Impulsion: A Station 32 Fire Men Novel (6 page)

“Sounds like you are having fun,” her father said.

“It’s Ava and her friends.”

“And they’re not your friends?”

“A bit younger,” she said. Harley was a senior. Ava was just gearing up for her first year in high school, and boys were her only focus—boys and fun. Harley adored her, but they had little to nothing in common. Harley had never known how to just be a kid, was never really allowed to be one.

“Not by much,” her father said with a laugh. “How was today?”

“Better.” Her father knew every skill Harley sought to conquer, knew every challenge with her horse. “He was a bit wild this morning, but Wyatt rode him, worked through that. By the time I got back on him, he was smooth as glass.”

“Good to hear, good to hear. Your mother told me that she feels she has found the perfect trainer here at home.”

After that first summer Harley took Danny Boy home with her, a trainer at the school worked with him through the fall. Danny Boy went backward, threw Harley twice, broke her wrist once. When Danny Boy made it back to Willowhaven, it took Wyatt three months to get him back to where he was. Camille basically told Garrison that she had serious riders and serious horses and she did not care to take one step forward and two back. Danny Boy had been at Willowhaven ever since then.

It was a win and a loss for Harley. The win was that she always had a reason and excuse to go to Willowhaven, a place that had become her heaven, a sweet reward her mother could not logically take away from her. The downside was going without riding Danny Boy for so long. She had a horse at the school her father had purchased for her, and two at her home, but they were not Danny Boy
. They didn’t push her, challenge her.

“That was a fail last time.”

“I understand. What you have to understand is that with school and the dates you have committed to, getting to Willowhaven will not be easy over the next few years. I’m trying to make it where you have what you want with you, what you told me you wanted. Camille knows about this. I’m not going to commit to any trainers unless she approves them.”

“When is she supposed to do that?”

“Most, she knows by reputation. She wants to meet the two your mother has found, watch how they work. We’re still working out the dates.”

“I don’t want anyone to hurt him, Daddy.”

The thing about Wyatt riding Danny Boy was that he had patience, he never rushed. He saw horses as living souls. That was what Harley’s horse responded to, what Harley responded to.

Her father laughed. “Harley, I seriously doubt there is an offer I could put before Camille that would persuade her to let Wyatt move to New York and work with your horse and your horse alone.”

There was an offer, at least one that Wyatt would take, and that was Harley—but she kept that to herself.

“They’re the best, Dad.”

“Harley, we’ll take our time with this. You just need to think forward.”

“All right,” she breathed.

“I’ll let you go so you can have your dinner. I plan to be there in a few weeks. I have a heavy schedule, but I told them to find me at least three days. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”

That made Harley smile and nervous at the same time. Her father was the only ray of light she had outside of Willowhaven. He was older, and she knew her time with him would not be as long as she wanted, but at the same time she knew he was sharp, that sooner or later on one of these visits he would figure out all of Harley’s secrets.

By the time she put on a simple summer dress and sandals and made her way downstairs, the house was quiet, still. Everyone was outside. Honestly, the Dorans never came inside unless they had to. Every one of them thrived outdoors.

Harley lingered by the back door, staring out. In the distance, she saw a massive fire in the field, a silhouette before it
. It wasn’t Wyatt, but Easton. She imagined that most would not be able to tell the difference, but she had studied everything there was to know about Wyatt, even something as simple as the way he leaned or held his head. Easton was still as a ghost, seemed to be entranced, lost in some way.

“You’re not afraid of fire, now are ya?” Beckett, Wyatt’s father, said. He was on his way out with a dish full of marinated meat.

“Is he all right?” she asked before she assumed that question made no sense. Around this farm, you never asked if the boys were all right. Even if they weren’t all right, they were told to man up.

“Easton?” Beckett said as he shifted the dish he was holding. “The fire is in his blood.”

Harley looked up curiously. She’d spent the least amount of time around Beckett, so all in all she was still trying to read him.

“His father was the best fireman that ever walked this Earth. Hell, the night he died, he saved an entire family before he did so.”

Harley felt a little sick to her stomach. She was terrified of the day she would lose her father, for more reasons than she could count. It was hard for her to imagine Easton without one as young as they all were.

“He’s not out there crying or anything,” Beckett said with a raspy laugh. “He’s studying it. One day, no doubt, he’ll follow his father’s footsteps, both of them will
. Probably Truman, too, if I’m reading that boy right.”

Beckett said that right as Wyatt pulled up on his four-wheeler with more wood, with Memphis right behind him. Truman was approaching the fire from the other direction. They all seemed to look at it the same way. Even though their backs were to Harley, she could sense the respect from where she stood. Brotherhood.

“Wyatt wants to be a fireman?” she asked, not meaning to say it aloud.

“Oh, no doubt. What?” he asked when he saw her shocked expression. “You didn’t think he was going to grow up and be some banker, now did ya?” Beckett said with a laugh. He teased her more than anyone for coming from the background she came from
. It was all in good humor, but sometimes Harley took it to heart.

“I thought he’d do this, would want to do this farm. He seems to love it.” She was guarding her words. She knew Wyatt loved the farm, loved riding. She assumed that he would do this
interspersed with bouts of some kind of rodeo here and there.

“Well, darlin’, I don’t plan on kicking the bucket anytime soon. Wyatt needs something to keep him occupied until such time. Those boys right there have been connected at the hip since they were crawling across the mud. Wyatt will sign up just to make sure Easton’s safe. Memphis, he’s already on the volunteer
department.”

Harley only vaguely nodded. She knew how close they all were, but the rest of this was a shock to her
—and honestly, it scared the hell out of her. It already made her nervous when Wyatt rode the horses he did, but she told herself that he knew what he was doing, he knew when to bail. Knowing that he planned on embarking on yet another venture that would put him in harm’s way didn’t sit right with her.

“There’s a whole mess of kids out there. Go on now, have some fun
. Camille swears you’re going to get thrown if you don’t learn to relax. I’ll holler when dinner is ready.”

He opened the door for Harley and nearly pushed her outside
. He knew her well enough to know she would stall a bit longer.

At home, everyone was on a stage. They moved a certain way, said things a certain way, everything was planned out. You always had to represent your family to the best of your ability. Here, it was different
. You were just supposed to be you.

That was harder than it should be for Harley. The only one she knew she was herself around was Wyatt, and that was when they were alone, when she could joke about the life she had at home, talk to him about the things she loved, laugh every time he made a point to make her smile
—but she couldn’t do that out in the open, so she was always a bit odd. That’s how she saw herself, rather.

Tonight, the girls must have invited everyone they knew
, or at least it seemed like that. A few of Wyatt’s cousins were there, but Trey and Blake were the only ones she’d ever really spoken to. Trey had a few friends of his from school as well. They were the youngest in the bunch, only in the eighth grade.

What bothered Harley more than anything was one of the girls that had been invited. Harley was horrible with names, even though both her parents had told her over and over it was rude not to remember a person’s name. They had even taught her tricks, like repeating the name after she was introduced, but it never worked. Harley, however, knew the name of one of the girls that were here tonight. Dorcas. And she didn’t remember that name because it was odd
, she remembered it because Dorcas was clearly out to make Wyatt hers.

If she wasn’t hanging on to him, she was doing her best to suck up to Camille
and everyone else in this family.

Her hair was so blonde it was nearly white. She caked on the makeup, even in the summer, and because she did her skin glowed in the most unnatural way. Every single time Harley had seen her, she had on the lowest cut shirt and the shortest shorts. Right now, she was laughing hysterically at something as she stood in-between Wyatt and Easton. Every time she touched either one of them, they would lean away.

Dorcas had her hopes set on Wyatt, but Harley was sure she would settle for any of the Doran boys. In Harley’s opinion, Wyatt was the most breathtaking, the one with the most talent, and also the first in line when it came to taking over this farm. She wouldn’t be surprised if there were hundreds of girls just like Dorcas at school after her Wyatt.

The thing was, though, Dorcas had a big mouth, was a gossip freak. She’d caught Wyatt and Harley coming out of the hayloft last summer, both laughing and covered in hay. She made it a point to say what she assumed happened in that loft, not only to them, but also in front of Camille later that day. Ava came to Harley’s defense, saying she was up there throwing the hay around
—and she was—but she had left, and after she left Wyatt and Harley stole a few heated moments.

Dorcas told Harley later that day, “You need to go on home, rich girl. Leave the southern boys alone. You couldn’t handle the ride if you tried. Wyatt likes everything rough. Trust me.”

That statement spawned a fight between Wyatt and Harley. She didn’t speak to him for two days, and when he finally cornered her and she told him why she was mad, he laughed. Hard. He told her he would not touch that girl with a ten-foot pole if his last breath depended on it. He swore to her that he had never touched another girl aside from Harley. She believed him, she believed him because she saw the vulnerability in his eyes, saw how scared he was that she wouldn’t believe him.

Harley was going to have to get through the night without giving Dorcas any reason to create gossip while watching her flirt with Wyatt.

When Harley walked up, Easton turned and smiled. “The queen of the rope swing has arrived.”

Harley
put on a shy smile.

“Oh Lord, do not tell me Miss Priss jumped in the creek? How many hot showers did you take to wash that memory away?” Dorcas taunted.

“Harley dominated that creek, and the four-wheeler,” Easton said.

“And the ring,” Wyatt said.

“Anything and everything on this farm,” Truman added.

Harley gave Truman a shy smile. He’d always had a glint in his eyes that said he thought Wyatt hung the moon. Harley had no doubt he would be wilder than Wyatt ever was, but at the same time, she thought those brothers would always keep each other safe
. Considering what Beckett just told her she could only hope she was right about that, right about all of the boys Wyatt ran with.

Dorcas landed a hard glare on Harley, but she smiled as well. “So I guess you’re sowing your royal oats before you run on home and find some rich Prince Charming and settle in a mansion somewhere, drinking
hot
tea.”

She was trying to get a rise out of both Wyatt and Harley, and they both knew it.

Girls were girls, no matter what class they were or were not raised with, and Harley had been told by the queen of the game, her mother, how to handle women like this. She smiled and said, “The only thing I’m doing at the moment is savoring a Clandestine love affair with a strong, vibrant, powerful, stunning boy…who is clearly rightly named.”

What Harley’s mother taught her, what she watched her mother do, was always to ensure your words never revealed the truth yet bellowed it at the same time, so when questioned your integrity could always be argued to be true.

Harley answered the hidden question. Yes, she knew this time now would be the best years of her life, that nostalgia would be her constant companion; yes, she was madly in love with Wyatt Doran, a boy that finds you ridiculous—but at the same time she only admitted that she was at Willowhaven to learn to ride her horse.

Dorcas pulled her brow together in confusion as the others belted
out laughter.

“Yeah, Dorcas, go run
and tell our mom that,” Truman mocked.

“She’s talking about her horse,” Easton told Dorcas. “Her horse is named
Clandestine
…you’d know that if you talked to the girl instead of always trying to be a bitch.”