A Love Undone by Cindy Woodsmall Read Free Book Online Page A

could meet you right here Friday night, say, around eight o’clock.”
    He sort of wanted to, but it didn’t feel like a good idea, and Jolene said he should trust his gut in such matters. Sometimes it seemed as if Jolene was his mama, and he needed to cut the apron strings. But he shook his head.
“Nee.”
    “Having fun on the weekends makes the workweek more tolerable.”
    “At eight?” Why had Ray asked?
    “Ya.”
    Hmm. That would give him time to get his chores done, but would Jolene mind? He was old enough to decide on his own. Besides, Jolene might be glad to have a few hours outside of work when Ray wasn’t underfoot.
    “I’ll think about it.”

5

    “It’s okay.” Andy gently eased toward the horse, hoping to encourage her to back out of the trailer and down the ramp. He’d arrived at Lester’s farm at dawn in the cab of the truck pulling the first trailer of horses. Five hours later he was unloading the last of the twenty-three horses, and she was every bit as skittish and difficult to handle as the first one had been. He could hear the other horses in the corral, whinnying and stomping against the fence to see if they could get free.
    After letting the horse sniff him, he patted her and inched forward, trying to get her to back up. She reared and whinnied. Andy flung himself back to avoid a direct kick. There wasn’t a spot on his body that didn’t hurt, either from the days of hard work or from bruises inflicted by feral horses. “You’re doing great,” he murmured gently even as his heart feared taking another hit. Despite wearing protective gear, he was banged up.
    He eased forward and stroked her neck. “Let’s just keep backing up.” He continued to crowd her by stepping closer to her face as she remained inside the horsebox with its narrow sides. She whinnied and stomped in protest. “I know,” he cooed, “but you’ve got to be unloaded.” She took a few steps back. “That’s a girl.” She reluctantly walked backward down the trailer ramp. When her back hoofs stumbled off the ledge where the ramp met the dirt, she reared, knocking Andy down, and bolted into the corral.
    Some of the volunteers who were watching him clapped as the last horse entered the corral. Andy just sat on the ramp and gathered his wits, grateful to finally have these horses where they needed to be. After FedEx had dropped off the information, he’d called Uncle Lester, who agreed to the plan. Andy had then called Renee, the executive director of the Humane Society. As she explained the situation, it became clear to him that the Humane Society needed as many skilled volunteers as possible. Within two hours he was on his way to the makeshift triage center in central Pennsylvania. He’d left home Thursday night. Today was Monday, and he’d slept little in between.
    He stood and removed his helmet. At home he and Levi never used protective gear when training horses, but it was a government regulation when he helped the Humane Society, and wisely so. He and Levi had worked with some high-strung, abused, and traumatized horses but never feral ones.
    His uncle Lester ambled toward him, cane in hand as he limped across the patchy grass. “I didn’t doubt for a minute that you could handle those horses.”
    Andy walked off the ramp. “You should have. I sure did.”
    “The Keim girls arrived. There was a mix-up concerning the message I left. That’s why there wasn’t any breakfast ready when you and the team arrived, but they have some pastries, fruit, and coffee set up on tables under a shade tree at the side of the house. They’ll have lunch ready in less than two hours.”
    He didn’t know who the Keim girls were, but his uncle seemed to put a lot of stock in them. “Denki. I’ll get something to eat in a bit. I want to check the fences first.” Hunger rumbled through his stomach as the aroma of coffee rode on the air.
    When volunteers removed the trailer ramp, Andy closed the gate and began walking