Page 70 of Entwined Hearts
I turned to him fully then. “What?”
“Your family owns one of the ranches merging together, right? Why don’t you just run classes out of there? Might as well with all the other shit y’all got goin’ on over there,” he said with a chuckle, taking a swig of water.
I straightened off the fence, my mouth parting, speechless. Holyfuckingshit. He was right. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
“Not a bad idea,” I murmured, thinking it over. I didn’t even know if it was a possibility, but now that he planted the idea in my head, I was determined to at least run it by everyone.
I made plans to grab drinks with him soon, signed a few things for the arena owner and the staff, and rode back to Wild Creek with my mind in overdrive.
“Weareon our honeymoon,you know,” Colt said, peering into his camera. He and Britt were sprawled out on oversized lounge chairs in the shade on some tropical beach I forgot the name of.
“I know, sorry,” I said, “but this is kind of urgent ranch business.”
Savannah frowned at me, confused. I hadn’t even run this by her yet, too excited about it. I just stormed inside the Hayes house, gave her a kiss, and told her and her siblings to meet me here in ten minutes. And now we were all gathered in the living room with Colt, Britt, Anna, and Joseph on FaceTime.
“So I went to practice today, and I was talking to a friend of mine about me retiring, and?—”
“First off,” Savannah interrupted, “how was practice?”
“It was fine. I’ll tell you more about it later.” I didn’t want everyone else knowing I kind of freaked out initially. I shifted on the couch, looking at the group. “So I was talking to him, and he asked me what I was doing next. I told him that I was thinking about training or coaching or judging, but wasn’t really sure. That I didn’t want to be on the road all the time?—”
“Should I cancel my date for tonight, or is there a point to this story?” Delilah rolled her eyes.
I shot her a glare. “I want to know what y’all think about me training riders. Here. At Golden Circle.”
“What?” Claire and Beau asked at the same time, their eyes wide. They were so in sync, it freaked me out sometimes.
After a beat of heavy silence where everyone just stared at each other, I said, “I just want to know if it could even happen space-wise.”
“I’d front the cost of it,” I added in case that was a concern. I looked over at Savannah. “I know I should’ve talked to you about it first since it’d be a lot of money, but…yeah.” I didn’t really have an excuse for it besides pure excitement.
She rested her hand on my knee. “If it’s what will make you happy, then I want you to do it. It’s your money to do with however you want.” She’d been so supportive these last few days. I needed to do something for her, show her how thankful I was for all of it.
“You definitely have the pull and name to bring in clientele, that’s for sure,” Joseph said. “So making a profit wouldn’t be an issue.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Colt said with Brittany nodding beside him while sipping on a coconut.
“I do, too,” Tess said from the floor with Luke and Delilah. “It’d be easy for you to spread the word with all your connections.”
“Might as well pack as much shit as we can onto this land Savvy is fighting so hard for,” Emmett added with a subtle smirk. “It’d sure piss the Hollises off, and I’m all for that.”
Delilah snorted. “I think we all are.” Everyone chuckled in agreement.
“I think it’d be really great for you, Weston,” Anna said. “And I already know one prospective student.” She pointed the camera at Henry, and pride swelled in my chest.
My heart raced as I looked at Claire and Beau. While we all owned shares in Golden Circle, it still felt somewhat like this was their show, their baby, and that meant they had the final say.
“We’ll already have the arenas,” Claire thought aloud to Beau while he stared at me from across the room.
“Even if we didn’t, I’d build them for you,” he told me with a hint of a smile. Something soft, loving, and prideful that tore me up in ways I hadn’t expected.
A shaky breath left me at the realization that we all just decided on my future together. As a group.
A family.
They weren’t mine by blood, but they certainly were by love. Each and every one of them had been here for me through some of the worst times of my life, and I could never repay them enough, but this was a start.
I turned to Savannah. My girl. My sun. My true north. “I guess that settles it then,” I rasped, my throat tight with emotion.
