Page 5 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
Swinging across the yard on her crutches at breakneck speed to where her dad always held their morning chore briefings, she took the final corner a little too fast and barely caught her balance. “Dammit.”
George Coleman turned toward her, his disapproval clear. “Watch your language.”
Karen held her tongue. Wasn’t as if her male cousins didn’t swear around the ranch all the time. But she was alady. She wasn’t supposed to know such words.
She stuck to apologizing for her real sin. “Sorry I’m late.”
Her father grumbled something before shaking his head. “You’re fine. Couple minutes early, in fact.”
Which was good because after that wild dash, she needed to find a comfortable position and take the weight off her leg. Only she had to make it inconspicuous so her father had no idea exactly how much pain she was in. If he knew, no way on earth would she convince him of the line she was about to feed him.
She eased against the wall. Unbidden, the memory rose of being in a similar position the night before, leaning against a firm, masculine body.
Damn it, Finn, why’d you disappear?
Distractions shoved aside, Karen cleared her throat. “I’ve been thinking. I know we need some extra help around here. You mentioned getting the cousins to lend a hand. I think that’s a great idea, but in the meantime, I could go to the Six Pack and Moonshine spreads and give them a hand with their horses.”
George Coleman was having none of it. “Bad enough you got hurt dropping off that horse for Mike. You don’t need to be messing around with new animals when you’re in this condition.”
Karen shrugged nonchalantly. “The accident at Uncle Mike’s was a one-off. That kind of situation happens once in a blue moon, and it was less the horse’s fault and more the trailer’s.”
Shit. Probably not a good thing to mention because she was in charge of horses, but her father was in charge of the equipment.
Sure enough, his expression folded into an even deeper frown before he shook his head vigorously. “No, I’ve given this a lot of thought. We need help, but none of the rest of the Coleman clan has hands to spare. So I contacted a buddy of mine.”
All the air rushed from her lungs. Number one because her father had asked for assistance. But the fact he’d actually gone outside the family? “You asked someone to come and help us?”
“Yep. Richard Marlette. Met him years ago, and we’ve kept in touch. His spread is out in Manitoba.”
Okay. The shock was beginning to ease, but Karen was still confused. Bringing in one extra man her father’s age to replaceherseemed a bit of an insult. The bigger trouble was Whiskey Creek ranch had been shorthanded for a long time, ever since Tamara left to go into nursing.Extrashorthanded, since her father was reluctant to let his daughters work all the tasks required for a full operation.
In the distance, a cloud of dust rose along the approach road to where they stood. A good indication someone was about to arrive at the ranch. “That him?”
Her dad turned as not one, but two, oversized crew-cab Fords pulled into the yard. “One step better. Richard said he’s in transition. Doing some shift over which means letting sections of land lie fallow, so his sons are at loose ends for the summer.” George Coleman glanced over his shoulder, pride in his expression as he dipped his chin firmly. “The Marlette boys will help take care of things for us.”
Karen already didn’t like them, these Manitoba intruders on her land. Some wet-behind-the-ears kids who, just because they were male, were already considered bigger assets than she and her sisters.
She somehow kept from growling. “I can’t believe you didn’t talk to me about this, Dad.”
“Nothing to talk about.”
Anger crashed in her gut as truck doors swung open, and well-worn boots and jeans and cowboy hats appeared. A moment later, three men—notboys—were walking toward them with a lazy cowboy saunter.
Karen only saw one face—
Finn.
Her flirtatious fantasy man from the previous night was front and center. He stopped before her father and held out his hand.
“Finn Marlette. Good to meet you, sir.”
“George Coleman. Glad it worked for you boys to come on out.”
Even as he greeted George, Finn’s gaze drifted to Karen. “We’ll do what we can to make this a memorable summer.”
Dear God, she wasn’t going to survive.
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