31. Zoe
THIRTY-ONE
ZOE
“ I f I never see another cow again, it’ll be too soon,” I said to myself as I rearranged the photos on the website for the third time.
Andrew Bridger—he said to call him Drew—had been so happy with the headshots I’d taken for his bank staff that he’d talked me up to the president of the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association, and they’d offered me the website redesign job for their association.
At the time, I had been thrilled. The money I’d earned from my freelance jobs around Poplar Springs would cover my first semester’s tuition before any grants or scholarships I might get.
But now in the throes of working on it, I was bored.
There were only so many ways to make cows look interesting, and even though I’d pushed the powers that be to allow me to incorporate more photos of the actual ranchers working with the animals, they’d been resistant.
I was thankful that discussion had been over the phone so they wouldn’t see me rolling my eyes as they fumbled through an explanation about how they wanted the focus on the cattle and not the people.
While animals, in general, were great attention getters, by combining the two—including some of the women members—the CCA would come across as more approachable and an organization that more people might want to join.
Then there was the copy they’d sent me, which had very clearly been written by AI.
At least they were open to some cleanup on the text; especially once I pointed out some of the glaring issues with the AI content.
Ultimately, any work was good work as a freelancer, so I sighed and made the photo of the heifer on the main page bigger, as requested.
After three minutes of diligent work, I decided to reward myself by checking my email.
I’d read somewhere that it took more than twenty minutes to get back to productivity after being derailed by distractions like email and social media, but I was so over doing the busy work that I felt like I deserved a treat.
I popped open my email account and sifted through the junk mail until I spotted a subject line that stopped me cold.
Your application and next steps.
I hadn’t heard a peep from the admissions office since I’d submitted my info what felt like months ago, but there it was, a message in my spam file with the promise of good news. I hovered my fingers over the keyboard and debated what to do.
Obviously, it had to be good news since it mentioned “next steps.” There were no “next steps” if I’d been rejected, so it made sense to open the message right away rather than waiting.
But would I be able to concentrate and finish my to-do list after reading it?
Part of the reason I was successful being my own boss was because I held myself to a strict schedule every day.
I shrugged and opened the message without overthinking it further, sped through it, and then leaped up and clapped my hands .
“Oh my God!” I said, doing a little dance in place.
I ran out the kitchen door and sprinted for the main barn, hoping that Josh was there instead of off in the fields somewhere.
“Have you seen Josh?” I asked Mitch as I skidded to a stop just inside.
“Yep, down there,” he drawled, pointing toward the back end of the barn.
“Thanks.” I grinned at him and jogged on.
I found him mucking out a stall, whistling off tune.
“Hey!” I said, screeching to a stop in front of him.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You look like the kitten that found the cream. What’s going on?”
I did a goofy jig. “I got an email,” I sang. “A really good email.”
Josh leaned on the stall fork. “Tell me.”
“Berkshire Institute of Technology wants to interview me. In person! I’m really in the running for the program, Josh!”
A shadow passed over his face so quickly that I thought I’d imagined it.
“Hey, good for you, Zo,” he said, his smile only looking the tiniest bit tight. “That’s fantastic. When?”
“The end of this week, if you can believe it.” I twirled in the dirt. “I shouldn’t be this excited because it’s just the interview, but I am !”
Josh watched me carefully for a moment. “You’re going to do great. They’ll love you, everybody does.”
“Hold on.” I froze. “Wait. This means I have to sit and talk with these people. This is an interview . Oh crap. ”
Josh cocked his head. “What do you mean? Isn’t that part of the plan?”
“Well, yeah, but I never thought about this part when I fantasized about getting in. It always went from sending my application in to acceptance. I forgot about this step.” I frowned.
“You know I’m not always good on my feet, especially when I’m dealing with strangers.
I talk too much and say weird stuff. They might not like me. ”
Josh smirked at me. “Stop. You’ll be fine. I’ll help you prep if you want.”
“Really? That would be amazing, thank you!”
I bounded over to him and reached out my arms only to have him throw up his gloved hand to keep me from getting closer.
“I’m all sweaty and gross, Zo.”
“And when has that ever stopped me?” I demanded. “I love your sweaty man smell. Besides, I want a celebratory hug.”
He wrapped one arm around my shoulder for a split second.
“There’s your celebratory hug.”
“Oh, come on.” I scowled at him. “You’ve hugged ponies tighter than that. What’s going on with you, Josh? Why are you acting weird all of a sudden?”
“Nothing’s going on,” he said, his voice pitching higher. “I’m happy for you.”
I scanned him from head to toe, my initial enthusiasm waning. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
“It’s nothing.”
I narrowed my eyes at him .
“Crap, I can’t hide a thing from you.” He sighed and hung his head.
“Okay, okay, fine, I’ll tell you. I’m happy for you, but this feels like the beginning of the end for us , that’s all.
I promised myself that I’d be okay when the time came and I’m working on it, I swear.
I just have to get used to the idea that you’re…
leaving. And that whatever it is that we’re doing together will be over. ”
“Josh,” I said softly, walking closer to him. “I might be leaving, but that doesn’t mean we have to say goodbye to each other forever. This isn’t like it was before. We’re grown-ups now, I think we can handle trying a long-distance relationship.”
He brightened. “Yeah?”
“Of course,” I replied. “And I think a great way to test it out would be for you to come with me to the interview. See if the East Coast is the kind of place you’d be okay visiting. If I get in, that is. Can you sneak away for a night?”
He looked around the barn as if seeking permission from the horses. “Yeah, maybe I can. That would be fun. I can’t remember the last time I left Poplar Springs overnight for anything other than to attend a horse auction.”
“Well then, you deserve a mini-vacation. I’ll get everything set up with the faculty, then check to make sure the timing works for you.”
“Zo, you got this,” Josh said.
“Thanks.”
We locked eyes, each contemplating what the news meant.
Suddenly Josh seemed like he was being overcome by the need to be close to me, as if the chances of doing it were quickly slipping away.
He dropped the stall fork and strode to me, tugging his gloves off and dropping them on the ground before dragging me into the empty stall .
Wrapping his arms around me, he drew me into a long, deep kiss that had me melting against him.
When Josh started to pull away, I placed a gentle hand behind his head and drew him back to my lips for more.
His hands slid down my back, cupping my butt through my jeans and lifting me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist. He turned, pressing my back to the stall wall and we continued to kiss.
I tangled my fingers in his hair tugging at the strands until he groaned.
“Yo, Josh, you still out here?” It was Mitch.
“Yup, be right there,” Josh called back before reluctantly setting me down and helping me adjust my clothes.
We left the stall and he reached down to grab his gloves, slapping them on his leg to knock some of the debris off.
Before he could walk away to see what Mitch wanted, I stepped up close to him and tapped my finger against his chest.
“Now that’s the kind of congratulations I want from now on, you got it?”
“Got it,” Josh answered, leaning down to kiss me again.