Page 69 of The Cowgirl's Secret Love
“Hey. You okay?” Worry painted Kelli’s expression.
Karen shook it off and forced a smile. “Wanted to know if you’ve heard anything more about the wild horses. How’s the gelding you pulled from the pack?”
“Marmalade. He’s doing okay. Still a little willful, but he’s behaving better since we started giving him jobs to do.” Kelli leaned back, absently piling more kittens onto her lap as she spoke. “I was hoping to get out and check on Thor and his harem sometime next week. You want to come? Love to have you along.”
“If it works,” Karen said slowly. “It’ll be busy during the next couple of months. I swear Finn and Zach hired all the seasonal workers in the community, and they all want my opinion on things.”
“No problem. I’ll let you know when I end up with a free day to go exploring, and if it works for you to join me, great.” Kelli cursed softly, peeling a kitten off her arm that had started using her as a climber.
Dandelion was sound asleep in Karen’s arm.
She stared down at him, the little bundle of warmth. So trusting. So fragile.
At some point she had to stop avoiding the day. She carefully placed him back with his adoptive siblings, the mama cat meowing as she adjusted position to let another kitten latch on for a meal.
Peaceful. Sweet and content.
A million miles away from the sensations swirling inside Karen.
“Well, I guess I should get going. I haven’t finishedmychores,” she said brightly as she got to her feet.
“Anytime. If you get a break in the afternoon, I’ll probably be working with Marmalade. You’re always welcome.”
Karen was just about to vanish below the level of the loft when Kelli called after her again.
“Oh. And I’ll see you at Tansy’s.”
Her pause was just long enough to feel uncomfortable, at least on Karen’s end. “That’s right. Girls’ night out is tonight, isn’t it? I can’t make it. Something came up.”
“That’s too bad. We’ll miss you,” Kelli assured her. “I’ll see you around soon. Tell Finn to heal up fast.”
“Will do.”
Karen kept moving, slipping into her day and forcing herself to work extra hard because when she was working, she wasn’t thinking.
And when she wasn’t thinking, that tight knot of frustration inside didn’t hurt as much.
Incredibly, she avoided Finn the entire day. It helped that at some point he and Zach took off to the bank to deal with paperwork regarding an error in charges that had to be dealt with in person.
Around five she got a text from Finn, but even that was easy to push off.
Finn:headed to Longhorn’s for dinner. Will swing by and grab you.
Karen stared at her phone for a minute before responding:not really hungry. You guys have fun.
She wandered around the house aimlessly for a good fifteen minutes before getting angry. That damn envelope was haunting her from the shelf. She felt like crying for no good reason, and she’d deliberately made it so that she was all alone instead of spending time with her friends or with the man who said he wanted nothing better than to be with her.
Foolish, irresponsible, and certainly deserving of having a shitty evening.
Something drove her outside to the fire pit. Finn had set it up with kindling, so it was a one match job to make things light. She sat in her chair, staring into the flames while the sun inched its way toward the mountains.
The stillness in the air felt unnatural. No birds chirped, and even the long grass beside the road seemed to be silent, the wind so light the strands were barely moving. Overhead, a hawk cried out. A lonely, eerie sound that brought goose bumps to her arms.
The predator on his own, looking for dinner.
Karen stared at the sky, one step away from crying.
Nearly an hour later, the familiar sound of crutches and a solo footstep carried across the deck then to the grass that led to the fire pit. The chair beside her creaked, and she opened her eyes but still avoided looking at him, staring instead over the distant mountains dusted with orange and pink.
