Page 92 of Wilder Heart

CASH

After perusing a couple of maps and deciding on where they wanted their forever home to be, Cash walked Wilder totheirquarters—which he liked the sound of—and then went to fetch Billy from his room.

When he opened the door, his face shuttered.

“Let’s talk,” Cash said. “Come with me.”

He led Billy wordlessly to Lain’s office, where he waited after the talk with Wilder. Cash still hadn’t really explained what happened, and it was as much a feeling as fact. Billy had never liked Wilder, so whywouldn’the take the opportunity to make sure he left for good?

“Take a seat,” Cash said as he himself sat in one of the chairs across from Lain, pulling the chair out a bit so it was facing Billy’s chair more than Lain’s desk.

Billy sat, looking warily between them. “What’s up?”

“Tell me why you told Clyde that you dropped Wilder off at the bus stop two nights ago, when you really dropped him off at the motel in town.”

Lain looked at Cash. “Wilder stayed at the motel two nights ago?”

“Yeah. He was thinking about leaving. He’d already changed his mind by the time I got to him—which I would have done even quicker if Clyde hadn’t wrongfully thought he was at the bus stop.”

“Clyde must’ve just gotten confused, that’s all,” Billy said coolly.

“You told him Wilder said he ‘couldn’t stand being here anymore.’ Wilder says that wasn’t true at all. He never told you that.”

“Then Wilder’s a liar!” Billy snapped. “He’s already a murderer. It can’t be that hard to believe that he’d tell a lie to make himself look better.”

Lain scowled, and Billy blanched.

“I mean—look, hesaidhe was gonna take the bus out of here. So what if I got a little mixed up about where I dropped him off? It doesn’t matter anyway, right? He’s still here.”

“It matters because you lied. You’ve wanted him gone since the moment he arrived.”

“I don’t like him,” Billy said mulishly. “That’s no secret. I thought maybe y’all would realize he didn’t belong here anymore after his saddle accident, but even that wasn’t enough to change anything.”

“You thought…” Cash said slowly.

“Wilder has always belonged here, Billy,” Lain lectured. “He’s my brother. This is his home.”

Billy shook his head with a gusty sigh.

The wheels in Cash’s mind were still turning. “Billy, did you have something to do with Wilder’s accident?”

“What?” Billy blustered. “No!”

“I sent you away from the group,” Cash said, thinking back to that day. “I sent you to check on the horses. And then Wilder’s saddle fell off during the ride.”

“You can’t seriously think I had something to do with that,” Billy said.

“You really think?” Lain asked.

“It’s certainly a strange coincidence I hadn’t noticed before.”

Billy glanced between him and Lain, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. “I… I… Maybe Wilder just put the saddle on wrong that morning. It had been a long time since he’d ridden, y’know.”

“Wilder didn’t put the saddle on that morning,” Cash said calmly. “I did.”

Billy’s shoulders sagged, and his gaze fell.

“You loosened his saddle,” Lain said.

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