Page 62 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
And he had Karen. A relationship that had so much hope and potential, he was determined neither of them would give up. That was the challenge he was determined to win. That was the most important thing in his world.
Even as the painkillers took him under, his thoughts swirled around finding a way to put a smile back on her face.
To put stars back into her eyes.
To put her back at his side. Forever.
14
Something had come over Finn, and Karen didn’t know if she should explain it away as a side effect of the drugs or her current mopey nature making her oversensitive.
He was constantly in her space. Every time she turned around, he was right freakingthere.
Handing her a cup of coffee. Poking his head around the corner when she came back to the cottage or to the main house for a break. Asking if she needed him to answer any questions.
In the barn.
Waving at her from the deck as she rode past on Starlight.
Hell, she was beginning to think if she crawled into the hayloft of the barn, she would find him there, sprawled out on the bales and ready to ask if there was anything he could do for her.
She stopped outside the horse stalls, trying to regain her equilibrium.
Starlight offered her a hello, nickering to entice her to come and give him a treat.
“You’re such a flirt,” she told him, but she obediently opened the gate and joined him in the stall. She fed him some lumps of carrot she’d brought along then stepped to the side and laid her head against his warm flank.
She stroked him a few times, feeling muscles twitch under his skin and soaking in his peaceful demeanor in a way that would’ve surprised a lot of people who weren’t comfortable around horses.
He whinnied, lifting his head and adjusting his front hooves softly, as if sensing her mood.
Karen stepped toward his head and wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent while trying to breathe out some of the frustrations she’d been drowning in for the last couple of days.
Pretty pathetic when even the horses know you’re out of sorts.
Knewandknew how to offer support.
So be it. Right now, it was either accept the comfort of the big beast or simply find a corner of the barn to sit in and cry. She hadn’t been so damn emo since she was a teenager.
There was no such thing as early thirties puberty, though, so this?
Annoying as hell.
“Karen?”
She snorted. It was Finn. She thought he’d been headed to the far side of the construction site where, for some ungodly reason, he checked on the work crew four to five times a day.
“In with Starlight,” she called. Because hiding in the stall without saying anything was just childish. Tempting, but childish.
He stepped into view, and she instantly went on alert. “Holy shit, what happened?”
Finn tucked his crutches under his arms to unbutton his shirt. The flannel dripped, and water ran off the brim of his hat and down his whisker-clad cheeks. “Water main malfunction. I need your help to get cleaned up.”
She gave Starlight a quick kiss on his nose and a farewell pat before shutting the gate behind her and joining Finn. “Come. Let’s head to the cottage. We’ll strip you down on the back deck.”
Finn growled his frustration as they made their way outside and across the yard toward the cottage.
“I don’t even have to ask where the problem is,” Karen said. The entire work crew scrambled frantically in the mud, a tall plume of water spraying skyward like their own homegrown geyser.
