Page 81 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“You have animals?”

And the shocks just keep coming, JD thought, looking at his brother.Welcome to my crazy world at the moment, brother.

After calling in to reschedule his afternoon appointments, JD made Henry change into some of his clothes. They then spent the day working in the barn and around the property. By the time he’d made them a meal, they’d filled in the gaps of the years they’d missed. It was as he drifted off to sleep that he realized he had achieved what Robyn Duke had wanted. He’d reconnected with his brother. They still had a long way to go, and there was this business with his father to deal with, but it was a start.

If only he could work out what to do about Zoe, and he’d be on his way to regaining control of his life.

Chapter23

“I should be able to have the money selling these brings in, don’t you think, Aunty Zoe?”

Zoe was braiding bracelets for her niece to sell at the school to raise money for the swimming pool repairs.

“That’s how this thing called fundraising works, kiddo. The school needs the money, and you don’t. Yes, people in this town could fund it outright, but this brings a community together,” Zoe said.

Ally had an attitude Zoe would have loved at her age. Small, on the skinny side, she wore whatever she wanted. Today was a pair of tangerine shorts with weird faces all over them and a pink T-shirt.

“We dance together, play together. Adults work together. How much more together do we need to be?”

“But imagine when people swim in that pool and can feel like they own a part of it because they helped fund the repairs,” Zoe said, thinking that this parenting stuff wasn’t easy. Brody had her sympathies.

Zoe hadn’t seen JD in a week, since the hammock lovemaking night. She’d heard about him though. How he and Henry had talked in Circle Left, and that his brother had stayed at his house. Zoe was glad that the brothers had reconnected.

“Are you going to buy Mrs. C’s shop, Aunt Zoe?”

“Do you think I should?”

Ally nodded. “Yes, and then you can stay here with us.”

Even with this business of JD to consider, Zoe had to admit she enjoyed working in Petticoat and being back with her family. Plans for the business and taking it online had been forming in her head. It excited her, and she’d not felt that since leaving Chicago.

“Hi, Nana,” Ally said as Robyn Duke appeared.

“Zoe, can you and Ally take a box of supplies out to JD? They were dropped at the library.”

“Supplies for what?”

Her mom and Ally stared at her like she had something on her nose.

“What?”

“JD takes in any animals that need a home. You must have seen the dogs and Velma the duck when you went to Sawyer and Birdie’s engagement party?” her mother said.

“Everyone in town knows about the animals and sends supplies to help JD feed them. Not that he needs their help because he’s rich, but it makes everyone feel better that they’re helping,” Ally added.

“Well, that’s pretty awesome,” Zoe said. This just reinforced what she realized. JD Hopper was a good guy. It had been much easier when she’d thought he wasn’t. Lusting after an asshole was easier than lusting after a good guy.

“Vi Miller helps him out with them,” Ally said.

She remembered the rat he’d buried and how she was sure he’d said a few words standing over his grave.

“I’m heading to work,” her mother said. “You take this with Ally and pick up Ted and Sylvie. They love it there. Put on your cardigan, Ally. It’s cool this morning.”

Zoe didn’t want to go but knew if she protested, her mother would demand a reason why. She’d just drop the supplies and leave. No big deal. They could be civil. They were both adults, and if she stayed in Lyntacky, they would see each other constantly, and maybe that would make it easier?

We weren’t wrong about what we felt that night, were we?He’d said those words to her the last time they’d made love. Zoe had tried to work through how she’d tell her brothers if JD wanted to date… did he want to date? Zoe thought maybe he would if she did.

Would Sawyer forgive them? She couldn’t live her life as her brothers wanted, and yet going against them would be hard.

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