28. Zoe
TWENTY-EIGHT
ZOE
I t was the girly-est I’d looked in ages.
I was wearing my favorite combat boots, but I’d paired them with cute jean shorts and a cropped white tank top.
I felt silly putting on makeup for a picnic with Josh, but I liked having an excuse to get dolled up.
It felt like a date date, which we’d yet to do with just the two of us.
The last “outing” we had was town hall meeting and food orgy at the diner, but that was days ago.
Josh had initially suggested going to the picnic site on horseback but had seen right through my tight smile and nod at the idea.
I could tell he was playing it off, saying maybe it was a better idea to give one of the ATVs a longer test run after some repairs.
While he was giving me a much-needed out, it was true that the ATV did need to be tested on longer runs along the different trails.
I headed for the barn to meet him, trying not to skip.
We’d been spending all our nights together now and it was amazing.
Granted, since he usually rose long before me, it was rare that he was still there when I woke up.
But every moment spent here at Lost Valley and with Josh felt like a gift.
So much so that I’d felt lighter and happier than I’d been in ages.
Even Shannon had noticed the difference, calling me “Sunshine Goth.” But she refused to go so far as to admit that Josh had a lot to do with that.
In fact, she was steadfastly ignoring that I was sleeping with her brother.
“There she is,” Josh said, watching me walk toward him from the doorway of the barn. “You look amazing. Gimme a twirl.”
I made a face at him. “You first.”
Josh laughed, then took a step forward and spun around with his hands out, showing off his tight jeans and black T-shirt. “You like what you see little lady?”
“I do.” I chuckled, then went up on my tiptoes to kiss him. I jumped away and covered my mouth when I realized someone could’ve seen us. “Whoops, sorry about the PDA. Hard to resist.”
He rolled his eyes. “You call that PDA?”
Josh craned his neck to look around the barn and pasture, exaggerating his movements.
When he was satisfied no one was around, he locked his arms around me and dipped me, pausing with his lips hovering a few inches from mine.
“ This is PDA.” He dropped his mouth and kissed me in a way that made it clear exactly what was going to happen once we’d finished our picnic.
I felt dizzy when he stood me back up.
“You ready to go?” he asked.
“Um…uh… yeah .”
“All right then. The basket is packed and loaded on the ATV already. I’ve got it parked at the back of the barn. You sure you don’t want to bring your camera?”
I shook my head. “I’ll get too wrapped up in taking pictures. ”
“Aw, darn it, I thought you were going to get some arty nudes of me,” he said, pretending to be disappointed.
“Oh, you’ll wind up nude, don’t worry about that,” I shot back, a naughty twinkle in my eyes.
Josh threw his head back and laughed, and I joined him. It was going to be a perfect afternoon.
“You’ve been on one of these before, right?” Josh said when we walked over to the red ATV.
“Ages ago. But all I have to do is hold on to you, right?”
“Exactly, nice and tight.”
I was relishing the thought of hugging up against Josh’s strong back and wrapping my arms around his torso when Dustin came running toward us from the direction of the training ring waving his hat over his head.
“Crap,” Josh said. “Something’s wrong.”
“Hold up,” Dustin yelled at us. “Don’t leave yet.”
He was out of breath by the time he reached us. “Kid…fell. That little one…Andy. Fell offa General Riggs.”
“Oh damn.” Josh sighed. “How bad is it?”
“Hard to say, but he’s crying pretty hard,” Dustin huffed. “Looks broken. Thought you might want to come up and deal with it.”
“Of course I do, poor little guy.” Josh turned to me. “I’m sorry, we need to postpone while I deal with this.”
“By all means, go,” I said. I knew exactly how scared the little boy probably was, and what a calming presence Josh would be for him. “This can wait. ”
“Thanks.” Josh gave me a tight nod as Dustin detailed what had happened.
I watched them walk away, a confusing tickle sparking along the back of my neck as the wail of an ambulance got closer.
Was it the sense memories of falling off Jude all of those years ago, or the realization of how much responsibility was resting on Josh’s strong shoulders?
I rubbed my neck, trying to push away that tickle, which was threatening to grow.
I knew there wasn’t anything I could do—Josh had everything well in hand—so I headed for the house, hoping that work would help wash away this feeling.
Hours later, Josh peeked into the kitchen where I was working. The sun was setting and I was ready to clock out for the day. I stretched my hands over my head and smiled at Josh.
“Everything turn out okay with Andy?”
“He’s fine,” Josh said as he slid into a chair across from me. “His arm is broken, but it’s a clean break and he won’t need surgery or anything. Just a trophy cast for all of his friends to sign.”
“Are his parents upset?”
Josh shook his head. “They know he tends to be a risk taker, so it wasn’t a surprise to them that it happened.
They were cool about it. Now I have to deal with the insurance paperwork, which is always a headache.
All of our guests over the age of eighteen and any guardians must review and agree to our terms of service, but that won’t protect us from liability one hundred percent.
Especially when the accident is a six-year-old wanting to do stunts on horseback. ”
“Want my help?” I asked. “My attention to detail is hard to beat.”
“Maybe, but I don’t want to think about it tonight. I need to make up for that missed picnic. C’mon.” He stood up and offered his hand.
“Now? ”
“Now.”
I threaded my hand into his and followed him out the back door.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked.
“Over there.” Josh pointed into the distance, and I spotted a blanket and a few lanterns set up under the weeping willow tree at the far edge of the property. “A night picnic, to make up for missing our adventure today. Food’s nothing fancy but it’ll do.”
“Aw, Josh!” I turned to him with my eyes glowing. “You did all that after working a long day?”
“Honestly, it’s no big deal. Just an old quilt, a few lanterns from the barn, a large pizza from Magiano’s, and beers. But I wanted to spend some quality time with you.”
I leaned against him and squeezed his arm. “It’s perfect . Thank you.”
We plopped down under the willow’s drooping branches and dug into the pizza.
“I checked the analytics on the new site and everything is looking fantastic,” I said as I nibbled on my slice. “Your ranking is really high now even though we just launched.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” He laughed as he leaned back on his elbow. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook. Classes are filling up and the trail riding stuff?” Josh let out a low whistle. “Unbelievable how popular it is. People are loving Eli.”
“Ooh, right, speaking of Eli,” I said excitedly.
“I need to get a photo and bio of him. And I thought it might be fun to do thirty-second video intros of all of the employees. Like little biopics. It’s a great way to make everyone feel familiar before guests even arrive and also do some subtle selling at the same time, you know?
For yours, I was thinking we could open with you on Indigo, riding slow motion toward the camera, then it pans to?—”
“Zo,” Josh said with a soft laugh, “can we not work right now? Let’s just enjoy the night, okay?”
I blushed. “Sorry, hard habit to break; especially when I’m excited about a project.”
“Happy to be the one to help you do it,” Josh said, holding up his beer bottle and tipping it toward me. “To more moonlight picnics.”
“And whatever fun they inspire,” I said with a wink as I clinked my bottle to his.
“I like the way that sounds,” Josh growled. “Did you know we’re completely hidden under this tree? No one can see us here.”
“Is that a fact?” I asked, shrugging my tank top strap down my shoulder and batting my lashes at him.
He nodded and started moving slowly across the blanket like a panther stalking prey. I giggled as he reached out and snagged my ankle.
“C’mere,” he said in a low voice, giving me a tug. “I want to taste you again.”
I eased back onto the quilt as he climbed on top of me, until his phone’s ring pierced the silence and made us both jump.
“Crap, that’s not good,” he muttered as he looked at the screen. He sat up and answered. “Dustin, what’s wrong?”
I watched him process whatever his hand was telling him, concern creasing his face.
“Okay, I’ll be right there. ”
He hopped up and shoved his phone in his back pocket. “Zo, I’m so sorry, but I have to run again. Goliath has a bad laceration on his leg. Might have to call Doc Letts to see if she can come out to check on him.”
“Oh no, okay.” I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice. It wasn’t like the horse could help it. “I’ll clean up here, don’t worry about it.”
“Thanks.”
He gave me a terse nod, then took off for the barn, his mind already on worst-case scenarios.
I watched him walk away and realized that it was the second time that day he’d had to leave me in the dust for an emergency. I knew it was a part of life on a ranch, but I had to wonder…what would happen if I truly needed him? How would he choose if it came down to me or the ranch?