Chapter 21
Clark satat the table he’d set up in the corner of Naomi’s office at the barn at Broken, making lists. It had taken him the rest of the day Tuesday, and all-day Wednesday to go over all the plans from Erin, and after getting the file from her about the people she’d hired to build the first half of The Broken Wheel, he finally talked to Naomi about it. At the end, she told him that he had to follow not only his gut, but also his heart. After that, he took a couple of days to follow people at Erin’s Way, and Broken. He knew it wasn’t right, but he didn’t feel as connected to those two operations as he thought he would. That was why he’d decided to take on the project of finishing Erin’s vision for The Broken Wheel. Luckily, he had time to plan since there was snow on the ground, thinking spring would be the best time to break ground. The first thing he needed to do was get a road installed so the trucks wouldn’t break an axle as they entered the property. He started a list of contractors to contact over the following weeks. But first, he would need to work on getting a permit to have the road built. Without it none of this would work. He felt if he got in on the ground level, then he would feel a part of it. He scowled when his phone rang.
“Yeah,” he barked into the phone without bothering to see who called him.
“Hey, it’s Reid. There’s someone here asking for you.”
“Where is here, and who?”
“Erin’s Way, and a man by the name of Jared Hillard.”
“Oh, shit. Thanks. Did Erin tell you I was inviting someone this weekend to discuss the Firths?”
“She might have mentioned it, but I didn’t really pay attention.”
“Can you bring them over to Broken?”
“Sure, I was headed that way anyway.” They hung up, and Clark looked up when the door opened and Naomi wheeled herself inside.
“Hey,” he said as he sat back and watched her intently. She had jerked a lot in her sleep the night before, and instead of waking her, he’d only held her tighter. Since last Monday, he’d been staying in her cabin with her, and sleeping in her bed.
“Hey, what’s up?” she asked. “You look like you have something to say.”
“Yeah, Reid just called and the Hillards are here.”
“Holy crap, it’s that late? I felt like I just got here.”
“Yeah. Me too. Do you want to go out and greet them with me? Reid’s bringing them over. I thought you could explain what we do here.”
“I can. Thankfully all the stalls are cleaned, and the girls are getting ready to exercise some of the horses.” She chuckled as she turned her chair around and looked at him with a grin. “I imagine Reid’s coming over to play with Katie.”
“Probably,” he laughed, and verified with her that they were still on for a pot-luck get together that night at the main house.
“Yeah, that’s what I was doing. I went to everyone to remind them.”
“Good.” Clark held the door open for her, and as they made their way around the arena to the front door, they arrived just as a truck, driven by Reid, and a crossover SUV pulled in behind him, driven by Jared. Clark and Naomi waited for everyone to get out, and it made him happy that Reid waited for them to get out of the vehicle before bringing them over to Clark and Naomi. He soon left them, and laughed.
“If you excuse me, I have to go play for a couple of hours.” He left with a wave over his shoulder and Clark and Naomi laughed.
Clark turned to their guests. After shaking Jared’s hand, he hugged Tessa, then stepped back so they could greet Naomi.
“Has this always been here?” Jared asked as he turned to looked at the barn and pastures around them.
“No,” Naomi said. When they turned to look at her, she smiled. “I’m the first employee here on The Broken Wheel. What we are doing is getting rescue horses healthy and available to accept clients shortly. Our horses have been saved from the slaughter house, or their previous owners have been arrested for animal cruelty.”
“Like the Firths.” Jared nodded, then looked at his children. “Don’t worry, we’ve explained as best we could whenever we see things like that on the news. Unfortunately, they don’t know that everything always comes up roses.”
“Okay, that’s good to know. Anyway, The Broken Wheel is Erin’s brainchild. It’s taken a couple of years, but shortly after the new year, we will be accepting clients.”
Tessa turned to Clark then. “I hate to admit this, but I dug out our old yearbooks and for the life of me I cannot find your sister in any of them. I don’t remember her at all.”
“Well, we only had our senior yearbooks to refer to.” Jared admitted. “I never came here while we went to school together, and for the life of me, I don’t remember your sister either.”
“That’s fine. The year we graduated from high school, she graduated eighth grade. When the yearbook pictures were taken for the classes, she was absent that week.” He grinned at their shock. “She had her tonsils removed that week.”
“Ah. Okay, can I ask why she started this?” Jared asked as he turned in a circle and noted a man coming out of the barn with a ball in his hand. He scowled when the ball was tossed several yards away, then a horse came trotting out of the barn and went after the ball. “Is that horse playing catch?”
“Yep.” Clark laughed. He turned and laid a hand on Naomi’s shoulder. “I’ll let the resident expert explain.”
“Listen closely, kids,” Jared said, and they turned to look at Naomi.
“When a horse, or any animal for that matter, is abused, when they are placed with new people, whether it be fosters, or their new forever home, the animals are wary of their new surroundings and humans.”
“Just like Spot was?” the little girl asked her father.
“Yes, just like was Spot was.” He looked at the others with a smile. “Spot is a rescue dog from a shelter.”
“Okay, well, just like a dog, a horse takes time to warm up to new owners, and when they do, they usually latch on to someone they feel will keep them safe. Reid, the man in the pasture, is playing ball with Katie. Katie was abused by her former owners and it took her a long time to even lift her head.”
“Was she depressed?” the little boy asked as he turned to watch Reid and Katie in the pasture.
“She was, we were about to call the vet to get her medication, but she latched on to Reid. Every day the two of them play ball like that.”
“What did you mean by clients?” the little girl asked.
“The Broken Wheel will be for people with disabilities, like me, and Reid, and others that work here to come here and learn how to ride a horse. We will have people to help them with their challenges learn how to deal with them.”
“Horse therapy?” the little girl asked, shocking Clark.
“Yes.”
“My Girl Scout leader told us about this a couple of weeks ago. Her brother was in an accident last year and needs to learn to walk again. But she’s sad because the place he goes to is closing.”
Naomi looked at Tessa and she mimicked that she would call her. After that they gravitated toward the pasture, and Naomi didn’t say anything when Clark and Denver, who had been standing just inside the door, laid the boards down for her to use her chair so she didn’t get stuck in the mud. After watching Reid and Katie, Clark stayed with Jared, while Naomi went inside to show the others around.
“Is that the horse Philip Firth went to jail for?” Jared asked Clark as he watched the horse toss a ball. He smiled as the two worked together.
“Yes, if you want to see the pictures of what she looked like when she arrived, Naomi has them in her office.”
“No, I saw them,” he said as he turned and shook his head. “I’ll explain later.”
“Okay, I want to let you know that all the employees of Broken will be at tonight’s pot luck dinner at the main house. Almost all of them have had some type of dealings with the Firths.”
“Will the guy they shot be there?”
“Yes, his name is Perry Lewis. I know none of what I’m about to say is of any importance, but the men our age you’ll be meeting tonight, there will be four of them, they were my teammates while in the Navy.” Clark looked at his friend and continued to explain, “We were all Navy SEALs. I was the leader of the team, Reid…” he paused to point to the pasture. “He was my number two, Lloyd was my number three, but he was transferred to another team when he was promoted. Most of us had a disability and couldn’t continue our careers.”
“Will it be offensive if I ask what happened to them?”
“No,” Reid said as he approached the fence. “I overheard your conversation. I lost my leg,” he said as he reached down and knocked on the outside of his thigh. “Lloyd was caught in a firefight and the enemy threw a Molotov Cocktail at him and he sustained burns on the side of his neck and face.”
“Perry, the one that was shot by the Firths, was too close to a bomb blast and it messed up his hearing. If he talks too loudly that means his tinnitus has flared up. Denver, like myself, just wanted to get out. Twelve years is a long time to do what we did.”
“Damn,” Jared said as he shook his head.
“Because of Erin’s own disability, which she considers is a challenge and not a disability, she wanted to help others like her, both civilians and former military. That’s when The Broken Wheel came to fruition. I won’t get into the minute details, but she was able to do everything you see here. When we’re done with the tour, I’ll take you over to the cabin. You can settle in, then come up to the house when you’re ready.” They heard a child’s laugh, and made their way toward the main door. Katie went to investigate the sound, but not before tossing the ball to Reid before trotting back into the barn. He laughed as he picked it up, climbed over the fence, then handed the ball to Jared.
“Can you carry that while I help with the boards.” After Jared took the ball, they picked up the planks, and Clark explained. “We don’t like to leave them down all the time in case it rains or snows.”
“We also don’t want them to get buried in the mud,” Reid said as he propped his board up, then went back for the next one. When they were done, they went inside and it took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust from being out in the sun. Reid left saying he’d go get Katie, and walked off with the ball in his hand.
Jared walked beside Clark and they stopped at a fence, next to where Tessa stood. She looked at him, grinned, then pointed. Jared turned and stared in shock that both of his children were riding their own horse.
“Why are the other horses there, shouldn’t they be tied up at least?”
“No, that’s part of rehabilitating the horse. We want them to be comfortable with having other horses carrying someone on their back around them. If they aren’t comfortable around the other horses, then they won’t work out in working with the clients,” Naomi had spoken from her chair on the other side of Tessa. They stood there and watched as a woman without half of her left arm, and another one with red hair walked the kids around the arena, then they wove them in and out of the other loose horses, while the others ignored them.
“Seems to be working,” Jared commented at one point. It felt like only minutes, but the kids were led back to their parents and the redhead said that it was time to feed the horses their supper and put them in their stalls for the night. Once the kids were off the animals, they were animated in their telling of what they experienced.
Clark took that moment to suggest they go to where they’d be spending the night, and he led the way to the cabin with all the small appliances in it. He made a mental note to talk to Erin about purchasing more for the other cabin.
Standing on the porch, Jared looked out at the other cabins and then back at Clark. “Wow.”
“Yeah, this is where we all live. Erin and Reid have the main house, and I’ve moved in with Naomi. These cabins are away from the barn, and on the other side, I’m working toward getting more places built for people from out of state to stay if they’re accepted as a client. There will be room for families.”
“Wow, was that your sister’s brainchild too?”
“Yes, I’m just going to be the guy to make sure it’s all built to specifications, working with the town and county to get the proper permits, and making sure the construction crews are on schedule.” Clark laughed as he turned on his heel and opened the door. He turned back, and said, “We don’t lock the doors. This might look like a small neighborhood, but it’s still on Riceman land.”
“Got it.” Jared nodded and followed his friend inside. The family walked around, and when they didn’t have any questions, Clark told them to meet at the main house at six that night. He excused himself and went back to the barn. In the office he spotted Naomi behind her desk.
“Hey,” he said as he entered, walked over, and lifted her chin for his kiss. “Did Tessa talk to you about a treatment plan?”
“No, but she did mention if she could sit down and talk with the two of us sometime this weekend.”
“We can do that,” Clark agreed, and went back over to his desk. He continued what he had been doing before the Hillards had arrived. Two hours later, he and Naomi left to go home to clean up after work, and make it over to the main house for supper. By the time they arrived at the main house, they realized they were the last to arrive. Naomi laughed at his expression. She had tried several times to get him away from his plans, and he kept saying one more minute. Now they were running late. Once inside, they realized that the others were still getting the meal on the table. Thankfully, he had brought a crockpot over earlier for the guys to keep in the kitchen. He had found he loved Naomi’s mac and cheese. He only hoped no one else did so he could bring some home with him.
He looked around at the group of people, and realized the kids were helping Virgil and Wendel set the table. The entire scene with everyone brought a calm over him. He realized then that he was finally home, and nothing would ruin this feeling for him. Little did he know that feeling wouldn’t last for long.