“What did he do?”
“Cut a lot of corners on a project to pocket the profit. I wasn’t okay with it, but I’d skirted the edge of ethics myself, and he knew that. I told you some of the people who invested in the business were ... unsavory ... to put it mildly. Anyway, as you also know, I walked away. He didn’t and now he’s in prison.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice low, “but you did the right thing.”
He nodded. “Eventually. But I also know that I had influence over Pete, and he made decisions he might not have otherwise made.”
“So that’s what you meant when you said you’d lost everything.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m proud of you.”
He blinked. “What? How?”
She shrugged. “You did the right thing,” she said again. “You chose to right your wrongs. To sacrifice in order to be honorable. That shows integrity and I’m proud of you.”
He sighed and rubbed his chin. “It was a low point in my life, Maya. I regret it with everything in me.”
“And if you’ve asked for forgiveness, then you’re forgiven.”
“I have. I’ve also made things right with the company I wronged. I overcharged them and cut a few corners. Not like Pete did, but enough. That was the project that Pete worked with me on, and when the next project came along, he decided he’d prove he could do better. Cut more corners, make more money.” He shook his head. “Someone got hurt when the side of a building collapsed. It made the news. Everyone in town knew it was my business, and ever since then, I’ve been running from God because I figured I’d disappointed him. And if I disappointed him, then I sure didn’t deserve happiness or any blessings he might want to give me.”
“Oh, Gideon,” she whispered. She frowned. “How did I not know this?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Seems like everyone did.”
“Grams and Gramps never said a word.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Huh. How about that? I mean, it happened on the other side of the country, but I thought ... well, I guess I figured everyone would know and judge me.”
“I don’t think people in Whitestone do know,” she said. “Or if they heard about it, they didn’t connect it with you.”
“I guess not.” He raked a hand over his head. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t know, but it did make telling you hard.”
“Past mistakes are difficult to admit when we don’t know the reaction we’re going to get. I understand.”
“Exactly. Anyway, initially, I threw myself into my construction business because physical labor was easier than dealing with the emotional pain of losing Jacob. I pushed my parents away because their grief was my grief and I didn’t want to face it.” He looked her in the eye. “And most of all, I’ve been fighting my feelings for you because I’ve been afraid of messing up. That if we were to become a couple, I’d somehow hurt you—or you’d be hurt by my ... reputation.” He swallowed hard and pulled in a deep breath. “And hurting you is one thing I never want to do.”
“Gideon, you—”
“Shh.” He laid a finger over her lips. “Let me finish.”
She nodded.
“Anyway, after all we’ve been through—like almost dying—after a lot of prayer and hard conversations with God, I’m ready to face my fears if you are. I don’t want to let another day go by without telling you how I feel.”
Could her heart beat any faster? Should she say something? What could she say?
“While I’ve been working on getting everything ready for you, I’ve also been thinking about the ranch and about how you need someone to oversee the building projects and the maintenance. You may even want to expand someday.”
“Yes, that’s the vision.”
“I know construction. I know how to manage crews, handle contracts, build things that last. And I’d like to do that here. With you.”
