CHAPTER FOUR
Cassie
The trail back to Wade and Ivy’s cabin is well-marked and covered in a thick layer of mulch.
Honeysuckle vines creep along the ground through the heavy walls of pine trees, and the sound of cicadas bounces off them as I walk, feeling steadier on my feet by the minute.
When I reach the first cabin on the edge of the property, my mulch trail turns to a gravel road and I notice the little wooden sign telling me this is Legend cabin.
I can tell right away that a man lives here.
The wide, covered front porch has an old rocking chair on it that has seen better days.
Beside it sits a small matching wooden table with a black ceramic coffee mug on top.
Who knows how many mornings ago it was set there.
There aren’t any wreaths or flowerpots to add color to the front door.
Just a very large, tattered pair of work boots sitting on a thick straw mat.
The next cabin I pass on my walk is the same size as the first. Its sign bears the name Stardust. Wade and Ivy live in the last and largest cabin, Bluegrass, and my mama lives in Spirit, which is just before theirs.
I knew instantly that Silver Pines was a place after my own heart when I heard all the cabins were named after Willie Nelson albums. I climb Wade and Ivy’s steps a few minutes later but I don’t even get the chance to open the door before Ivy does.
“What happened to you?” my sister asks as she swings the door open and I smile.
She sure looks like a mama right now. Her dark hair is pulled up onto her head in a blue scrunchie and she’s wearing yoga tights and a big gray Silver Pines t-shirt.
My new little niece, Billi, squirms in her arms. She’s the sole reason I’m here.
Billi was born three weeks ago, and this is the first chance I’ve had to come and meet the newest member of my family, even if it is only for one night.
I’m heading to Lexington tomorrow, but I intend to snuggle this little bundle as much as possible before I go.
“Hazards of the job.” I offer, tickling Billi’s already chubby cheek with a big smile before looking down at my now-torn blouse that is more brown with dust than yellow.
“Christ almighty, you’ve been gone for less than two hours.” Wade sounds horrified as he posts up beside Ivy, scrubbing his face with his hand. “Who am I giving shit to?”
I grin. I liked Wade as soon as I met him, and commend my sister for landing this rugged cowboy who appears to be the epitome of a quiet southern gentleman.
Ivy swatted at me when I asked her if he called her “ma’am” in bed.
He’s also insanely crazy about my big sister, so I like that about him too.
But mostly I like that, right now, he immediately assumes what happened to me wasn’t my fault.
Still, I take the honest route and shake my head as I enter their cabin.
“No one. It was my doing entirely. I wanted to ride your horse Outlaw, and Dusty warned me he wasn’t fully broken in. But I, um … convinced him otherwise.”
“Dusty,” Wade mutters as he shakes his head. “Are you hurt? Is my horse hurt?”
“Nope. But I pissed off your other cowboy,” I tell him as I hold my phone up and shrug. “Got my video though.”
“Video?” Ivy’s eyebrows shoot up. “You risked bodily harm for a video?”
“Hey, no judging. I live my life a quarter mile at a time,” I say, quoting one of her favorite movies, The Fast and the Furious.
Wade chuckles at the reference before his brow furrows.
“By my other cowboy, do you mean Haden?” he asks.
“Yeah. The one who traded between scowling and fussing over me like a mother hen.”
I toe off my boots and make my way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. I’m feeling at home in Ivy’s space after only a few hours. But that’s my sister. She’s the epitome of comfort for me.
“Scowling? Haden?” Ivy doesn’t sound like she believes me. “He’s usually pretty happy. What did you do to him?”
“Hmm.” I think of his face as he skidded in beside me. Yep, definitely scowling. “I think I scared the shit out of him. He was worried I was gonna sue the ranch.”
After my walk in the Kentucky heat, I gulp down my water and lean against the countertop before pulling out my phone to edit the video I recorded before I fell.
There’s maybe ten seconds of me riding toward the camera until the unruly horse decided I was an uninvited guest. Despite the clip’s length, what I did manage to capture works.
My hair flies out from behind me and, somehow, I look like I know what I’m doing.
I crop that portion of the video out and save the cut copy separately in my camera roll.
Not too shabby for my first time on horseback in five years.
“I’m glad Haden was there and I hope he gave Dusty and you some shit,” Wade scolds me. “That was a rookie decision to let you try to wrangle Outlaw. Even if you did ‘convince’ him.”
“I said sorry,” I tell him, and I meant it. “Poor Dusty will be shoveling shit for the foreseeable future. I feel pretty bad.”
“Not bad enough to help him?” Ivy asks with a smile, rocking her babe.
“I would probably cause him more work if I tried to help,” I answer.
She glances at me with a soft grin before looking back to Wade.
“I told you. She brings the chaos wherever she goes. My sister, the hurricane.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I say, wagging my finger at her. “Hurricanes are a mighty force to be reckoned with.”
“Yes, they are,” Ivy agrees. We lock eyes and grin at each other.
I know she misses me just as much as I miss her.
I turn back to watch the rest of my uncut video.
After I fall, Haden slides into the dirt beside me before lifting me up in his strong arms. This part won’t make it onto my social media but I’m certainly not deleting the way his powerful arms scooped me up, or the concern that crossed his rugged features as he looked down at me.
“Pissed off or not”—I look back at Wade and Ivy—“some pretty hot cowboys you’ve got around here.”
“Jesus,” Wade mutters before turning to Billi. “You don’t need to hear this do you, Bean?”
He plucks his daughter from Ivy’s arms. “I’ll change Billi’s diaper and spare her the details about how hot her auntie finds my top hand.”
Wade isn’t even out of earshot before Ivy turns to me with the mama look on her face again. “At some point you’re gonna need to learn that you aren’t invincible. And that your actions impact others.”
“Yes, Mom.” I salute her. “I’m done manipulating cowboys. I’ve learned my lesson. I just had to get this video. I thought I could handle it. I was wrong.”
“Don’t you have a show this weekend?” Ivy changes the topic as she folds up a baby blanket and sets it on the edge of the sofa. “You can’t very well play guitar with broken arms.”
“I know,” I offer a little too sharply. I don’t need to be scolded by her and Haden in the same day.
Ivy sighs. “Try to at least stay out of trouble for the rest of the day, Cass. Dinner is at six. Wade’s grillin’ and Mama is coming. Oh, and Cole and Ginger.”
“Cole’s the brother, right? Does he look anything like Wade?” I ask with a wiggle of my eyebrows.
“He’s beyond taken. Stay out of trouble.” She points a finger at me.
“Staying out of trouble is my middle name,” I offer innocently as I wrap my arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “I’m planning on heading back to Mama’s and getting all this dirt off of me before spending the whole afternoon with you, Mama, and my new angel niece before I have to leave tomorrow.”
A thought crosses my mind as Wade re-enters the room with Billi. Posting some photos with my sweet new niece might be a good idea if Ivy is alright with it. Anything on my social media that makes me look relatable thrills my manager.
“I’ll be back in a half-hour, lovebirds,” I singsong. “Oh, and I have to meet my bassist for Lexington at some pub called the Horse and Barrel tonight. Is that place any good?”
Ivy laughs as she takes Billi from Wade. I move closer to take a deep breath of her delicious newborn scent as I bend down and kiss the top of her head in Ivy’s arms. She’s so tiny, and it still blows my mind how much I can love a person I just met.
“It’s plenty good. The manager, Nash, is like family,” Ivy says as I stroke Billie’s fuzzy head with the back of my finger.
“You’re going to the Horse and Barrel alone? That a good idea?” Wade asks. Bless him. He’s already such a dad.
“I’ll be fine. I won’t be long with my meeting and, after that, we’ll see where the night takes me. I can’t pick up a local cowboy when I’m with a crowd, duh. Unless this Nash is there and he’s any—”
Ivy snorts. “Also off-limits. And since when were cowboys your type?”
“Ranchers,” Wade bites out. Ivy already told me they aren’t cowboys. Cowboys need cows.
I make my way back to the front door to pull my boots on and head to Mama’s for a shower.
“Cowboys were never really my thing, but you know when you see someone licking an ice cream cone and that makes you wish you could lick your own ice cream cone?”
“Christ. Did she learn her lack of boundaries from you?” Wade asks Ivy, shaking his head.
I shrug. “We’re family now, Wade, and I don’t believe in sugar-coating. Especially when it comes to ice cream cones.”
“You don’t say?” he says, his voice lined with sarcasm, before he adds, “Try to at least make it back to your cabin without accosting any more of my ranch hands.”
“I make no promises. See y’all soon,” I joke, heading out onto the porch. I look around and take a deep breath as I start the short walk to Spirit, where my mama lives. I’m longing for a hot shower to wash both the dust from me and the scent of that cowboy that still lingers in my hair. Haden.
He caught me off guard with his deep stare and caring ways earlier, which is a first. Usually, I tend to leave the impression, not the other way around.
I chalk it up to the country charm of Silver Pines and Laurel Creek. There’s a certain romance that just settles around you with the breeze. I’m starting to see why Ivy likes it here so much. You can’t go wrong with rolling hills, fresh air and hot cowboys.