Page 10 of Freeing the Wild
Haden
“I’ll never understand why a young man like you spends his nights with an old woman like me,” Penny says, standing at the entrance to the stall of my latest rehabilitiation project: an eight-year-old gray Percheron, Zeke, a rescue horse who was neglected for the last six years.When we found him six months ago, his hooves were over eleven inches long.Penny is a vet who owns the rescue ranch, and she wasn’t sure if Zeke would ever walk pain-free again.But he’s surprised us all with his recovery and, since I’ve been one of his main caregivers, I’m the one he seems to trust the most.He almost feels like my horse, and Penny says he’s a charmer, just like me.
I glance up at Penny now as I finish picking out his hoof and set it back down.
“I already told ya, Pen, this place is my therapy,” I say with a chuckle.“It keeps me sane.”She laughs with me, but she knows I’m serious.I always feel refreshed and centered after I leave here at night, like I’m working for my purpose.
I met Penny a year after I started at Silver Pines at our local feed store, and we hit it off immediately.In her late sixties, Penny has owned her namesake, Penny Lane Rescue Ranch, for thirtyyears.She and her husband, Will, started it when her daughter was in middle school.They wanted a life away from the city and a way to give back to the animals.I’m lucky enough that she lets me volunteer, and she’s teaching me everything she knows about horse rehabilitation.It’s become my greatest joy to watch how these majestic animals that come here broken, rail-thin, some of them never having trusted another living soul, are nursed back to life.I get to witness them getting their spark back and learning to enjoy living the way they were made to.It reminds me that losing something doesn’t mean it’s lost forever, that there is always tomorrow and a new path to travel.
“Did he take his medicine alright?”Penny asks now, nodding to Zeke.We’ve gone through the chores I handle every night for her and, as always, she’s joining me for my last stall.It’s become a ritual to bring in the horses for the night while we have our daily chat.I know I’m her social outlet and I don’t mind that.Her sixty-eight years to my twenty-six might mean we make for an odd friendship to outside eyes, but Penny sometimes feels like the mom I lost.
“He always takes it well when I mix it with molasses.”
Penny’s eyes crinkle; her salt-and-pepper hair is pulled back in a low ponytail and her glasses are foggy with the humidity.I pat Zeke on the side and look him over.He’s had a good day out in the field.He didn’t see the sun for six years, but he’s making up for it now.He’s the happiest when he’s running free and mingling with the other horses in the paddock.
I hang his haynet up and give him a final rub.
“See ya tomorrow, boy,” I tell him.He nuzzles into me.A far cry from his first weeks here when he’d spook at just the sound of the latch.
“So, big plans tonight?”Penny asks as we start the walk from the big barn to the main house where my truck is parked.
Penny Lane Rescue Ranch sits on over fifty acres withriverfront space.The rolling hills are a verdant green and you can see the top of Sugarland Mountain in the distance.This place has a quiet peace about it, as if it sprouted right up from sacred ground.
“If you count big plans as taking Dusty for a burger and beer.”The gravel path crunches under my boots and I scrub my face with my hand, remembering the little firecracker falling from Outlaw.“He had a rough start to the day.We both did.”
“City types still messing around there?”she asks, familiar with the stories, rolling up the sleeves of her t-shirt even higher.It’s hot as fuck out here.Summer heat, not September heat.
“Yep, and Dusty paid the price for letting one of them do something they shouldn’t have.He got distracted.”
“Ahhh, so she was a pretty young thing then.”Penny laughs and I look down at her.She shrugs.“What?There’s only one way a man loses his focus on the job, and that’s when a pretty girl enters the frame.”
“Yeah, well, I’m sure we won’t be seeing this distraction again.Plus, he’s learned his lesson.”
We pass the smaller barn on Penny’s ranch, the one that’s seen better days and needs some work.I didn’t know Penny’s husband, Will, but he was always meaning to fix it up.They just never had the money.All their extra funds were used to bring in new horses.I make a mental note to talk to my friend, Asher Reed, about local contractors he might know or if he’s able to give a hand himself in the spring.He dabbles in construction as a hobby when he isn’t keeping the town safe as the local fire chief.
“And you?How are you these days?”she asks.“No distractions of your own?”
I scoff.“No.Just work and you, Pen.”
“Pish posh,” she says, looking at the main house as it comes into view.“A man needs more than that.”
“I’m not looking for anyone or anything right now.”
“Well, I suppose I should be glad.Means I get your help.”She smiles at me.“There are many days you save me here.I couldn’t do this without you, Haden.My feet just don’t carry me the same as they used to.”
I side-hug her as we reach her front porch.
“Well, lucky for you I’m not going anywhere.”
I tell her I’ll see her tomorrow before heading for my truck.Little does she know that being outside, with the horses here, it savesmeeveryday.Animals are loyal, and one thing about them is, if you love them, they never leave.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Cassie
I have to admit, my sister is living the dream on this ranch in the middle of Kentucky.This evening, her smallish dining room is dimly lit and full of laughter and chatter.I take it all in as I stuff the last bite of the world’s most delicious apple crumble into my mouth.Made by Wade.This unassuming, gruff cowboy even made the whipped cream from scratch.
And I was right; his brother Cole is gorgeous too.I’m pretty sure God Himself crafted the men on this ranch as an example.But Ivy wasn’t lying when she said he’s off-limits; he’s obviously taken by his sweet little daughter, Mabel, who’s currently sneaking a cookie from the container on the counter behind her dad’s back.But he’s also completely enchanted by Ginger, the beautiful woman to his left wearing a massive rock on her ring finger.His arm is slung around her slender shoulders and his fingers stroke through her long dark curls.I should be jealous she took the last eligible bachelor in this family, but the moment she opened her mouth to back-talk Wade, I fell in love with her.
