Page 20 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
Finn and Zach were visible on the platform behind the house. Some kind of serious conversation was taking place.
While she still wasn’t sure exactly how the summer would go, her sisters were right about one thing. It would be silly to not take the job Finn had offered.
“Don’t worry about it,” Karen told Lisa. “I’ll find another way to grab it. Have a good evening.”
“Don’t forget you’re coming over Saturday night,” Lisa said.
“I won’t forget,” she promised.
Getting Starlight settled in his new temporary digs felt comfortable and right. The lean-to had recently been repaired, and there was a sturdy, protective area to hang all her gear.
She’d bet anything that Finn had prepared the place for her. It was no less than she’d expected, though, once he’d said he’d bought the place with purpose. Finn Marlette was a thorough man.
It was something to put on the positive side of the ledger: his attention to detail and stubborn determination. Attention to detail had all sorts of wonderful consequences as it came to comfort for her animal.
That thoroughness in the bedroom? It had to be said. Karen had never had a man like Finn before or after.
She took her time caring for her horse, letting the warm wind rush over her with comfort and invigorating freshness. Then she slid into the cottage and got freshened up. It only took a moment before she was crossing the distance between her place and the beat-up ranch house.
She had a place to stay, and she was about to have a job to do.
If only she could decide how to deal with her third dilemma.
Alan left shortlyafter dropping his bomb with a promise to get the paperwork and the actual deadline decided before the end of the week.
Zach glared after the departing car, pivoted on his heel, then stomped into the house.
Finn followed a little slower, attempting to put this twist into perspective. While he appreciated what his mentor had intended with the inspiration from beyond the grave, the all-or-nothing situation was complicating matters beyond the cut-and-dried setup he’d hoped for in Heart Falls.
So be it. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d buckled down to get a task done.
Zach dropped into one of the beat-up Adirondack chairs on the deck and stared forlornly at the foothills.
“Well, that was entertaining,” Finn offered dryly as he settled beside his friend.
An enormous sigh bubbled from Zach, and he spoke without meeting Finn’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“Not your damn fault.”
Zach made a face. “If I’d bought the Brewster building with corporation money like you told me to,thatwould’ve been the project we had a deadline on.”
Of all the mixed-up, irrational leaps of logic…
Finn leaned forward and examined his friend intently. “You think I’m mad at you for that? Hell, if anything, I think we’re in a better position having to deal with the dude ranch than convincing a bunch of beer-drinking fanatics we’ve come up with the be-all and end-all of small craft brew.”
“It’s something that might be accomplished in a short period of time. And it’s also something that doesn’t require good weather to bring in clients.” Zach shook his head. “You always tease that I’ve got magic timing, but I wish this time I hadn’t.”
“Drop it,” Finn ordered. “I’m the one who needs to apologize because you have to put your idea on the slow track until we getthisplace operational.”
“Up and running before Christmas?” Zach looked doubtful. “You really think we can do it?”
“We’re damn well going to do it. No way in hell is that bastard Brandon invading Heart Falls. He’s the last thing I’d inflict on her friends and family.”
“Who’s invading?”
Finn and Zach jerked upright, glancing over their shoulders to discover Karen at the foot of the rickety stairs from the ground level to the deck.
Finn hit his feet, holding out a hand to stop her before she took another step. “Hold on. I haven’t checked those yet.”
