Page 15 of Castle's Cards

“Izzy!” Addy says, looking at her sister sharply. The teenager rolls her eyes.

“I’m seventeen, not seven.” Izzy looks up at me again. “Well?”

“That sounds like a conversation for you and your sister.”

“Izzy, do you have your riding gloves?” Addy asks, interrupting.

“In my pocket.”

“You know, we should probably get going. Horses are waiting,” I pipe up.

“What do you know about horses?” Izzy asks haughtily.

“Not much, if I’m being honest. I’ve had friends who ride horses and watched the occasional western but that’s about the extent of my knowledge.”

Izzy rolls her eyes again and leads the three of us out the door. As Addy passes me she mouths ‘sorry.’

As we head towards the car, I can't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. While I may not have won Izzy over completely, her not writing me off entirely is certainly a step in the right direction. I'm determined to prove to her that I'm worthy of Addy's love and trust.

“She likes you. I told her you protected me in the club.”

“That’s her liking me?” I can’t help the shock from spreading over my face as I watch Izzy slam the door as she gets into the Mustang. She rolls down the window and winks.

“She loves the car, too.”

Addy and I climb in to join her and start the drive to the equestrian center outside of the city. We pass by the Castle Club as we go, and Addy’s leg starts tapping as she stares. The club is open and we see people in expensive designer clothes go in and out. There’s no poker game until Sunday night, and Court is probably inside now, sitting in Castle’s Corner.

“Hey. It’s all right. Don’t worry about what happened between you and Victor last night. Just because you called him out on cheating, Court would never blame you for the fight, although next time you might want to call in Cade or Court instead of confronting the cheater yourself.”

“Court won’t fire me, right? We didn’t talk to him before we left.”

The look she gives me says everything: she needs this job to support her and Izzy, even though she won’t voice her concerns in front of her.

“Of course not. The poker tourneys have very little to do with Court, okay? We just utilize the club to hold them and Court gets a cut of the rake and the registration fees. You’ll always have a job if I have anything to say about it.”

After a few more minutes, we pull into the center, with the multiple arenas and horse barns set up all around. I was here once before to grab something for Court, but it seems even more impressive now to me. Izzy is buzzing with excitement.

“If someone is riding my horse, I swear I’m going to scream,” she says from the back, impatient to get out. “Dragon is mine and no one else’s.”

“Cool name,” I comment as she hurries out of the car.

Izzy glances back at me, smiling a little, and then rushes to get to the horse barn.

“What did she mean? Why would someone else be riding her horse?”

Addy stares ahead, watching the riders go in and out of the barn.

“Because Dragon doesn’t belong to us, he belongs to the center and we rent time to ride him. He’s an expensive horse. I would never be able to afford to buy him.”

“I’ll buy him then. If she wants him, I mean.”

“What?” Addy stops, staring at me with her mouth hanging open. “No, Carter, I couldn’t let you do that.”

“Why not? Look, I’m not trying to be crass, but however much they want for him, it’s probably just pocket change for me.”

“You want to buy a horse for my sister?” Addy shakes her head. “Buying her approval won’t work, you know. She’ll be grateful, but it doesn’t mean she will immediately approve of you.”

I take my hands and look at Addy, my brow furrowing.

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