directed at her. "That's worse," she sighed. She hated pity. It always made her feel stupid and weak.

Elena ignored the comment. "Mags…it's been three years. Three years of watching you turn down any guy that comes up to you. Three years of watching you build those walls up around yourself higher and higher and higher." Elena placed a gentle hand on her arm, which made Maggie look back to her. "I know why you're scared. I do. But you can't keep closing yourself off like this. There might be something really good for you out there, but you won't even give yourself a chance to find it. And that's not fair to you."

Maggie looked at her friend for a long moment, then sighed heavily and shook her head. "I'm just…not ready," she said.

"When will you be?" Elena persisted.

Maggie shrugged, beginning to feel the first tinges of frustration. "I don't know, okay? It's not like I have an expiration date on this shit." Maggie pressed her lips together and shook her head again. "What's the point, anyway?" she asked bitterly. "What man in his right mind would want a woman that's broken?"

Elena tightened her grip on Maggie's arm, her expression turning fierce. "You are not broken," she said firmly. "What you are is smart and beautiful and the best damn person anyone could hope to know. Any guy out there would be lucky to be with you."

A face flashed through her mind. The face of the man she had loved. Who had once vowed to be with her through thick and thin, through the good times and the bad times. The man who had, eventually, broken those vows and gone off to find himself a new, perfect life with his new, perfect wife and their new, perfect baby. Even now, thinking of him made her feel like someone was stabbing her in the heart.

"Paul didn't seem to think so," Maggie muttered, bitterness still thick in her tone.

Elena scoffed, her expression turning to one of loathing. "Paul's a fucking idiot. He doesn't even deserve to breathe the same air as you."

Maggie looked at her friend again, then sighed and shook her head. She really didn't want to talk about this anymore. She just wanted to go home and get some sleep.

"Look, I know you're concerned and I know you just want me to be happy. But, El…I am happy," Maggie assured her with a small smile. "I've got a good job. I've got my family. And I've got you. I don't need anything else, alright?"

Elena's expression softened at those words. Finally, she smiled and nodded, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Alright," she said, clearly sensing that she should drop the subject for now.

As if on cue, the Uber that Elena had ordered came driving into view. It stopped just in front of them, and after Elena confirmed that it was indeed her driver, she turned back to Maggie. "Time to go. You'll call me when you get home, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Maggie assured her with a nod.

Elena smiled, then titled her head. "It's not too late for you to change your mind about the river, you know," she said. "This is the first full weekend you've had off in months. Why don't you come with us? We can float down the river, drink cheap beer, get super tan," Elena said, wagging her eyebrows invitingly.

Maggie smirked. "You'd get tan. I'd turn into a lobster," she reminded, gesturing to her fair skin.

Elena laughed. "It'd still be fun, though," she insisted. "What do you say?"

Maggie smiled, but shook her head. "Thanks for the invite, but I can't. I already promised Papa I'd visit him for the weekend, and I can't go back on that."

Elena nodded understandingly. "Can't blame me for trying." Elena then stepped forward to hug her tightly. Maggie returned the hug just as tight. "Have fun with your grandpa and tell him I said hi. And call me if you need me, okay?"

"Right back at you," Maggie said.

They finally released each other, and then Elena went to get into the Uber. Maggie stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans, watching her friend go and feeling a rush of gratitude for how supportive and wonderful she always was. She'd have been lost without Elena. There was no doubt about that.

"El?" she called out, making Elena pause halfway into the backseat. "Love you," Maggie said with a smile.

Elena grinned. "Love you, too."

Then she got into the car, and after she rolled down the window to wave goodbye, she was gone.

It took a few more minutes for Maggie's Uber to arrive. Seventeen minutes and one nice conversation with an exceptionally friendly driver later, she was unlocking her front door and stepping into her dark, empty house. Maggie stood in the foyer for a second, glancing around at her quiet surroundings, before she set her keys and purse down on the table by the door and went into the kitchen to get some water.

It was the house she had lived in with Paul, which he had allowed her to keep after the divorce. Kind of him to do so, she had bitterly decided – at least he hadn't left her husbandless and homeless. She walked into what had once been their bedroom, which no longer housed any of his possessions and had been redecorated at least five times in an attempt to rid the memories of him being there. Sometimes it worked – sometimes she forgot he had ever even been there. Other times, however, it didn't work. Other times she could still see him there, in every inch of the room they had shared for five, happy years.

Tonight, unfortunately, was one of those nights. Maggie lingered in the doorway with her water in hand, feeling as though she could still hear him snoring in bed. Still see him shaving in the adjoining bathroom. Still watch him standing in front of the full length mirror in the corner of the room, getting dressed for work while he chatted away about anything and everything.

Maggie felt an uncomfortable tug in her chest. She had cried over Paul more times than she could count. He had been her first love – her only love. She had been certain that she would spend the rest of her life with him. But the universe, it seemed, had other plans. Maggie could not give him what he wanted, and Paul had left her because of it. The happiness she had once felt, the future she had once planned for, was long gone. He had taken that with him when he had left, and she hated him for that. Hated him for breaking his promises and breaking her heart.

But deep down, she still loved him. Because he had been perfect. He had been the one. And as much as she didn't want to, Maggie knew that she would always love him. And that, quite honesty, just made her hate him even more.

Sighing, Maggie did her best to push Paul from her thoughts and went into the bathroom to wash her face. When her makeup was off and she had brushed her teeth to get rid of the taste of alcohol lingering on her tongue, she leaned her hands against the bathroom sink and stared at her reflection. Her red, curly hair had grown long enough to cover her chest and was in desperate need of a haircut that she simply hadn't had time for. Her already fair skin seemed paler than usual from lack of spending time outside. She also looked skinnier than normal, which was probably due to the fact that her busy job meant constantly being on the move and having very little time for meal breaks.

It was her eyes, however, that really caught her attention. Her blue eyes had once held a certain spark to them, a joy and liveliness that had been there when life had been all sunshine and rainbows. But as hard as she looked for it now, she couldn't find that spark anywhere. It was gone.

Paul must have taken that, too.

Maggie finished her nighttime routine, pulled her curly hair up into a messy knot on the top of her head, then changed into something comfortable to sleep in. Once she had slid into bed, she sighed with relief and turned onto her side, punching her pillow a couple of times until it was fluffy and felt just right underneath her head.

For a few minutes she just lay there in silence, thinking about her night with Elena and the things they had talked about. She knew Elena wanted her to get back into the dating world. She knew her friend just wanted her to be happy again. But after what had happened with Paul, Maggie just wasn't sure she could put herself out there again. What if what happened with Paul happened with someone else? It had been hard enough the first time around – she didn't think she'd survive it a second time.

So what if she didn't have someone to come home to? So what if she didn't have a good man to share her life with and look at her with love in his eyes? She had had that once, and look how it had turned out. Yes, she was alone, but she was starting to think it was better that way. At least this way she couldn't get hurt again. At least this way her heart was protected.

Like she had told Elena – she had her job, her friends, and her family. And that was all she really needed.

Maggie pulled up to her grandfather's ranch house at exactly eight fifty-two the next morning. She parked on the gravel driveway just behind his old, beat up pickup truck, climbed out of the car, then went up to the front door. She let herself in without bothering to knock and was immediately hit with the scent of coffee and bacon, accompanied with the very familiar, and very comforting, smell of home.

"Magpie?" a voice called from the kitchen. "That you?"

"It is!" she called back.

"Come on in the kitchen, honey!" her grandfather called, sounding excited.

Maggie made her way toward the kitchen, the old floorboards creaking under her boots as she went. When she reached her destination, she smiled widely at the sight of her grandfather and felt the heaviness that had hung over her the night before immediately lift. Her grandfather, Ernie MacManus, was pushing eighty-five, but one wouldn't know it by looking at him. Having stayed active all his life, he was still strong and sharp minded, albeit perhaps a bit more slow moving than he once had been. He stood tall and broad, with a bit of a beer belly and much thinner hair than what he had had in his younger years. As soon as he saw her, he moved away from the coffee he had been pouring into his favorite mug and came over to hug her tightly. He smelled like Old Spice, just as always, and it brought a fond smile to her face.

He kissed her cheek, then released her to smile at her adoringly. "I didn't think you'd make it in so early," he said.

"Traffic on the road was light. I made better timing than expected," Maggie said. She then looked to the stove, where it appeared that breakfast had just finished being made. "What's for breakfast?" she asked.

Ernie smiled widely and guided her to a chair, where he gestured for her to sit. "We've got biscuits and gravy, bacon, some fried eggs, and buttered toast," he said, already grabbing plates from the cupboard to start filling them up for the both of them. "Hope ya brought your appetite, 'cause we're gonna feast," he added with a grin.

Maggie quirked a brow at her grandfather's meal choice. It was all delicious comfort food, yes, but not exactly the best for the health, which was a concern. "I thought I told you to lay off on the fatty stuff, Papa," she said, giving him a look. "Your cholesterol was sky high the last time you went in for a check-up. I know you still think you're twenty, but you're no spring chicken anymore. You gotta watch it."

Ernie waved off her warning. "I'm fine, Magpie. I feel healthy as a horse, just as always."

Maggie hummed, unconvinced. He was in fairly good health for a man his age, but there was no denying that he had been much better off when her grandmother had still been around to force-feed him vegetables every now and again. "You still need to be careful. We had a deal, remember? I won't hire someone to hang around here to keep an eye on you as long as you promise to take care of yourself – including eating well," she reminded.

"And I do take care of myself, thank you," Ernie interjected. "I work outside, I take care of the house, I stay active," he listed off.

"And you also go down to the diner to scarf down burgers and bar-b-que with old Freddie Winston every other day and drink enough beer to put a frat house to shame," she added with a quirk of her brow. "Nana would roll in her grave if she saw the shit you get up to when I'm not around to keep an eye on you," Maggie said matter-of-factly.

Ernie clicked his tongue and gave her a look of disapproval as he came to set a plate of food and a mug of coffee down in front of her. "She'd roll more if she heard you usin' language like that," he scolded.

Maggie just held her hands up in surrender, silently apologizing for cursing.

Ernie went to get his own food and coffee, then sat down in the chair across from her, groaning involuntarily when his joints protested. "Look," Ernie said, "I'm a grown man. I been takin' care of myself for ten years now. I know what 'ta do and I know what I can handle, alright?"

Maggie looked at him for a moment, then reached across the table to place a hand over his wrinkly, age-spotted one. "I'm not trying to nag. I just…worry about you, Papa," she said with a frown. "You're the only family I've got left. I'd like to keep you around as long as possible, if that's alright with you."

Ernie smiled and patted her hand. "I 'preciate the concern, but I'm doin' just fine here, Magpie. Promise," he said with a nod. "An' just so you know, I'm not plannin' to go nowhere anytime soon," he added, giving her a cheeky grin. "Ya won't be rid'a me that easy."

"Good," Maggie said, before looking down at her plate of food. As much crap as she had given him for his diet choices, she did have to admit that the food looked really good. "Not even gonna lie – this looks amazing," she admitted with a sheepish smile.

Ernie smiled proudly. "Tuck in before it gets cold."

"Yes, sir," she said, before quickly digging in.

They spent the morning catching up with each other, the conversation flowing easily as they finished breakfast, helped themselves to a second cup of coffee, and then eventually moved out onto the porch to enjoy the morning sunshine. While they talked about her work and things that had happened on the ranch and what people in town were getting up to, Maggie couldn't stop herself from looking around at her grandfather's land with adoring eyes, feeling at peace for the first time in a long time now that she was back home. Because that was exactly what this place was to her – home.

When Maggie had been just six years old, her parents had tragically died in a car accident. They had been coming back from some dinner with her father's co-workers when a drunk driver had veered onto the wrong side of the road and smashed head on into their car going at least double the speed limit. Her father had died on impact, but her mother hadn't. Badly wounded and mostly unresponsive, she had spent four days in critical condition in the hospital, where doctors had tried everything they could to save her. There was nothing to be done, however, and she had eventually succumbed to her injuries.

Maggie had wound up in the care of her mother's parents, Ernie and Susan MacManus. Her grandparents had raised her, taken care of her, made sure that she wanted for nothing. The loss of her parents had been devastating, and she still missed them to this very day. But her grandparents had stepped up, had taken her in, and had done everything in their power to give her a happy life. And they had succeeded. She had infinitely more good memories than bad ones, and it was all because Ernie and Susan had gone above and beyond for her. She loved them as if they were own parents – to her, they were her parents.

Now, twenty five years later, it was only Maggie and her grandfather left. Her grandmother had, unfortunately, passed away ten years previous after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She had done treatments for over a year, but the cancer had been too aggressive to beat. Susan had passed away at the age of seventy three, and her death had shattered them both – Maggie had lost another mother, and Ernie had lost the woman he had loved for over fifty years.

Maggie and Ernie had turned to one another for support, and, together, they had managed to find a way to move on with life. Ernie had thrown himself into taking care of the ranch to keep himself distracted, and Maggie had decided to go into nursing, her grandmother's illness giving her a newfound determination to try do everything she could to help people in need. But no matter what, no matter how busy she was during school or how many hours she worked once she had landed a job in the hospital, Maggie always made sure she was there for her grandfather. He was all she had left, and she was going to make sure he was taken care of.

They were still sitting out on the porch in their favorite rocking chairs when Ernie asked the question Maggie positively dreaded being asked.

"So," he said a bit too casually. "How's the love life these days, Magpie?"

Maggie snorted and shook her head. "Nonexistent," she answered.

Ernie frowned in response. "Now why is that? Are you havin' trouble meetin' people?"

Maggie shrugged. "Something like that," she answered vaguely.

Ernie hummed thoughtfully. "Well, you could always try that tinderbox thing if it's too hard 'ta meet people natural."

Maggie smirked and quirked a brow at her grandfather. "Try what now?" she asked with amusement. She was pretty sure she knew what he was referring to, but she wanted to see if he would say it again.

"You know," Ernie said, waving a hand. "That tinderbox thing on the telephone. The one where ya swipe if ya like someone or somthin' like that."

Suspicions confirmed, Maggie cracked a grin. "It's called Tinder, and I'd rather not go down that road," she said with a shake of her head. "Most of the people on there are just looking for a booty call anyway."

"Booty call?" Ernie echoed uncertainly.

Since she was not about to explain to her eighty something year old grandfather what a booty call was, Maggie waved a hand. "Not important," she dismissed. "The fact is that I'm not dating because I'm not interested. Even if I was – which, I repeat, I'm not – work doesn't really allow the time, anyway," she added with a shrug.

Ernie looked displeased. "I know how important your work is to ya, Magpie, but there's more 'ta life than that," he stated matter-of-factly. "You should find someone 'ta share your life with. Someone that makes ya happy."

"I do have someone who makes me happy," Maggie countered. "I've got you," she said, giving him a smile.

Ernie gave her a fond look at those words, but then frowned and shook his head. "I'm an old man, sweetheart. I won't be around forever. I hate 'ta think of you all by your lonesome once I'm dead an' gone."

"First of all, can we not talk about you dying please?" Maggie said with a slight frown. "And second, I won't be alone. I've got Elena around to keep me company. She told me to tell you hi, by the way."

Ernie perked up at the mention of her best friend, whom he'd had a soft spot for ever since he had met her. "How is Elena doin'? She still with that Jack feller?" he asked.

"She's great. And yeah, they're still together," Maggie answered with a nod.

"That man ever gonna put a ring on her finger, or what?" Ernie asked.

Maggie nodded in confirmation. "He will. I've been helping him look at rings whenever I've got the time. Once he picks one out, it's only a matter of time before he pops the question," she said.

Maggie was happy for her friend, happy that she had a good man who practically worshipped the ground that she walked on. But talking about her friend's happiness and the future she had with her boyfriend brought a small frown to Maggie's face. She couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy, simply because she didn't see something like that in her own future.

A hand on her arm made her look over at her grandfather, who was frowning at her with sympathy. He had seen the look on her face, and it was obvious he had figured out exactly what was bothering her. "I know that boy broke your heart, Maggie," he said seriously. "I will never forgive him for what he's done, an' if I ever see him again, he'll know exactly what I think about him." Ernie paused and squeezed her arm. "But I think it's time we put him out of our minds, don't you?"

Maggie sighed and shook her head. "It's not as easy as all that, Papa," she said gently.

"We ought'a at least try," Ernie insisted. "He's done enough damage as is. Now you have a chance to move on, to find somethin' better. To find a man who will treat ya the way you deserve." Ernie shook his head. "Don't let him ruin that."

Maggie looked at her grandfather for a moment, before slowly lifting a brow. "Did Elena call you or something?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Ernie frowned with confusion. "No? Why you ask?"

"Because she said almost the same thing to me last night," Maggie revealed.

Ernie smiled. "Great minds think alike, I s'pose."

"Guess so," Maggie agreed. She looked away with a sigh, mulling over what Ernie had said, before finally looking to him again. "Look, I can't make any promises about throwing myself back into the dating world," she said slowly. "But I'll…think about it."

Ernie grinned widely at that. "Good enough for me."

Maggie gave him a flicker of a smile in return. She didn't really have any intention of actively pursuing any dates – she had only really said it in the hope that it would make her grandfather drop the subject of Paul and her pitiful love life post-divorce. Thankfully, it seemed to work. Ernie finally stood from his rocking chair, taking a moment to hike his pants up and readjust them.

"Alright, then. I'd love to sit and chat all day, but them chickens ain't gonna feed themselves," he said. "I gotta get to work."

"You need some help out there?" Maggie asked as she, too, stood from her rocking chair.

Ernie shook his head. "Naw. I got it."

Maggie nodded. "I'll just start doing a little cleaning inside, then." She had always been better at household chores than Ernie was, anyway, and Lord knew her grandfather wasn't the best at keeping up with his laundry – there was probably a mountain of dirty clothes waiting for her in his bedroom.

"Sounds good." He then smiled and stepped in close, patting her fondly on the cheek. "It's good 'ta have ya home, even if only for a bit."

Maggie smiled a genuine, happy smile. "Glad to be home."

Ernie smiled wider, then leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. The affectionate gesture made her instantly feel better and more at ease. "I'll be out by the barn if ya need me," he said.

"Alright. Call me if you need help," Maggie insisted.

"Will do."

Ernie wandered off after that, leaving Maggie alone on the porch. She watched him go until she couldn't see him any longer, then let her eyes take in the familiar sights of the ranch one more time. With a smile on her face and contentment in heart, she finally went inside.

Alrighty! So first off, welcome! This is the first time I've attempted a story like this, so I'm still not completely sure how this is going to go. But I have high hopes, and I hope you guys are interested!

As I said in the summary, this story is semi-inspired by Outlander, which is a show I absolutely adore. It won't play out exactly as that plot does because this is obviously a very different setting and a very different story, but for those of you familiar with the books/show, I think you'll see pretty quickly where some of the inspiration comes from. I should take this moment to say that I clearly don't own anything pertaining to Outlander. That's all Diana Gabaldon, who is far more clever than I can ever hope to be.

Anywho, this will be an Arthur/OC story, though I should warn that this will be a bit of a slow burn situation. Like I said already, I'm still not completely sure where this is going yet. I'll keep this rated T for now, but there's a chance the rating might get bumped up to M. I hope y'all enjoyed the prologue, though, and I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter! Thanks for reading!