Heartbreak Town (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty Five

       Renne almost dropped the bags of groceries in her hand when she saw who was sitting at the kitchen table with Mamaw and Papaw. The person stood, coffee mug in their hand, staring Renne up and down, a smile beginning to peak out from under their pair of brown eyes. 

         Feeling like her feet were frozen in place, Renne looked over her shoulder at Swayde. His jaw was set firm, and based on how the thick veins were bulging in his arms, Renne could tell that he was clenching his muscles tight, probably wanting to take a swing at the person, just as bad as Renne wanted to. 

       Seeing Swayde made her feet come unglued, but when she looked back at who her surprise was, Renne felt her stomach drop. Walking over to the counter, Renne slammed down the bags of groceries, and began to put stuff away; Swayde did the same, never once leaving her side. 

       "Um, hi, Renne." The person said in an irritated voice since Renne was ignoring them. 

       With a can of corn in her hand, Renne spun around to glare at the person. "What are you doin' here, Matt?" Just saying his voice gave Renne an uneasy feeling. 

      Matt walked slightly closer to Renne. "I came back for you." Taking another step put him about two feet from her. "I miss you." The three words made chills run up and down Renne's body, but not in a good way. 

       "I told you I was comin' back once my sister passed away, Matt." Renne didn't try to hide the bite to her words. She turned back to the counter to grab a few more cans before making a trip to the pantry. "It was very irresponsible and wrong of you to leave the ranch alone just so you could come back here." 

       At some point in this conversation, Mamaw and Papaw had slipped out of the room, but Swayde still occupied the empty space, which Renne was very thankful for. 

       "Renne, can you please let me just talk to you?" Matt's hand was now on Renne's arm. He shot a glare at Swayde. "Alone?"

       Looking down at his hand on her arm, then looking back up to him, Renne jerked her arm free, motioning for Matt to follow her outside. 

       "Can we talk now?" Matt asked once Renne and him were outside in front of the barn. 

       "What is there to talk about? We are on a break, end of story." Renne stood with both of her hands on her hips. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that he was actually here. 

        "Actually, I was hopin' we could eradicate that." And with that, Matt dropped down to one knee in front of Renne, holding out an engagement ring in his hand. 

        Renne took a step back in surprise. This was not at all what she had expected to happen. "Matt, what are you-" 

        "Renne, I know that I have not treated you well recently, and I know that I have said and done some things to make you really hate me, but there's nothing more I want than for us to relinquish the love that we once had. I know we talked about this a while ago, and when you left, all I could think about was how bad I missed you, and how you are the only girl I want to spend the rest of my life with." Matt took a breath and raised his voice just a bit to talk over Renne when she began to refuse his proposal. "Now, I'm not expecting you to say yes right now, I'm just askin' that you put the ring on your finger and think about it." With that, Matt grabbed Renne's left hand, slipping the white gold ring on her finger, smiling a little bit when he saw how perfect it fit. Standing up, Matt put both of his hands on Renne's shoulders. "Renne, you really are the one for me, and I hope that I can make you see that in the time I am fixin' to spend here." 

        Renne, still in shock, drew her eyes off her ring, and up to look at Matt. "Then why did you cheat on me?" She said the words to him that she had never said out loud.