Page 44 of Castle's Cards

“Ready to go grab her?” he asks, smiling. I smile back but shake my head.

“Thank you for helping me find her, but I need to talk to her one-on-one. This is my mess, and I want to fix it.”

Carter stares at me for a moment before nodding.

“Of course. I’ll be waiting out here for the two of you when you’re done.” Carter smiles and steps back into the car. I turn around and take a big breath. We found Izzy and she’s okay.

When I get to the training ground, Izzy is brushing Dragon’s mane.

“He looks great,” I say loudly. My voice echoes throughout the space. Izzy looks up and gives me a small smile.

“He’s the most beautiful horse in the world. I’m so lucky that Carter bought him for me.” The smile drops from Izzy’s face. “I know you want me to go to college. And I know it would be smart for me to. It’s just… I’d rather be here at the center. There’s nothing I love more than being here.”

As I approach, Dragon steps back. I step in front of Izzy and pull her into a hug. After a moment she reciprocates and wraps her arms around me. I stroke her hair for a moment before pulling away.

“Izzy, I was wrong for yelling at you. You’re right when you say it’s your decision. My opinion shouldn’t even come into it. I’ve already lived those years and made my choices. It’s not fair of me to push my thoughts and regrets onto you.”

“Why didn’t you go to college?”

I sigh and look at my feet.

“I didn’t think I should because of money. It didn’t seem like the right thing to do, but I was wrong. If I had gone to college, I would be in a much better situation than I am right now. We wouldn’t struggle as much. There are so many nights that I lay in bed praying that there will be a reset button in front of me.”

Izzy hugs me.

“I know you think you made a mistake, but I think everything has happened the way it’s supposed to. If you had gone to college, we wouldn’t live here and I never would have gone to this equestrian center. You wouldn’t have met Carter and I wouldn’t have Dragon.”

I chuckle and shake my head.

“There’s a lot more to life than a man who will buy you things. Don’t get me wrong; Carter is great and very generous. I really like him and I’m glad that I met him. But if I had gone to college, I could have met him under different circumstances.”

I take Izzy’s hand and lead her to the seats by the stable. Dragon follows us, chuffing at the session cut short. “I want to apologize for what I said about Nate, too. I know you really like him, and I don’t want to discredit that. But don’t rely on a man to buy you things and make your dreams come true. You should go after them yourself.”

Izzy sighs.

“I just said that to make you mad. I like Nate, but obviously we won’t still be together after he goes to California. He doesn’t plan on ever coming back, and I plan on staying here for the rest of my life. I want to take over the equestrian center.” Izzy smiles at her horse before turning to look at me. “I’ll apply to college. I won’t promise that I’ll go, but I’ll make sure I have the option if I want to.”

I smile and squeeze Izzy into a hug. She grunts before pushing me away.

“Jeez, you’re strangling me.”

My head tips back as I laugh.

“How did I get so lucky to end up with a sister like you?” I ask, tickling her side. She swats my hand away and crinkles her nose.

“I guess one of us had to be the lucky sister.” We both chuckle before standing up. “I’ll put Dragon away and meet you out front?”

“Sure. Carter is driving, and he’s waiting out front for us.”

Izzy stops and turns to me.

“I really like him for you,” she says, smiling.

“I like him for me, too.”

Izzy leads Dragon back into the stables as I walk toward the exit. Only the sound of the wind whistling through the empty sounds washes over me.

If it wasn’t for Carter, it would have taken me so much longer to find Izzy. I probably would have filed a police report. I would have looked here eventually, but definitely not as soon as I did with his advice.

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