Wilde Fire (Forever Wilde 3)

My heart is shattered until I hear from you again. Please don’t make me beg.

I love you,

Otto

When I woke up the next morning, I felt much better. The bruising was just as ugly on my shoulder and hip, but the pain in my side had lessened noticeably. After breakfast, I ventured out to the barn to visit the horses and help Grandpa with some of the chores. Despite his constant nagging at me to take it easy, I enjoyed the time spent feeding and caring for the animals.

My baby sister had been right. I’d always pictured myself living and working in Hobie so I could be around the ranch. I missed the animals and the slower pace of Hobie.

“I think I’m going to take the job with Chief Paige if it’s still available,” I said across the fence to Grandpa while he walked one of the horses in the ring on a lead.

He stopped what he was doing and walked over to me. The calm chestnut mare he’d been leading followed him dutifully despite Grandpa dropping the lead rope. I reached out a hand for her to nuzzle.

“I’m certainly happy to hear that, Otto. Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head. “No need. I’ve been avoiding Hobie because of Walker, and now his divorce is almost final…”

Grandpa’s eyes crinkled as he peered at me. “Does that mean you two…?”

I shrugged. “Hope so. He says that’s what he wants.”

“And is that what you want?”

I took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’ve wanted that guy since I was thirteen, Grandpa.”

Grandpa’s face softened. “I always thought you’d end up together. What ever happened? How’d he wind up married?”

“Ross got his girlfriend pregnant after they moved to Minnesota and then he up and died on her. I guess Walker felt like he needed to step in and be a goddamned white knight or something.”

Grandpa stared at me. “Whoa.”

I barked out a laugh. “Yeah.”

“He’s a good man, Otto.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, Grandpa. I already know.”

We spent the next hour exercising the horses and taking care of what needed doing out in the barn. When it was time for lunch, Doc announced we were going into town to have lunch at the Pinecone.

“Never been there,” I said. “Never even heard of it.”

Doc nodded toward the house. “You’ll like it. New bistro that does salads and sandwiches for lunch and fancier stuff at dinner. Go on and shower and get dressed. We can stop and see Chief Paige on the way to tell him the good news.”

I didn’t even ask him how he knew what I’d decided since he hadn’t been standing there when I told Grandpa. I’d learned long ago that Doc and Grandpa had a sixth sense when it came to their family. I simply nodded and smiled before following him back to the house to get ready.

We decided to stop at the firehouse after lunch and headed straight toward the bistro first. It was a new modern-looking storefront right on the town square. I was surprised at how many people were out and about in the little downtown area and realized Hobie must have had a growth spurt while Saint and I were away.

“Lots of new people and places,” I said to Grandpa as we walked across the grassy square toward the bistro from where we’d parked on a side street.

“I forget you haven’t been around in quite a while. A bunch of people got together to try and wrangle the town’s development into some semblance of organization about five years ago. Seems to finally be making a positive difference,” Grandpa explained. “New business owners have moved in, and now the lake tourism is not just in the summertime. I think it’s been helped by more and more people being able to work their jobs from home. It means they don’t have to live in the big cities anymore.”

Doc reached out and took his husband’s hand. “What Weston’s not saying is that he is on the development board and has worked his ass off helping this town thrive when similar small towns were going out of business.”

As we walked, several people waved or called out greetings to Doc and Grandpa. I recognized one of the women I’d gone to high school with and gave her a quick smile and nod of recognition.

“Kelly Tucker still lives here?” I asked. “I thought she’d moved to Seattle after high school.”

Doc and Grandpa looked after her as she strolled toward the bakery. “She did. Met and married a nice woman named Nina. When they had their first child, they decided to move back here to raise him. The two of them own a plant nursery out on Ashby Road and have two kids now.”

“She’s gay?” I blurted. “She dated the biggest jock in school.”