Free Shy Kinda Love by Deanna Eshler Page A

like that. He wanted to go to the barn, and I said no because I wanted to be alone. There was no romance novel love connection or baring of our souls. That’s all. Stop analyzing.” As I am saying all of this, I am inwardly wondering if there could be something more than friendship between us. Then I consider punching myself in the throat because I have to stop thinking about him in that context.
    Keegan leans back onto the bed on her elbows, her legs still over the side of the bed. “So, are you saying it doesn’t bother you at all that he was making out with some girl last night?”
    No, I’m not saying that at all. “Yes, that’s what I am saying. Why would I care?” I ask, trying to keep the lie from showing on my face. The idea of Kade making out with another girl affects me in places I don’t want to think about.
    Gemma kicks Keegan. “Stop it. You know damn well he was not making out with any girl.” Gemma looks at me and continues, “After his conversation with Luke, he left and came home.”
    Well, I like that version of the story much better, but that doesn’t clarify the drinking. “So was he really doing shots of whiskey?”
    Gemma shakes her head. “Nope, that was all part of Keegan’s story too.”
    “Was he drinking at all?” I ask.
    The girls look questioning at each other, when Gemma finally answers. “Yeah, he was drinking a beer when he was talking to Luke. Why do you ask?”
    I shrug, and hide the fact that Kade lied to me. “Just wondered.”
    As I’m contemplating how to get these two out of my room so I can nap, Gemma’s phone rings, and she answers after a quick glance at the screen. She wanders away. When she returns, she’s wearing an uncharacteristic frown on her face. “I’m sorry, but I need to go. One of the boys, Isaac, took off again. They’re pretty sure he’s at his mom’s so I’m going to go by there and see if I can get him to go back to the group home willingly.”
    Gemma works at a group home for teenage boys whose behaviors are too severe to be placed in a foster home. Over the summer she worked full-time, but now that classes are back in session, she’s only working part-time.
    Not understanding how the system works, I ask, “What if he doesn’t?”
    Gemma sighs and her frown deepens. “The police will have to be called. He’s on probation, which means he’ll have to spend time in juvie.”
    “Why do you have to go?” I ask the obvious question. “I mean, you’re off today, shouldn’t the other staff handle it?”
    Gemma shakes her head. “Isaac doesn’t trust any of them.” She laughs a humorless laugh. “Actually, he doesn’t trust anyone. He’s been lied to by his social worker and even his mom, so he refuses to trust anyone.”
    Keegan chimes in. “Except for our Gemma. She’s too damn happy all the time so he doesn’t see her as a threat.”
    I can’t help but think that Isaac sounds a lot like Tanner… and myself. I must be smiling because Gemma asks, “What’s so funny?”
    Unwilling to acknowledge my own messed-up issues, I use the horse. “I was just thinking that Isaac sounds a lot like the horse I’m working with, Tanner. I’ve been working with him for about two weeks now, but he’s still not sure he can trust me.”
    Gemma rubs both her hands down her face, looking exhausted. “How about when you’re done training Tanner, you can work with Isaac. He refuses to talk to therapists.”
    I know she’s joking about me working with him, but the idea of him working with the horses is actually not bad. At the spur of the moment, I decided to take a leap. “Why don’t you bring Isaac by the barn? I’m a shit therapist, but the horses, well… they’ve been good therapy for me,” I admit, surprising myself.
    Gemma’s expression changes from sad exhaustion to hopeful, so I decide sharing that little piece of myself was worth it.
    “Are you serious, Shy? I think he would love that, and it would be a different place for