by Vivian Arend
It was her hind leg. She barely used it when she moved. With the added weight of the baby, the mare was having a hard time keeping up.
The escape from Silver Stone the other day probably hadn’t helped matters, and guilt rushed in.
Wild animals always had difficult challenges to face. If Karen hadn’t chased them, cougars or a pack of coyotes looking for dinner were always in the area. Injured beasts were culled by others in the animal kingdom all the time.
Karen tugged the reins to the side and slowly led Starlight far enough away to avoid spooking the herd before she increased tempo and returned to the cottage by a different route.
She kept herself busy because waiting for Finn was easier while distracted.
Tuesday night there was a thing down at the elementary school with her nieces, although listening to grade threes play recorders was more like torture than distraction.
Still, it meant that when Wednesday came around, it’d been more than a couple of days since she’d seen Finn.
Zach stopped by the house before she’d finished her first cup of coffee. “Finn sent a text. The doctor’s in after lunch, so Finn won’t get parole this morning. I’m headed to Calgary to do some shopping until he calls to say he’s ready. Don’t count on his arrival until maybe suppertime.”
“Not a problem,” she said. “Why don’t you stay when you drop him off?” She offered him a wry grin. “Maybe he’ll be on his best behaviour if we gang up on him.”
“Are you ever delusional.” Still, he gave her a wink. “You know he’s probably going to be a bear to deal with.”
She paused, wrapping one arm around herself as she cradled her coffee mug in the palm of her other hand. “You ever break a limb, Zach?”
“Nope.”
Karen tilted her head at him. “He gets to growl all he wants. At least at first. Later we’ll get him to behave, but speaking from experience? I bet he’ll get here and pretend like everything is hunky-dory. Heck, I bet he asks for a coffee at some point, when what he really wants is to go lay down and not move for a good twenty-four hours. I love my sisters to pieces, but nurses are assholes. Every single time I’d fall asleep, someone would come by to take my temperature or draw blood. Or they’d take my blood pressure and then tell me I needed to relax.”
She got a full-on laugh out of Zach at that one. “I bet you’re right. Okay, how about this? I’ll be in town anyway. Why don’t I grab whatever we need for supper before I pick up Mister Bear?”
“Sounds like a plan.” They tossed a couple of menu ideas back and forth before Zach took off and Karen headed to work.
If she spent some of the day distracted by thoughts of Finn Marlette lying in the bedroom next to her that night, she’d write it off to the overactive imagination gene that obviously ran rampant in the Coleman family.
Finn was itching to leave by the time he’d gotten the doctor’s approval.
Conditional approval. She stared him down, this teeny thing who didn’t look old enough to have finished high school let alone gotten her residency.
Dr. Sydney Jerimiah stood behind her clipboard and gifted him with a high-voltage stare. “No pressure on the leg whatsoever. That means no accidentally walking on it for the next six weeks. You understand that’s not a suggestion?”
He shook one of his crutches at her. “Pretty sure that’s why you gave me two of these. Also, with the angle you set my leg, I have zero chance of walking.”
“Imagine that.” Her firm expression slid into the barest hint of a smile. “While it’s the correct angle to fix your particular kind of break, you’ll thank me later that your foot is that far off the ground. I figure I have zero chance of keeping you out of barns, and casts don’t shake off manure quite as easily as cowboy boots.”
“Thank you.” The words came out gruff, but he meant them. He extended his hand and offered a firm handshake.
It was almost another forty minutes before Zach got there, which barely gave Finn enough time to get dressed, considering the damn cast.
He’d forgotten that even though he’d mutilated a pair of his jeans by cutting them off at the thigh, he still had to get the waistband over his foot in the first place. With the immovable cast in place, he was barely flexible enough to bend that far. Some fairly complicated wrangling ensued, and by the time he did up his zipper, he was sweating. Not to mention pain had flared hard enough that he didn’t plan to do any more moving than necessary.
“Ready to blow this Popsicle stand?” Zach slid into the room, pushing a wheelchair. He eyed the abandoned jean fabric sticking out of the garbage can. “Looks like you’re ready to roll. Literally.”
“You’d never make it on the comedy circuit,” Finn informed him bluntly.
Zach tossed Finn’s bag over his shoulder, gesturing him toward the wheelchair. “Don’t argue. I swear you can abandon the wheels at the exit door.”
“Not arguing,” Finn snapped.
His friend tossed him a sympathetic glance then shrugged. “I’m guessing you’re in a lot more pain than you’ll ever admit. Tell me to shut up if I start getting on your nerves.”
Finn sighed. Great way to show his appreciation by biting Zach’s head off over nothing. “You haven’t done a thing. I’m just…”
“I get it. Honest. No reason to apologize.”
There was a reason the man was his best friend.
Somehow Zach got him up on the truck seat and into a position that didn’t make Finn feel as if there were ice daggers driving into his skull or his leg. When Zach turned the music on quietly then didn’t say a word for a good half hour, Finn closed his eyes and let the painkillers wash through his system.
His phone went off.
Zach spoke up quickly. “It’s your brother. You’re set to Bluetooth through the truck, if you don’t mind me listening in.”
“Answer it. You’ll get all the dirt later anyway.”
A moment later, Finn’s middle brother was on the line. “Sounds as if you picked a bad time to go kitten hunting.”
“The ferocious beast is doing fine from what I’ve heard,” Finn said. “Hey, Duncan. I’ve got you on speaker. Zach’s here as well.”
“Hey, Zach. You need me to send you a box of duct tape to slow my brother down for the next while?”
Zach laughed. “I think we’ll be okay. The doctor has him wrapped up plenty tight.”
“Full-length cast,” Finn offered. “I’m not riding anything but shotgun for a long time.”
“Like what Karen Coleman had that summer we were at Whiskey Creek?” Duncan offered a soft whistle. “Damn. Sorry to hear that.”
“I’ll be fine.” Finn glanced at his friend in the driver seat. “How’d you hear I got hurt?”
“Not from you the way I should’ve, dumbass.”
“That’s what I told him,” Zach informed Duncan as an aside.
Duncan snorted. “Yeah, he probably didn’t want me to worry. But I am worried. You take care of yourself, Finn. Let people take care of you. I know it goes against our stubborn nature to be anything less than self-sufficient, but when you need it, help’s the best thing in the world.”
Tangled emotions whirled in Finn’s gut. It was good to hear his brother talking about help as a positive thing, but the fact Duncan had dealt with enough bullshit in his life to need help still infuriated Finn. “I’ll do my manly best to accept help when it’s offered.”
“I’ll hold you to that. I hear differently and I’ll be pissed.” A rumbling sound echoed in the background. “Heading into a weigh station, so I’d better make this short. Next time don’t leave it up to Levi to let me know when something happens. And I mean it about taking care of yourself.”
“I hear you,” Finn told him.
“Good. And Zach, always nice to hear your voice. If my brother’s a dumbass again in the future, I expect you’ll let me know.”
Zach outright chuckled. “I’ll put you on speed dial. Keep your wheels turning.”
“Ten-
four that,” Duncan signed off.
Finn stared at the ceiling of the truck and attempted to recalibrate his world. This wasn’t what he’d hoped to be dealing with at the moment, but there’d been a lot of unexpected things over the years.
In the big scheme, breaking his leg was only a temporary glitch.
He glanced at Zach. “Don’t you go gossiping to my brothers without asking first.”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I told them. Duncan’s the size of a brick shithouse, and Levi’s kids are so adorable they can sweet-talk me into anything. You’re only my best friend. You carry way less clout.”
Finn snorted, the noise grinding into a groan. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
“Speaking of which.” Zach tossed a bag on the dash. “I filled your prescription. Keep ahead of the pain or you’ll regret it.”
Something other than pain snuck in. “You think I made a mistake agreeing to move into Karen’s cottage?”
“You worried about that? Nah, it makes perfect sense.” Zach shrugged. “I know you have a goal in mind when it comes to this thing with her, but for right now, take your brother’s advice to worry about yourself and healing. That’s all this is about, really. Moving into the cottage will make things easier for you.”
“Going to make it harder for Karen,” Finn grumbled.
“Only if you’re a grumpy bastard,” Zach retorted. “Look, I know you’ll want to go full speed ahead as soon as you can. I’m okay with you helping with whatever tasks fit in between taking time to heal. And if you need me to come over to help pull on your pants every morning and take them off at night, I’m there. Zero obligation on Karen’s part.”
“Don’t be too sure I won’t take you up on that. It’s a bloody nightmare trying to get dressed.”
“I wondered about that. Skip the jeans and wear sweats—we’ll buy some big enough to fit over the cast. Also, there’s this grabbing tool I saw when I did a search online, so I ordered you one. Should be here tomorrow.” Zach flashed him a grin. “Just because I offered to help you get dressed doesn’t mean I actually want to see your ugly mug that early every morning.”
Whether it was the painkillers or the whole experience, Finn found himself a little shaky as the truth escaped. “Glad you’re my friend.”
Zach coughed into his hand. “Damn. I need to try some of your drugs.”
“Asshole.”
Beside him, his friend was all but chuckling. “Love you too. Now, shut up.”
They passed the final part of the ride in companionable silence.
Zach parked with the passenger door as close as possible to the cottage path. He let Finn handle his crutches and getting out of the truck on his own, instead storming up the walkway, bags in hand as he rapped his knuckles on the front door. “Uber Eats.”
The face of an angel appeared as Karen slid the door open and gestured them in. “Thank goodness. I was about to eat dessert first.”
Finn made it through the door and into the living room without falling flat on his face, which was a pretty damn good first accomplishment. “I see nothing wrong with starting with sweets. You going to kiss me hello?”
Zach snorted but kept walking into the kitchen area.
Karen blocked Finn’s path, fists balanced on her hips and her brow raised. “You’re either loopy or you’re feeling better than expected.”
“Let’s go with I’d feel even better if I got a kiss.”
Yeah, he was pushing it, but—
Shit. He was pushing it.
He met her gaze. “Probably should blame that one on the drugs.”
But she stepped closer, their bodies right in contact, and lifted her lips to his. “Welcome home.”
The connection was over too fast and not nearly as intimate as he craved, but it was sweet. Both the kiss and the sentiment, and he’d be happy to take it for now.
She stepped aside and gestured him forward. “Come on. We’ll get some food into you, and then you can crash. If you’ll forgive the expression.”
A kitten dashed across the floor, ducking under a chair to stare at him. He smiled but left the creature alone for now.
Finn settled at the table when he realized the cottage wasn’t the same as it had been the last time he’d seen it. Even as Zach put the take-out bags on the table, Finn glanced around the room to categorize the changes.
He turned back to Karen. “You took out furniture.”
She nodded. “And an area rug. It was extra stuff that wasn’t really needed. I remember it being a pain in the butt to manoeuvre in our crowded living room when I had my cast. Kept banging into things, and not only is that hell on the furniture, it doesn’t feel so good.”
But her living room had stayed exactly the same the entire time she’d worn the cast because none of them had thought to fix the situation for her.
Regret rose, but he pushed the emotion aside because the only way to make it up to her was here and now. “Thanks.”
The food didn’t taste like much. He did the best he could, but after pushing things around on his plate, Finn was two steps away from nodding off right there at the table.
“Head to bed for a while,” Zach suggested.
Finn attempted to snap himself awake. “I’m fine. Maybe a cup of coffee.”
It didn’t seem the kind of comment that should’ve set Zach and Karen off laughing the way it did.
She came close enough to place a hand on his shoulder. “Just like I know it will be easier without the extra furniture, I know what you need right now is not a cup of coffee.” Her voice got softer, her gaze gentle yet still insistent. “Stop fighting, buttercup, and do the right thing. Come lie down.”
For a fiercely independent individual like Finn, accepting help to rise out of the chair and head down the hallway kicked hard in the ego.
When Karen went to lead him into the master bedroom, he paused, some weird mixture of hope and confusion working through his brain.
“That’s your bed.” Which was exactly where he wanted to be, but not in his current condition.
“Not now, it isn’t,” she said. “His stuff is on the chair in the corner, Zach. Give me a shout if you need a hand.”
“Will do.” His friend’s cheerful answer ricocheted through Finn’s brain like an out-of-control ping-pong ball. “Come on, man. You look like the walking dead. Give it up, and I’ll help you get ready for bed.”
Between hitting the bathroom and ending up flat on the mattress, a whole lot of details vanished. He heard Zach and Karen talking, but it was much easier to close his eyes and listen to the whoosh of blood rushing past his ears.
He felt like crap, and he hated that he was messing up Karen’s clean sheets, but getting any kind of words out was a fail.
The edge of the bed dipped slightly, and Karen’s sweet scent surrounded him. He breathed deep to take in as much of her as possible, because if this was a dream, it was a pretty good place to begin.
“No idea…” He forced the words, fighting to stay awake.
Fingers against his face. “Relax. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
It seemed vital to get this out. “No idea what you dealt with. Thought I knew. Hell if I did. Going to make it up to you, chérie. Every little bit.”
“Shhhhh. Go to sleep.”
Another soft stroke along his jaw then down his neck. Her hand landed on his chest. He caught her fingers in his and gave a gentle squeeze, just holding on.
Keeping her close, right where he needed her.
11
Finn: How are you feeling this morning? Hated to leave you last night.
* * *
Karen: I’m amazingly well-rested. Someone worked me over hard, and I slept like a log.
* * *
Finn: It was my pleasure.
* * *
Karen: Oh, I totally meant the other guy who crawled in my window after you left.
* * *
Finn: Careful…next time I’ll refuse to leave your bed.
/> * * *
Karen: You getting caught in my room would make it tough to keep this fling a secret. I don’t need sleepovers. I’m just glad you didn’t give up because of my stupid broken leg.
* * *
Finn: You have no idea. Having tasted you, touched you—fucked you—you think a damn cast can stop me from enjoying every minute we can find?
* * *
Karen: That’s dirty. And hot. And you dealt just fine. I wish you didn’t have to deal, that’s all.
* * *
Finn: Ma chérie, for the privilege of unwrapping you, I will do more than deal with a simple cast.
~late summer, Whiskey Creek ranch~
She had an appointment the next morning. It was probably a good thing, though, because being babied was the last thing Finn would want.
Although, she did stand in the doorway of the master bedroom for too long, staring at his scruff-covered jaw. His body was relaxed, one arm thrown over his head. The sheets were tangled over the mass of his cast, his naked chest partially exposed.
He didn’t look completely comfortable, but that was to be expected.
She snuck in and straightened the blankets as best she could without disturbing him then headed out.
The three interviews she’d arranged for that morning were barely done when her phone went off with an alert.
Julia: you have time for lunch?
* * *
Karen: I’m already in town.
* * *
Julia: buns and roses?
* * *
Karen: can be there in ten minutes