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“Well, the part of the fence she was supposed to fix wasn’t fixed like she claims. We didn’t know that when we herded them into the northern pasture yesterday. When we went to go take stock and feed them, we noticed a whole bunch were missing. Your brothers are trying to round them up now.” My dad runs his hands through his hair. “I’m gonna go help them.” He nods and takes off.
My mom merely looks at me and Zoey and gives a sympathetic smile. She says nothing, instead turning away and walking towards the store.
I pull Zoey back and take her face in my hands. “Tell me what’s going on, Zo.”
“Ryker, I know I fixed that fence. I swear I did. I … I know I’m not sleeping well, but I didn’t imagine it.” She sniffles and shakes her head out of my hands. Zoey wipes the tears away and puts her hand over her mouth.
“All right. Let me go take a look at the fencing. Why don’t you go head to the store and help my mom out with that for now?” I kiss her forehead, and she leaves the way Mom did. Her eyes are completely distant. I know her mind is going a million miles a minute trying to piece together what happened.
I hop on a horse and head out to the fence in question. When I get there, my dad and Levi are looking at it too. I hop off my horse and walk over.
“This is what Zoey was supposed to fix.” My dad points to the open section of fence in question.
“She says she fixed it.” I take a closer look. The wood is old, and we’ve repaired a lot of these pieces before. Nothing tells me that she did or didn’t fix it. All I see is the pieces of wood not where they should be.
I look around the grass, trying to see if I can find any missing nails or splinters of wood. My foot brushes across the ground, but nothing sticks out.
“If Zoey fixed it, Ry, then the cattle wouldn’t have gotten out. She signed off on the list saying she did, but look.” Levi points to the whole fence. “She could be lying about it.”
I glare, turning towards Levi. “Why would she lie? Wasn’t there someone to help her with this?”
“She never asked. Also, Ash and I were out on a delivery. I’m pretty sure Zoey can handle some wood and nails.” He pauses. “Well, I take that back. Apparently not.” Levi holds his hand out again at the gap in the fence.
“Watch it, Levi,” I growl. His hands shoot up defensively and he takes a step back from me. “Look, I honestly don’t think she would just lie about this.” As I say this, my stomach turns. Would she? She’s lied about who she really is and why she’s here. I shake my head and the thought away, remembering that’s because she left a bad situation.
“Look, for now, we’ll just keep her in the store. She can help your mom out there. Maybe this was just too much for her. We’ve put a lot of responsibility on her in the last few weeks, and maybe it was too much, too fast.” My dad’s usually the voice of reason between all of us. He has a point.
“Maybe.” I shrug. “But yeah, let’s keep her at the store. She might enjoy that more than wandering around here doing the other tasks.” Sighing, I take my hat off and run a hand through my hair. “I’m gonna be honest with the both of you, I think she’s telling the truth.”
I don’t wait for an answer. I turn on my heel and get back on the horse before heading back to the stables. Once I reach them, I walk the horse over to her stall and get her locked up. When I finish, I head into the store.
I walk in and see Zoey standing by the counter, but it doesn’t seem like she notices me. She’s lost in her own mind, and I can see her lips moving as if she’s talking herself through her thoughts. Seeing her this sad pains me. I reach up and rub the back of my neck, sighing.
The past couple of days have been rough for her, and I know her sleep has been greatly affected. I can see the dark circles under her eyes, her haunted expression, and the paleness to her skin. She’s exhausted.
“Zo, darlin’. You doing okay?” I slide next to her.
She shakes her head. “Ryker, I know I fixed it. I know I did. You have to believe me. I went there, I had the wood and the hammer. I remember actually doing the work!” Her voice starts to get higher the more she goes on.
“Hey, slow down. I believe you. I have no reason to doubt you.” I run my hand through her hair. “You’re shivering. Are you cold?”
She nods. “Yes. It’s always so cold in here.”
I bend down behind a box on the floor. “Here, my mom leaves this little heater in here. Just make sure to unplug it when you leave.” I plug it in and have her stand near it.
Zoey places her head in her hands and starts to cry. “How can the fence be fixed one minute and not in the next? I don’t understand.”
I frown. “Zo, I need you to calm down. We’ll figure out what happened. I promise you that. If you say you fixed it, I know you fixed it. I believe you, sweetheart.”
“But your parents don’t think I did. They’re so mad at me. I can’t even face them right now.” She plants a hand on her chest. “I let them down, Ryker,” she whispers. I pull her in close and let her cry, resting my chin on the top of her head.
My hand rubs her back in small slow circles. “They just don’t understand what happened. It’s an accident, and accidents happen sometimes. But I believe you. So, now we just need to figure out what happened.”
Zoey wraps her arms around me, and I continue to hold her until she’s calmed.
“Come on, let’s head back to the house. You need to take a nap. You’re beyond tired at this point and if we’re going to figure out what went wrong, I need you rested. I’m going to head back to the station, but I’ll be home before dinner. My mom can come back and finish up. Okay?” I lean in and kiss her forehead.
Zoey nods and unplugs the heater. She puts away the paperwork she was going through and locks the register.