Page 55 of Freeing the Wild
“It’s an important job.Plus, someone has to do it.Might as well be me.”
“How long has Penny been doing this without Mr.Lane?”
“It was Mr.Garrison actually.Will died just before I met Penny.We got to talking in line at the local feed store and I just felt like she needed help.She was on her own, trying to keep this place alive without a partner,” I tell her as Marlow mercifully takes some food from my hand.“She and Will started this place with everything they had, a passion for looking after animals and big hearts.Apparently, Will always said Penny had a heart much bigger than their wallet, and she still takes in way more horses than she can afford.Pass me that brush?I’m just going to try something.”
Cassie searches for what I’m pointing at in my bucket of supplies.
“Penny seems like she does alright here.All these horses seem well cared for,” Cassie comments as she hands me the brush.
I shrug and very gently move closer to Marlow, stroking her side as much as she’ll let me.“She gives everything to this place.So I help her fix up her house when she needs it, and Asher redid the drywall in her mudroom last year.”
Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.“Asher?The scary bartender?”
I chuckle.“Yeah, he’s not so scary when you get to know him.He’s more just quiet.Keeps to himself.He’s also the deputy fire chief and dabbles in woodworking on the side.”
“Do all you men here just do everything?”
I shrug.“We try.”
She smiles.
“Anyway,” I push on, “point is, she always needs help here.She could use some new equipment for sure.Everything she has here is old and tired and hardly works.Even the rakes need replacing.But we get by, and the community sometimes helps with donations too.”
I start to brush the ends of Marlow’s mane.She backs up.
“Easy girl, I’m just gonna spiff you up is all,” I say calmly.“If you’ll let me.”
I stand still for a moment and see what Marlow will do next.Then I approach her slowly.
“That’s it, buddy,” I tell her as I start to run the brush over her gently.She doesn’t back away or try to pace as she’s been doing for the last few days.I speak evenly to Cassie to give Marlow the vibe that I’m calm and everything is alright as I inch even closer.
“Penny says that when Will died, it took a lot of the joy out of this place for her.They only have one daughter, who lives a few counties over, so I think these horses became like their children.”
“Well, it’s really commendable what y’all are doing here.”Cassie smiles at me over the stall door.Her face has some dirt onit after the busy evening.Her jacket is a little muddy too, and her white wool hat has hay in it.She looks fucking adorable.
“But I have to ask.If the joy for Penny has gone without her husband here, why doesn’t she just sell the business and truly retire?”
I look at her and smirk.“She says she’ll sell it whenI’mready to take over.Because she could never close the center down.Without something like this place around here, where would all these horses go?”
Cassie nods and smiles at me again as I pat Marlow.“That’s enough for today, isn’t it, bud?You did good though.”I reach into the bucket and offer her another handful of food.She smells what I’m holding but doesn’t take it from my hand.Instead, she turns her head, getting anxious again.“That’s okay.Soon enough, Marlow.Soon enough.”
We leave the stall and I pull the latch across, closing it tight.I take one last look around the barn; everyone and everything is settled for the night.Earlier than usual too.Probably because I’ve had a helper.When my eyes meet Cassie’s she’s staring up at me with an expression I can’t place.
“What?”I ask her.
She just smiles and shakes her head.“Nothin’,” she says.
“Nah, you have to tell me.Do I have horse shit on me or something?”
I look down at my clothes.They seem all clear to me.
Cassie reaches up on her tiptoes and tweaks my chin.“You’re just not who I thought you were, Cowboy.”
Then she turns and starts to leave the barn.I chuckle as I follow behind her.
“You’re just saying that to butter me up, and to make me feel safer after you stalked me.”
She turns and her mouth falls open as she punches me playfully in the shoulder.“Excuse me for wanting to learnabout your double life.I was being honest earlier—I was curious, is all.”
