Page 42 of Freeing the Wild
“So then what?You just came here?”Her words cut into my daydream.I clear my throat and close up Odin’s stall, giving him a final pat as I do.I make my way back over to her.She doesn’t need to hear about the broken path of bar fights, women and whiskey that led me here.
“Awful interested in the backstory of someone you don’t even like, ain’t ya?”I ask her, leaning on a post between stalls.Cassie doesn’t miss a beat.
“Not really.But in case you haven’t noticed, you’re kind of my only option today.”She looks around the empty barn.Just me, her and the horses.
Right.
“There y’all are,” Ivy says as she enters the barn and wraps Cassie in a hug.“I saw you come in.So, Haden, you got the secret for getting her out of those pajamas?”Ivy asks me as I take a gulp from my water bottle.I nearly choke.Fuck me, my head just went somewhere else completely.
“He practically dragged me here,” Cassie says, side-eyeing me.
“You look glad he did,” Ivy retorts.“Will you come for dinner tonight, Cass?”
Cassie’s eyes flit to mine.
“Sure,” she answers.“Guess I should be social.Mama’s been texting me all afternoon asking me if I want to come to bingo.”
Ivy laughs.“Don’t do it.I’ve gone once and it’s anarchy.Those ladies take their bingo seriously.”
I chuckle as I listen to the two of them.Seeing Ivy here makes me glad Cassie has her, and that Glenda’s story ended differently than my dad’s.They’re the support system she needs to figure out what her next move is.Not me, I remind myself, remembering Wade’s words from yesterday.
“Great.Come to my house in an hour,” Ivy says before turning to me.“Haden.What about you?Do you want to come for dinner?”
I almost say yes and then I remember Penny and the new horse that she’ll need help with.Not to mention that long drive of hers that will need salting.
“I’m busy,” I tell them both with a smile.“Thanks for the invite though.”
Ivy says her goodbyes and leaves the barn as I check the time and realise I need to get my afternoon chores done before I finish for the day and head to the farm to see Penny.
“Thanks for the ride,” Cassie says, stopping me.“And Haden?”
I turn back to her and nod.
“Seven o’clock tomorrow?”
I think for a moment before moving in steady strides toward her.Cassie’s breath catches in her throat as I look down at her, and the sound shoots the same electricity through my veins that I felt last fall.I hold my hand out.
“I’m gonna put my number in your phone.Make sure you have it.”
Her icy blue eyes stay trained on mine.
“Forward.Most menaskfor my number,” she comments.
“I’m not asking you for your number.That’s not what this is about.”The light in her eyes I saw seconds ago dims as I continue.“I’m being practical.This week’s fairly light on work.But an hour lost around here is two hours at the end of the day, and I have other commitments in the evenings.If I don’t have to dragyou down here, as you called it, we can ride every morning.But if you aren’t gonna make it, be sure to let me know.”
She pulls her phone out of her pocket, dutifully unlocking it and handing it to me.
“I’ll be here,” she replies quickly as I type my number in.“Thanks for dragging me here, Haden.”
I should say you’re welcome, or that it was my pleasure to ride with her.But, instead, I just nod curtly and leave the barn, willing the rest of my carefully built-up armor not to fall.
“You seem distracted.”
I glance over at Penny as she stands outside the main barn of the rescue ranch.She’s all bundled up in a fleece winter coat and a white hat with a pompom on top.It covers her dark hair that has turned a lot grayer over the last few years.She’s helping me sprinkle safe salt on the driveway with a worried-mama look on her face.The air is definitely getting colder and I can see her teeth chattering from here.Even her glasses are starting to fog with the chill.
“You’re out here shivering like this just to be nosey, Pen?”
“No, I’m here to help you get the horses settled.The tortured look you’re wearing is what’s keeping me out here though.What’s on your mind?”
