Free Shy Kinda Love by Deanna Eshler Page B

us to talk; a place that doesn’t feel like an institution.”
    I smile. “Of course. I was planning to work with Tanner again tonight. So how about you meet me there around five?”
    Gemma lunges toward me and has me wrapped in a hug before I realize what is happening. “Thank you so much, Shy! I’m at a complete loss with this boy, so any idea is like gold right now.” I don’t freeze at her touch, which reminds me that these girls have been great therapy for me too.
    ***
    I’m in the pasture with Tanner and the other horses when Gemma and Isaac arrive. Isaac looks more like he’s seventeen than his true fourteen. He is as tall as I am and he carries himself with confidence. His dirty blonde hair is cut short, nothing like the in-your-eyes cut I’m used to seeing on teen boys these days.
    I walk to the gate and let myself out. Gemma introduces me to Isaac and he extends his hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am,” he says, surprising me.
    I reach out my hand, placing it in his much larger one. “It’s nice to meet you too, but please don’t ever call me ma’am again,” I say with a smile. “Call me Shyanne, or Shy. Either one is fine.”
    Isaac smiles and releases my hand. He lifts his chin in the direction of the pasture. “What were you doing?”
    I sigh. “Well, see that black horse over there?” I point in the direction of Tanner. Both Isaac and Gemma nod. “I need to catch him so I can work with him. The problem is, he hates being separated from his herd, and he doesn’t trust people. I’ve been working with him for about two weeks. He’s only ever come up to me once of his own free will.”
    “What happened to him?” Isaac asks.
    Knowing Tanner’s story is going to hit close, I just answer, not looking to Gemma for direction. “His current owners have only had him for a couple months. They got him as a rescue, meaning he was severely abused and neglected. The day he got to their farm, they could count every rib just by looking at him. Plus he had multiple injuries, some old, some new. Anyway, they were able to heal him physically, but not mentally. He’s terrified of people because… well… some person abused him.” I look from the horses to Isaac, to see he is still watching the herd. I look back to the herd. “So now he doesn’t know who he can trust, except his own kind.”
    Isaac, proving he is paying attention, asks, “Why does he need to trust you, or his new family? I mean, isn’t he fine just staying with them?” It’s then I realize Isaac has already connected with Tanner, and his situation, more than I would have thought possible for a boy of his age.
    I lean towards Isaac, bumping my elbow against his on the top rail of the fence. “You’re a pretty smart kid, you know that?” He just gives me a half-smile, so I answer, “It would be fine if he were a wild horse, running free in the mountains somewhere. Living on a farm, though, he has to be handled by people every day. Here, for example, we bring the horses into their stalls every night so they can eat and sleep in the barn. Plus they have to be examined by a vet at least twice a year, and a farrier comes to trim their feet every six weeks. Right now, the way Tanner fears humans, he becomes very anxious when he’s handled, and that makes him dangerous—to others, and to himself. His owner is a fourteen-year-old girl who wants to love him and take him out to ride on trails with the other horses. The last time she tried to put a saddle on him he bucked, got his foot caught in the girth, and almost broke his leg.” I shrug. “Right now he’s living his life hiding behind his herd, always terrified of the next time a person is going to come for him.”
    Isaac nods, and I believe he really does understand. I peek around him to see Gemma trying to blink away the tears in her eyes.
    We stand there in comfortable silence for several minutes before Isaac speaks again. “Can I try to catch him?”
    Well, crap. This kid