Page 45 of Freeing the Wild
If I tell you the truth, you have to promise you’ll still come.
I promise.
GINGER
The pickings are slim.
I’m not saying it’s impossible.
Good.That suits me just fine.
I laugh and tell them to pick me up from the ranch.Apparently Cole will drive us there as well as home.Mabel is staying with her mother tonight.
No men in this town means that the one I’ve been riding with will remain at the front of my mind.I’ve arrived at the barn dutifully every morning at seven a.m.since that first ride.The ride that unexpectedly breathed life into me, if only for a moment.Haden was right: fresh air and being out every morning in natureishelping me.I feel at peace on the trails of Silver Pines in a way I haven’t felt since my dad was alive and we had our own horses.
I take my time making myself a late lunch and matcha tea.I hum along to the local radio station, and for the first time in at least a year I don’t check my DMs all day.I don’t check the country gossip pages either, or message Dax back when he scolds me for not posting any positive content.
Instead, I put on my warm coat and boots, and take my lunch and my notebook out to the porch.As I sit and eat, watching the trees blow and two blue jays hop from pine to pine, Ifeel inspired to write something for the first time in weeks.And, by the time I’m heading in to get ready for my night out, I have an entire song outlined.It’s not my normal style, the same style that’s made me gain popularity.But I think I give a fuck about that less and less every single day I’m here.
“How do all these women go to work on Mondays?”I ask Olivia and Ginger over the music later that night at the Horse and Barrel.
“It’s a rite of passage when you live in Laurel Creek.Guaranteed to come into work hungover at least one Monday of the month,” Ginger says, holding her sweaty curls off her back as we slide into our booth.
As we sit, Olivia raises her hand at the intimidating-looking bartender that served me last fall.Asher.
“You know him?”I ask her.“He’s had his eyes on you all night.”
“She knows, babe, but she pretends not to notice.”Ginger grins, checking her phone.
“I notice,” Olivia says.
“It’s been almost two years of you two making eyes at each other,” Ginger adds.
“He looks at you like he’s your bodyguard.”I look back over at him.“Oh, and here he comes.”
We haven’t even been seated for five minutes when Asher makes his way over to us with a fresh pitcher of sangria and some water.
“You ladies want something to eat with all this sangria?”he asks as he places napkins down on the table with the tray.He wears a black long-sleeve button-up that highlights the outline of his strong physique and the tattoos that line his knuckles.
‘I was promised nachos,” I tell him as he refills my glass.I’m feeling lighter than I have done in a long time.I’m glad I came.
“Sure.”Asher nods at me and I realize how handsome he is.He might be big and scary but he also has that whole dark and brooding thing going on.
“So, out with it, Cassie,” Olivia says when Asher is out of earshot.“I want to know what was going on between you and Haden last week at breakfast.”
I take a big sip of my drink.It really is the best sangria I’ve ever had.
“I’ll make you a deal,” I tell her.Her eyebrow perks.“I’ll tell you what happened with Haden if you tell me why Mr.Scary Bartender looks like your bodyguard.”
Ginger starts to laugh.“Because once upon a time he sort of was her bodyguard.”
Olivia’s eyes narrow.“It was one night, and I don’t exactly know what happened.It was out of character for me.”
“I made her tell me when I finally gave up pretending he just stares at her for no reason.”Ginger says.
“Uh-uh,” Olivia says raising her glass to me.“You two are not flipping the script here.I know I saw something between you and Haden.Spill.”
I’ve had too much to drink to talk about this man.But fuck it.I don’t have any friends, and at this point I could really use some advice.
