Page 35 of Undone

“Because I know we’re prepared,” Eli said. “We’ve gone over everything a million times. We’ve got the right horses, a solid crowd signed up, and a perfect day. This program is going to be a hit.”

“Yep, okay, you’re right.” I nodded. “We had a waiting list. Did I tell you that?”

“No way.” Eli’s eyebrows shot up. “Never heard of that happening on the first day. Usually it takes a while to build a following.”

“It’s Zoe and her search engine algorithm stuff. She tried to explain the specifics to me, but basically the way she listed the updated site means that it pops up near the top of search engine results for a bunch of different search terms. She said we’re already ranking pretty high when people search for Colorado trail rides. She told me that if the trending keeps up, we’ll soon be the first ranch to come up whenpeople search, and we haven’t even started advertising.” Zoe and Amy had talked about adding Lost Valley Ranch’s riding program to the town’s website, along with the other local businesses. Zoe said it would be easy enough for them to set up advertising. She was surprised they weren’t already doing it to generate some revenue for the town. I doubted our mayor knew much about it, but from the way Amy was responding, it was already on her list. Probably along with hiring Zoe to redo the town’s website.

“So that means we’re going to have a busy summer,” Eli said. “Buckle up.”

I hoped so, otherwise I’d just wasted time and money the ranch didn’t have. Part of me was convinced it was the best decision I’d ever made, and the other part worried that I was sullying the ranch’s legacy by welcoming strangers to our land. Much like loans, my father had never liked tourists, preferring to focus his riding program on catering to the community where we lived. He always believed that the support of Poplar Springs locals would carry Lost Valley, but as times changed, so did the community’s support. Sure, we had our regular riders, the families that considered horseback riding lessons with the Cafferty family a rite of passage, but times were changing faster than Lost Valley could manage. We needed to reach out beyond the town’s border to get the support we needed to thrive. Especially since Shannon’s breeding program was currently struggling with the need for a new stallion we couldn’t really afford.

The women in the Cafferty family were the ones who always ran the breeding program. As much as the men around here enjoyed talking down to my sister, it had been much worse for our mom. There were a few instances where Sylvie Cafferty threatened to castrate some asshole who thought it was a good idea to question her qualifications. She’d spooked one enough that he’d gone running to our dad, Frank, only to be laughed out of the barn.

One thing at a time. Shannon was doing okay, for the moment. Once we got the new program set up and money coming in, we could tackle our other revenue streams, and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have to dip into the loan money from the bank.

Zoe was the reason for the change in more ways than one. Obviously, she was the brainchild and hands-on reason why we’d restarted the trail riding program in the first place, but she was also a reminder that people passing through could change things for the better. She was sort of a tourist herself, a bright comet lighting up everything in her path, then continuing on her way.

I frowned. Every time I thought about her leaving, I would push it aside. I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to say goodbye and I certainly didn’t want to think about it now. Especially not on a day where I needed to focus. Eli and Dustin were in charge of trailering the horses to the trail head while I was responsible for checking in the group and driving them to the meeting spot. As much as I wanted to lead the ride myself, I’d hired Eli for a reason. I needed to let go and trust him.

“I’ve got this, boss,” Eli said, as if he’d read my thoughts. “It ain’t my first rodeo.”

I laughed. “Listen, there will be no rodeoing of any sort today. Keep it nice and easy for these folks. They’re all competent riders, but I don’t want you taking any risks on our first trip, you got that? Stay on the trail and don’t listen when they beg you to head for the river to take a selfie.”

Eli saluted me. “Got it. No deviations.”

“Are we all set with the trailers?”

“Yup, we’ve got everything good to go, from the horses to the tack to the trailers. All we need now are the riders.”

I froze as a wave of cold passed through me. “Hold on. What if they don’t show?”

“Wouldn’t worry about that…” Eli pointed toward the end of the long driveway as two cars pulled in. “We’re on. I’m going to start loading and head out to the trail. See you there.”

I swallowed my nerves as Eli trotted off to find Dustin.

I’d scheduled a small group, six women who were in town for a bachelorette party, to make sure we could anticipate and handle any issues. The plan was to grow the program to large group rides, and while I had the horses, I didn’t have the people power for it yet. But if things continued the way they’d kicked off, it wouldn’t take long before I’d need to find more help. I grabbed my tablet, scrolled to the check-in section Zoe had designed for me, and reminded myself to smile.

The group of women spilled out of the cars, laughing and chattering. One of them spotted me and let out a wolf whistle, causing the rest of them to cackle. I realized that no matter how experienced we were, Eli was going to have his hands full, since he was single and looked like someone off the cover of a romance novel. One of the women was wearing a tiara, and the others were in penis-themed headbands.

“Hi ladies, welcome to Lost Valley,” I said as I strode to them. “Are you ready to ride?”

The group burst out into naughty laughter.

“Speaking of riding, can we add getting lost withyouto our package?” a tall brunette asked, a hungry look in her eyes. “Your pictures on the website doesn’t do you justice, Mr. Lost Valley!”

I could feel the flush creeping up from my neck. While I’d been encouraging Zoe to get comfortable around Indigo, she’d managed to take a few pics of me that she’d added to the website and Instagram, in addition to the one she’d chosen as my profile pic. Ever since wewent live, I’d been getting a lot of comments, most of which were good-natured teasing. “I’m just checking you in today. My right-hand man, Eli, will be leading you on the trail.”

“Awww,” they cried out in unison.

“Is he as cute as you?” a woman in a veil asked.

“Are we talking about Eli?” Zoe asked as she came bounding out of the house with her camera in hand. “Because he’salmostas cute as my Josh.”

The group looked abashed seeing her, but Zoe played it off as she stood next to me.

“What’s up?’ I asked her in a low voice. “I was just about to get their paperwork.”

“I thought it would be good to get some photos for social media,” she replied, then turned toward the women. “Ladies, how do we feel about Instagram? We need some photos of gorgeous women for our account.”

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