The Cowgirl’s Secret Love: The Colemans of Heart Falls, Book 2

by Vivian Arend

  The truth was she did love her dad. She just didn’t like him very much, not right now.

  And that was okay.

  Unexpected sounds caught her attention. The loudest noise was Dandelion purring against her chest. Karen opened her eyes, suddenly aware the kitchen was unoccupied. Finn and Zach were nowhere to be seen.

  Shouts echoed from the front of the house, and she carefully put the kitten down before hurrying to the front door.

  Smoke billowed from the roof of one of the newly constructed cabins. She jammed her feet into her boots and headed out at a full-out run.

  The work crew poured into the yard from various places around the ranch. Karen caught up with Finn as he swung forward on his crutches at an alarming rate.

  “I hope you don’t think you’re going in there,” she informed him briskly.

  He gave her a quick glance before pulling to a stop. A sheepish expression slid over his face. “Of course not.”

  She wrapped her arm around his biceps to make sure. “Someone call the fire department?”

  “Might not need them.” Two or three men had hoses out and were soaking both the corner of the burning building and the nearest cabins. Smoke billowed up thicker, a greyish tinge forming like thunderstorm clouds.

  Meanwhile, Zach stepped from the cabin. He raised a fire extinguisher in the air as he shouted reassurances. “It’s okay. It’s out.”

  He made his way over to where Finn and Karen waited. Karen had never seen Zach look so serious as when he stepped in close, speaking softly. “Are the security cameras up and running yet?”

  Finn stilled. “Some. Why?”

  Zach glanced over his shoulder before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a partially burned chunk of cardboard. About two inches high, the unburned section had a familiar image on it.

  “That’s a fire starter box. Was someone already lighting the woodstove?” Karen asked.

  “Doubtful, considering the stove wasn’t hooked up. That’s the only reason we spotted this before everything inside the cabin went up in flames—the smoke escaped through the partially open chimney.” Zach’s expression grew darker. “The fire started under a worktable. I found the piece of box and the remains of way too big a pile of sawdust.”

  “You’re saying it’s arson.” Finn stared hard at his friend.

  “It’s possible it was an accident. If someone swept up a lit cigarette butt with the sawdust, it would’ve smoldered for a while before catching fire.” Zach glanced at Karen then back at Finn. “Want to call the cops?”

  “Check the security footage first,” Finn said.

  Karen shook inside at the idea somebody had deliberately lit a fire in a brand-new construction. “Catching somebody red-handed on the security tape would be great, but why wouldn’t we call the police right away?”

  Zach wrinkled his nose. “We want to keep moving forward,” he reminded her. “Arson investigations can take a while, which means shutting down construction for an unknown period of time.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. “You really think somebody deliberately set the fire?”

  “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know,” Zach said.

  Beside her, Finn’s unreadable expression was firmly back in place. “Let’s check the cameras first and see what we find. I don’t want to jump the gun and assume.” He laid his fingers over Karen’s. “We’ll make sure you’re safe. Just in case something is going on.”

  “Not just me. Everybody, including you guys.” Another concern she hadn’t even considered until this moment. “What about getting some guard dogs for the property?”

  “Security personnel as well.” Finn glanced at Zach. “First priority. Right now.”

  His friend nodded. “I’ll tell Cody about this so he knows to be on his guard, but beyond that, let’s keep it quiet. I’ll meet you at the house ASAP to check the video feed.”

  But the cameras were a bust.

  Finn sat back in his chair, disgruntled after having pulled all the stored data from the cloud. “Had to be a dozen guys in and out of the cabins along that row, and with no clear shot at the front door of that particular unit, I’m not ready to start an interrogation.”

  “Then start where you can,” Karen said. “I agree. I don’t think we should call everyone in and start asking questions. Get some security in place, and that should discourage any more of this kind of thing.”

  “Hopefully it’s enough.” He met her gaze. “You feel worried about anything, any time, you let me know.”

  “I will.”

  The rush of adrenaline slowly faded as Karen and Zach worked together on the cleanup for the rest of that morning. The task turned out to be reassuring. Nothing seemed super suspicious inside the cabin. Plus, other than it smelling like the inside of a smokehouse, there hadn’t been enough time for structural damage to occur.

  When they were finished, they carried their supplies and the couple of bags of wood scraps and sawdust onto the porch then propped the door open to let it air out.

  “It all seems pretty clear-cut.” Zach shook his head. “I’m just a suspicious bastard. I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.”

  Karen shrugged. “Bringing in security isn’t a bad idea. We need it up and running before Thanksgiving, anyway. We think living in a small town means nothing exciting ever happens, but people get desperate here as well.”

  “And desperation leads to mistakes and bad decisions.” Zach nodded, offering her a sly smile. “By the way, how did you manage to convince Finn to leave the cleanup to us?”

  “Me, convince him? He volunteered to cook lunch after he dealt with contacting your usual security guys.” When Zach’s jaw dropped dramatically, she raised a hand as if swearing an oath. “I know. I will take cleanup duty any day if means I get to go back to a home-cooked meal.”

  “As long as he’s not making mac and cheese,” Zach teased.

  She punched him in the arm good-naturedly then headed home to her man.

  The house smelled wonderful. The bit inside her that said this was a strange thing fought against the part that said it was a perfect thing and she should appreciate every moment.

  “Hi, honey, I’m home,” she called as she kicked off her boots and marched toward the kitchen.

  “Perfect timing.”

  After stepping through the doorway, Karen paused to take a good look in light of that full appreciation thing.

  He’d set the table with placemats, pretty plates, and an actual vase with fresh flowers. Tall glasses waited by each setting, but thankfully a very solid hint this wasn’t anything too far out of her wheelhouse was there as well—an industrial-size bottle of ketchup sat on the table.

  “You get to work for your lunch,” Finn informed her as he turned away from the counter. “It’s ready, but I didn’t want to juggle bowls and my crutches.

  “I have zero problem being your waitstaff.” She gestured him toward the table then hurried to grab the food.

  A moment later they were both seated at the table with steaming bowls of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches with crisp, perfectly browned surfaces in front of them.

  The smell alone made her stomach growl in anticipation. “It looks awesome,” she said.

  “It’s a comfort meal.” Finn grabbed the ketchup and put a healthy portion on his plate. “Usually I keep soup to wintertime, but it felt like a good thing to serve today.”

  Karen laid a hand on his arm. “It’s been a good day when it comes down to it. There wasn’t much we had to do to fix the damage. Zach now thinks it was just an accident after all.”

  “That’s good. I still have a call coming in from the security company, though. Should have them in place in the next couple of days.” He twisted until he could squeeze her fingers. “Eat.”

  The food was delicious, which got Karen to wondering. “We never did get a chance to do things like cook together. I mean, back at Whiskey Creek.”

  “I was too busy trying to
figure out how to crawl in your bedroom window without being caught,” Finn reminded her.

  She laughed. “We got up to mischief in so many places other than my bedroom, Finn Marlette.”

  “If by mischief you mean fooling around and sex, you’re right. And that doesn’t count all the places I thought about taking you.” He caught her fingers and brought them to his lips. Kissing them before turning the tease into a nibble. “I’ve got a list of all the things we’re doing once I get this cast off.”

  “I can’t wait,” she told him honestly. “But I’m serious about the cooking part too. It’s nice that we both like to cook. We’re not going starve.”

  “Is this when I’m supposed to say something cheesy like ‘we can live on love’?”

  “I would snicker, but I’m too busy enjoying my grilled cheese—what did you put on here? It’s delicious. Some kind of jam?”

  He pressed a finger to his lips. “I’m not giving you my secret grilled cheese recipe.”

  Karen leaned forward on her elbows. “Which means that you get to make them any time I get a craving.”

  Finn stuck out his hand. “Deal.”

  With a snicker, she linked their fingers and gave his hand a firm pump. The instant he let go, she snatched the final sandwich triangle off his plate, scooting from the table to where he couldn’t reach her.

  “Hey, give that back.” Amusement danced in his eyes.

  “No way.” A little sad that she didn’t have any ketchup to dip it in, she gobbled the section down, moaning as her taste buds lit up.

  Finn folded his arms over his chest and gave her a pretty good mock glare. “I ought to paddle your butt for that.”

  “Promises, promises.” She swung back to his side and wrapped her arms around him. The next step was to press a noisy kiss to his cheek. “That was yummy. Thank you.”

  He dipped his chin. “Thanks for the work you did this morning.”

  “Not a problem. It interrupted my—” Which brought back to mind another interruption from earlier in the day. “Shoot. Hey, when my dad called this morning, he said he’s been trying to get hold of your dad. You got a phone number I can pass on? Seems the one he’s got is no longer current.”

  Amusement drained from Finn’s expression, leaving his face grey under his tan.

  Karen pulled back with concern. “Finn?”

  He shook his head. “Last night you said something pretty powerful. About you and me and making this stick, and I’m with you all the way on that. Which means there’re no secrets between us. No real secrets, anyway.”

  Worry raced through her belly. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  20

  Karen pulled her chair closer and grabbed his fingers. “You’re kind of scaring me, Finn. Are you in trouble?”

  “What? No. This isn’t actually about me.” He made a face. “Okay, it is, but the trouble is the secret isn’t mine, so I had to get permission to tell you.”

  No way would she untangle that one, so she just sat and waited. She knew well enough that sometimes tough stories didn’t progress forward in a linear manner.

  Finn looked pensive. “The instant I left Whiskey Creek, I knew it wasn’t right. But you couldn’t leave either, so I had to go figure things out at home before I returned.”

  This wasn’t where she’d expected the conversation to go. “I don’t hold anything against you from back then, Finn. You made a promise to your parents. Kind of like I made a promise to the Coleman clan. Neither of us could up and leave.”

  Uncomfortable in a way she’d rarely seen, he took a deep breath and met her gaze straight on. “We went home. Me, Levi, and Duncan. Levi, as you heard, discovered he was soon to be a daddy, which has been nothing but a blessing in his and Chelsea’s life. But Duncan—the closer we got to being back at the ranch, the quieter he got, which is saying something.”

  Karen nodded. While she and Finn had been tangled up tight with each other that summer, and Levi and Lisa had run wild like colts, Duncan had been a quiet ghost who seemed content to be alone.

  Finn tore his gaze away and stared at his cast. “Levi and Chelsea got together. It was decided they would move into the ranch house with my parents until the baby arrived. There was plenty of room for them to stay. Then Duncan came to me and said he couldn’t keep quiet anymore.” Finn paused. “He said dad had sexually abused him. He didn’t trust the man to leave Chelsea alone or, down the road, to be around Levi’s kids.”

  An aching rock pit opened inside Karen. “Oh my God. Poor Duncan.”

  Finn met her eyes again. “I talked to him this morning, by the way. He gave me permission to tell you. Told me you needed to know as well, and he hoped you would try to understand.”

  She lost the thread at that one. “I don’t— Understand what?”

  The expression in Finn’s eyes reflected both red-hot anger and icy frustration. “Duncan refuses to press charges. He doesn’t want the attention or the media circus that sharing the information would involve. He said he couldn’t take it, but with Levi and Chelsea in the picture, he wouldn’t risk not saying something and potentially allowing it to happen again.”

  The entire situation was a tangled web. Being thrust into it the way Finn had must have been hell. And brave Duncan, struggling between hurting as a victim yet trying to save others.

  Karen squeezed Finn’s fingers hard. “I am so sorry Duncan had to deal with that. It’s just not right.”

  “It was a fucking mess,” Finn admitted. “Duncan was close to the edge. We almost lost him. I was so scared he would do something drastic, no way would I push him to be hurt any further. Levi had no idea, and as far as Duncan knew, neither did Mama.”

  Karen cupped Finn’s cheek, willing strength into him. “Your parents aren’t on the ranch anymore.”

  A single shake of his head as his expression hardened. “I only saw one solution that didn’t involve hurting Duncan more or leaving anyone vulnerable. I got my father alone and told him that I knew. He didn’t even bother to deny it. I told him he had one choice. He needed to leave the ranch immediately but make it seem as if it was his idea. I didn’t care how thick he had to spread the lies, he would convince Mama that they needed to move far enough to have a good excuse for never visiting.”

  The answer to Karen’s question was clear, but she asked it anyway. “And if he hadn’t agreed?”

  Finn didn’t hesitate. “Then he’d be dead, and I’d be in jail for murder.”

  The confession should’ve horrified her, but a rush of unexpected fire struck. “I’m glad you’re not in jail, but it’s no loss that he’s still alive. Which may sound heartless, but I keep picturing sweet Duncan. He didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”

  Once again, Finn hauled her into his lap, but this time instead of offering her comfort, it was her arms that curled around him. It was her murmuring soothing words and pressing kisses against his tear-dampened face.

  They sat together for a couple of quiet minutes before he gave a shaky breath. Easing back slightly.

  He pressed a kiss against the side of her mouth then dipped his head firmly. “It was the right thing to do, but following through was hell for all the reasons you can imagine. On top of it, I had intended on cutting ties as quickly as possible to get back to you, but the situation made it impossible.”

  “I’m so glad you were there,” Karen insisted. “I mean, what if you had stayed at Whiskey Creek? Oh my God—”

  “We can’t ask ‘what if,’ but I needed to tell you. I wanted to be back at your side not even an hour after I left.”

  She was a mess inside, and yet the pulse of love just beat stronger and stronger. Karen ran her fingers through his hair and stared at his face, memorizing the lines that hadn’t been there years ago. Understanding better where they’d come from, that they were the marks he’d earned doing a task no one could honour him for.

  “I love you. And we’re together now. E
verything you did just makes you more you,” she insisted.

  He curled a hand around her nape. “Only a few people know Duncan’s story. You, me, Zach. One other person—Alan, actually. Bruce knew as well, because I got started with him while I was dealing with the legal details of removing my father from the ranch. I spent a lot of time keeping an eye on my father in those days until my parents officially moved, and Bruce needed to know why. Hell, in the end he helped me set up things via Alan to be airtight from a legal standpoint.”

  She wasn’t really curious other than wanting to know for certain that Levi’s babies were safe. Yet… What about other kids? “Where did your parents move to?”

  “Québec City. They’re in an adult-only condo where Mama is completely happy. She enjoys city life and getting to socialize anytime she wants. Three or four times a year, she flies to Winnipeg where my brother picks her up to stay at the ranch for a week or so. My father is always too busy to join those visits. Mama believes it’s too difficult for him to go back to the ranch because of the memories. And my father is not allowed to work with children or be in a private setting with anyone but Mama. I have someone watching him—that’s part of what Bruce helped me arrange.”

  His words faded as if he had run out of energy to continue. His palms pressed against her back and pulled them closer together, not with physical hunger but a desperate, urgent need for connection.

  Karen held on as tightly as possible, giving with her touch, offering what she could with her words.

  “No more secrets. Just one step at a time toward our future.” She leaned back slightly, pressing both palms to his cheeks. “We’ll build a safe, happy place right here, together. Red Boot ranch will be our home. Levi and Chelsea and the kids will come and visit. You’ll tell Duncan he’s welcome to drive his eighteen-wheeler into the yard and stay anytime he wants. We’ll be all the family they need.”

  He dipped his chin firmly. The breath he took was still slightly shaky, but the love in his eyes was solid. “You’re all I need. All I’ve ever wanted.”