Courting the Enemy by Sherryl Woods

Author:Sherryl Woods [Woods, Sherryl]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2011-06-15T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Something had changed in that split second when Grady had looked into Karen’s eyes at Stel a’s. It was as if a light had gone off inside him, as if he’d been defeated. It wasn’t long before he’d made his excuses and left, leaving her staring after him in confusion.

She had told herself then that it would pass, that things would return to normal, that he would pop up when she least expected him at the ranch, but it hadn’t happened that way. Just as he’d disappeared before when she’d hurt him, he hadn’t been around for days now. Even Hank and Dooley, who had regarded him with suspicion from the beginning, had commented on his absence.

“Thought he was becoming a permanent fixture around here,” Dooley said, a hint of disapproval plain in his voice.

“Wel , he wasn’t,” Karen said defensively. Hiding her confusion behind anger, she added, “And we don’t have time to stand around gabbing about a man who had no business being here in the first place.”

“Fine by me,” Dooley said.

“And me,” Hank said fervently. “The boss never did like him.”

“I’m the boss now,” Karen reminded him. “You need to worry about what I like.”

Dooley’s eyes widened. “Are you saying you trust a scoundrel like Grady Blackhawk?”

“He’s not a scoundrel,” she said. “And what I was saying is that you both have work to do. Didn’t I ask you to finish checking that fence today? I saw another section down when I drove back here yesterday. We’re going to be moving the herd in a few weeks and I don’t want them wandering off our land.

We can’t afford to lose a single head.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Dooley said, his tone respectful, even if he was regarding her with a worried frown that suggested he wasn’t entirely certain she was in command of things.

After both men had left, she sat down with a sigh. Who was she kidding? She might be in charge, but she was only holding on to this place by a thread.

She knew wel enough what needed to be done, but she didn’t have the resources to make much of it happen. Lately it seemed she lacked the stamina as wel . She simply wanted to crawl under the covers and sleep the winter away.

For a brief time Grady’s presence had stirred her out of that depressing inertia, but now that he was no longer around, she couldn’t seem to shake it.

The welcome ringing of the phone jarred her out of her misery.

“Hey, girl,” Lauren said, her cheerful voice bringing a much needed smile to Karen’s lips.

“Hey, yourself. What’s up in Tinseltown? I need some hot Hol ywood gossip to perk me up.”

“Since when do you care about celebrity gossip?”

“It’s the closest I’m likely to come to having any glamour in my life,” Karen said. “Come on. Spil something absolutely titil ating.”

“Sorry. I’ve been holed up trying to learn my lines for this new movie. Brad Pitt could get married and I wouldn’t know it.”

“Brad Pitt did get married,” Karen pointed out with a chuckle.

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