Page 65 of Undone

Shannon’s eyes went wide. “Hold up, you’releaving?”

“Well, yeah,” I replied, trying to hide the worry in my voice at Shannon’s shift in attitude. “I thought you said that you can step up and handle stuff now and then?”

“Of course I can.” She scowled. “But that’s not what I mean. I, uh…I have a mare about to foal and I might need to…”

“I thought you said she wasn’t due for a week? Plus I know you have Doc Lett on speed dial, and she’s just the other side of town. Shannon, I’ll only be gone for a night. I’ve got everything set up around here, so it’s basically on autopilot for the rest of the day. All you have to do is end-of-day stuff. Chores. It’s easy. Mitch is working late, and both Dustin and Eli will be on call.”

“Yeah, but what if that irrigation sprinkler goes on the fritz again? We can’t afford to lose the water?—”

“I’ll link you in on the control panel on the app so you can monitor everything and shut if off remotely if necessary. Simple.”

Shannon pursed her lips. “Ummm…oh, wait a sec, I just realized that tomorrow is the fifteenth. Don’t you have quarterly taxes due? Have you submitted yet?”

I puffed up my chest. “Sent ’em in early. I’m a changed man, Shannon. You and Fiona really got to me the other night. Made a lot of sense. My priorities have shifted. Now I know that with your help I can keep the ranch afloatandhave my girl. Nothing’s going to stop me, so if you don’t mind, I need to hit confirm and book my ticket. I’m leaving at six o’clock tonight.” I raised my hand in the air and made a dramatic arc with my pointer finger down toward the keyboard.

“Wait! Don’t buy the ticket!” Shannon yelled, running toward me, waving her hands frantically. She slid onto the bench across from me and slammed the laptop closed.

“Hey! Why did you do that?” I tried to pull the laptop away from her, but she held fast.

“Okay, I better come clean. I’ve been texting with Zoe.”

My eyes went wide as hope coursed through my body. Shannon was always in touch with Zoe, but this felt different. “What about?”

She laughed. “What do you think?”

“And? Shannon, don’t leave me hanging here.”

Her face settled into a serious expression. “Big stuff, actually.” She took a deep breath. “Zoe opted out of the grad school program in New York. She turned them down.”

Hope started fizzing in my veins, but I needed more information before I could get truly excited. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would she do that?”

Shannon frowned at me. “You really are thick-skulled, huh? She did it foryou. In fact, she’s on her way back now. She said you two need to talk.”

A grin spread across my face. “Zo’s coming home? Now?”

She nodded. “Yeah, and you better make it worth her while, Josh. You know how in movies there’s always this big, grand gesture? Like running through the airport to stop someone from boarding or a frantic taxi chase?Thisis her grand gesture, and it’s pretty freaking huge. But you need to step up too and prove to her that you’re doing something equally big to show how much you care for her. I get that flying out there to see her was your plan, but now you need to come up with something different. So, what else ya got?”

I leaned back and crossed my arms. “Well, I had an idea, but it was something I was going to do further down the road, once everything was more solid with her. But if you’re telling me I need a grand gesture now, then I think it’ll work just fine.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go get it done.”

I was glad I’d showered and gotten cleaned up before running my important errand. I still had a few things to do before Zoe got home, like picking a bouquet of wildflowers and writing out the message in the card I’d bought for her. I parked my truck and hopped out, plotting which task to do next. Flowers. Yes, I needed to grab my switchblade to cut through the sunflower’s thick stalks. I jogged toward the house, trying to remember where I’d left it, so lost in my planning that I didn’t see the figure moving toward me.

“Josh,” the voice said.

Afamiliarvoice.

“Zoe!”

I spun around and my jaw dropped in shock when I spotted her coming up the lane.

It was Zoe on horseback, beaming at me and sitting high and proud in the saddle. She was glowing in the sunlight, and I wondered how it was possible that she was even more beautiful than when she’d left the ranch. I could tell she was clutching the reins a little too tightly, but she looked more confident sitting on Sugar than I ever could’ve imagined.

“Zo! You’re back. Andriding!”

I expected her to tap her heels against Sugar’s sides to pick up the pace to get to me quicker, but then I remembered that this was Zoe. She wasn’t going to push Sugar out of her slow-as-molasses walk.

She laughed. “I am! Look at me.” She lifted her arms and then quickly dropped them, one hand reaching for the saddle horn.

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