Page 1 of Undone

ONE

JOSH

Ordinarily, watching the sunrise over the Poplar mountains gave me a sense of calmness. I’d stare out over that stunning vista, filled with the knowledge that there was great beauty in the world and sometimes, we just needed to stop and look.

Today was not that day. In fact, it hadn’t been that day for more days than I cared to count.

“Well, we gotta make do, simple as that,” I said to Dustin Whitlock, my foreman. “No way we can replace it with all of the upgrades we need to do around here, so repair is the name of the game.”

We were headed back from our ride out to the far pasture to check on the stranded and broken-down tractor, the latest in a series of unexpected expenses that were giving me nonstop headaches. Both my granddad and dad had taught me that you didn’t throw anything away until you’d gotten all of its use out of it, which meant we probably had sufficient parts to fix the tractor. Again.

“I’ll do my best,” Dustin responded with a nod. “Might need to pick up a few things from Old Man Martin’s.”

“That’s fine. Just put it on the ranch account.” Owen Martin had run the local feed and equipment store since he’d taken it over from his father almost fifty years ago. He’d always been a good friend to my family—all the families around here, really—and allowed us to purchase items under his version of a “buy now, pay later” plan when times were tough.

We both turned at the sound of tires crunching up the long dirt driveway that led to Lost Valley Ranch’s main house.

“Expecting someone, boss?” Dustin asked.

“Nope.”

I frowned and rubbed my hand down the coppery scruff along my jawline. We weren’t due any visitors that I knew of, and I wasn’t in the mood to entertain whoever was zipping closer, a little too fast for my liking. I spotted someone in sunglasses singing along to the radio. A very pretty, veryfamiliarsomeone, unmistakable even in the two point five seconds I had to take her in as she sped by.

“Damn it.”

Dustin glanced at me. “Something wrong?”

“Maybe.Probably,” I muttered. “C’mon, we need to put these horses up.”

We urged them into gallops and followed behind the cloud of kicked up dust to the driveway in front of the house.

“You mind taking care of Indigo for me?” I asked Dustin as he slid off his horse. “I need to deal with…that.”

We both glanced over at the Jeep.

“Well, huh,” Dustin said as he leaned over and took the reins from me. “I guess you do.”

The appreciation in Dustin’s voice was obvious, and I couldn’t blame him. The petite, dark-haired woman grabbing bags from the back of the Jeep was immediately appealing even at a distance. Her jeans fit her just right, and every time she leaned forward, we were granted a view of her ample assets down the front of her white T-shirt.

I walked over and took advantage of the fact that she was completely oblivious to my presence to check her out from head to toe. Yup, she was as gorgeous as I remembered. Her dark brown hair was shorter now, but she still kept it tucked behind her ears the way she used to. I remembered her saying she didn’t like the way it got in her eyes when she was trying to work. And for someone who spent most of her time glued to a computer, she sure had a phenomenal body.

The question was,whywas Zoe Wilson here now?

“Hey, Zo,” I called to her, reverting to my old nickname for her instinctively.

She jumped, letting out a little shriek. Something else that hadn’t changed about my old girlfriend; she got so in her head that she tuned out the world around her.

“Josh! You scared me.” She placed a hand on her chest and fluttered her fingers as if it would lower her elevated heart rate. “Hi.”

When she met my gaze, I was once again knocked sideways by how striking she was. Her skin was still porcelain pale, probably because she was part-vampire, part-night owl. Even though I usually preferred longer hair on women, Zoe’s shorter cut suited her, and made her sharp cheekbones even more prominent. I refrained from letting my gaze drift downward because I wanted to be a gentleman, plus I’d already clocked the curves.

It had been ages since we’d seen each other, and I shouldn’t have felt the little bubble of excitement when she said my name, but Zoe had always had that effect on me.

“I wasn’t expecting you until next month,” I said, trying not to sound irritated even though I was, a little. I pushed my hat farther back on my head and leaned up against the side of her black Jeep.

“No, that’s when I’m supposed to leave,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone, turning back to continue unloading her bags. “Shannon said it was fine for me to stay here for the next month to clear my head and help you guys update the ranch’s website. Or maybe a bit longer depending on… well, everything.”

“A monthorlonger? I thought you were only supposed to be here for a weekend?”

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