Page 39 of Unbroken

Fiona and I exchanged a tense glance. She must have gotten the message because she started making her excuses.

“Aw, sorry, monkey, my sister just got here, and she made me promise to do the ring toss with her. Next time, okay?”

Patrick pouted harder and Fiona tapped her cheek as if she were thinking hard. “How about if I try to win you something? What do you think? Do I have what it takes to beat my sister?” She flexed her arms one at a time in a muscleman pose and Patrick giggled and nodded his head.

“We’ll talk later,” I said to Fiona, starting to walk away.

She tilted her head toward the gossips, then shook it gently, reminding me that we were on stage.

“Bye, hon,” Fiona said, jogging to me, then giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

It was the kind of kiss you’d give a distant aunt, but it still made me shiver down to my boots. Fiona was committed to her role as my girlfriend, there was no doubt about that.

“Later … babe.”

I realized as I walked away that “later” was speeding toward us faster than I could handle.

TWENTY-SIX

FIONA

Ilooked at my phone. It was close to six on Sunday night, and I’d need to have an answer to Edge the following morning. I was sitting on my bed with my fingers hovering over the laptop, trying to figure out why I was having such a tough time composing my answer.

At first the decision to go back to Denver had seemed so easy, so obvious. My career had been everything to me. Now that this great opportunity had fallen into my lap, of course I was going to go back. It was exactly where I wanted to be. But then the rhythms of ranch life had started to lull me again and remind me how much I enjoyed the slower pace. How much I loved being back with my siblings on the land that had been in our family for generations.

And then there was Eli too.

Being around him had shifted from frustrating to enjoyable then to … well, desirable. Thatkiss. But the way he’d acted at the fundraiser was like a switch had flipped. I’d gone to the event thinking that it was the perfect opportunity to show the town that he was involved in a hot and heavy romance, but every time I’d tried to act like a real girlfriend, he backed away. He almost seemed embarrassed by me.

I wasn’t about to let the tiny spark that had flared up between us for an instant on that fateful rainy day derail my future. So why couldn’t I commit to going back to Denver? Why hadn’t I emailed them back immediately, thanking my lucky stars that someone wanted me?

The sound of loud cackling drifted down the hallway to my bedroom. Shannon was hanging out with her best friend, Zoe, sharing wine and laughs. Maybe a glass or six with them would help me make up my mind?

I walked into the kitchen as Shannon threw her head back and roared while Zoe held her hand over her mouth and giggled. The sound of their fun brought me back to when I used to idolize the two of them. The three-year age gap between us was just enough to make them seem unattainably cool to me when I was younger, and I’d always looked up to the horse girl and the goth girl who were besties. I was happy we’d all grown into a mutual friendship but I still sometimes felt as if I didn’t quite fit. Maybe it was because they were so happy and settled here while I kept wondering, what if?

“What’s so funny in here?”

Shannon recovered. “Zoe’s just telling me funny stories about Josh. He might be a tough guy around us, but holy crap, he’s a big lovesick doofus around her,” she said, pointing at Zoe. She spent so much time at the ranch that sometimes it felt like she still lived here. “Grab a glass and join us.”

“Yeah, and I’m trying to get her to ask that cute new vet out, but she says she’s too busy to date,” Zoe said. “Help me convince her.”

“Good luck with that,” I snorted as I poured my wine and sat down at the kitchen table. “She’s married to her job.”

“Oh, look who’s talking,” Shannon said. “You could never find the time to visit us back here in Hicksville once you moved to the big city.”

I figured there was no better time to bring it up.

“Speaking of …” I said, then took a long sip of wine.

“Oh no,” Shannon said. “Big announcement, incoming.”

“Stop it, I’m being serious. I could actually use both of your help deciding something. I know I told Josh that I was going to be here for the whole season, but something just dropped into my lap and it’s an offer that’s too good to refuse.”

Both Shannon and Zoe stared at me, waiting for me to go on.

“My old company’s main competitor sent me an email out of the blue making me an offer. They want to hire me—same type of position and salary that I had before, but with great benies including a stellar bonus program and faster potential to move up the ladder. They said my screwup showed creativity, and it didn’t matter that it hadn’t panned out the way I’d hoped. They really liked my initiative.”

“You know, you never told us what happened,” Shannon said in an accusatory voice.

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