Impulsion: A Station 32 Fire Men Novel (4 page)

If by random chance, at least every other week, there was no one for her to ride, Harley spent the morning with Wyatt in the south barn, working with the rescue horses. There was a mare she was in love with at that barn and was eager to spend time with. That mare was the first she had seen born. Her mother had no milk, so Harley and the others were the ones that nursed her. Knowing she would be mountless tomorrow and be able to spend time with that mare and Wyatt, she nodded to agree, then closed her book to give Camille her full attention.

“Do you not know how to swim, Harley?” Camille asked, not looking away from Danny Boy.

That statement confused Harley. At her school, everyone had to have two sports. Riding was one of hers, swimming was the other
. It was the only sport she assumed would not hurt her and take away her chance to ride. She was sure Camille knew that, too.

“It’s not as fun as riding,” Harley answered, wondering if this were some parable or analogy. Right then, she was questioning if her lesson this morning didn’t go as well as it should have. Her first summer here, after every harsh lesson Camille made it a point to link the simplest things back to the rhythm and grace a rider needed.

“So you just dislike swimming in creeks?”

Harley flushed. The Dorans were far from poor, even though they jokingly called themselves horse poor all the time, meaning all of their money was in this facility, the equipment, the horses, what they needed to provide for them. Yet, every once in a while a comment would come Harley’s way that made her feel like the rich brat her mother claimed she was.

“I don’t know that the opportunity has ever surfaced,” Harley said as cautiously as she could.

“It didn’t arrive today, or every other day that Ava nags the hell out of me to take a break from the heat?”

Ava had asked Harley over and over that first summer to go swimming. At first, Harley didn’t go because she had a crush on Wyatt, was too scared to. Then, when what they were did happen, she didn’t go because she, as well as he, didn’t want anyone to pick up on the fact that they were falling hard for each other.

“Mrs. Doran.”

“Camille.”

“Camille,” Harley corrected. “I, I know what my mom said about me being here. I don’t want to put you or anyone in a difficult position.”

Camille smirked. She wasn’t the type of person to hide the way she felt about anyone or anything. Everyone knew that Camille Doran and Claire Tatum strongly disliked each other, even though over the years Claire Tatum had sent numerous clients to Camille. Harley’s mother wasn’t being nice by doing that, not at all. The fact was, in order to save face in front of all of her friends, Claire acted as if it were her grand idea that Harley train with the Dorans, and because Claire endorsed it, several followed her lead.

Those clients didn’t board here like Harley did
. In fact, Harley learned after she came to this farm that it was her father’s request that she stay here. Of course, he came up with that proposal when Camille told him that Harley would have to train daily to even come close to riding Danny Boy to the caliber he needed.

Camille had said that to blow off the rich banker from New York and was floored when he asked her to board his daughter as well
—and she was not shy about asking why he wanted her to do that. His response: he wanted his daughter to have the childhood, at least in part, that he’d had.

Camille adored Harley’s father, enjoyed hosting him when he came in once a month and stayed a week to watch Harley’s progression. “There is a real man under that suit
.” That’s what she had told Harley.

Harley knew that if she and Wyatt were ever caught, all hell would break loose. She would lose him, her trainer, and more than likely all the revenue that Claire Tatum’s friends brought would be lost as well. But she could not say that to Camille.

“Do you ever see your mother?” Camille asked. It was odd to her that any parent was okay with their daughter basically being raised by another family, and in a way she felt like she was raising Harley since she was in her care for almost half of every year.

“My school is not that far from home. I spend the weekends there.”

“It’s not far, but you still board there?”

“It’s far enough. With school and sports, the days are long. I get more rest by staying there.” That was the truth
. The part she didn’t say was that it also saved her from having to deal with her mother. Harley’s father traveled a lot during the week, sometimes the weekends, too, but usually he took Harley with him when that happened.

Camille knew all of this, Harley was sure of it
. What she was not sure of was where this conversation was going or what the purpose was.

“Do you ever rest, though? Do you ever have fun?”

Harley nodded to Danny Boy. “This is fun.” She raised her book. “This is fun.”

“I agree on both accounts, Harley. But you have to learn to relax.”

Yep. She must have had a bad lesson this morning. Harley could remember her yelling something like that at her.

“You’re seventeen. You worked hard this morning. All of the kids are down at the creek, and you’re here alone. I need to know if they have said something to keep you out or if you would rather not be with them, or what.”

Harley was shell-shocked, and her expression said as much. “I just didn’t want to put anyone in an awkward position,” she explained again.

“So they did say something to you?”

“No, not at all. I love Ava, Kate, all of those girls. Wyatt and Truman, Easton, they’re all nice. Like I said…I just…I just thought distance was best for everyone.”

“What’s best for you, Harley?”

That really shocked her. That was the kind of question her father would ask her, and the tone she used implied that she knew the answer already. Harley felt her stomach flip. There she was, staring at the mother of the boy she loved and daring to believe that no matter how careful she and Wyatt had been, they had been discovered. She was too scared to lie, too petrified to tell the truth.

“Harley, you come from a world where everyone is watching, where worrying about what others think is a first priority. I don’t want that business on my farm. We run our own race here. You’re too tense, too on guard. Danny Boy feels that
—we all do. If you don’t want to go to the creek or four-wheeling with the others, that’s fine. Take the Jeep into town, find something fun to do.”

“This is my fun,” she said with a glance to Danny Boy. “At school, I count the minutes until I get to him. During the summer, I don’t want to waste a second.”

Camille took Danny Boy’s lead. “You have the next twenty years with Danny Boy, maybe longer. You only have one summer to be seventeen. The keys are in the Jeep. Go to the creek, go to town, come back relaxed, and if you do, I will have the boys set a new course in the indoor arena, one that a relaxed, elegant rider could accomplish.”

Harley stood still as a statue, watching Camille lead her horse in
to the barn. Camille looked over her shoulder. “Go on, now. Don’t make me say it twice. I’m keeping you safe, girl. Tense riders hit the dirt every time.”

Even if she went to town just to keep up the façade, she was sure she would get lost on her way there
—not to mention that part of her was wondering if by being so careful, she and Wyatt had become obvious.

She went back to the main house, found her swimsuit that was still in her travel bags, pushed out of her short riding boots, and dressed to go to the creek.

Taking the Jeep was her only option as the creek was almost two miles away, outlining the far end of the property. She knew the way only because she and Wyatt had snuck out there more than once. They even had blankets tucked away, wrapped in plastic, stuffed in the base of a tree trunk. They would lay them out on the bank and count the stars with their fingers laced together. That bank was not only where they’d had their first kiss, but where they dared to master first and second base—just driving in that direction was making her heart race, her skin flush.

When she pulled up, she saw Wyatt on one four-wheeler, Easton on another, and Memphis was sitting on the front rack of Easton’s. They all had their shirts off and were leaning forward, watching the others swim. There was a long rope that was used to swing into the creek
. That’s where Truman was.

All the Doran kids were a year apart, if that. Wyatt was seventeen, Truman sixteen, and Ava fifteen. Truman looked more like his dad
. He was huskier, had his dark hair and his big mouth. Ava was a mix of both her parents but was at that awkward stage where she thought she was already grown, and when she acted that out, it was near humorous. Right then, she was begging Easton to come into the creek, even pulling her shoulders back and dipping her chin.

“Not while I’m alive,” Wyatt belted out, earning a laugh from Easton. A “Yeah, never mess with your boy’s sister
,” comment came from Memphis.

Memphis may have had the lightest personality in the group, but he had the darkest features. In the summer, his skin was near bronze,
but his dark hair only vaguely lightened up. No light could touch his eyes which were as deep as midnight.

Ava blushed and moved deeper into the water.

“I think you broke her heart,” Harley said from just behind them. Both Easton and Wyatt turned to see Harley in nothing but a bikini top and jean shorts.

“I think mine just exploded,” Wyatt said with a slow smile.

Easton shook his head and faced forward, giving Memphis a wry glance that clearly stated their boy was done for. “If you think I’m running some kind of distraction with your sister, you’ve lost it.”

“I’d have to kill you if you did that, Casanova,” Wyatt said, moving off his four-wheeler. “You came,” he said to Harley.

“Your mom kinda made me,” Harley admitted.

Easton and Memphis both looked in their direction at once, just as Wyatt’s eyes went a little wide. Easton and Memphis were well aware of the risk going on with their boy.

“What did she say?” Wyatt asked, with only a hint of concern in his voice. In most cases, he could charm his way out of trouble with his mom. If that failed, his daddy would back him up.

“That I needed to relax. I could get hurt if I don’t.”

Easton nodded once and turned back around, sure that there was no threat anywhere, and started a conversation with Memphis about the work they were planning to do to Easton’s truck.

Right then, Ava, Kate, and the girls with them had spotted Harley and started to yell her name.

Harley started to push out of her shoes.

“Keep those on. Too many rocks,” Wyatt warned. “You want to go in?”

Her smile said she did.

In an elevated voice, he said, “If you’re going to swim in this creek, there is only one way in.” All the girls and Truman started to yell, “Jump! Jump,” in unison.

Wyatt took her hand and led her up the hill of the bank.

“You’re being obvious,” she said with a hint of a smile as his hand tightened around hers.

“Ava and them are too busy giving Easton flirty looks, and Kate is too busy smiling at Memphis.”

“Knowing none of the brothers around will stand for it,” Harley shot back.

“Right, so we just have a good time and don’t worry about what looks like what.”

They had reached the top of the hill. He pulled the rope to her. “You hold the rope, I’ll hold on to you. When I say let go, let go,” he said as he reached for the part of the rope above her head and braced his foot on one of the knots at the bottom.

Sounded easy enough to Harley. She wrapped her legs around the rope and felt her heart race when she sensed Wyatt’s bare chest against her back.

A second later, he swung them out. When he yelled, “Let go,” she didn’t and they landed right back on the bank, with Harley and everyone below laughing.

“You gotta let go, baby. You’re safe,” he said as his hand slid around her stomach. She did feel safe in the cage of his arms, no doubt.

“One more time,” Wyatt said.

It took three times—and her getting over her endless fits of laughter—before she finally let go and fell through the air in his arms.

He never let go. Even under the water, he took his time bringing them to the surface, letting his hands ease across her body. When they both emerged, they heard the cheers from the others.

Harley climbed that hill with Wyatt ten times over, and each time he would pull her behind the massive oak tree and steal a kiss before pulling their bodies together, then swinging them into the water.

After that, they watched the others. The dark creek water hid their hands, which were either laced together or daring to brush across each other. Something about having to be careful, having to hide their affection, made every touch even more sensual, even more heart
-racing.

“I think this is the best day of my life,” Wyatt said to her as he slid past her in the water. She smiled over her shoulder at him, noticing that somehow before her eyes the boy she had met long ago was becoming a man.

“I was sure I wasn’t going to see you tonight. The girls pretty much talked Memphis and Easton into a bonfire,” he said with a nod to Easton, who had not left his four-wheeler.