Page 2 of Undone

Zoe gestured to her bags. “I’d say I overpacked if I’m only here for the weekend.” She snorted in amusement when she realized I was about to agree with her. “You don’t mind, do you, Josh?”

It was a loaded question and we both knew it. On the face of it, Zoe was simply here because she needed a temporary place to stay, and my sister had offered. But I could have sworn Shannon had told me she would be herenextmonth. Had I gotten it backward, with her coming this weekend andstayingfor a month? I should have known better than to say yes to anything Shannon asked me when I was distracted—sheknewI was only half listening and used it to her advantage. She’d been doing that a lot more lately and I refused to acknowledge that most days, I only half listened to her to begin with. Unless it directly pertained to the current fires I needed to put out around the ranch, I didn’t pay that much attention to anything or anyone.

So apparently, I would be housing my former girlfriend for an entire month. And sure, she was my sister’s best friend and had come at Shannon’s invite—but still. Peel back the layers and we both knew there was some unresolved…stuffbetween us. Not only was I now fuming at my sister for inviting her, I wasn’t happy about the idea of having to see Zoe every day.

Zoe Wilson was part of my past that I had worked hard to move on from, and it didn’t feel good to have it shoved back in my face.

I chose to ignore the subtext as well as the fact that her showing up unexpectedly on what was shaping up to be a crappy day was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t like surprises, especially ones that put my still-adorable ex under the same roof as me. I had enough on my plate to worry about, like the entire future of the damn ranch, and I simmered at Shannon for putting me in this situation.

“Yeah, it’s…it’s fine,” I finally managed to say.

But it wasn’t.

I was so up in my head that I didn’t notice petite Zoe struggling with a duffel bag that looked as big as she was. She tugged it from the back of her Jeep, and it fell to the ground with a thud that finally caught my attention.

“Here, let me get that for you,” I said, hustling over to her.

Zoe gave me a grateful smile. “Thank you. Shannon texted me that she’s doing something horsey and would help me get set up in my room when she was finished, but I figured I might as well get started.”

“Did she tell you which room she’s putting you in?”

“Yeah, she said something about the yellow room?” Zoe pulled an overflowing backpack onto her shoulder with a grunt, staggering as she adjusted to the weight.

The different colored rooms had started with my grandmother. When she’d married my granddad and moved into the family ranch, Pop-Pop had given her some money to decorate the house as she saw fit. I don’t think he’d expected her to use quite so muchcolorin her decorating scheme, but Gran had loved vibrant shades, and most of the budget had gone toward making each bedroom vivid and distinct. We’d all grown up referring to the different rooms by their paint color.The yellow room had once been Gran’s sewing room and some of her earliest quilts were on display in there. The bright sunshiney room was perfect for Zoe.

I nodded as I hefted the duffel bag onto my shoulder. The room also happened to be at the opposite end of the house to me. Good. I didn’t have time for distractions, and that way I could pretend that she wasn’t here. Lord knew I had plenty to keep me busy and keep my mind off of her. In addition to the everyday chores, and the growing list of needed repairs, the time that I spent wrestling with the accounting books, trying to find a way to keep our heads above water meant that I was occupied from sun up until I crashed into bed for the night.

“Well, come on let’s go,” I said, throwing an arm out toward the house. “I’d lead the way, but I’m sure you know where you’re headed.”

Zoe grinned at me as she walked by, that adorable, crinkly nose thing she used to do back in the day, and I ignored the flicker of warmth in my chest. I wasn’t happy that Zoe was here but I suspected I’d have a hard time convincing my heart of that.

TWO

JOSH

After I’d helped Zoe bring in all her things, I’d gone looking for my sister, but couldn’t find her. Her vehicle was still parked out front, but she appeared to be MIA. Returning from the barn, I thought I’d check the house again. I stomped my boots on the old mat on the porch and the screen door slammed hard behind me after I stepped inside. My mood grew increasingly sour with every empty room I passed, when finally…

“I’ve been looking for you,” I fumed at Shannon, sounding more like a parent than a big brother. “Where have you been?”

She froze in the doorway of the kitchen, shoulders up and bracing for a fight. “Um, the barn, until about fifteen minutes ago? Doing myjob?” Probably hiding from me.

Shannon scowled as her hands flew up to pull her long auburn hair into a bun, her unconscious stress move when she was gearing up to argue with me. All three of us Cafferty siblings had our mom’s rich brownish-red hair, along with our dad’s hazel-colored eyes. But where I took after our dad by topping out at six-foot-two, my sisters got their shorter height from our mom. Shannon’s hair twisting happened moreand more since I had stepped up to assume the role of patriarch after we’d lost our parents in a plane crash three years ago.

Our second shared trait was a quickfire temper that matched our hair color. Bickering was second nature to Shannon, our youngest sister, Fiona, and me. Of course, we loved one another intensely, and those familial bonds had only tightened over the years, but strong feelings and short tempers meant that we were just as likely to snap at each other as to hug it out.

“Why didn’t you tell me Zoe was coming today? I had no clue,” I huffed.

“Josh, Ididtell you, you just pick and choose when you listen,” Shannon said, glaring at me with her arms crossed.

“You told me when youknewI wasn’t paying attention—and then didn’t bother to mention it again or give me a single reminder that she was showing up today. The timing is crap. The last thing I need is an outsider hanging around here for the next month. Not with everything going on.”

Shannon scowled at me. “Outsider? Really? Zoe’s spent half her life here. Have you forgotten all the sleepovers we had when we were little?” She took a deep breath as if she were gearing up to yell at me. “When she got into a jam with her housing situation, of course I offered for her to stay here. Why wouldn’t I? We’ve got more than enough room with just the two of us rattling around this big house. And besides, she’s here to help us. She didn’t like the thought of imposing on us for so long rent-free, so I suggested she could pay us back in trade. Our website is a disaster, which you well know, and she’s an amazing coder and graphic designer.”

I tossed my hat down on a chair and paced the far end of the kitchen, the raspy sound of my boots on the tile filling the silence while I tried to think of how to frame what was bothering me about Zoe stayinghere for the next month or more. Having enough space wasn’t an issue—Shannon was right about that. The main house had been too big when there’d been five of us living here. Now? There were times the house seemed to echo with emptiness, which was another thing I didn’t enjoy dwelling on. But that didn’t mean I was open to taking in a temporary lodger; especiallyher. The idea of having Zoe so close set my nerves on edge. I didn’t want her anywhere near me, let alone in my home, in my life, and in my business.

I didn’t want her to see how much the ranch was faltering under my stewardship. Part of me knew that I wasn’t really to blame for the fact that so much of our infrastructure and equipment had gotten worn down and outdated right when we had a dropping off of clients that made it harder to pay for repairs and replacements, but no amount of logic could change how I felt. I’d inherited this place with the expectation that I would be able to keep it going, and I was failing. My life had become a series of struggles, and the last thing I wanted was Zoe, of all people, finding out how far I’d fallen. I bit back an angry comment. It was bad enough that I was letting down my family in my struggles to keep the ranch afloat. Was it really necessary to invite my ex to come watch me fail? Was there any way I could talk Shannon out of that part of it? Let Zoe stay at the ranch, if need be, but keep her away from the website and out of the ranch’s business?

“A new website isn’t going to fix what’s broken around here, Shannon. We both know how much Poplar Springs has changed in the past ten years. Back when we were kids, there was a waiting list for riding and roping lessons. Now we can barely fill a class. Not to mention the rising costs of the breeding side of the business. There’s more competition than ever, and you’re running to keep up.”

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