The Five Stages of Falling in Love (31 page)

“Why is your voice shaking, Harley?” he asked her, leaning before her, blocking Harley’s view of her mother. Even though Harley knew she would catch hell for that later, she gave all of her attention to her father.

“Daddy, I’ve never wanted anything this badly before. It feels perfect to me.”

He smiled. It was a warm smile he only gave to her. “Then demand it with reverence, passion, and determination. That makes it yours. Never beg for what already belongs to you.”

At that moment, he clapped just like the rest of the crowd. Harley had no idea if that was a yes or a no. Colleagues pulled her father away before she could reshape her plea in the form he had asked her for.

Not long after that, once the charity party’s entertainment was in place, Harley felt a sharp pinch on the back of her arm. She didn’t bother to make a face or pull away. Instead, she walked with her mother into the house and down the hall to the library.

“How
dare
you,” Claire Tatum said after she pulled the doors closed. She only barely glanced over her shoulder as the words spilled from her like ice.

Claire Tatum was a stunning woman. She was fit (should be, she had two personal trainers), her deep red hair was pulled into a complicated twist, and her royal blue cocktail dress was fitted and accentuated the diamonds around her neck, as well as the ones on her wrists.

Harley made no point to comment; it would only have made this worse.

Claire turned around dramatically, anger dwarfing her green eyes. “You have humiliated me, your father, and this
entire
charity event.” She stepped forward, even angrier that Harley had not looked down or even flushed.

In her mind, Harley was hearing her father, him telling her to demand what she wanted. There was always a lesson when she spoke to her father, some hidden message. He was always trying to make her stronger.

Claire was well aware that Harley wanted a horse. Harley’s riding instructor at the school had mentioned it more than once to Claire, and each time Claire would use her fake smile and say something along the lines that she and Garrison would take it into consideration. First and foremost, Harley was at that school to learn, not meddle in the dirt.

“Is that what the finest girls’ school in New York teaches you? That it’s fitting to throw temper tantrums during charities? Maybe I should look into schools abroad.”

Claire Tatum was the second generation of her family to live in the U.S. and often threatened to send Harley overseas for refinement, among other things. Basically, she threatened to take Harley away from her father, but thus far her father had never allowed that to occur.

“I was discussing an investment with my father.”

“An investment?
How so? Are you really that naïve? This little whim of yours will do nothing but cost money. You are already spoiled beyond measure. ”

That statement was ludicrous. Harley never asked for anything, mainly because at a very young age a response like this would come. Somehow, she had taught herself never to show how much she wanted something, loved something—she knew if she did, whatever it was could or would be taken away in some form.

“It’s an investment in my future.”

“The
nerve
,” Claire said with a furious gasp.

Harley never spoke back to her mother. She took what she was given, seen but never heard.

“This sport teaches me respect, patience, diligence, mannerism, pride. I could go on,” Harley said as evenly as she could, she could hear her heart thundering, feel the heat in her cheeks. She felt the danger in this plea.

Before Claire could say a word, they both heard Garrison’s voice from the second level of the library.
“Character.
An investment in character, no doubt.”

Claire let out a tense smile. “Darling, why on earth are you in here? The governor was asking for you.”

Garrison moved down the stairs gracefully. For an older man, he was fit, too. He was fifty-eight when Harley was born. His greatest accomplishment, as he said in the statement he gave to the press when they sought a comment, as well as any other time he introduced Harley to someone new.

“I was rudely interrupted when speaking to Harley before. I wanted to finish our conversation.”

“It’s nonsense, dear. Just a whim, some girlish daydream that she will be over before the next week is out.”

Garrison had reached the bottom stair now. Under his arm was a file, but it wasn’t the one Harley had given him. She assumed she had just lucked out, that he was in his study on the second floor getting that file and happened to overhear them. It was rare that Claire had been caught speaking to Harley in this tone. In front of Garrison, she treated Harley the same as he did, basically doted on her.

“Girlish daydream,” he grunted. “Strong imagination you have there. Harley, how long has this fantasy played out now? Six months?”

“At least,” Harley said, a bit shocked that he knew that—but then again, not much got past Garrison.

“Garrison, the horse her trainer brought to my attention is an infant, only four, and will cost a fortune, and I’m not even speaking of all the training he will need, everything he will need. Harley needs to focus on school now. This horse, that bloodline, is intended for professionals. It would be a travesty for him to have an inexperienced rider.”

Garrison smirked, glanced at his wife. “This horse is worth less than what you are wearing tonight, my dear.”

Harley glanced over at her mother, not sure how her outfit added up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but she was positive the jewels, if not her wedding band alone, helped meet that mark.

“I do, however, agree that a horse such as this needs a skilled rider.” Before Harley could even dare to think that her dreams had just ended, he went on. “So I had my assistant contact the best trainer for Harley.
Willowhaven
Farms has agreed to meet with us.”

Harley’s gaze was shifting between her parents. She knew her father was efficient, so was his staff, but researching farms in under an hour was a push. Harley knew exactly where
Willowhaven
Farms was. She had ridden in competitions against Camille Doran’s students. She knew it was at least a thousand miles away, deep in the south. In her mind, her father was going to buy this horse, but she would never ride it, at least not for years down the road.

Garrison laid out a file on the center table of the library and pulled out a pen from his breast pocket. His glance motioned for Harley to come closer. When she reached his side, she saw the four-year-old gelding she had been dreaming about endlessly, his
coggins
, all of his papers.

“You sign here, and he’s yours.”

Harley was speechless. She wanted to ask how he knew or when she could ride him, everything.

Her father let out a deep laugh at her expression. “In order for the
Dorans
to train you, your horse, you will need to board there. Does that bother you? Are you willing to give up your summer holiday for this?”

“Yes.”

She heard her mother gasp, but she didn’t care. Harley had no desire to go abroad for the summer or on whatever lavish vacation her mother had booked.

“Exactly where is she boarding?
In a stall?
Garrison, we should discuss this.”

“You are correct. We should have discussed it when the trainer brought this matter to your attention, how advanced Harley was. Instead, I heard of it from one of my colleagues that had seen her ride. You can imagine how shocked I was when I called the school and spoke with her trainer to see what we could do to help Harley aid this passion, only to discover options were already laid out.”

Garrison nodded for his daughter to sign,
then
looked back at his wife. “Tomorrow, you will fly to
Willowhaven
Farms. If you find any reason that I would not want Harley to stay there, you will tell me, and then I will fly there myself to see your reasons. If the place is not found lacking, when the semester is over Harley and her horse will be traveling to and staying in
Willowhaven
for the summer.”

Claire didn’t bother to argue. Instead, she turned cold, almost pouted, the way she always did when she felt that Harley had gotten away with murder.

“She could get hurt, Garrison. She’s your legacy, and you’re placing her in danger.”

“No. I’m teaching her to face danger, for she
is
my legacy, and any Tatum knows that we do not ask for what we want—we claim it.”

The next day, after Harley’s mother left, her father took her to a stable not far from her home, took
her
to her horse. They spent that weekend buying everything that Clandestine needed.

When her mother returned, the only complaint she had was the fact that Harley would be staying with two boys that were her age. Garrison did travel to
Willowhaven
, but not until Harley had been there for three weeks, and he found no fault in Wyatt or Truman, the cousins, or the other farm hands’ kids that were also on the property. In fact, when he wasn’t watching Harley’s lessons, he spent his time with Beckett, Wyatt’s father, watching the bulls, watching Wyatt ride. He even made the comment that Wyatt was him made over when he was a boy.

When Harley came home after her first summer at
Willowhaven
, she found a new stable in her own backyard. It was her sanctuary, where she spent all day when she was at home.

It took Wyatt half of that first summer to understand that first statement that Harley made, the one about how everything she owned was on that trailer. When he did figure out the life Harley came from, the stiff line she had to walk between her parents, who seemed to be worlds apart, in some way that broke his heart. Harley seemed so lost, so alone.

“His barn name is Dan,” she said to the crowd around her that first day at
Willowhaven
as she led her horse from the trailer.

“Come on, Danny Boy,” Wyatt had said as he led him inside the barn. When he looked over his shoulder, he was surprised to meet Harley’s gaze, even told himself she was watching her horse, not him, but when his brother Truman elbowed him and said, “Mom got enough hell about us being on the property, you want to stop drooling?” he had a spark of hope that she felt the same odd pull he did when he saw her for the first time.

Before that day, Wyatt was his father’s son, always had a dare in his veins, a wild streak that pushed every button his mother had, or anyone that had to oversee him, to the limits. Most times, what damage was done was undone. If he was ever grounded, or limited, his father Beckett would come to his defense and say that, “Boys will be boys, they only push you when hold ‘em back. Let ‘em run, Momma, let ‘em run.” Camille would dare to smile at her husband, and then whatever heat Wyatt was under faded.

After that day, all bets were off. Wyatt walked a tight line. He kept his nose clean, for more than one reason. One, he didn’t want there to be any chance that he’d be sequestered from Harley. The other, Harley drew something out of him, some kind of respect, maturity, balance—she made him want to be a better person just by breathing. Of course, his mother assumed that Wyatt had just grown out of his rebellious ways, just the way her husband had promised.

During the day, there were only brief moments Wyatt and Harley had alone, sometimes seconds. The time they cherished was just after dawn, when they would both be at the main barn alone, and then just after the farm went to bed. Sometimes, at least a few times a week, they would sneak out, find some nook or hiding place on the property, secret lovers that had never crossed that one sacred point of no return.

They didn’t always use that stolen time to steal a kiss, to push that physical barrier. There were also a lot of long conversations, deep ones. Ones where they saw the inside of each other, where they discovered a part of the other that no one else knew.

Wyatt’s hand brushed across Harley’s as he pulled Danny Boy’s halter off. Harley’s breath caught when she knew it wasn’t an accident, when she glanced up to see his bright blue eyes raining down on her. “Is he still pulling too hard?” he asked in a ghost of a whisper. Remembering the night before, when his calloused hands had moved across her shoulders easing the tension there, she replied in a whisper of her own.

“Not so bad.”

“Anything else hurt?” he quipped as his stare moved down her body.

He had watched Harley evolve into a woman. Even though she was only seventeen, her body indicated otherwise. Every day, Harley was in riding pants and a tight tank, a walking fantasy to him.

She elbowed him, daring to laugh before moving to take off Dan’s girth.

Wyatt moved behind her; she barely reached his shoulder. His long arms were over her, reaching for the saddle. Once again, they both hesitated, feeling the sensation of their bodies so near to each other. Harley had no idea how Wyatt had the power to stop time, but he did, at least in her mind; the world would stop when they were this close.

“There you are,” Ava, Wyatt’s fifteen-year-old sister, said causing both Wyatt and Harley to step away from each other a bit quickly. It was masked, though. He pulled away with the saddle in hand while Harley was whisking away the saddle pad.

“We’re ready to go to the creek,” Ava said.

“I already told you this morning I had chores. I still have to ride Boss Man,” Wyatt protested.

Ava and her friends were not allowed to swim in the back creek without Wyatt there. He hated that babysitting gig. It took him away from the barn, from the seconds he stole throughout the day.

“Boss Man pulled a shoe, and we unloaded the hay, dropped flakes in the pasture. Everything is done. Mom said so,” Ava countered.

Her two friends from school had come to her side, both repeating the same plea. All of them were drenched in the summer heat and looked exhausted, like they had earned some kind of escape.

“Is Easton here?” Wyatt asked one of the girls, Kate. Easton was one of Wyatt’s best friends, and Kate was his younger sister.