Page 5 of Training the Heart

I let her off the hook and get the radio working. Colter Wall croons to us as we drive. I settle into it. But the silence only lasts all of three minutes because this woman must talk cheerful chatter at all times.

“What a beautiful party for the sweetest couple. I know I’ve only been here a little while but I really like your family. They’re all so nice.”

“Yeah, they’re all just swell,” I say, sounding way more bitterthan I intend, before I add, “Never thought I’d see Nash settle down.”

My best friend of twenty years and soon-to-be brother-in-law—officially. It was a surprise to say the least, when I found out he was seeing CeCe in secret all summer. But after I had the chance to calm down and realize what his intentions were, I knew without a doubt that they were perfect for each other. Even if their constant kissing and hand-holding makes me want to toss up my last meal, I’m glad Nash and my baby sister are happy together, and maybe they’ll actually break the Ashby curse that has always plagued the three of us when it comes to relationships.

“I just have one question, and stop me if it’s too personal,” Ivy queries.

Ah, fuck.

“Don’t do personal,” I bite out.

“You don’t say?” Sarcasm lines her tone. “I promise it won’t sting, I’m just curious.” She takes my silence as the go-ahead. “I just don’t get it, what’s the real story behind your family then?”

I blink at her, not understanding.

“I mean, they’re all so nice and welcoming and they seem like fairly happy people, so are you like, adopted, maybe grew up in a different household? The long-lost brother that still holds a grudge?”

I turn to look at her. Ivy’s blue eyes dance with all the trouble that earned her that nickname. I feel my brow furrow as she laughs at her semi-funny joke for way longer than warranted.

“You know … your face does things other than scowl?” she muses as we pull down the driveway of Silver Pines, my family’s ranch and training center. My home. My responsibility.

I pass my cabin on the old dirt road to get her home. Ivy has taken Blue Eyes, our fifth cabin, as her humble abode for her time here. It’s the one closest to mine. She could have chosen any of the cabins that were empty but she chose Blue Eyes fortwo reasons that she prattled on about. One, because her eyes are blue, which in my opinion is kind of an understatement. They’re so blue they’re almost violet some days, the color of a cloudless winter sky … or whatever.

And her second self-proclaimed reason was because the Blue Eyes deck backs onto the north woods, and she says she likes her privacy.

Probably so she can sit out there and read her smutty books in peace.

“Home sweet home,” she quips as she turns to me. “Well, thanks for driving me home, Captain Joyful, it was a fun night aside from the last fifteen minutes, of course.”

The only response I give her is a huff as I hop out of the truck and walk around to her side. Ivy removes my suit jacket from her curvy frame and hands it to me as she climbs out.

“I’m not cold anymore, thanks,” she says as I take it and trade with her, dropping her keys into her palm. Our size difference is a lot more noticeable when we’re only a foot apart. She barely reaches past the top of my shoulder even in those shoes she’s wearing. I wait, expecting her to go into her house, but instead, she mumbles something like“not waiting one more second”as she struggles to remove her black heels in the grass.

“Mmm … goddamn, that feels good.” She groans a throaty sound that makes me swallow,hard. “I’ve been wanting to do that all night.” She giggles innocently as the other heel comes off and a few more inches disappear from her height. She turns a smile up to me.

I look away from her to clear my head of the noises she’s making while she mumbles how good the grass feels on her bare feet, something about grounding herself to the earth, while I gesture to her front door. She looks at it, then back to me with anare you serious?face.

“I think I’ll make it in, boss; you can go home now. I mean,you can see my porch from your porch.” She points at my cabin, only two hundred feet away.

I shake my head. “I’ll go home once you’re inside.”

She tips her head back and laughs as she saunters up her front steps. “Okay, I’ll humor you,” Ivy calls over her shoulder. “But only because I’ve had a few drinks. I’m a big girl though, I can handle myself.” She pats her purse and winks. “Bear spray.”

Of course she has bear spray in her purse. The little spitfire probably wouldn’t even need it, she’d probably bond with the bear and feed it from her back door.

“Night, Chief, see ya early,” she singsongs. Her door closes and I’m left standing there shaking my head at the whirlwind that is Ivy Spencer.

I toss my coat over my forearm and walk the short distance to my own cabin, Bluegrass.

My cabin is the biggest on the property besides the big house itself. It’s the boss’s cabin, the only one with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and I’ve finally got it the way I want it after being back here since my separation. I did most of the work myself to update the kitchen, with Cole’s help.

I walk through the front entryway and flick the light on. I breathe in a sigh of peace. This is my place. Dark log cabin walls and weathered wood floors fill the open space. It still smells faintly like leather and tobacco from previous residents over the years. The little kitchen straight ahead has new walnut cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

There is a good-sized living room to the left, with a floor-to-ceiling cobblestone fireplace and windows that look out to the big house and barns in the distance. It’s the perfect place to sit with a whiskey at the end of the day listening to my favorite vinyl. It’s also the only place I don’t have to worry about leading everyone, about the ranch, my mom living alone as she gets older, filling my dad’s boots, Janelle, the future.

This is my space to just be Wade, whoever the fuck that is these days. No time for self-reflection when you have an entire ranch to run and next year’s derby pressure breathing down your neck. I loosen my tie and toe my uncomfortable-as-fuck dress shoes off. I’m mentally going over tomorrow’s workday as I feel something light hit my foot while I’m hanging up my suit coat.

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