Page 29 of Freeing the Wild
“I have your coffee pods for the Keurig at my cabin.I’ll run and grab them and we can make some coffee.”She takes my face between her weathered hands before turning and starting down the short gravel drive to her place.“Won’t be a minute.”
Coffee sounds like heaven after an overnight flight.I give my head a shake as I grab my bag from the backseat.Everything is going to be fine.I’m going to rest and heal here.I can feel it.
I breathe in the fresh mountain air on my way up the steps.I need this, Ineedmy family, Ineedpeace and quiet, and Ineedhelp.I remind myself Haden’s just a man as Wade unlocks the door to my cabin and the smell of clean, fresh linen hits me.We take the first of my suitcases inside and find a place for the winter coat I’ve barely used in five years.I’m just getting it hung when I look up to watch Haden’s truck,the truck, moving toward us slowly on the gravel road between our cabins.He’s just any other man, I remind myself.But the moment he parks in his driveway and gets out, I’m a goner.He’s so gorgeous: tall and strong, wearing those damn perfect jeans, a thick flannel jacket, and his trademark cowboy hat.I can’t for the life of me remember now what I was telling myself.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Haden
The winter sun reflects off the thin layer of snow that lines the gravel road as I drive back to my cabin.The February air is crisp as I pull my truck into my driveway, a piping hot coffee in my hand.I’m just getting back from helping the boys put a massive feed delivery away in our newly mouse-shit-free bins, and I thought I’d grab an early lunch before my afternoon work starts.
We had a great training session with Angel’s Wings earlier this morning.Ivy having Billi has really given me the opportunity to work in an area I normally wouldn’t.I’ve gone from watching Angel learn how to spring from the gate last year to recording her fastest breezing time yet this morning.Watching her damn near made me feel as free as she looked.She’s about to start her championship series next month—a time where she can earn some real points en route to the Derby in May—and she’s ready to race.All in all, this should be a pretty easy start to my day, right?Wrong.
Because as I park and cut the engine, I almost drop my coffee in my lap.The very woman I’ve done my damned hardest to forget about over the last five months is moving what looks likesuitcases into Stardust next door, and Wade is helping her.He’s also signaling for me to come over to say hello.Hell, Wyatt was right again.Because here’s that storm I felt coming.
I cautiously get out of my truck and watch as Cassie comes back out of the cabin.I inhale a sharp breath at the sight of her.Her hair is longer and even more blonde than the last time I saw her.She is so much thinner than when she visited last fall; still beautiful, but so different.She wears flared light blue jeans with boots and a big fluffy white sweater.Her hair is pulled back into a high ponytail and she’s wearing large sunglasses.It’s impossible to read her expression when she turns her head toward me.I hate the pull I feel to her still.I think of the things I’ve heard from the news and Wade and Ivy about what happened at Rustic Chords as I make my way over to Stardust.Ivy had said she was thinking of going to stay with Cassie.But instead, Cassie came here.
Makes sense, I suppose.She’s obviously here for a family visit to recenter herself.Probably just for the weekend.I can do a weekend of pretending she isn’t here: act civil, say hello, goodbye and all that.But I won’t get pulled in by her like last time.Thankfully, I have lots to catch up on at Penny Lane and my dad needs the seal on his roof reworked.He’s been bugging me for days to help him out.
“Can you give us a hand?There’s a couple bigger suitcases in the back too,” Wade says, gesturing to his truck.
“Christ.Has she got enough shit?”I glance quickly at Cassie as I round the back of his pickup.She’s talking to Ivy, who’s holding a squirming Billi in her arms.Cassie pushes her sunglasses up onto her head and takes Billi from Ivy, kissing her head and nuzzling her close.She holds Billi like she’s really missed her, and I hate that it makes her more human and gives me a softer side of her when I’m really not looking for it.I turn from her and get back to pulling another heavy suitcase from the truck.
“Thanks,” Wade says, lifting the other, clearing the back of the truck.
“How long is she here for?”I nod to Cassie, trying to appear casual.
Wade sets the suitcase down and closes his tailgate.He looks over at her then back to me.
“Not sure.Ivy just said she needed some time.Some rest.And Stardust is vacant, so Ivy and Glenda cleaned it up last night.We picked Cassie up from the airport this morning at six.She flew in on the red-eye.”
I nod, unsure of how to respond.It doesn’t get any more awkward than reuniting with a woman who kept her identity from me, ghosted me, and then made a small fortune off a song—an ass-backward song, I might add—about me.Now, it seems she’s going to be my neighbor.Fucking perfect.
“You remember the great Haden Westbrook?”Ivy says to Cassie as I climb the steps with her suitcase.
Cassie looks up at me with those icy blue eyes and a forced smile on her face as Wade brushes past me.Ivy scoops Billi from Cassie’s arms and follows behind, telling him where to put the suitcase.
“Guess we’re gonna be neighbors,” she says with a shrug, glancing toward my cabin.
After months of simmering feelings about her and that night, I have zero filter and apparently zero control.I head straight for it.
“You didn’t think to tell me you wereIvy’s little sister?”I say as quietly as I can.
“I’m sorry,” is all she offers.But she doesn’t meet my eyes.I feel the muscles in my jaw twitch and glance out to the road.Then back to her.
“Do you have any fucking idea what kind of position thatputs me in with myboss?Your sister is practically his wife.So, technically, she’s my boss too.”
“I guess I didn’t really think about it back then.”Cassie shifts and puts her hands in her pockets.“Look, I can’t change the past, and if it means anything I didn’t think I’d be back here any time soon.”
“Yet here you are,” I scoff.
“You know, I didn’t exactly hear you asking my last name, Cowboy.”She looks up at me expectantly.Fuck.I hate that she’s right.“And we’re both adults.Surely we can put that night behind us?I know I can and I won’t be here for long.”Then she softens her expression.“Look, I justneedto be here right now.I won’t bother you at all.You won’t even know I’m here.”
My chest tightens.I can’t help but wonder what has happened to her aside from the incident at her show last week.Something else is off about her.She speaks the way she did before, but the spark I remember, the free spirit I saw the moment I met her, is missing from her eyes.It reminds me of the broken, and neglected horses we bring in at the rescue ranch.Cassie Spencer looks like she’s been through the ringer the last few months.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve spent so long being pissed at her, or whether it’s the way I couldn’t helpmyselfwatching her concerts online and thinking about her way too much, but whatever the reason, I move closer to her—ignoring how good she smells, how it feels to be near her again.A small part of my brain registers that howwellI remember her peachy scent is ridiculous.Fuck it.I’m asking.
“I need to know if it’s about me.And, if it is, why you thought using a private night between us and twisting it into something it wasn’t was a good idea.”
