Page 6 of Undone

And then I was leaving.

“Okay, then. We’re square, and I can get to work. If it’s okay I’m going to set up in the kitchen, that way I can grab you guys as I need you.”

“Of course, grab away,” Josh said, then his expression shifted as he realized how it probably sounded.

We both chuckled and Josh got up from the swing slowly, as if walking away from me was the last thing he wanted to do.

FOUR

ZOE

Iwanted to make a good impression on Josh and Shannon, but especially Josh, so I got right to work. Shannon had given me all the deets for their webhost, and I started tackling sifting through the backend and checking the different page stats and traffic details. I was impressed with the tenacity of some of the website users who didn’t exit out as soon as they reached a bad link. The fact that they kept going had to mean something, right?

Based on their website, Lost Valley Ranch had two revenue streams: Shannon’s breeding program, which was mostly light horses with some warmbloods; and Josh’s riding lessons, which seemed to use mostly warmbloods. Google took me down a rabbit hole explaining what the different breeds were best suited for, and I wondered why Shannon didn’t market to rodeo competitors. They seemed like they could be a good market, with a high rate of demand. While horses used in competitions were already fully matured, they had to come from somewhere. But then again, maybe she already did and I just wasn’t aware of it. It wasn’t as if we actively talked about horses when we chatted.Crap, did that make me a bad friend?Thinkingback over some of our calls, I groaned. Mostly, I’d griped about what was wrong in my life.Definitely a bad friend.

I needed to fix that starting now.

“Reddit, don’t steer me wrong,” I said aloud before dropping some random queries into the search bar. What came back was far more interesting. Lost Valley had fans out there. Emphasis onhad. Once upon a time Josh offered trail rides that were very popular. I researched potential competitors and found a lot of them here in Colorado but the more corporate-looking ones had poor reviews and the closest one appeared to have shut down for good more than a year ago. I would be willing to bet that with the right advertising, tourists would happily make the drive to spend some time on the mountain trails around here. I thought about some of the corporate websites I’d worked on where they referenced teambuilding activities as part of their corporate culture. Trail rides would definitely be a good fit for some.

I grinned because this option was sounding more and more promising as a new—or at least, renewed—revenue stream for the ranch. If we could regenerate that interest, then it could prove quite popular and profitable.

Knowing that it could change everything for Lost Valley. I dashed to his office, laptop in hand, ready to show Josh, but froze just outside the door when I heard someone say my name.

“Yeah, Zoe’s Shannon’s best friend and like a sister to me,” Josh said in a jovial tone.

My shoulders drooped. It should have been a sweet thing to hear, especially for someone like me, who rarely felt like she belonged anywhere. But it wasn’t what I wanted to hear from Josh, especially considering the way he’d made me feel when he shook my hand. Themoment had felt…importantto me, but now it was clear I was the only one feeling the old spark.

I heard footsteps heading out of his office, and I made a beeline back to the kitchen, ducking in just as the ranch hand that had been talking with Josh walked by. I set my laptop back down on the table and tried to focus and get back into work mode, but the word “sister” kept echoing through my head.

I didn’t come here to rekindle an old romance with my ex. I wasn’t living in some cheesy made-for-TV movie where my ex would be so overwhelmed just at the sight of me returning to his life that he’d sweep me off my feet and kiss me senseless.Ooof. In your dreams and your dreams only, Zoe Wilson.

“Hey!”

I was so up in my thoughts that I hadn’t heard Josh stroll into the kitchen and I jumped, barely managing to keep from squealing in fright.

“I need a sandwich. Want one?”

I shook my head and tried to ignore the way his bicep bulged as he held onto the fridge handle. “No, but I need to talk to you about something. I’ve been looking over your web traffic, and it looks like the most hits is for a page about trail rides that you did a few years back. I’m thinking this indicates that there’s still a lot of interest. Steady, persistent interest, even without you offering any trail rides recently. What do you think about restarting the program? You’ve already got all the necessary resources like horses and the land itself, and it looks to me like the market is primed with tourists who don’t have a lot of local trail riding options. I was thinking you could launch a program early next year?”

Josh came over to stand behind me, resting his hand on the back of my chair and reading over my shoulder the info I’d compiled. I forcedmyself not to react to having him basically on top of me and I refused to acknowledge how much I wanted to lean back so his fingers brushed across my back. We were just two people working together, and I totally hadn’t noticed that he smelled amazing. Nope, hadn’t noticed that at all.

“Wow,” he said, “That was something my dad and I had started. After my parents’ accident, I let it go because I had so much else going on. I had no idea the interest was still that high. But hell, if that’s what people want, I’m more than happy to give it to them, again.” He walked back over to the counter and finished making his sandwich. He took a big bite and closed his eyes while he chewed, so I watched the thoughts flittering across his face. “Why wait? We can launch when the season kicks off next month.”

“Hold on.” My victory smile turned to shock. “That’s a lot of work in a short time, for both of us.”

“We can do it,” Josh said, his enthusiasm making him talk with his mouth full. “And I just had thebestidea. You can take the photos to help promote it! You still have your camera, right? Your photos for the yearbook were incredible; you’ve always had a great eye.”

Josh kept talking, his excitement growing, and I swallowed my initial reaction. Not only would promoting the new program be extra work, taking the photos for it would force me to get closer to the horses than I’d like. But Josh’s enthusiasm was hard to resist, and I’d promised to do everything I could to help the Caffertys rebuild their business through the website.

“Sure, okay.” I swallowed hard. “I’ll, uh, I’ll do my best.”

“Yes! We’re still a great team, huh?”

I gave him a halfhearted smile in response, knowing it was all we’d ever be to one another.

Josh inhaled the rest of his sandwich while standing by the sink then reached for an apple. All the while, I pretended to ignore him.

“I’ve got chores to finish up but if you need anything, come find me,” he said. He set the apple down next to my laptop, neatly cut up exactly the way I like it.

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