A Love Undone Read Online Free Page B

lost his excitement over God’s creatures. If a person bonded with a dutiful creature that has no voice, it meant his heart was capable of deep tenderness and compassion for people. It weighed on Andy that Tobias wouldn’t have many more years before his open heart would be tested to its breaking point. One day his son would understand that his mother had abandoned him when he was three years old and that she had not called or senta letter since. When the full weight of her rejection hit, Tobias would need all the capacity for love and understanding a man could muster.
    “Kumm.” Tobias motioned for him. Andy patted Amigo before leaving the stall. He put the brush away, grabbed a few rope harnesses, and walked toward the round pen, eyeing the twenty new horses. Even with Levi in the pen feeding and petting a mare, the other horses whinnied, snorted, and herded to the far end.
    Sadie’s eyes were fixed on Levi, which Andy found amusing. No doubt his brother and sister-in-law were in love—but not some ego-boosting, delicate kind of love. What they had was strong and real, and Andy was grateful. After Andy’s wife, Eva, left, Levi wouldn’t let his guard down long enough to give dating—much less love—a chance. But about two years ago, late on the Fourth of July, Levi was riding across a dark field when fireworks startled Amigo, and the horse threw him. Thankfully, Sadie, a visitor from a district more than a hundred and fifty miles away, was riding horseback through that field. What began as Levi needing Sadie’s help eased into a reluctant friendship between them. Each had been wounded—Sadie by a deceptive, cheating fiancé and Levi by Eva, whom he had loved like a sister. He had believed that she loved Andy and Tobias … and then she left.
    “Daed, look.” Tobias pointed to the horse that was eating out of Levi’s hand. “She’s the most gentle one in the herd.”
    Sadie folded her arms across the top of the split rail. “That may not be saying much in this group.”
    Tobias frowned. “Sadie, you’re not helping.”
    She smiled. “Maybe I am and you just don’t know it yet.”
    Andy moved beside his sister-in-law and propped a foot on the lowest fence rail. “What does Levi think?”
    She chuckled. “He’s as excited as Tobias was on Christmas morning.”
    “Gut.”
They had their work cut out for them with this herd, but he and his brother enjoyed running the horse farm.
    Tobias climbed the split-rail fence and sat on the top rail. “Levi, can you bring her over here?”
    Levi glanced at Andy, probably wanting to know whether they were going to tamp down Tobias’s excitement or address it head-on. Andy nodded, and Levi led the horse to them. For two years Tobias had constantly asked his Daed to give him one of the horses.
    “Look, Daed. She’s solid black except for the half pastern on her legs and the markings on her face.” He pointed at her face. “I’ve never seen anything like those markings. Have you?”
    Sadie leaned in. “Is that what you call an irregular star?”
    “A star?” Tobias shook his head. “Women.”
    Andy was confident that one day Tobias would see Sadie’s entry into their lives for what it was—the best gift a motherless boy could have. But since Tobias had no memory of a woman living under their roof, right now Sadie seemed a little too girlish for his liking. To him, a world of menfolk and manly thinking was all life needed.
    “Hey.” Andy nudged his son’s arm. “She doesn’t have to know horses like we do.”
    “I don’t see why not. She makes me study math, reading, and writing so I can know them like she does.”
    Sadie pursed her lips, clearly trying not to laugh. “He does have a point.”
    “Maybe.” Andy studied his son. He appreciated Sadie’s sense of humor, which seemed endless. But was he letting Tobias get away with being disrespectful, or was he giving him room to figure out some stuff on his own?
    “So”—Sadie angled her