“He never wanted me. Not really. I fell for him when I was in high school, and he only had eyes for Peyton.” Another swing. Wood cracked. “And Peyton didn’t want him. I never could understand that girl. Will followed her to West Point; that’s how much he loved her.” Another swing. The cabinet splintered at the bottom, and the sledge fell through to the counter beneath.

Fuck, I wanted her in a hardhat and some sensible boots, not shorts and sneakers.

“He was a West Pointer, huh?” I asked, just to keep her talking. I hated ring-knockers, as did every servicemember I’d ever met.

“Through and through.” Her breaths were ragged as she pulled the sledge off the counter and let the business end fall to the floor. “And when Peyton died, he found the next closest person to her to love, who happened to be her little sister. My best friend, Paisley.”

My eyebrows shot skyward. Holy shit.

Morgan’s ponytail swished as she raised the hammer and swung it through the cabinet next to the one she’d already massacred.

“That had to suck.”

She scoffed. “It was what it was. He didn’t want me. I was too loud, too brazen, too much…everything. And Paisley is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, so it’s not surprising that he fell for her. Everyone does. Hell, I love her more than I love myself.”

But this was the first time I was hearing her name.

She put the hammer through the door again, then struggled to get it free. “I couldn’t tell her that I loved him. That would have put her through hell, and her heart couldn’t take that. She had a condition back then—the same one that killed Peyton. I mean, what was the point of staying behind for college with her if I just killed her because I was too selfish to keep my mouth shut?” She yanked the hammer free with a grunt, stumbling back a few feet.

I stood but quickly sat again when she regained her balance.

She turned, leaning on the sledge as she looked at me with a mix of sadness and anger. “And then Paisley met Jagger, and she left Will. And he was so damned hurt, and she was so damned happy! And it slipped. I never meant for her to know, but then she did.” Morgan yanked her safety glasses off. “And, of course, she wasn’t mad that I’d been secretly in love with her ex-boyfriend, but then again, I’d loved him for far longer than she ever had.”

I kept my eyes locked on hers and tried to appear as relaxed as possible.