Wild Heart- Extended Edition (The Wild Heart Series) (2 page)

Taking a seat next to her father at the table, she remembered the last conversation she had with Cash. She had just received the news of her scholarship to attend college in New York and had spent the last two days planning their life together in the big city. She had known in her soul that they were going to get married and see the world together. However, those dreams had all come crashing down that last day in his Bronco.

“Cash, I have to tell you something,” she smiled goofily from the passenger seat.

“Oh yeah? What’s that, princess?” Cash reached over and took her hand in his before looking back out at the water falling from the mountainside.

“I got the scholarship,” Ani beamed, turning to face him.

“What scholarship?” His face mirrored the confusion in his voice.

“To NYU. I told you about it a month ago,” she was quiet as she attempted to hide the frown growing on her face. This wasn’t how the conversation had gone in her head.

“Ani, you never told me about NYU. You told me you were trying for a scholarship to the University of Tennessee.” She could see a restless look swirling in his eyes and it made her feel uneasy.

Her heart thumped hard against her chest, she was almost certain she had told him about NYU. But, in her defense, she had applied to so many different colleges after high school that they had all sort of mixed together in her mind.

“Well, I applied to NYU and not only did I get accepted, but I also got a full scholarship.” She plastered on a big smile, hoping that it would lift hi souring mood. It wasn’t as if she had not told him on purpose.

“Yeah? When were you going to tell me about this, Ani?” The uneasiness in his voice from earlier had now turned to anger.

“I wasn’t trying to hide it, Cash. I guess I just forgot,” she turned, watching the waterfall just across the trail from the truck in an effort to not make eye contact.

“You forgot? You forgot to tell me that you were moving to New York? Jesus, Ani.” He snatched his hand away from hers, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck in exasperation. “You think I want to just uproot from my home and move to New York?” His words tore through her, like knives ripping away the flesh around her heart.

Nope. Not at all how this was supposed to go.

Ani could feel her heart breaking, ripping right out of her as the conversation took a different direction. “Yes, Cash. Yes. I thought that for me, you would uproot and come to New York. Isn’t that what we always talked about?” she snapped back at him, crossing her arms across her chest and tightly shutting her lips.

“I know we have joked about it, Ani, but I really don’t want to leave. Tennessee is my home.” He let out a sigh and slumped back into his seat, “I thought we talked about getting that cabin up on Mr. Baxley’s property and living there after we graduated. Knoxville is only an hour or so away, so the drive wouldn’t be too bad for you.”

“That’s not what I want, Cash. I want to see the world and experience new things. This place is all I have ever known and I want more than what it has to offer.”

“So, what; I’m not good enough? This town isn’t good enough for you?” he snapped at her from across the truck. “If you don’t like what it has to offer, then I guess all of this between the two of us has been something to just fill your time.”

“Yeah, Cash, I guess it has!” she shouted at his hateful words. “Take me home. Now!”

She could still hear the gravel kicking up against the frame of the truck as he’d sped off, right after leaving her standing in her driveway without so much as a goodbye. That was the last she had spoken to him and God knows, she didn’t feel like talking to him now. She tried to finish quickly, she shoveled the food into her mouth with consistency, only stopping to give yes or no answers to her dad’s questions.

“Kiddo, if you keep eating like that you’re gonna choke on a butter bean,” her dad said as he eyed over at her suspiciously.

“I just want to eat, so I can get in the shower and relax a little, dad. It’s been a long drive,” she smiled, her cheeks poking out from the amount of food in her mouth.

“Oh, my beautiful baby girl. I raised you to be a nice civilized member of society didn’t I?” he chuckled, patting her on the shoulder.

After the last few bites were down, she hopped from the table and took her plate to the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a pair of headlights pulling into the driveway. Taking a few steps towards the window, she could see the outline of an old Ford Bronco patrol car pulling up.
Some things never change.

“Daddy, is Cash an officer now?” she called out. She knew he had found work here in Coker Creek, but she wasn’t sure what he did now.

“Yeah, been on with the sheriff’s department for about five years now. He’s a Deputy Chief; moved up pretty quick. I’m right proud of that boy.” She didn’t have to look back at him, she could hear the smile on his face.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get what you’re playing at, old man. You can stop trying to play matchmaker now.

“Ok, I’m going to go take a shower and head to bed. Don’t be upset if you don’t see me again until the morning.” She leaned over, kissing her dad on the cheek before she made her way toward her bedroom.

“You don’t have to go into hiding, Ani. He doesn’t bite.”

“Yeah, I know.”

She could hear heavy footsteps crossing the porch and tried to move toward her room, but curiosity got the best of her and she lingered just long enough to see Cash’s large frame come into the light. She found herself standing there, mesmerized by his bright green eyes, the same emerald eyes she’d loved so dearly when she was younger. He stood just outside of the glass door, staring back at her. He was bigger now, his muscular frame almost too large to see entirely on the other side of the door. His once shaggy brown hair was now cut short, and the sleeves of his uniform cut tight around his large biceps. He’d always had southern muscle, but she could tell that he now spent plenty of time in the gym perfecting each one of the dips and ripples in his arms. He grinned his all-American boy smile as he turned the handle, breaking eye contact long enough for her to fall out of her trance and slip into her room, quickly closing the door behind her.

Not again! Went down that road once, dumbass. How did that work for you last time?
She leaned her back against the door to her room and tried to catch her breath. How, after so many years, could this man still have this effect on her? She could feel the heat spread across her body as she thought about his seductive deep green eyes and dimpled smile. Before she would let those thoughts go any further, she took off toward the bathroom and turned the shower handle toward cold, peeling out of her clothes and hopping in. She gasped as the frigid water spilled down over her body.
Serves you right for thinking like that!

After her colder than necessary shower, she sat on the floor and leaned against her cedar dresser, listening to the rumble of her father and Cash’s voices floating up from under the door. She couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but she could hear her father’s excited tone. She grabbed another stack of clothes from her suitcase and sorted them into piles on the floor in front of her. Even if she wanted nothing to do with him over the years, she was glad that Cash had spent so much time checking in on her dad.

As she continued organizing her clothes, she began to plan what tomorrow would bring. She would head into town to the hardware store, to pick up things for the house. She also needed to check the gas cans in the morning to see if she needed to fill them up and add it to her already growing list. Aside from the normal wear over time, that hadn’t been really been addressed, and some much needed cleaning, the house seemed to be the same as it was the last time she was here. Knowing her father wasn’t as strong as he used to be, she felt as though it was her turn to start taking care of the things around the house. Growing up a daddy’s girl had its rewards, because she’d been using power tools since she was five and happened to be pretty handy around the house.

As she put the last of her sorted clothes away in the dresser, she could hear heavy footsteps cross the kitchen floor. She paused, listening as the steps grew lighter away from her and the vibration of the door closing rumbled the floor underneath. She watched as the light from under the door faded and her father’s footsteps disappeared too. Pushing the drawer closed, she stood and made her way over to her bed. The same old, faded quilt was spread across the top as she sleepily climbed in and covered up.

Memories flooded through her mind as she lay there staring off into the darkness. The first time she’d looked into Cash’s eyes and felt more for him than just friendship, the day Kate barged into her life and became too close for her to let go. She had cried herself to sleep in this bed and drifted off many times with a happy smile in it as well. This world had been her past, but it wasn’t where she’d thought her future was going to be. It had been a long time, and she’d never imagined she would feel this way, but she was glad to finally be back home.

CASH

Cash pulled his patrol car into the driveway of his cabin. He hadn’t seen those beautiful hazel eyes in years and it almost hadn’t seemed real when he stared deep into them tonight. Just as quickly as she had appeared, she’d disappeared into her room and hadn’t come back out. He peeled out of his uniform, throwing his badge and gun down onto the kitchen table, and made his way to the fridge. He tried to pull his thoughts together, but for the life of him, he couldn’t seem to think straight. Ani had been his world and it had all come crashing down on him the afternoon she’d needed him most. He had been selfish, stubborn, and he didn’t deserve her; not then or now.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and flipped on the back porch light. The sun had already set and the only other light out the back door was the one at the end of the pier, an orange glow cascading down onto the still water beneath. He made his way out into the humid night air and down the dock, sitting at the end and dangling his feet down into the water. He took a drink from his beer, thinking about what to do next. He had to win her back, no matter what he needed to do or to change, he would win her back. He had never doubted that he had been blessed with the first chance he’d gotten to be with her and he’d fucked it all up, but now he could be getting a second chance. And let’s face it, second chances don’t come often, so this time he’d be damned if he let her go without giving it everything he had.

CHAPTER TWO

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The following morning, Aiyana woke to the light, airy, smell of breakfast floating in the air.
Five weeks in this house and I’m not going to be able to fit through the door.
She stretched as she sat up in bed. She looked around the room, taking in the old pictures still neatly hung on the walls. Some were of her and her best friend from high school, Kate Benson, and some of her and her parents. Various pictures of her with pets and her favorite pony Hawk. She decided that curtains and a new bed spread would probably be a good thing to add to her list. Not that the pink floral curtains, draped across the windows, weren’t nice, but she had somewhat outgrown those.

Swinging her legs out of bed, she set off in search of the delicious smell that was toying with her empty stomach; bacon. She made her way into the kitchen and found her dad standing at the stove in his nightgown and slippers. He had always been an amazing cook and always made enough for three; even though her mother was no longer with them. When she was little, her mother could burn bread and that was about it, leaving her father to do most of the cooking in the house. When she had left for New York, she was amazed at how quickly her baby fat came off when she started eating balanced meals. As much as she loved a good home cooked meal, fried food for dinner every night wouldn’t cut it. She could only imagine her dad’s face when she exchanged his vanilla pudding for Greek yogurt.

“Smells great, daddy. Whatcha cookin’?” She came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and giving him a squeeze.

“Oh just some hog nose and okra; your favorite,” he chuckled at the look of her scrunched up face.

She should have known better than to ask. Memories of her childhood brought a slight smile to her face. She would come running into the kitchen, asking what her dad was cooking and in turn, the answer would always be
hog nose and okra
. She never quite understood where it came from, but she knew better than to question the silly quips that her dad came up with. She had learned better than to ask as a kid and apparently this would be one thing she would have to start remembering.

“So, daddy, I think I’m gonna head into town today. I need to pick up a few things for the house and for my room.”

“What you need to get for the house, darlin’?” his voice piqued in interest.

“Oh, just a few things I noticed could be updated.”

“You know I’ll get around to those things when I can. Don’t worry yourself over them.” He came over, sitting a plateful of food in front of her.

“I know, daddy. But I don’t have anything better to do and I’d like to help around the house.” She could see him caving under the stare of her pouting eyes.

“Ok,” he shrugged, “Now eat up. You need to put some meat on your bones or you won’t make it through the winter.”

“Yeah, well, the way you cook I’ll be just fine.” She took a bite of her scrambled eggs as the conversation over breakfast turned to something less argumentative.

After breakfast, she threw on her torn blue jeans, a loose white tank top, and her brown Georgia Boots. She made her way out to the shed at the side of the house first, checking the lawn mower for gas. She found two empty jugs and grabbed them, along with a bottle of oil to mix into one of the cans for the weed eater. The front yard of the house was smaller than the large back yard and was populated with various pine and oak trees. However, the back yard opened up into a large pasture where a small barn sat in the front corner. They hadn’t had horses since she was a kid, but if this was now home, she might consider getting one. There was something about taking off on horseback through the mountains that could fix just about anything. It was the only way she could clear her mind when she was a kid.