CHAPTER TWELVE
Haden
PENNY
Got a new one. She just keeps pacing the fences.
You never say no, do you Pen?
PENNY
I can’t. Poor thing. Can’t wait for you to meet her.
I’ll be there by five and I’ll bring you some dinner. Got lots of leftovers.
I made a big hash last night, and if I know Penny, the first day with a new rescue horse means she probably hasn’t eaten anything.
PENNY
You think you know me, kid?
No comment. See ya later.
I put my phone in my pocket and get back to my tasks.
I’m taking every single grunt job I can today, because I need to keep busy if I want to clear my head.
I have Dusty, Brent, Colin, and a new kid who’s here as part of a school co-op program to do the gravy jobs.
As the morning goes on, they take four horses out for a trail ride and I have them mixing the day’s feed and doing any grooming that needs to be taken care of.
Today, I am putting my headphones in, turning on Tyler Childers and shoveling shit.
I muck out every single stall by myself, and our boarding spots are full.
When I’m done, I rake the entire yard. I do the shit jobs so I don’t have to work with anyone else or be social.
I sort the supplements and add fresh hay to the stalls that need it.
All the while I try to make sense of the woman I can’t get out of my head.
Every time I close my eyes I see Cassie.
If that’s even her real name. I see her defiant little smirk, her icy blue eyes, and the way she looked riding my cock in the cab of my truck.
By the end of the day my ego has resolved that, after all of the one-night stands I’ve had, I probably deserved to be ditched.
I realize that every man must have one woman who takes him completely by surprise.
One woman who comes blazing into his life and pisses him off, but looks incredible doing it.
Throws him off balance even though he never gets another chance with her and will probably never find another woman like her.
By the time I’m finished hanging the last hay net in the last horse’s stall, I know for certain that Cassie is that woman for me.
As I write out the schedule for the next day on the whiteboard outside Wade’s office, I wonder why she was here in the first place.
I wonder where she lives, what she does for a living.
Most of all I wish I’d asked more questions when I had the chance.
I knock on Wade’s cabin door at four to fill him in on the day.
Billi had a doctor’s appointment in Lexington at lunchtime so I haven’t seen him, but I know he’ll want an update on the yard and the chat I had with Rowan McCoy today about Angel’s Wings, Wade’s horse for the upcoming Kentucky Derby.
Rowan’s been working with me off and on while Ivy sees out her short maternity leave.
She’s been down with Rowan more than she should be for having just had a baby three weeks ago, and I’m assuming she’ll be back at it full-time very soon.
“Well, look at what the cat dragged in,” Wade says as he opens his front door. He’s wearing Billi on his chest in one of those fancy baby carriers. Fucking guy is a real domestic beast these days. “Come on in. Billi and I are being entertained by Ivy. She’s cooking tonight.”
Wade grins at me as I enter their comfortable cabin. It’s a lot homier since Ivy moved in; there are fluffy pillows and candles around, and real plants that she obviously waters and takes care of.
“What’s she cooking? Smells good,” I lie, although I’m not sure good is the word I was looking for. Though I’m not about to tell my boss that.
As we move through the main living area I can hear and see Ivy clanging around in the kitchen.
She’s got an apron on and an iPad propped up on the counter.
There are veggies chopped and chicken grilling in a pan.
Not sure what kind of spices she has rolling with it, but I’m sorta glad I don’t have to find out.
“Chicken paprikash.” She smiles wide, her long dark hair piled high on top of her head.
“Chicken what-i-kash?” I ask.
“Paprikash. It’s Hungarian. We’re being adventurous,” she asserts, wagging a finger at me. “I’m giving Wade the night off from cooking.”
Wade nods at me when she isn’t looking and mouths the words lucky me. I nearly start to laugh but manage to cover it with a cough before composing myself.
“Drink?” he asks, making his way to their dining room bar and pulling out a whiskey glass.
I follow him in as something in the kitchen clatters to the floor. “Motherfucker,” Ivy spews under her breath. This time, I do chuckle.
“Sure!”
A drink after the twenty-four hours I’ve had sounds good. Especially because I know by the glass decanter he just pulled out that Wade is serving up Wyatt’s special bourbon. And I’d never say no to that.
“So, how was today?” Wade asks as he hands me my glass. He taps the bottom on the table, an Ashby tradition in honor of Wyatt. I follow suit then take a big swallow. Fuck, it’s good.
“We flipped things around today, I needed some busywork so I mucked out the stalls and raked the yard. Let the boys handle the fun stuff.”
I fill him in on my time with Rowan and tell him we’re working with Angel to ready for Street Sense, a prep race at Churchill Downs next month.
Wade and Ivy are hoping Angel’s Wings can pick up some more points for the derby.
Another prep race will follow in Florida the month after, and a bunch of the Ashbys are planning on heading down for it.
It doesn’t take me long to give him the lowdown on the day, and he scrutinizes me as he takes his last swallow of bourbon, Billi sleeping peacefully against his chest.
“What’s on your mind?” he asks.
“Just making sure Angel is breezing the way she should—”
“No, with you,” he interrupts. “I mean, what’s on your mind personally? You seem off.”
How he knows me this well baffles me. I pull my cowboy hat off with a sigh and place it on my knee.
“A woman.”
Wade lets out a low laugh, which causes Billi to stir. He pats her back to settle her.
“They tend to do that.”
“Yeah. Only I’m thinking I may never see this one again. Came in like a fucking summer storm and left like one too.”
“You didn’t see her coming and she almost tore the roof off?” Wade grins.
I laugh as I swallow my bourbon. “Pretty fucking much.”
“Woooo, go baby!” Ivy calls out from the kitchen. Wade and I look in her direction and stand.
“The fuck is this woman going on about?” Wade says, nodding toward Ivy.
I follow him into the kitchen. I’m starving despite the cloying scent of spices brewing in the house.
As we round the corner, Wade is already chuckling as Ivy stirs an orange-colored sauce in a pot with the chicken.
She’s singing along to a video streaming from her iPad.
The song is folksy bluegrass and the woman’s voice is angelic.
I turn my attention to it and focus on the screen.
My heart stops when I see the video and I almost drop the glass I’m holding.
There, on the screen, in a little white fringe dress, white cowboy boots and a white cowboy hat, is my summer storm in the flesh.
I watch Cassie as she strums the guitar and sings a song I’m pretty sure I’ve heard on the radio.
Her voice is raspy and sweet, old-timey in the way you’d imagine a vocalist from the 1940s to sound.
Her blue eyes are closed as though the song is being sung from her soul.
“Found the livestream of her set,” Ivy exclaims to Wade as I try to make sense of this.
“You a fan?” I ask, very confused and needing to understand why Ivy is cheering on the woman that was riding my cock less than twenty-four hours ago. Ivy stops stirring and dips a spoon into her sauce.
“Hells yes,” she says, making her way to Wade to give him a taste test. “She’s my baby sister.”
“Yeah. You met her yesterday, didn’t you?” Wade asks as he takes a taste from the spoon. “She was visiting to meet Billi. Left this morning for Lexington.”
“She never mentioned she was a musician when she fell off the horse,” I grit out. Thankfully, I don’t have to say any more because Wade takes a swallow of the sauce and starts to choke.
“Holy shit, Trouble, that’s spicy,” he barks out as he plows his way to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water.
“It’s supposed to be spicy! Where’s your brave culinary side, Chief?
” Ivy asks before she starts ranting about the health benefits of hot Hungarian paprika.
But I don’t register what she’s saying. I set my glass on the counter, transfixed by the woman singing her heart out on the small screen.
I’m shocked and can’t ignore how perfectly beautiful she looks up there on that stage.
But most of all I’m fucking pissed. Because this little princess not only ditched me, she was also staying on the ranch.
She was right under my nose last night. I fucking worried about her safety.
Yet she knew I was right down the path and still kept her identity a secret.
And she never once thought to tell me she was Ivy’s little sister?
! Never once thought about what might happen if my boss’ wife found out I had a one-night stand with her sister.
Never thought about what kind of awkward fucking position that puts me in as Wade’s employee?
This job is the only thing I have. It’s the one thing I’m good at.
But Cassie didn’t give a single thought to the potential consequences for me.
I flex my fists at my side and, as I watch her finish her song to an exploding crowd, I realize she did me a favor.
I won’t think about her for one more second.
She’s exactly who I thought she was from the moment I met her: a self-serving little princess, and one I don’t care to ever fucking run into again.