Page 109 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
“Are you saying you don’t want it?” Alan eyed her sternly.
“I didn’t do anything for—” Karen screeched to a stop as she turned to Finn. “Doyouneed the money?”
“Nope,” he assured her. “Zach and I are good.”
Determination straightened her spine as Karen met Alan’s eyes. “I don’t want it. It’s not mine.”
“So you want me to give it to Brandon and—”
A very off-colour curse rang out before she clapped a hand over her mouth. She glared at Alan hard enough it should have lit his hair on fire. “You’d better be kidding.”
“Actually, I am.” Alan ducked to avoid the Kleenex box Zach launched at his head. “Just trying to lighten the mood. I mean, it’s only money. Give it away if you don’t want it.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Fine. Do your lawyer thing, then. We’ll give it to some charities.” Karen wrinkled her nose and turned to Finn. “The animal shelter that Lisa helped set up. It could probably use some money, right?”
“Yup.” Finn nodded.
She paused. “And the equine therapy school I was going to attend. They fund scholarships.”
The happiness inside was growing. “You can set up a few of those. Alan will help. There are ways to set them up where the income reinvests and keeps producing more money.”
A slow nod followed. Karen accepted the cheque back from Zach, shaking her head slightly as she stared at it again in disbelief. “Impossible.”
“You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what—” Finn found his mouth covered by her hand.
“Hush.You’reimpossible.” She blew out a hard breath, as if trying to put out a candle all the way on the other side of the room. But when she raised her gaze to meet Alan’s, all confusion was gone. “Thank you. I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’ll accept this money and follow the advice Bruce gave the guys. We’ll use it to make our community better, although,God, I have no idea how to do this.”
Finn pressed his lips to her temple, holding her tightly in his arms where she belonged.
It wasn’t about the money they had in their pockets. It was about moving into the future side by side. Building a future right here in Heart Falls.
Her fingers around his tightened. Connected.
Together.Finally.
24
With the challenge deadline gone, Finn and Zach both insisted they needed to slow down and get their lives back on an even keel.
“I have a lot of brew-pub beer to try before I get my place up and running next year.” Zach eyed the still-incomplete interior of the ranch house they’d relocated to after Alan left. “I probably should pick one of the cabins and finish it before the snow flies so I can live in it comfortably this winter.”
“You’re not fixing this place up?” Karen asked.
Finn slid in beside her, one strong hand coming to rest on her hip as he twisted her toward the tall windows facing the west. “Zach suggested, and I agreed, thatwefigure out the remodel for this house. Since we’re staying in Heart Falls for good, we need a home where we can have family over without bumping into each other. What do you think?”
Another bit of information tossed on top of her already overloaded brain. Yet Finn’s grip was firm, but not controlling, and his question was sincere.
She took a deep breath. What would spark joy?
The mountains outside were brightening with the morning sun, late summer green mixing with the golden shades of grasses and crops. Karen pictured living there full time, enjoying the view as the changing seasons brought fall colours before snow would blanket the entire landscape in pristine white.
She turned toward Finn and then eyed Zach, thought of the laughter and discussions that would be held in the evenings by the massive fireplace. Imagined the floors not as plywood, but rich oak. The walls painted with sunlight and pictures of family and friends.
Rooms down the hall with space for family to visit…and children to grow up in.
Happiness welled. “I have so many questions right now, but that one I can answer. I would love to make this our home.”
Finn captured her fingers and lifted them to his mouth, kissing her knuckles.
