Wild Heart (Westwoods #3)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

TATE

“Ivy!”

My voice carried through the house and up the stairs to the eldest of my two younger sisters. I was growing impatient.

“I’ll be right there, Tate. Just two more minutes,” my sister shouted back.

I let out a frustrated sigh, turned, and walked away from the stairs. Then I began pacing in hopes it’d calm me down and prevent me from saying something I might regret.

I loved my sister to death, but she was going to make me late. I hated being late to anything.

It shouldn’t have mattered that I was doing something fun for myself. I’d committed to meeting up with my friends at a specific time, and now there wasn’t a hope I was going to make it on time.

When my sister, who’d just turned fifteen last month, asked me a few days ago if I’d give her a ride today, I hadn’t given it a second thought. I was seventeen, seven months away from turning eighteen, and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for any member of my family.

But I wished Ivy had a better sense of time. No doubt she was upstairs changing into her third or fourth outfit to find the perfect one. And that made absolutely no sense to me. She was only going to be going to watch her best friend’s dance recital. Did it really matter what she was wearing? From what I knew, it would be dark in the theater.

When I heard the rapid descent of footsteps on the stairs, I moved in that direction. Glowering, I declared, “I’m going to be late.”

“Okay, okay. I know. I’m sorry. I’m ready now. Let’s not make it even later because you want to scold me.”

I jerked my head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

Without another moment of delay, Ivy and I walked in that direction, and the second I opened it, she called out, “Mom, we’re leaving.”

“Okay, honey. Call me when you’re ready for me to pick you up.”

“I will.”

“Later, Mom,” I shouted.

“Have fun, Tate! Thanks for taking your sister.”

Seconds later, Ivy and I were out the door. I turned on my car, glanced at the time on the dash, and decided that if I didn’t get stuck in any traffic along the way, I might just be able to make it on time to meet with my friends.

But just before I had the opportunity to put the car in reverse, Ivy’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse and said, “It’s Ava. Hang on.”

My impatience was growing by the second. Ava was Ivy’s best friend, and it was her recital I was going to be dropping my sister off at. I got the distinct feeling Ava was already at the theater, forgot something, and would need Ivy to bring it, which meant my hopes of making it on time to meet with my friends were dashed again.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Ava. What’s going on?”

My head snapped in Ivy’s direction. Between the words she’d just said and the look on her face, it was immediately clear that something wasn’t right.

“Oh my God,” Ivy gasped. “Are you okay?”

The color had drained from my sister’s face, a sight that forced fear to claw up my throat. With each second that passed, my grip grew tighter on the steering wheel. I didn’t know the ins and outs of Ava’s life all that well, but I knew she was like a second sister to Ivy. Ava meant just as much to her as our actual baby sister, Jules, did.

“We’ll be right there.” Pause. “Yes, I’m sure. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Ivy said goodbye and disconnected the call.”

“What’s going on? I asked. “Is everything alright?”

She shook her head. “Ava needs a ride.”

“I gathered that much.”

“I don’t know all the details just yet, but her dad was arrested this morning, and her mom’s been drinking ever since. She has no ride to her recital, and she’s worked really hard for this, Tate. She’s already late as it is. We have to go pick her up and take her.”

There was a pleading edge in my sister’s tone, a desperation.

As much as I wanted more information, I decided it was best not to waste any additional time. Ivy and Ava were thick as thieves, so I didn’t doubt Ava would give Ivy the full story later.

Unwilling to delay our departure any longer for reasons that had nothing to do with me meeting up with my friends, I backed out of the driveway and drove toward Ava’s house. Ten minutes later, we pulled up outside, and Ava came running toward my car. When she got inside, her expression told the story that we hadn’t been given yet—she’d had a rough day already. Although she had her makeup done for her recital, I could see the puffiness and redness lingering in her sad eyes.

“I’m so sorry about this,” she murmured after she closed the door. “Thank you for picking me up.”

I glanced back at her, offered a sympathetic smile, and insisted, “It’s not a problem at all. Are you okay?”

Uneasiness washed over her. Even still, she answered quietly, “Not exactly, but I don’t think I can talk about it now before I have to perform.”

That was understandable. It was obvious she was using every bit of strength she had not to break down into a fit of tears. “Sure. We’ll get you to the recital.”

For the remainder of the drive to the theater, nobody spoke. When I pulled up outside the place, Ivy reached for the door handle and said, “Thanks for the ride.”

I gave her a nod, glanced back at Ava, and saw the appreciative look on her face. “Thank you, Tate.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck.”

The girls got out of the car, and I didn’t hesitate to pull away from the curb. But the second I glanced up in my rearview mirror, I came to an abrupt halt. Ava had all but collapsed in Ivy’s arms. Evidently, avoiding what had happened this morning at her place wasn’t going to be possible.

And as I took in the sight of the girls together, neither noticing I hadn’t left, another thought passed through me. My sister had made it clear just how hard Ava had worked to prepare herself for this dance recital. Not only had her father been arrested this morning for reasons unbeknownst to me, but she also didn’t have the support of her mother here today, either.

Ivy kept the private conversations she had with Ava between the two of them, but it wasn’t a secret Ava’s parents weren’t exactly pillars of strength and guidance in her life. How Ava turned out the way she had was a miracle.

Ava would only have my sister here to support her, and the way I saw it, that wasn’t good enough.

Having made up my mind, I drove off and made a turn into the parking garage. Maybe I hadn’t been invited to stay, but I thought Ava deserved to know she could depend on her best friend and Ivy’s family to be there for her in the way that perhaps her parents couldn’t or wouldn’t be there for her.

On the walk from the garage back to the theater, I called one of my friends to let him know something had come up and that I wouldn’t be able to make it out with them today. By the time I’d made it to the theater, I was wondering if I’d made a wise decision. It wasn’t the large number of people there that had bothered me; it was that I wasn’t sure I’d ever locate my sister or Ava in the crowd.

I’d scanned nearly the entire entrance when I felt someone’s fingers curl around my arm. “Tate? What are you doing here?”

My sister was looking up at me curiously. “I… I thought I’d stay.”

She raised a curious brow. “You want to watch this dance recital?”

I offered a half-hearted shrug. “I mean, it’s not my first choice on how to spend a Saturday, but I figured Ava might appreciate having someone else here for her. She looked devastated.”

Ivy’s expression turned solemn. “She’s a mess. But I think it’ll mean a lot to her that you stayed. It should cheer her up a bit.”

“Then that’s all that matters. Should we grab a seat, or do you need to go help her with something?”

“I already got her squared away, so we can go find a place to sit.”

With that, Ivy and I made our way inside the theater and found two unoccupied seats just off to the left of the middle, five rows back. Then we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Performance after performance, the day dragged on, like we’d spent eight hours sitting in those seats instead of the ninety minutes it had been.

But finally, it happened.

Ava walked out onto the stage, and she did it alone. “Where’s everyone else?” I whispered.

“This is her solo performance,” Ivy whispered back. “She has a group performance almost immediately afterward.”

My mind was blown.

How could she even dream of performing in front of all these people on her own? Doing it with a group would have been enough of an embarrassment for me. I couldn’t imagine standing on stage in front of this crowd and dancing in front of them.

But once the music started and Ava began to dance, I knew why she didn’t have a problem doing it.

It took me no more than a minute to realize just how talented she was. And while it was clear her technical ability was stellar, the performance aspect was the best part. I knew nothing, absolutely nothing , about dance, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen something so captivating in my whole life.

And for a girl who’d just had her whole world ripped apart that morning, it didn’t show. She was a dancer, a performer. She was born to do this.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

The more I watched her, the more I felt something twist in my stomach.

I shook my head, attempting to rid myself of the feeling. This was Ava. She was my little sister’s best friend. I was going to be eighteen in a matter of months. She was fifteen. I couldn’t dream of going there.

Swallowing hard, I buried the feelings that moved through me somewhere deep inside.

The next thing I knew, the music ended, and Ava’s performance was over. She stood at the center of the stage, took a bow, and scanned the crowd. She found Ivy a half a second before she saw me.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

All I could bring myself to do was offer a friendly smile in return.

And as she walked off, I reminded myself that it had to remain that way. Friendly.

Because no matter how I felt, Ava Carson was off limits.