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“Yeah,” Ripley said. “Even with the increase in the rainbow population in River Gorge, I don’t see there being enough kids who identify as queer to be able to support a full LGBTQIA youth center here.”
“But it wouldn’t have to be just for queer kids as long as it was an inclusive, safe space,” Frankie said. “That might actually be even better because it would give a safe place for those kids who haven’t come out yet to hang.”
“Kind of like everything else in River Gorge now.” A grin spread across Ripley’s face. “I still can’t believe this is the same town I grew up in. So much has changed. If you had told eighteen-year-old me there would be a bar in River Gorge that welcomed the queer community, or hell, even just something as simple as this place”—he motioned around the coffee shop—“I never would have believed it.”
“Are there enough teens to even warrant a youth center of any kind at all, though?” Miller asked.
“Probably not a full-blown center like the one Spencer went to in Austin, but something scaled down that would provide what the kids here need. What do you think, Spence?”
“I think if there are only a handful, it would be enough to be worth the effort. The question is, how do we make it happen? I mean, sure, I volunteered at the youth center in Austin and spent a lot of time there, but I don’t know anything about how you start something like that.”
“Right?” Frankie agreed. “I mean, it’s bound to be complicated. It would be a non-profit, so there’s all that goes into setting that up, and there would be liability issues…”
“All of that is true.” Ripley nodded. “But I know the perfect people to make it happen. Let me make some calls, and I’ll get back to you.”
Nash
Even if it hadn’t been my weekend to work, I would have been here today. Cruz and Don had gone to the Walking W to pick up Elmer Walker’s horses. It had taken longer than I expected, but it seemed easy enough to me. The man was mistreating his horses, so he didn’t deserve to keep them, but as Cruz pointed out, we had to work within the system.
I still didn’t understand how it all worked. No charges had been filed against Elmer, but they’d seized all ten of the horses at the ranch that belonged to him. I thought the man should be in jail, but apparently, the wheels of justice moved pretty slowly, and they were still investigating. Gibson had gone with them to evaluate the horses, and as long as he determined they could receive the care that was needed here at the rescue, they would bring the horses straight here. Which meant we had a busy day ahead of us getting spaces ready for that many.
But before I could start working on that, I had to do the normal weekend chores. It was a lot, so even though this wasn’t Murphy’s weekend to work, I was relieved to see her already here getting things ready when I finished up in the barn.
She’d driven the farm truck back out to the back paddock with a full bed of straw. I watched for a minute as she dug her pitchfork into the old straw bedding and tossed it to the side.
“Hey, Murph, how’s it going?”
She looked up from her work. “Good, I figured if we move these five here”—she motioned to the five horses that were being housed in that area—“to the north paddock, we should be able to keep all ten here together.”
“That makes sense to me. Those five are doing well, and that would put all the newcomers together.”
“So you used to work there, right? Do you have any idea what we’re going to be dealing with?”
“I really don’t. I didn’t work there very long, and while I saw enough to take Daisy and leave, I didn’t see anything that made me think it was this bad. According to Lance, it got worse after I left. My guess from what he said is that Elmer’s having money trouble and took it out on the horses, but that’s all it is…a guess.”
“That’s no excuse,” she grumbled.
“I agree. I’m surprised you didn’t go with them to pick them up.”
“I offered, but Cruz knew I had something to do this afternoon, and he wasn’t sure how long this would take, so he went instead. Besides, I don’t mind going to pick them up when someone’s surrendering them or when we’re getting them from a vet’s office, but my temperament isn’t what it needs to be to deal with assholes like this.”
“That’s maybe an understatement,” I said with a chuckle. Murphy was what some would call rough around the edges. She was a miracle worker with horses, but dealing with people wasn’t her strong suit, and she didn’t suffer fools lightly. “So what are you doing this afternoon?”
“V and I are going to look at a house.”
“A house. Why? You aren’t leaving, are you?” She could probably hear the slight panic in my voice, but we couldn’t lose her. Murphy wasn’t just Cruz’s right hand around here. She was a critical part of the rescue operation. When these horses came in skittish and afraid of humans, Murphy was able to reach them in a miraculous way. Rafe was good, but she was the best.
“Nah, we aren’t going anywhere. I love what Cruz is building here, and V loves working for Nolan. We just want a place that’s ours. We aren’t getting any younger, so it’s time we put down roots, you know? Besides, we aren’t going far. We’re gonna look at the Seaver’s place.”
“That’s the little rock farmhouse that borders the west side of the property, right?”
“Sure is. It’s not very big, but it’s just me and V, so it’s plenty big enough for the two of us.”
“Okay, so you aren’t leaving-leaving.”
She chuckled. “Don’t worry, kid, I’m not going anywhere. Now let’s get this place ready before I have to get.”
We spent the next hour playing musical horses, moving the five who’d been in this pen to the one to the north and relocating one of the horses from the barn to empty out a stall that Gibson could use as a treatment area. It would work, but it would be nice when Cruz got the expansion completed and actually had a designated area to treat injured horses, as well as areas reserved for new arrivals.
