Page 36 of Undone

It was a side of Zoe I’d never seen. Confident, outgoing, and in control. I was sure it was because she wanted to help make the program a success, even if it meant stepping out of her comfort zone. I laughed as she got the women to do ridiculous Charlie’s Angels poses.

The nerves that had been clawing away at me started to fade. We were ready, and with Zoe at my side, opening day was basically going to be a slam dunk.

“Ladies, if you’re ready, your chariot awaits.” I pointed to the van that we used when we had to transport a lot of people and they headed over. I looked at Zoe, “Interested in riding shotgun? Good chance to get some action photos of Eli and Dustin with the horses.”

“That’s a great idea. Come on, let’s go.” She grabbed my arm and we followed behind the women who were climbing into the van. When we got to the passenger door, I opened it for her but before she climbed in, I leaned forward and kissed her, much to the delight of the bachelorette party. “What was that for?”

I kissed the tip of her nose, making her blush. “For being you.”

TWENTY-THREE

JOSH

“You must be exhausted,” Zoe said, draining the last of her cider.

We were sitting on the glider on the front porch enjoying drinks as the sun was setting. The heat of the day was finally breaking, just in time to watch the technicolor sky do its thing.

“It’s ridiculous,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “I’ve spent my life sweating my ass off in the hot sun for ten hours a day, and I’m more tired from dealing with six ladies, and I wasn’t out on the trail with them.”

“Well, it was a bachelorette group.” Zoe laughed. “They were alot, though. Loud and silly. I’m sorry I had to come on strong with the girlfriend act, but if I hadn’t, I think that one blonde would’ve kidnapped you.”

I shifted. We still hadn’t defined exactly what we were doing together, and the “G word” was the closest thing to admitting aloud that it was something real. I liked it.

“No, you saved my ass.Literallysaved my ass. Eli told me they kepttaking photos of his. I don’t want my butt showing up on their Instagram feeds.”

“Was it worth it? Dealing with tourists?”

It was so like her to pick up on the fact that I was wary of bringing complete strangers onto the family land. Zoe could read me like no one else.

“Considering the bride already booked her return trip with her husband-to-be, and they tipped Eli two hundred bucks? Yeah, I’d say it was.”

“Wow!”

I took a long draw from my beer bottle. “Yup. If this is a predictor of what’s to come, I’d say we’re in pretty good shape. And I have you to thank for it, Zo.”

Her cheeks colored as she squirmed. “Stop. It was nothing.”

“It waseverything. I can’t thank you enough for suggesting the revenue stream and the new website. It looks amazing and it’s all down to you and your creative eye.”

I reached out and placed my hand on top of Zoe’s, and she threaded her fingers through mine.

“And those new photos you added!” I continued. “I’ve never seen Poplar Springs looking so good. I’m surprised Amy hasn’t hired you yet. She couldn’t stop talking about you at dinner.”

“We discussed it, but she knows that I’m planning on going back to school. I told her I’d share some of the photos I took around town and she was welcome to use them on the town’s website so long as she credits me as the photographer. Then once the dust settles with school, we could talk about her potentially hiring me.”

“That’s great, Zo. I bet you didn’t expect to make any work contacts while you were here.”

She shook her head and nestled in closer to me.

“I had a good time taking those photos and I picked up a couple leads when people saw me with my camera.” She shook her head smiling. “I must have looked so strange stretched out on the ground with my camera.” She squeezed my hand. “I’ve actually had fun since I got back here, minus a few horse-related freak-outs and I have you to thank for helpingmethrough that.”

I chuckled. “Cafferty horse therapy scores another win.”

“It did. Andyoudid. I’m not sure I would have been able to work on my fear of horses if you hadn’t been there. Starting with Agatha was a great idea, but as small as she was, I was still nervous around her. You kept me calm.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and tucked her tighter against my side. “If I had known how bad your fear was, I never would have asked you to go on that first trail ride without talking about it first. I wish you would have said something.”

“I know and I should have, but I kept telling myself that falling off Jude had been an accident. He didn’t intentionally try to throw me, so I had no reason to be so afraid. But my fear of it happening again kept overwhelming the logic, so I took the attitude of faking it with the hope that if I pretended to be confident for long enough, it would eventually become a reality. And it did. Sort of. I mean, not like I ever want to ride Indigo by myself, but at least I’m not wanting to run away in terror anymore, which is a big deal.”

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