Page 68 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
Zach held up a hand. “We just told you it was a really good idea.”
“And we will check the money part before we start, but that won’t take long,” Finn told her.
She shrugged again as if they were both slightly confused. “Oh, by the way. Cody wanted me to tell you guys he found one box of plumbing elbows, but the whole case looks as if it was driven over a few times by a tractor. We’ll have to reorder those.”
Finn stifled his curse.
“Hey, Zach.” Karen changed the topic. Happiness shoved into her tone. “Someone was teasing you earlier about the bachelor auction. I never did hear the details about your winning date. Who bought you? Where are you taking her?”
“Rose Fields,” he said with a smile. He raised a hand at the soft whistle that arrived with his announcement. “Don’t go getting all excited. She already told me this is not adatedate. Brad and Hanna’s wedding is next week, and Rose wants a date who promises to dance with her as much as she wants. She put that into the auction contract.”
“Like that’s a hardship,” Finn drawled.
Zach laid a hand on his chest and attempted to look long-suffering. “Don’t know how I’ll survive. A pretty woman wants to spend the evening in my arms? Sheer torture.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Karen headed one way and Zach another. Finn made his way slowly back to the cottage because he’d had enough.
But Karen’s strange reaction kept coming back to mind over and over again. Why would she be all excited to share an idea yet be shocked when they moved on it?
If Finn had been trackingher down before, he would’ve had to work doubly hard now. Karen caught herself actively hiding from him.
From going into her bedroom early to getting up while it was still dark—which meant hellishly early at this time of year when by five a.m. the sun had already cracked over the horizon.
Of course, if she knewwhyshe was hiding from him, it would make things easier.
The little touch of sex had only whet her appetite, so it wasn’t that. She couldn’t wait until he lost the cast, or at least wasn’t popping painkillers on a regular basis, because she knew from experience there were ways to get creative even while he still wore the awkward contraption.
She just feltshitty.
He certainly didn’t need somebody with a rotten attitude stomping into his world and making life more difficult.
She took herself off to Silver Stone to chat with her sister and visit with Kelli.
The cool sweet scent of the Silver Stone barn made the tension inside ease slightly. Karen found her step slowing as she wandered through the barn in search of her friend.
One of the barn cats paced slowly on the ridge of a stall. It paused to stare at her with glittering green eyes, slowly twitching its tail.
Some of the peacefulness inside Karen slipped away.
“Hey. Didn’t expect to see you today.” The voice drifted from above. Kelli stood at the edge of the hayloft, her arms folded on the railing. “Come to visit Dandelion Fluff?”
It was as good an excuse as any. “Partly. Partly to see you.”
Kelli gestured toward the ladder attached to the nearby wall. “Come on up. You can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.”
The top of the ladder opened into a loft like any other, with neat rows of sweet-scented hay arranged with military precision. Kelli sat on a low section, and as Karen approached, a mess of kittens came into sight, all crawling around the natural playpen formed by one slightly lower bale.
“You’ve been the Pied Piper,” Karen teased.
“I had early chores. This is one of the treats I give myself when I finish,” Kelli said. “Sasha and Emma always want to know where the babies are. That’s my excuse for why I track them down.”
Kelli caught one of the tabbies, lifted it to her face, and rubbed noses.
“It wouldn’t at all be because you’re a soft touch for a cuddly creature, because, of course not.” Karen scooped up Dandelion. “Hello, sweetie. Did you miss me?”
She got the most satisfyingmeowas he opened his little pink mouth. She pressed him against her chest, and he nuzzled her throat, little paws digging in.
The tightness inside returned with a vengeance, and now it was at the back of her throat, making it difficult to swallow.
