Page 84 of Wild and Wanted

‘I thought you were committed to this promise you made, that it meant something to you. That you were waiting for the right person.’

‘Maybe he is the right person,’ Stevie snapped.

The words stopped Stevie in her tracks. She’d chosen Clay to be the one to introduce her to the intimacies between a man and a woman, but… what if he was more than that?

What if he was the one?

No. Stevie gave herself a mental shake. She was just in a dither from this unexpected development. Nobody knew that after such a short acquaintance.

Her mother reached for the table and sat. ‘Are you saying you’re in love?’

‘No.’ Stevie refused to even countenance such thinking. ‘I’m saying that I did wait for the right person and I have zero regrets.’

‘Darling…’ Her mother shook her head. ‘The biggest chapter of your life is about to begin. All those dreams you and Yolanda had about national tours and being household names is about to come to fruition. You can’t afford to become side-tracked now, you gotta give it your all. Your tour schedule will be gruelling and there’ll be no time for a boyfriend.’

It was on the tip of Stevie’s tongue to mention they’d been Yolly’s dreams. And that Taylor Swift – one of the biggest pop stars in the world – managed to juggle her tour schedule and a boyfriend just fine.

But she didn’t.

‘You’re so close. Yolanda would be so proud of how you carried on her legacy.’

Legacy… Ugh. Why was that word starting to feel like a yoke around her neck? Especially when she knew the thing Yolly would probably be the proudest of was Stevie bagging a hot cowboy to pop her cherry.

But she didn’t mention that either.

She knew her mom wasn’t being deliberately manipulative; she knew she felt this genuine imperative to carry on for the daughter she’d loved and lost, and yes, that was messed up and Stevie hadn’t helped by not speaking up about her issues. But this was their dynamic now.

This was what they had.

Their grief for Yolly driving this one goal, co-dependent in ways that weren’t healthy. Stevie as stuck in it as her mom.

Her mother started to cry then, which took Stevie’s very short heart strings and yanked. ‘Mom.’ She sat down at the table. ‘You’re blowing this way out of proportion.’

But tears streamed down her face anyway and Stevie despaired. She knew it wasn’t about that stupid ring or her virginity – not really. She knew it was to do with her mom losing control of this plan that she’d rigidly adhered to, the one that kept her going each day, that allowed her to ignore the fact that holding Yolly’s career tight was not holding Yolly.

That Yolly was dead.

A knock on the door startled them both. Stevie frowned – who on earth could that be? She hadn’t heard a vehicle and Clay didn’t usually finish for another few hours. The only other person who visited was Mags. But she knew Cindy Everhart had just arrived so it wasn’t likely to be her.

Her mother stood but Stevie waved her down. ‘I’ll get it.’

She was glad of the reprieve from the mess she found herself in right now. If only her mom had given her a heads-up about coming back to the ranch. Stevie would have put on the ring and never caused her mother this level of distress.

Another knock came as she was about to open the door followed by Clay calling, ‘Open up, Stevie girl.’

Stevie winced, knowing her mother had to have heard. Clearly he didn’t know she’d arrived at the ranch. Before he could say anything more incriminating, Stevie grabbed the handle and opened the door to find him standing there large as life, Electra tied to the porch railing behind.

Despite the situation, her chest swelled at the sight of him lounging in the doorway looking dusty and sweaty and so damn hot.

Greeting her with a wolfish grin, he snatched her up, yanking her body close. ‘I snuck away,’ he murmured, and before she could get a word in, he kissed her hard on the mouth. ‘That’s the one you owe me from the stables. This is for⁠—’

Her brain finally kicking into gear, Stevie put one hand over his mouth and braced the other against his chest as she hiss-whispered, ‘This is not a good time.’

Clay loosened his hold, his grin disappearing. ‘Problem?’ A noise behind them had him glancing over her shoulder and, from the sudden tension in his body, Stevie figured he’d spotted the problem. ‘Oh, hey, Mrs Everhart,’ he said as his hand slid from around Stevie’s waist.

Stevie half turned as her mother, red-eyed and tear-stained, nodded from her spot in the living room. ‘Hello, Clay.’

It wasn’t frosty or hostile, but neither was it welcoming as she moved out of sight, back to the table, Stevie presumed. Great. Just great.