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Annalise was trying to keep her eyes open and failing miserably. Last night after midnight, a call had come in from the Sheriff’s department about four abandoned horses, which were found on a farm in poor condition. Margaret had asked Stormi and her to take custody and see what could be done. This was another mission of Living River Ranch and one that was dear to Annalise’s heart. They helped rescue, rehabilitate, and find suitable homes for animals that were found in critical situations, or whose owners relinquished responsibility.
The horses had been malnourished the point that made her eyes tear up when she first saw them. This was a delicate situation to transport and nurse them back to health. They had worked through the night to stabilize and get the animals to a pen at the back of the normal horse barns. The worst-case was a tiny pony who had severe wounds. Someone had whipped her with something causing large welts across her back, and she still had open wounds. This, along with malnutrition, was making her the hardest to treat and stabilize.
When they had them all clean, fed, and in a stable situation, she put a call out for volunteers. They would sit with the animals around the clock and notify Stormi, should they appear to worsen in any manner. At nine o’clock in the morning, she stepped outside finally as the first volunteers were in place. She stretched her arms out and dropped her head. The exhaustion was debilitating.
Stormi came alongside and handed her a cup of coffee.
“Bless you,” she said, blowing to cool the liquid before taking her first long draw of the caffeine her body desperately needed.
“That was a rough one,” Stormi said. “I appreciate the assist. I normally get one or two animals at a time, and they are usually sheep, goats, and from time to time, a dog or a cat. Four horses are something different altogether.”
“Will they try to find the owners?”
“Probably, animal cruelty is against the law,” Stormi finished. “Being malnourished is one thing, but they need to confirm they don’t have other animals with these kinds of conditions.”
“You want to try and get a bit of sleep, and then I can swap off with you?”
“I would love to, but I told Grayson I would pick the girls up for their doctor’s appointments, as he and Margaret are meeting with the bank this morning.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll make it with the help of my good friend Mr. Coffee,” she said with a chuckle, “but that doesn’t mean I won’t be fast asleep by 6:30 tonight.”
“True. I have a date, though. I will probably need to reschedule.”
“How are things with you and Maxwell?”
“Going fabulous, how about you and Grayson,” she said, with a teasing tone.
“Honestly, before we got so rudely interrupted last night,” she said, with a long pause. “He asked me to marry him!”
“Oh my gosh, how could you not tell me already?”
“We had our hands full,” Stormi replied with a sarcastic tone. “And I was kind of in a fog of disbelief. I just didn’t see me as the married mom of two, but I can’t imagine what my life would be like without all the chaos and craziness they bring into it.”
“They are the cutest, but most mischievous kiddos ever. Congrats, big sis!” She said, winding her arms around Stormi’s shoulders.
“Thanks! Maybe if you could hurry Maxwell along, we could do a Belle and Margaret double wedding of our own.”
“We’ve been dating like three weeks, maybe give it a tad longer.”
“I guess,” Stormi said, rolling her eyes, “but no matter what, you are my maid of honor pick.”
“What about Belle? Don’t you think she would be expecting you to pick her?”
“Fine, if you don’t want to do it,” Stormi feigned madness.
“Of course, I do, but I was just trying to be a sympathetic friend. I mean, I have to live with Belle too, and she had a lot of pull with Margaret. I would hate to get fired over a petty girl fight.”
Stormi laughed, “I think you are good. Belle will understand and be in the wedding as well. It will be fine, but you are my sister, so that is that!”
“I’m in,” Annalise said. “Now, go! If you leave Phoebe and Emma at the school wondering where you are, that is not going to end well.”
“Oh, they will NEVER let me forget,” Stormi said, taking off at a brisk hike.
Annalise watched for a moment longer, before she turned back to do one last check on the horses. Maybe she could catch a ten-minute catnap in one of the stalls; any sleep right now would be better than running on empty.
