Page 27 of Wilde Hearts

I’d left River Falls in a sad attempt to save Ensley from pain, and all I’d managed to do was cause more.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

As I sat in the waiting room while Ensley visited my father, I thought about how I might get her alone to talk. The elevators dinged, and I watched as my mother walked out. She didn’t look as tired today as she had yesterday. She glanced into the waiting room and saw me sitting there, and smiled.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked as she approached. I stood and kissed her on the forehead.

“Morning, Mom.”

Her smile grew bigger. “Good morning. Why are you out here? Is your father okay?”

“Yes, yes, he’s fine. Ensley’s with him right now, and I wanted to give them some time together.”

Raising a brow, she asked, “Are you avoiding her?”

Laughing, I said, “No. I’ve actually tried a few times to speak to her, but…something keeps getting in the way.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Come on, though. We’re not going to hide out here. If you’re staying in River Falls for good, you two need to get used to seeing each other.”

Linking her arm with mine, she pulled me toward my father’s room. Mom knocked and opened the door. Ensley was sitting next to the bed, and she and my dad were laughing. It did something strange to my chest. I was both happy and sad. Happy to see two people I loved dearly smiling and laughing, and sad that I couldn’t be the one to put that smile on Ensley’s face.

When she looked up and saw us, her smile faded slightly but didn’t disappear altogether.

“What’s so funny?” Mom asked, as she made her way over to my father and kissed him.

“Ensley was telling me about a horse she was working on the other day. He’s a little crackhead.”

“Little, he is not,” Ensley said, standing up and stepping back for me to walk over to my father’s other side.

“Morning, Dad,” I said, before leaning down and kissing him on the cheek. “How’d you sleep?”

“Okay, I guess. I’m ready to get out of here.”

Tapping his hand, my mother said, “Soon, sweetheart.”

Ensley sat on the love seat that was near the window, and I smiled, knowing she wasn’t going to leave simply because I was there. The conversation soon fell to work, much to my mother’s displeasure. My father told me who his remaining clients were and that most had probably already heard he’d suffered a heart attack, but that he’d need me to go to his office and make the calls and reschedule everyone.

“Ensley can show you where everything is.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Ensley asked from her seat. She’d been looking at her phone when her head snapped up at the mention of her name.

“You don’t mind, do you, darling?” Dad asked.

Ensley looked like she might say that she did in fact mind, but she plastered on a fake smile. “Of course, I don’t mind. Just don’t worry about anything, okay? Colt and I will take care of business.”

Both my parents beamed at Ensley, then turned their smiles on me. “I think you two should get lunch together, so you can talk about when’s the best time to take care of all that. Ensley, I’m sure you have to get back to your clients,” my mother said.

“Besides, the doctor said this morning I’ll be going home tomorrow, so there’s no need to stay in Granby tonight.”

“I don’t mind staying and helping if I can.”

My mother waved off Ensley’s suggestion. “Nonsense. All is fine here, and you need to get back to work.”

Mom turned her attention to me. “Colt, there’s a darling little sandwich shop on Main Street. They have the best Reubens. You and Ensley can grab lunch and work out the best time to meet at the barn and go through your father’s schedule.”

For a moment, I thought my father was going to add something, but he kept his mouth shut.

“I don’t think we need to go to lunch to make those plans,” Ensley argued.