Page 3 of Unbroken

I hoped that making Patrick’s “recuperation” from the tummy troubles boring might help to put an end to them.

Patrick pouted and Fiona jumped up from the bed.

“Wait, I have an idea. We have a stack of horse books we use for the kids in our riding program. They’re really cool. Want to look at them?”

“Sure!” Patrick brightened.

Fiona held up a finger, then ran out of the room. I smiled when I realized that she still moved at warp speed. Everything about Fiona was fast and cheerful. It was as if we were directly opposite one another on the personality chart. I was still in awe that she’d taken over getting Patrick ready to rest so seamlessly. If I had tried to do it on my own, it would’ve been a test of wills, but Fiona made taking a nap seem like recess.

“Here we go!” she chirped as she came back in the room carrying a foot-high stack of picture books. “I hope you like horses.”

“Oh, he does,” I said.

“Well, that makes three of us,” Fiona said, beaming at Patrick. “Speaking of, I probably should find my brother and sister and let them know I’m back and ready to get to work. Take it easy, little guy.”

She gave him a high five and walked out of the room. I followed herout and caught her by the arm. “I, uh, just wanted to say thank you for that. For helping me.”

She shrugged. “No problem, I love kids. You’ve got a good one.” She paused as a twinkle sparked in her eyes. “He must get it from his momma.”

TWO

FIONA

“Let’s talk about it,” Shannon said, clutching her coffee cup and staring at me across the table. It was the morning after my arrival, and my siblings and I were already falling back into our old roles. Shannon doing double duty as bossy big sisterandsubstitute mother? Check. “You’ve been so quiet about what happened in Denver. I want to know the details. Will you tell me?”

I stared at her, marveling at the fact that it was barely sunup and Shannon looked like she’d been awake for hours. My sister had an open, easy beauty that had always made me jealous when we were younger. We both had the wide-set hazel eyes flecked with green, and thick auburn hair, but Shannon had an angular face with actual cheekbones. People always swore we looked similar enough to pass for twins despite the years between us, but I considered Shannon to be the true beauty of the family—inside and out.

“Well?”

What could I say? I certainly wasn’t eager to spill my guts just because my sister asked. At least not while the story still stung. I shoved more cereal in my mouth and stared at her, chewing loudly.

“I take it that’s a ‘no,’” Shannon said with a laugh. “Fine, maybe someday you’ll talk about it.”

“Talk about what, getting canned?” Josh asked, breezing into the kitchen and grabbing a banana.

I turned to glare at my brother. “Wow, thanks.”

He froze, a perplexed look on his face. “What? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

I stared into the remaining milk in my bowl. “Yeah … it is.”

Josh joined us, munching on the banana. “So, spill. Tell us what went wrong.”

“You know what?” I said, drawing myself up straighter. “I’d rather focus on my role at the ranch instead. How have things been going with the riding school since Zoe made all of those website improvements?”

Josh smiled reflexively at the mention of his fiancée. “Really great. We’re back to booking full classes for all the different age groups, and we currently have a waitlist. And the trail riding program she suggested we reactivate has taken off in a big way.”

“Fantastic,” I exclaimed. “That means I’ll be busy teaching.”

I hadn’t worked at Lost Valley Ranch since before our parents died, but the lifestyle was a part of my DNA. It didn’t matter that I’d left my cowboy boots in the back of my closet before moving to Denver. It wasn’t as if I’d left because I didn’t love my home. On the contrary, I’d moved because of school—and then later, it hurt too much to be here without Mom and Dad at the helm. Not that my brother hadn’t worked his ass off to keep their legacy going, but that washisway of dealing with his grief. Not mine. Staying away from the ranch had been what I’d needed after losing our parents in that horrible plane crash when I was twenty-three, because deep down I knew if I surrendered to the grief I felt, I’d likely drown in it.

It was entirely intentional that there was nothing about my life in Denver that reminded me of the ranch … or my parents. But now it was that Denver life that I wanted to leave completely in the rearview mirror so I could try to forget the mess I’d left behind. The thought of filling my days with happy young students eager to learn how to ride made me feel better about being back.Temporarily, I reminded myself. This was a brief but necessary pause in my career plans. And if I stayed busy, I wouldn’t have a chance to dwell on everything that happened at my old job in the city.

“Now, hold on a second. We need to talk about this,” Josh said, morphing into the boss man before my eyes. “You’re not going to be giving lessons, Fi. I need you working on the trail riding program. It’s brand new and that’s where we need to focus our energies in order to grow it. I’ve got too much on my plate to be fully hands-on with running it myself.”

My eyes went wide with surprise. Thanks to our recent sisterly intervention when he’d nearly let his focus on the ranch cost him the best relationship of his life, Josh was now working hard on delegating some of the ranch responsibilities. I was glad to see that he really was committed to no longer shouldering the responsibility for Lost Valley alone, but I never imagined he’d tap me to take over his new baby.

“Wow, Josh! I’m honored. I’d love to head it up.”

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