Page 17 of Unyielding (Poplar Springs #3)

SEVENTEEN

SHANNON

“ W here the hell is Josh?” I demanded.

“Yikes!” Fiona flinched as she calmed a chestnut mare she was leading back to its stall.

When she had decided to stay in Poplar Springs and help build up Lost Valley’s trail ride program, Josh had decided to make her and Eli co-heads.

They were both responsible for building and maintaining the program—with a lot of input from Josh, who was still learning how to delegate.

Even though my sister had just returned from a trail ride, she still managed to look like she was ready to model for a western gear catalog, her makeup flawless and her hair hanging in smooth waves beneath her cowboy hat.

I had no idea how she pulled that off and couldn’t hold back a little pulse of envy.

Fiona always looked camera ready. I always looked…

work ready. Smelly, dirty, labor-intensive work. “Why? What’d he do now?”

Eli chuckled at the family politics as he closed a stall door behind his horse.

“He’s all up in my life again and I’m sick of it. I don’t need him to be my daddy,” I fumed.

Fiona laughed. “Look who’s talking! Try being the youngest with the two of you around. The coddling is nonstop.”

“Josh’s got a paternal streak, that’s for sure,” Eli offered ruefully. “I’ve been on the receiving end myself. I’d tell you that he means well, but you already know that—and we both know that that doesn’t stop it from being annoying.”

“Someone needs to tell him to chill out,” I said, stomping around the barn.

“Well, last I saw him, he was in his office,” Fiona said.

“Thanks.” I spun on my heel and marched to the house.

I found Josh with his phone pressed to his ear, glued to his laptop.

“Yup, yup, got it,” he said, glancing back at me and holding his finger up.

“Great, we’ll talk soon. Looking forward to ironing out the details.

” He hung up and grinned at me as he disconnected the call.

“That was a travel agent from a nationwide chain who wants to add our trail rides to their list of suggested activities for out-of-state visitors.”

I felt my anger kick up a notch despite the fact that it was good news for the ranch. It felt like he was rubbing salt in my wound, talking about the good stuff happening for the trail riding program while I was fighting to keep my breeding program alive.

“Good for them,” I replied, mustering up a half smile back at him. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

“Of course, here,” Josh said as he moved a stack of papers off a chair next to his desk.

I didn’t want to sit. I wanted to pace around the cramped office with my arms crossed, glaring at my brother for interfering in my life.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, finally picking up on my mood. “Why do you look like you want to punch me in the nose?”

“Why don’t you tell me since you seem to know so much about my life?”

Josh’s face fell. “Whoa… what’s going on here?”

“I heard what you said to Declan at the Bite and Brew this morning. How dare you, Josh?”

“Hold on… you mean about being careful with you if he’s not serious? That’s why you’re upset?” Josh looked dumbfounded. “I’m just looking out for you, Shannon. That’s what big brothers do.”

“Did I ask for you to do it?”

“Well, no, but?—”

“But nothing. It’s not your place to interfere. I can take care of myself, got it?”

Josh sat silently, his mouth in a tight line. “Okay, you’re right. That wasn’t cool of me.”

“No, it wasn’t,” I shot back. “And what makes you think that Declan is interested in me anyway?”

I held my breath as I waited for him to answer.

“Well… it’s sort of obvious, Shan. The way he looks at you. Then when I saw you two dancing at my engagement party… Anyway, it wasn’t just me. Zoe picked up on it too.”

Heat rushed to my face, and I hoped that he couldn’t see the pink coloring my cheeks.

“I just wanted to talk to him man-to-man and feel him out to see how serious he is, you know?”

I tried to ignore the butterflies in my gut and focus on my meddling brother.

“This isn’t the nineteenth century, Josh.

This little lady can take care of herself.

If you have concerns about me, you should bring them to me .

Which you didn’t do because you knew I would tell you that it was none of your business.

You knew I wouldn’t want you to interfere, and you did it anyway and tried to hide it from me. ”

His expression shifted and he looked like he’d been scolded. “Okay, I’m sorry for butting in. It’s only because I care about you and want what’s best for you. We’ve only got each other, you know.”

The gentle reminder about losing our parents was enough to soften me.

Josh was right, and even though he’d overstepped, I knew that he’d done it out of love.

Just like the time Fiona and I did a sisterly intervention when Josh had been hurting over his and Zoe’s temporary break up.

It took almost losing her for him to figure out how to prioritize their relationship over the ranch.

“You’re right, and I know that there are parallels to the way that Fi and I talked to you when you were about to lose Zoe, but—” He started to open his mouth, and I stopped him.

“—if you’ll recall, we came to you . We didn’t talk to Zoe.

You’re a bonehead for handling it like that—but I still love you. ”

“Aw, I love you too.”

Josh unfolded himself from the chair and strode to me, pulling me into a hug that slowly constricted like a blood pressure cuff, until I finally started laughing.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” I choked out, smacking his back in submission. “You love me!”

“Till it hurts !” he roared, then picked me up and swung me around, making me realize how lucky I was to have him in my corner.