Page 46 of Undone

“Nope, not anymore,” Fiona answered. “At this point, we’re all taking care of each other. Caffertys for life.”

I chuckled at her bringing up our childhood chant, the one we’d shout before heading off into the woods for adventures.

“Caffertys for life,” I repeated back to her, raising a fist in the air.

“I miss you,” she said. “And Shannon. You guys doing okay, Zoe stuff aside?”

I sighed. “Yeah, a little better now that we launched the trail riding program.” I paused. “No, it’s actually a lot better, thanks to the program. But you know how it goes. Every day there’s a new fire or twelve that I have to put out. It’s exhausting.”

“Yeah,” Fiona agreed. “But you’re doing an amazing job keeping the family legacy alive. I might not say it out loud enough, but I feel it in my heart. Thank you for taking it on.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I responded, focusing way too hard on a piece of mud embedded in Indigo’s coat. I cleared my throat. “Anyway! You need to get your ass back here for a visit, you hear me?”

“I’m not setting foot back at Lost Valley until Eli’s gone. No way.”

I smiled. “We’ll see about that.”

I finished up and left Indigo in his stall with some tasty oat treats, then did a walk through, checking on the other horses. Goliath gave me a grumpy look as I passed his stall where he was on limited activity. I lifted the latch on the gate to say hello and make sure he was okay. Given his age, I’d been leery about treating his injury myself. Thankfully, I’d caught the doc when I called, and Julia Letts had come right over to examine the injured Shire.

“How are you doing, old man? Hanging in there?” Goliath tilted his head as if he understood what I said. I stroked my hand down his neck and flank. “I know you’re strong and built for battle, but you have to be careful around anything sharp.” Thankfully, the laceration wasn’t jagged and he hadn’t required stitches, but to be safe, the doc had cleaned and patched him up. Before leaving, she gave us instructions to watch for any onset of cellulitis, which could be disastrous for any horse, but harder for a horse of Goliath’s size.

When Goliath settled down, I headed back to the house. It wasn’t that late and I wondered if Zoe might still be up. I hadn’t seen her much over the last few days. She’d been working with that realtor and two days ago, she’d gone into town to take those headshots for Mr. Bridger at the bank. She was supposed to meet with him today to discuss any changes and pick up her check. I could see her Jeep parked out front and I had a slight spring in my step at the thought of spending some time with her.

Until I walked inside.

I heard the music and laughter before I opened the back door. In the kitchen I found Zoe and Shannon dancing around with— “What do you have smeared all over your face and hair?”

They both turned, surprised to see me and I stared at them in confusion. “You look like you fell in a vat of yogurt. What are you doing?”

Both women’s faces were covered in a thick, white substance. Shannon’s hair was pulled up into a high bun and both of them had smeared the same stuff into their hair. I remembered some comedy I’d seen from the nineties with Robin Williams and I couldn’t help it—I started to laugh and laugh.

They both frowned at me, which only made me laugh harder. Shannon put her hands on her hips while Zoe crossed her arms and they glared at me, which didn’t help.

“I’ll have you know, Joshua Cafferty, that we’re giving ourselves home beauty treatments,” my sister said.

“With what?” I must be overly tired because watching them fumble through trying to explain whatever they were doing just got funnier and funnier.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “It’s plain yogurt mixed with honey. It’s supposed to make our skin soft and our hair more manageable.”

“Yeah, Josh, you don’t want us to get wrinkles and look old before we hit thirty, do you?” Shannon added and I snorted.

Finally, I held my hands up as I got my amusement mostly under control. “Neither of you have wrinkles or anything wrong with your hair. If you ask me, it’s a complete waste of food.”

That set Shannon off and I could see her gearing up to argue with me. Given that she looked like a melting snowman, I didn’t think I had it in me to listen to her without laughing. But instead, she picked up the bowl, which looked like it had more of that yogurt stuff in it.

“Maybe you should try some, big brother. Might do that sunblasted face of yours some good.” The way Shannon was looking at me, it came across more like a threat than an offer. Thinking the best solution was a hasty retreat, I backed up toward the hall, intending to getto my office and shut the door before any of that stuff touched my skin.

“Nope. I’m good. I’ll leave you…uh…ladies to your evening.” Then I managed as dignified a scuttle to the safety of my office as I could.

THIRTY

JOSH

“This show gets me all stressed out,” Zoe said, shuddering as she tucked her feet beneath her on the couch. “Too much violence.”

I leaned toward her and held out the remote. “Here. We can watch whatever you want. I’m not into these motorcycle gangsters either.”

She smiled at me as she took the remote. “I can watch anything?”

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