Page 49 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
The crew passed her, headed in the opposite direction. One of the new guys razzed her, low enough his voice didn’t carry but loud enough she couldn’t miss the dirty comment.
Another joy of working with mostly male crews.
Nipping it in the bud was the best way. She pivoted on the spot and offered a sharp whistle. “Hey.”
The entire crew paused, glancing over their shoulders.
“You make another comment about my sweet ass, or you try and touch it, and you’ll be wearing my boot where the sun don’t shine. We clear?” She glared down the one who had spoken.
His leering expression vanished, his gaze darting beyond her to where his foreman stood.
Shit. Both Cody and Zach had witnessed the scene.
And Finn.
Karen turned and walked away without waiting for a response because continuing to diffuse the situation was the next step.
“Hey, guys. Zach, what’s the question?” She deliberately kept her tone light.
Cody wiped his mouth with his hand, glancing at the crew that had suddenly grown wings and was moving rapidly to get started on whatever task had been assigned.
Zach squeezed the hand he had resting on Finn’s shoulder then offered Karen his full attention. “We’ve got an idea but wanted to run it by you. Looks as if the brothel—for lack of a better term—is mostly structurally sound. Just the one part had an issue. Cody suggested we take the building down to the bones then refurbish it as a kind of a row-house dwelling. It could go over really big with singles who want to come out to the ranch.”
“Their own room in a cowboy bunkhouse,” Cody added.
It sounded like a great idea. She paused. “If you can do it with structural integrity, it sounds like a plan. What do you need my opinion for?”
“You don’t think there’s a problem rebuilding where we had an accident?” Cody said bluntly.
Karen glanced at Finn. He was still glaring at the work crew industriously pounding nails into new cabin platforms. “Finn. You have a problem with it? I don’t think there’s any residual bad luck hanging around.”
He met her eyes. “As long as you’re okay with it.”
She would give him a break because he’d been injured and all. “If there’s any ghostly residual energy hanging around an old brothel, it would be sexual in nature. Maybe we focus on that part,” she teased.
Zach’s face underwent a series of contortions, and for a moment Karen thought he was having a seizure.
Instead, he grabbed her hand and pumped it enthusiastically. “You are a genius.”
“Ummm, thank you?” Karen pulled her hand free and slipped closer to Finn. Some of his rigidity slipped away as she leaned in close and mock whispered, “What’s up with Zach?”
“It’s the question of the ages.” Finn’s voice was a rasp, threaded with pain.
“The answer to what we should call this place,” Zach inserted. “I mean, really. You’ve been giving me grief over all the fantastic names I’ve tossed at you, but now I get it. You were waiting for this perfect moment to arrive.”
Finn eased back against the support pillar in a position Karen recognized all too well as the one she used to take when her entire body throbbed.
Still he folded his arms and gave his friend his full attention. “We’re listening. I don’t know why, but we’re listening.”
“We’ve got to use something from the past of this place when we name it. Scarlet Station. Red-Light Ranch. Dance Hall Gertie’s.”
“Dear God, not Gertie,” Cody said quickly. “I had an Aunt Gertie. She had one eyebrow.”
Karen paused. “One…eyebrow?”
Cody held one finger above both eyes. He shook his head before looking thoughtful. “And maybe not something quite so blatant as red-light, but I like the idea of scarlet or red in the name.”
“Red Boot ranch?” Finn asked.
