Feeding the Heart (Serenity Stables Book 1): Falling in love over the healing of a horse.

by Wendy Nickel

  Feeding the Heart

  Serenity Stables, Book 1

  Wendy Nickel

  Copyright © 2018 by Wendy Nickel, Wendy Sloneker

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Brought to you by friendship, connection, communication and love. - wn

  For those with an appetite for sweet romance.

  Contents

  1. Josie

  2. Josie

  3. Cam

  4. Josie

  5. Cam

  6. Josie

  7. Cam

  8. Josie

  9. Cam

  10. Josie

  11. Josie

  12. Cam

  13. Josie

  14. Josie

  15. Josie

  16. Cam

  17. Josie

  18. Epilogue: 13 months later

  A Gift… and how to get notifications of new releases in the series

  Join Me at Serenity Stables…

  The Sweetness of Collaboration & Support

  About the Author

  1

  Josie

  It was almost the middle of the afternoon when Josie’s wheelbarrow full of alfalfa bumped a big rock down the midline of the barn. It brought her up short in front of Harley’s stall. She exhaled sharply with an audible “oof.” Making a mental note about the rock’s location, she reminded herself to talk to Pammy about it.

  The barn was in good shape overall, but it wasn’t good for the horses or the volunteers if there were larger rocks coming through the walkway. Come to think of it, the mats in the stalls needed replacing, too. But that was more of a “nice to have” than a “need to have.”

  What else?

  She brushed a few stray wisps of hair away from her face with a gloved hand and took a sweeping glance around her. She went through her mental inventory checklist for the third time that morning. Since she’d been promoted six months ago from Afternoon Shift Lead to Serenity Stables’ first-ever barn manager, she’d come to rely on her stringent methods of mental accounting to make sure that everything was done and done right.

  Especially now it was mid-November and turning cold, it was more important than ever to make sure that nothing was slipping past her.

  Okay, let’s run through it.

  Lights? All lit. No burn outs. Good.

  Walkway? Beyond the stray rock she’d managed not to see, it was swept and clean of hay and stray wood shavings. Good.

  Although, she mused, this last delivery of wood shavings had been really dry and dusty. Really dusty. She’d need to go out and check the stock of whatever was left. The volunteers needed to work a little more carefully to sweep out all the dust with this batch, while still preserving whatever they could of the clean, dry bedding each morning after the horses had been turned out.

  Let’s just keep an eye on that, shall we? She coached herself through each day this way. There were more details and systems and needs than she had realized. So she still felt pretty new even six months in.

  Josie tugged a glove off and shoved the open end into a front pocket of her jeans, then dug around in her back pocket for the thin safety-orange notebook, just a bit bigger than a business card, Ah, there it was.

  She grabbed the spiral coil, yanked it up out of her pocket and pulled the yellow bowling pencil from the hair tie that kept the notebook together.

  Putting the elastic around her wrist, she flipped to the next available page in the book, stopping briefly as she saw other scrawls of reminders and notes that were already taken care of. All right now, day and date:

  Friday, Nov 19th? Yup.

  Dusty shavings.

  She’d know what that meant.

  Stalls?

  Josie looked behind her, all the doors were shut on the stalls that had new hay and fresh water. Good.

  She looked ahead to the remaining stalls. Water buckets for those had been scrubbed and refilled. She just needed alfalfa for four of them and then the alternative timothy hay for Easter, one of the older white mares.

  Easter was allergic to alfalfa. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t eat it if she could get ahold of some. Josie chuckled at the thought and then got back to her list.

  Replenish and tidy up the hay stall. That’s right, one more note. There were more brown spots on the hay this round. Call Reno – brown hay.

  Rescue horses had enough to deal with, they didn’t need to be eating old hay as well.

  And we don’t need to be paying for old hay either, she agreed with herself.

  What else?

  A final aisle sweep.

  Oh, and she wanted to check the empty stalls today too.

  Well, she didn’t have to, really. But she wanted to as kind of a... rat check.

  Ugh.

  Shudder.

  Serenity Stables didn’t have a barn cat, so the mice and rat activity was a thing. Josie made a point at least once a week to check the empty stalls for droppings.

  “Okay,” she coached, “let’s get the hay done, then check in with Pammy... then a break.”

  It was definitely after 2, but not yet 3, according to her internal clock. She was late in eating again. More than anything she just wanted a sip of water. Notebook secured and pencil in place, Josie shoved her paper system back into her pocket and wheeled over to the next stall. Midnight’s stall. That little princess.

  Glancing up at the clock over the exit, 2:20... the volunteers for the morning shift left at 11. She hadn’t had any water since before they left. Better take care of that then.

  Josie tugged off the second glove and pushed it into her other front pocket.The gallon of hand sanitizer was on the desk in the volunteer “lounge,” which was just the first empty stall on the left as you entered the barn. All business, she walked in that direction. Make it fast, girl. You got a lot to do yet.

  A fast half-pump into her palm, she walked around to the outside to check on the mini horses in the upper paddocks to see what they were up to as she rubbed her hands together, lacing and unlacing her fingers to work the sanitizer all over.

  Those mini boys. They were so cute, Sherlock and Nelson were standing under the shelter with their new coats on. Sherlock was dark brown with a dusty cocoa-colored mane and tail. He had a horse coat on that was even darker brown than he was. Nelson, the white mini with a white mane and tail had on a royal blue coat. So handsome.

  They were facing each other, noses to necks. She suspected they were dozing, their mini horse breaths warming and comforting each other in a safe snooze.

  “Sweetie pies,” she thought to herself as she walked back into the lounge to grab her water bottle. It was dented from practical use and hard tossing, and the glossy cherry red paint had been dulled and mostly scratched off to reveal stainless steel underneath. Trusty but not rusty, she was proud of getting such good mileage out of her things. They weren’t old, per se, but she worked in the barn full time and wasn’t always gentle with her stuff. She needed things that would last.

  And she needed some water.

  Two gulps later, she was back in front of Midnight’s stall, doling out her hay. Oh yeah, eating. She’d forgotten again. “Hay and finish up the barn, then I’ll eat,” she thought.

  She’d nibble from the mini-handfuls of shelled pumpkin seeds, or maybe it’
d be the sunflower seeds today. “Maybe. We’ll see. Horses first,” and she was back at it, focused full force, fluffing up the hay and double-checking the amount of shavings for each bed before she slid the stall door closed. The next volunteer crew was due in an hour or two. They’d be starting out in the lower paddock today.

  This was her time at the barn. Just a few hours all to herself between shifts.

  From the time she started as a volunteer barn sweeper four years ago, Josie had been taught that it was important to give Pammy and the horses some midday time for themselves. But since becoming barn manager, Josie was allowed to stay on through the day. Afternoon prep, calls, and paperwork flew by during these quiet times.

  She didn’t hear the footsteps or the first “anybody home?”

  She was in her own world as she finished up Midnight’s stall. So she nearly jumped out of her skin when she finally pulled the door closed behind her and looked up to see an all-shoulders male silhouette moving slowly toward her.

  Make that a towering form, slightly shadowed by the light from outside of the barn, ambling toward her. He was on the other side of her wheelbarrow in a few strides. Josie was immediately disarmed by white teeth, a honeyed smile, and dimples that any red-blooded woman would offer to drown in.

  Just then, her phone rang and pulsed in her back pocket. Her heart was still beating hard but it downshifted into... was that a purr?

  Above her neck, Josie had more control. Looking him straight in the eye, she raised her index finger and extended her arm. She gave him a nonverbal “stop right there, I’ll be with you in a minute,” and then swiped her screen to answer John from GrainGuys.

  As she spoke to John, Josie eyed the stranger suspiciously. He’d put up both hands in a “no worries” gesture. She watched as he took a few steps, walking backward, and then turned. He was back outside and out of her sightline…What was he looking at out there? Who was he? And what did he want here?

  “Sorry, what was that, John?” She stammered. He was double-checking their monthly order of grain and supplements... and now pig feed since Pammy had rescued Prima the piglet. “Yes, that’s for Prima, the one and only rescued pig on the farm. No, just the one pig, we aren’t getting any more that we know of. We didn’t really see her coming, either,” Josie mentioned offhandedly.

  Now it had been a couple of minutes and there was a really handsome guy on the property. Josie suddenly couldn’t remember if she’d seen Pammy’s subaru up on House Hill this morning.

  Was she alone on the property?

  Her pulse and heartbeat shifted again…more curiosity than fear, but still…safer is better than sorry any day.

  Josie went to the grooming pad and picked up one of the brooms, grasping it toward the middle in case she needed a weapon. There was a hollow ring from the aluminum bucket as she picked it up.

  “Hey John?” She said. “Everything sounds like it’s in order there. I gotta go. Just gimme a call or text with any other questions, all right?” She hung up. She didn’t re-pocket her phone. Instead, she prepped a 911 call, and walked outside, phone in one hand, broom in the other, scanning for tall, smiley, and silent.

  She shaded her eyes against the glaring grey light typical of a Pacific Northwest fall. It was still bright outside compared to the dimness of the barn, even if the light was muted, diffuse and kinda misty. There he was, up by Sherlock and Nelson. The grip she had on her broom tightened, noting a protective surge roll through her as she assessed the situation.

  He was outside their paddock. Okay.

  How did the boys look? The minis were calm. Still kind of dozy and huddled together. Not bothered or even curious about this stranger at all.

  He was just looking at them. Okay. That’s good, he wasn’t being forward or approaching them in their space. Okay.

  It seemed like he was staring at one, then slowly looking to the other, and his head was kind of, down.

  Was he... was he looking at their feet?

  Her eyes swept the dirt parking strip for an unfamiliar car. Nothing.

  What the…?

  Did he walk here?

  Given the farm was situated at least three miles from anywhere, the Gas & Snack notwithstanding, it didn’t seem likely that anyone would really walk here.

  Josie started out up the hill to find out exactly what he was doing there.

  But she hadn’t gone more than just a few steps when Pammy’s Subaru came racing up the drive at a speed that would have earned a serious blaze of scolding if it had been anyone else.

  Josie saw Pammy’s shoulder-length wild red hair first. Then she saw Pammy’s face, pale and drawn, behind the wheel of her wagon. Pammy gestured to tell Josie to move out of the way of the entrance. Was she going to try to take her car down the center of the barn?

  No.

  Pammy rolled the window down and said, “Get a wheelbarrow, put some blankets in it. We have another mini, he’s in real bad shape.”

  So, she’d been out on an animal welfare checkup and now it was go-time.

  Josie’s heart and adrenaline took over. With one last look up the hill to make sure the man was still on the outside of the paddock, she turned to address the more immediate crisis.

  Pammy turned the wagon around and backed up to the barn entrance.

  Josie tossed the broom in the lounge, flew to the almost empty hay barrow, and ran it back up the aisle to the back of the car. There was a pile of old blankets and towels in the banged-up beige locker cabinet in the lounge, and she ran back to grab the whole stack. They were clean and soft from so many uses and washes over the years, and she dropped them into the wheelbarrow with a soft phlof. She briskly spread them around, making a clean nest for the new rescue.

  Pammy had jumped out of the driver’s seat and popped the hatchback trunk. She had on her black boots, yoga pants, her long sleeve baby-blue t-shirt, and a black quilted down vest. The only thing missing was her black baseball cap with the white embroidered Serenity Stables logo.

  “Probably tossed it the second she was back in the car with this poor thing,” thought Josie. Pammy didn’t really like having anything on her head.

  Serenity Stables was known in Maple Valley as a reliable source to call if a horse looked distressed or alone, or worse. And the phone rang at all hours with reports and requests from people in the area.

  Inside the navy blue cloth interior was a listless form, his brown head, filthy and soiled from neglect, his body, covered with a few of the striped woolly car blankets that Pammy always had on hand.

  Josie looked at him and then at the nest she had made… yes, he’d fit.

  “Vet?” asked Josie.

  “Not yet.” Clipped Pammy. This was how they did things and managed to work so well together. It was all about the horses. “Let’s get him into a stall, and I’ll call.”

  The dimpled stranger had come down the hill and was on the outside of the barn, seemingly on stand-by.

  Josie caught his eye. “Hey! You got a phone?”

  He held up his mobile for her to see. “What’s the number?”

  Of course Josie knew the vet’s cell number by heart. It was one of the first things she committed to memory upon her promotion and this wasn’t the first time she needed that number, double-quick.

  She called out the number and then barked the order to “... have Dr Grier come to Serenity Stables. ASAP.”

  Pammy had made sure the horse was snugly wrapped in the car blanket and ready to move to the wheelbarrow.And now it was time to move him. Pammy was at the head. Josie got to the rear. When she put her hands on, and then under, his hind quarters, she gasped. Bones. Only bones. And no horse coat on him? In November? She was aghast, her freshly torn heart making its way to her throat. She just... hated... people… sometimes.

  There was definite neglect based on the stench of dirt and filth, and he was malnourished. But how old was he? Was this the bony backend of an older horse or a younger one?

  She shook the thought from her mind
, not now, it doesn’t matter. Josie looked into Pammy’s face, locked eyes and together they lifted the barely conscious 90-pound miniature horse down into the nest of blankets. Then they each tucked him in with the looser ends of the blankets to cover him over.

  Pammy took the handles of the barrow and wheeled down to the middle of the barn to the nearest empty stall. Josie ran ahead and spotted until they were just a few steps ahead of the stall. She slid the door open, hopped inside and pulled the lip of the wheelbarrow up into the stall as Pammy pushed.

  They always kept shavings in the unspoken-for stalls, just in case they had to take in a new rescue without notice, like this little one. Josie was so grateful to whoever came up with that system, and her eyes compulsively darted around for rat or mice droppings. None this week that she could see.

  “Down?” Josie asked.

  “No. Let’s leave him to rest in the wheelbarrow until the vet gets here.”

  “The vet!” she started. “Be right back.”

  Josie left Pammy with the new mini and ran back up to the barn entrance, hoping to talk to the vet directly.

  “Yeah, and thanks, Ewan. See you in a bit.” She heard the stranger say as he was signing off and hanging up.

  “Did you tell him to come immediately?” Josie demanded, angry that he was already off the phone.

  The stranger’s perfectly shaped, not-too-thick eyebrows raised with surprise. “Sure did. He’s on his way. Said 10 minutes, tops.” A gentle smile paired with a look of concern in his melty brown eyes. “I’ll go down the hill and open the gate for him,” he stated, rather than asked.

  “Uh, yeah, that’d be… really great. Thanks,” murmured Josie, the winds of fierce self-righteousness blown completely out of her sails.