Page 31 of Undone

“Would you be willing to help with the forgotten cottage too?” Carol asked with hope in her voice. “It’s not as fancy a gig as bank headshots, but it’s easy and I pay well.”

“Of course, I’d be happy to help out,” I said, still in shock over how much had changed in the past ten minutes.

We made plans to connect and look at schedules later that day, and as Carol walked away, it struck me that I’d just interacted with two strangers in my hometown who were absolutely lovely. Neither one had judged me for wearing a faded band T-shirt and ripped jeans despite the fact that they were both dressed for work. And they’d loved every single photo I’d taken, even the quirky ones of panting dogs.

It was the first time since being back that I’d interacted with people other than the Caffertys, who didn’t make me feel out of place. Ilooked around the revitalized town with fresh eyes. Maybe old Poplar Springs wasn’t so bad after all?

TWENTY

ZOE

“Come on, Zo, you can do this. You told me you wanted to finish today,” Josh said, walking backward toward the barn and beckoning me to follow. “You’ve got a date with Indigo.”

I frowned. “Todayis Indigo day? I thought I was going to get one more session before we did it with him.” There was no way he’d introduced me to enough horses already.

He shook his head. “Nope, we talked about working with one horse a day for a week until we reached Indigo, and it’s time. You’ve got your camera with you, so you’ve got no excuse. Let’s go make some magic.”

I had just come back from my trip to town and I was tired and a little hungry, but Josh was right. I needed to face my fear, take the horse photos, and then get to work editing all of the new images. I owed it to both him and Shannon to get their website up and I owed it to myself to submit the best damn portfolio possible.

“Okay, let’s make it happen. I’m ready.”

“Atta girl,” Josh cheered. He jogged back to me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then fell in step beside me.

I felt my cheeks go hot at the unexpected PDA. We weren’t usually obvious about what was happening between us but ever since the kiss in the kitchen, we weren’t exactly hiding it either.

“Why don’t you get set up in the paddock where you’ve met the other horses, and I’ll get him ready.” Josh started for the barn, then stopped abruptly. “Wait, is that an okay backdrop for your pictures? It’s sort of boring.”

“No, I can make it work. It’s all about the framing,” I answered. “You’ve got that gorgeous blooming tree just beyond the fence, and blue sky always makes for a great background. Don’t worry, let me handle the aesthetics, and you take care of the horse.”

He flashed a boyish thumbs-up at me. “Got it.”

I tried to calm the shaky feelings kicking up inside of me. It was ridiculous, after all. I’d already ridden both Sugar and Indigo, and Josh had introduced me to a variety of horses throughout the week, from the foal to a pony to an old nag and another lovely little white horse that really did look like a hornless unicorn, and I’d been okay with all of them. Not one hundred percent confident, but not quaking in fear the way I normally would be when faced with a horse at close range.

But there was something about the idea of being in the paddock with Indigo just free ranging around like he owned the place. What if he wanted to go rogue, jumping and kicking anything that got in his way, like a certain petite photographer who couldneveroutrun a rampaging horse?

I fussed with the camera, checking the settings over and over again and taking test shots of fence posts. The pictureshadto work. Theblank spaces in the “coming soon” parts of the ranch’s website were making my perfectionist tendencies short circuit. Plus, I needed a complete website to submit for school.

Josh came out of the barn leading Indigo, looking like something out of a movie. Was he striding toward me in slow motion on purpose, or was my mind playing tricks on me? And how the hell could he look so damn good while sweaty and dirty? I took a deep breath and tried to steady my quaking hands.

“How do you want to do this?” Josh called to me. “Want me to walk him around for a few laps while you take pics at a distance?”

“Sure, that works,” I said, thankful that I didn’t have to jump right into the tough stuff like feeding Indigo treats while I stood too close to his giant hooves.

I brought the camera up and started firing off photos, but they kept turning out blurry.

“You can bring him a little closer,” I said, my voice shaking.

Josh smiled at me. “Why don’t you put down your camera for a minute and say hello to this magnificent beast?”

“Um, I think I’m okay right where I am,” I answered, sure that Indigo was sizing me up as he formed his plan of attack.

“Zo, yourodehim already, there’s no need to be nervous.”

I laughed. “Tell that to my brain.”

Josh stopped about a few feet away from me, and Indigo nodded at me.

“What’s he doing? What does that mean?” My voice rose a notch or three, making me cringe.

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