Page 49 of Wilde Hearts

“Welcome home, Colt.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Wilde.”

She shook her head. “Do not ‘Mrs. Wilde’ me. It’s Vivianne. How are you settling in?”

“Pretty good. Glad to be back home.”

Smiling, she said, “Well, I’m sure Lynn and Jacob are just as happy.”

My mother nodded. “We are.”

“Please mingle around for a bit. Dinner will be served in about thirty minutes. Colt, I’m sure there are a lot of people who’ll be happy to see you.”

I smiled, deciding not to mention I highly doubted her daughter was one of them.

Before another word could be said, Vivianne was off and greeting other attendees.

“I’m so glad I’m finished being the hostess,” Nellie said with a small laugh. “Come on, Gus, let’s go find our seats. My dogs are killing me!”

“It was nice seeing you both again,” I said, before they moved on.

Gus put a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Same to you, son. Don’t be a stranger, and stop by the ranch sometime.”

“I will, thank you, sir. Enjoy your evening.”

Turning to my parents, I asked, “Did you want to find your table? Dad, are you feeling tired?”

“I’m feeling just fine, but I think it might be a good idea to find our table, just in case I do need to sit down.”

Holding my arm out for my mother, I escorted her, as my father walked on her other side. We quickly found their table, but before they could sit down, Ralph and Rachel Mitchel walked over. They owned a ranch near the Wilde family.

“Jacob, how are you feeling? Did you get our basket we sent to the house?” Rachel asked, as she hugged my mother, then my father.

“We did get it, thank you both so much,” Mom replied.

“I’m feeling pretty good for an old man who had a heart attack.”

Ralph shook his head. “My doctor has been on me for the last few years to start exercising and eating better. Not going to lie, when I heard from Ladd about your heart attack, I started changing my eating habits.”

“Please tell me you’re eating kale, too,” my father laughed.

Ralph nodded. “Kale, beets, more fish. Complete overhaul.”

“You could learn a lesson or two from Ralph,” my mother said, a serious expression on her face. She turned to Rachel. “I never thought about beets. I’m going to add those in.”

“For the love of all,” my father groaned. The moment my mother looked at him, brows raised, he smiled. Then he turned to Ralph, rolled his eyes, and said, “Now look what you’ve gone off and done.”

Ralph tossed his head back so far when he laughed, I thought for sure his cowboy hat was going to fall off. “Son, I’m about twenty years older than you, at least. My overhaul is long overdue. You’ll feel better eating right. I know I do.”

I glanced around the room as my parents got lost in conversation with Ralph and Rachel. I had one person I was searching for—and when I finally found her, it felt like all the air was pulled from my lungs.

Standing just a few tables down from me was Ensley. Her hair was pulled up and piled on top of her head, with small white flowers tucked into various places. The dress she wore was a black lace dream. The top hugged her upper body perfectly, while the bottom flowed around her legs. It almost reminded me of the prom dress she’d worn her senior year. But this one looked as if a thousand little diamonds covered the dress, and every time she moved, it sparkled.

She was talking to a guy I didn’t know. As a matter of fact, there was a large number of people at the charity dinner whom I didn’t recognize.

I felt a tug on my sleeve, and I looked down to see a little boy, maybe around six or seven, staring up at me. He wore a black cowboy hat, and another little boy and girl stood right behind him. The other boy had an identical black cowboy hat, and the little girl was adorable in a pink floral dress. Her hair was pulled up in a bun on top of her head.

“Hello. Do you know where our papa and minnie are?”