Page 38 of Unbroken (Poplar Springs #2)

THIRTY-SIX

FIONA

A s I used the curry comb on little Agatha, who was growing like a weed, I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this content.

Agatha was still as squirrelly as I’d expect from such a young horse who wasn’t even six months old yet, battling between the desire to play or get a rub down as she danced in place.

In an attempt to keep her somewhat still, I followed one of our mom’s recipes and mixed together and compressed the equivalent of equine suet using peanut butter, oats, mashed apples and shredded carrots, placing it in a container mounted to the stall wall so she could lick at it while I worked the curry comb over her body.

It was an effective distraction so long as she stayed interested in the treat, but she was slowing down, which meant she was getting full. That meant I needed to hurry.

I felt as if I’d been walking around on a cloud since I’d spent the night at Eli’s.

I still wasn’t sure what had possessed me to take off all my clothes and join him in his shower, but it had proven to be a damned good decision.

I’d lost count of the number of orgasms Eli gave me, which was saying something given that I normally maxed out at two, tops.

But we’d been so in sync with each other and our chemistry had been explosive.

I’d had no idea it could be that good with anyone, let alone Eli.

Granted, given how well we worked together, it really shouldn’t have surprised me. I couldn’t wait to do it again.

Agatha let out a little whinny, pulling my attention back to the task at hand.

“Have you had enough?” I asked her as I set the comb down and led her over to the paddock where Nelly and Lollipop were enjoying each other’s company.

“Come on, Agatha, let’s go say hi to your friends.

” As soon as I opened the gate, the little foal pranced over to the other two horses and they happily greeted each other.

Both the elderly horse and the Shetland pony spent years enduring abuses that I still found both infuriating and heartbreaking before they’d been rescued. Thanks to my family, they were now living their best lives and would continue to do so here at Lost Valley.

“Ladies, have I got a treat for you.” I had saved some of the suet and broke it up into smaller pieces. I started waving them in front of me so Nelly would know I was headed her way with something tasty.

When she’d initially arrived here, she could still make out shapes and reacted to light, but her cataracts had progressed to the point where we didn’t think she could see much of anything anymore.

But she still had a nose on her and her nostrils were flaring at the smell of apples and peanut butter.

I held a small piece under her nose and waited while she sniffed it out before taking it in her mouth.

Lollipop was more impatient and nosed my side knowing full well that I had some for her too.

The pony had been traumatized when she first arrived but with a lot of love and care, she’d slowly come out of her shell.

Now, while she was leery of strangers and sudden noises, she fully trusted us, which was apparent given how she pressed up against me, eager for her own treat.

“You’re good with them.” I looked up in surprise to see Zoe standing on the other side of the gate .

“Hey, you. Didn’t expect to see you today. Want to come say hi to these beauties?”

Zoe nodded and unlatched the gate and entered the paddock not moving too quickly so as not to spook the girls.

Watching her now, it was hard to believe that she’d had such an intense fear of horses when she’d first come to stay at the ranch months ago.

She’d always been a little nervous around horses, but she’d ridden Jude as a child only to get tossed off, breaking her arm in the process.

The fear had festered in the years that followed, but thanks to these three, Zoe had worked through a lot of that fear.

She now willingly rode horses, although she was still a lot more comfortable in front of a computer than in a saddle.

I pulled more of the suet out of my pocket and handed it to her, so she could break it into smaller pieces for Nelly.

Most of the old mare’s teeth were missing due to her early neglect.

We gave each of them a couple more pieces before stopping.

Too much and they could end up with belly aches.

I had no intention of letting that happen.

Not only did we not need another vet visit, but there was no way I was going to worry either sibling over the health of any of our horses.

“So, what are you doing out here? Oh, and how’s school?

Have you settled into your house okay? Need anything?

” Zoe laughed at my barrage of questions and I realized that I hadn’t given her a chance to answer any of them before jumping into asking the next question. “Sorry. I guess I’m a little hyped up.”

“To answer your questions: I came to pick up the external drive I left in Josh’s office with the drone videos on it.

School is great. I just finished one semester and have a break before the next one starts.

And I’m loving our little house. It’s not as grand as the ranch house, but it’s just ours, which makes it special. Know what I mean?”

Zoe looked at me with a big grin. “Now, is there anything you want to talk about? How’s it going with Eli?

” she asked me and I felt my cheeks heat up with a blush.

“Oh. I see.” She gave me a knowing smile.

“So, uh, things not so fake after all?” She said it quietly and I looked around to make sure no one could hear us.

Not that I was embarrassed to have slept with Eli, but any sort of gossip directed his way made him uncomfortable and I was determined not to add any fuel to the fire, if I could prevent it.

I gave her a slight shake of my head. “Things have progressed to … uh … less fake,” I said quietly and her smile grew.

“That’s a good thing, right? I mean, seeing the two of you together, I can tell that you make a great pair. Even Josh commented on that and he’s about as clueless as a guy can be about relationships,” she said.

I had to agree. It took my brother almost losing Zoe forever before he got his head on straight and figured out what was most important to him.

Prior to then, it’d been rough. He had been functioning in a constant state of stress trying to keep the ranch afloat, and his personal life had been basically nonexistent.

What was worse, he’d felt as if all his effort to keep things going hadn’t been enough.

The ranch had really been struggling, with no clear way forward.

If it hadn’t been for Zoe figuring out how popular the trail rides once were and talking Josh into restarting them, we could have lost our family’s legacy.

That, in and of itself, would have been reason enough for me to love her—but what really sealed it was how happy she made my brother. They really were perfect together.

Was that what people thought when they looked at Eli and me? It hardly seemed possible. Yeah, we were good together in some ways, but there were plenty of problems and complications, too.

“I don’t know what to do about it,” I confessed to Zoe.

“I mean, we never talked about what might happen if our relationship progressed and now that it has …” I shrugged.

“Do we talk about it or just roll with it?” I didn’t know.

Eli had never been a big talker when we were in high school, and eight years later, that was still the case.

I did know that he was uncomfortable with turning anything into a big deal.

I worried that if I showed too much excitement or pushed him too fast, he might end things before we had a chance to see where it went.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Josh called out as he approached us. “Did you get what you needed?”

“I did,” Zoe told him. “How much longer do you think you’ll be? I’m hungry and I wasn’t sure if I should eat something here or wait until we get home.”

Josh scrolled through his tablet where Zoe had set him up with, loaded with productivity apps to help with the ranch duties.

“I was thinking another hour or two … but there’s nothing on the list that can’t wait until tomorrow.

I’ll go shut down. In the meantime, why don’t you call the Bite and Brew and order us some dinner? That way, neither of us has to cook.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my brother?” I asked and they both laughed. Josh hadn’t done a complete one-eighty, but he was making every effort not to put the ranch before his relationship with Zoe. He definitely seemed to be succeeding and I couldn’t be happier for the two of them.

I watched them walk away. Zoe had looped her arm through his and he had his head bent down while she said something to him.

When they reached the barn door, he threw his head back and laughed, making me shake my head.

I still didn’t understand how my brother managed to be in the only stable and long-term relationship out of all of us.

Watching him chase after Zoe as she jogged toward her Jeep, which was parked next to my Nissan, I realized that while I was happy for him, I was also a little jealous.

A part of me wanted what he had and I wondered if I could ever have it with Eli.