Wild Heart (2 page)

It had taken a lot of adjusting when she left the only world she’d ever known behind for New York. She had studied hard in high school and earned a scholarship to NYU. She was determined to make something of herself and to make her parents proud. Something about it never seemed to go right though. One year after starting college in New York, she had gotten the call from her father telling her that her mother had fallen ill. Deciding to take the summer off from school, she came home, and two months later helped her father bury her mother. At the time, it was the hardest thing she had ever done, until she’d had to leave her father alone to go back to school. But he had insisted that she finish for both her mother and herself.

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,” her voice 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 the panic and irritation swirling in his eyes.

Her heart thumped hard against her chest, she was almost certain she had told him about NYU, but to be honest she had applied to so many different colleges after high school that they had all mixed together.

“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 his mood. It wasn’t as if she had purposefully not told him.

“Yeah? When were you going to tell me about this, Ani?” The confusion in his voice 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.

“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.

“I know we have joked about it, Ani, but I really don’t want to leave. Tennessee is my home. 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 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 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 after leaving her standing in her driveway. That was the last she had spoken to him and God knows she didn’t feel like talking to him now. Trying to finish quickly she shoveled the food into her mouth, 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 eyed over at her suspiciously.

“I just want to get in the shower and relax a little, dad. It’s been a long drive,” she smiled, her mouth full with food.

“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 into the driveway.
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 state patrol for about five years now. He’s a Deputy Chief; moved up pretty quick. I’m proud of that boy.” She could hear the smile on his face.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get what you’re playing at old man. You can stop playing 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 as she made her way towards her bedroom.

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

“Yeah, I know.”

She could hear heavy footsteps across 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 green 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 shaggy brown hair was now cut short and the sleeves of his uniform cut tight around his large biceps. He had always had southern muscle but she could tell that he now spent plenty of time in the gym. He grinned his all-American boy smile as he turned the handle breaking eye contact long enough for her to slip into her room and quickly close the door.

Not again. Went down that road once, dummy. 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 at the thought of his 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 normal shower, she sat on the floor leaning against her cedar dresser listening to the rumble of her father and Cash’s voices 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.

Tomorrow she would head into town to the hardware store to pick up things for the house. She’d 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 taken care of 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. She’d been using power tools since she was five and was pretty handy around the house.

As she put the last of her sorted clothes away in the dresser, she could hear heavy footsteps across the kitchen floor. She paused listening as the steps grew lighter away from her and the vibration of the door closing rumbled the floor. She watched as the light from under the door went out 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 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 and it was where she’d thought her future was going to be also. 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 to change he would win her back. Every fiber in his being knew 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’d gotten a second. Second chances don’t come often and he’d be damned if he let her go this time.
 

CHAPTER TWO

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

The following morning, Aiyana woke to the faint 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 she would add curtains and a new bed spread 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 of bacon. She made her way into the kitchen and found her dad standing at the stove. He had always been an amazing cook. 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.