The Place I Belong by Nancy Herkness

Author:Nancy Herkness [Herkness, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781477823002
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 20641101
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

AS THE PALE morning sunlight filtered through the window, Adam knelt in the straw by his sleeping son and gave him a light shake. “Matt, time to wake up.”

The barn had come to life around 6:00 a.m., with the racket of clanging buckets, banging stall doors, and stable hands talking to their charges. Both Adam and Hannah had roused from the doze they’d fallen into once it was clear Satchmo was going to make it to morning. Sharon had come by to find out how the night had gone. It took the combined persuasions of both of them to convince Hannah to go home and grab an hour’s sleep before she had to get to the office. And Matt had slept through it all.

Now the boy’s eyelids fluttered open. He looked confused and then frightened. “Is Satchmo okay?” he asked, turning his head to look past his father.

Adam shifted so Matt could see the pony standing in the corner, one back hoof cocked up on its tip. “Dr. Linden checked him over just before she left and said he’s making progress.”

“Dr. Linden left?” His son’s dismay was obvious.

“She had to go to work,” Adam said. “Satchmo’s not her only patient. She wouldn’t have left if she thought he was in danger.”

“I guess,” Matt said, wiggling out of the sleeping bag to stand up. He walked to Satchmo and ran his hand down the pony’s neck, murmuring something Adam couldn’t hear. Satchmo’s ears swiveled forward and he opened his deep, brown eyes. Matt looked at his father. “He seems better.”

Adam joined his son. “I think we can leave him in Ms. Sydenstricker’s care while we go home to clean up and get some sleep.”

Matt shook his head. “I’m not leaving him until Dr. Linden says he’s okay.”

“If you rest up now, you can come back tonight,” Adam said. “That’s when he needs you the most.”

His son looked torn. Adam reached out and plucked a piece of straw from Matt’s disheveled hair. “There are a lot of people here who know more about horses than either of us. We can trust Satchmo to them for a few hours.”

Matt continued to stroke the pony’s neck. When he spoke, his voice was choked with unshed tears. “Something might happen while we’re gone.”

The stall door slid open and Sharon walked in. “Nothing’s going to happen.” She came over to scratch Satchmo behind the ears. The pony heaved a sigh of pleasure. When Sharon dropped her hand, Satchmo butted his face against Matt’s chest. “See? He’s back to his old, demanding self,” Sharon said.

That got a shaky smile from Matt. The boy put his forehead against the pony’s and said, “Okay, buddy, I gotta go for a while, but I’ll be back. And you’d better be here.”

Adam placed his hand on Matt’s shoulder and turned him toward the door. “Let’s get out of Ms. Sydenstricker’s way.” Stopping at the door, he looked back at Sharon. “I left a batch of Satch treats in a plastic container in the feed room.

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