Page 74 of Training the Heart

It’s not lost on me that if she had come thirty minutes ago and entered the barn, she would’ve seen me tied to the barnboard while Wade fucked me into oblivion.

“Hey y’all, I was coming to visit River Rising, thought I’d be alone,” she says, probably surprised to see others in the barn after dark.

I know enough from Wade that River Rising was his father’s old horse that placed in the Derby in ’06. Grief settles in my stomach for this woman, her loss, the relationship everyone says she had with Wyatt, all gone forever. Her visiting Wyatt’s horse when she’s alone pulls on my heart strings.

“Kinda late, ain’t it?” Wade asks as he pulls her into a side hug.

Jo shrugs. “I like to ride him on warm nights and chat with Daddy. And it’s only eight thirty.” She grins. “What are you two doing here still?” Her eyes move between us with questions that make me want to drop her gaze, and quick.

“Making sure everything is set for Angel’s Wings,” Wade says at the same time I blurt out, “Wade took me for a ride.”

Mama Jo’s eyes meet mine. Wade grins.

“I mean, we rode separately, together.”

Wade speaks instantly, covering for my awkwardness. “Kicked her ass in a race back from the pond too, although she won’t admit it.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “He cheated.”

“Knowing the land better than you isn’t cheating, Trouble.” He wraps a rope around his corded arms as his veins ripple while he works. I wish I was the rope.

“I was resourceful,” he says, winking.

I scoff.

Jo laughs. “You love that pond, don’t ya? Did Wade tell you his daddy took him fishing there when he was a boy?”

“He did.” I grin, glad she seems to be letting me off the hook for now.

She reaches up and pats his face. “Wade always said he couldn’t wait to take his boys there when he has them one day, and do the same.”

Wade looks down to his mom, and grief of my own hits my heart, but the idea of Wade with kids warms me. He would be the best dad to the world’s cutest, most controlling little babies.

“Well, that never happened,” he says.

“Oh hell, baby, you’re only thirty-four, plenty of time for all that. You’ll have your babies there one day, you’ll see. I know it,” she says, sure as the sun rises as she passes by me, squeezing my hand.

“Night, darlins,” she quips as she saunters down the row.

Wade looks at me with an apologetic look for his mother saying something she could never know would torment my heart. Before she’s even around the corner he’s pulling me close.

“Come on, dirty girl, let’s get you cleaned up. We have a date withOcean’s Thirteenand some ice cream.”

I smile up at him, right before he kisses my lips.

Yeah, I could get used to this.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Ivy

“Rowan’s in? For sure?” Wade asks as he opens the shower door in his bathroom.

This bathroom is similar to the one I used when I stayed here but larger, and the shower is the entire length of the wall. Built for two, really.

“So he says, just wants to meet as a formality. He’s coming tomorrow.”

I lose my bra and turn to step in with him, as he runs a hand through his hair while the water soaks it, and my mouth waters at the sight of Wade, wet and glistening in the shower. I stand watching tiny droplets of water trickle down his muscled chest like a Plinko board.

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