AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Huh.” Evelyn grinned at her. “I was going to say twenty-four. But that’s good. You’re not so young that you don’t know what you want. I was fucking stupid at twenty-four.”
“I’ve been running the Heron since I was sixteen.”
“Oh, honey. You’ve never been a kid.”
She shrugged. “No, and that’s why I was trying to have fun with this trip. Hell, I even went to college near home. This is the first time I’ve ever been away for more than a weekend.”
“Maybe selling the Heron wouldn’t be a bad thing. Set your mom up in a cute little house, and go travel. In fact, I’d take you here in a heartbeat. You’re a natural with the horses.”
Kendall straightened. “You would?”
“I would. I love having you around.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Just know that you have options.”
Kendall nodded slowly. “Thanks.”
“I have to put this big baby back in his stall. I’ll see you up at the house?”
“Yes. I need to get cleaned up.”
“A bunch of us are going to Starrla’s. You should come.”
“Wow, there are people actually going? I thought that was just a line that Lon was feeding me.”
Evelyn laughed. “It’s the only place to go, really. I feel like dancing tonight.”
“Maybe I will.” She stroked Porthos’s neck one last time, then headed toward the new stables. The whir of a skill saw and the echoing snap of the nail gun almost made her turn around. Her head was already slamming from being out in the sun too long.
A coating of hay dust made her itchy, and all she wanted to do was pop a few ibuprofens and stand under the shower spray for an hour, but she hadn’t seen Shane all day.
She liked seeing how much the space transformed from the morning through the afternoon. The crew worked hard, and despite Shane’s growly nature, she spotted him smiling at the top of a set of scaffolding outside the stables. With a blowtorch in his hand?
“You’re not going to burn down this almost perfect establishment, are you, Oscar?”
He smiled down at her, his teeth a slash of white against the grime on his face. A sweat-soaked black tank hugged his chest and tight abs. Battered jeans hung low on his hips with a heavy leather belt keeping everything in check. Too bad. She liked the dimples just above his truly spectacular ass.
He dragged his leather-clad hand across the toasted wood. “Just accenting some carving.”
“Is it safe to come up?”
He nodded toward the ladder that made up the end of the scaffolding. She climbed, reaching for Shane’s outstretched hand. God, he was even more breathtaking up close. What was it about a sweaty man doing manual labor?
He tapped the brim of her hat. “What have you been up to? I missed you this morning.”
“I was at the stables. Needed to clear my head.”
He raised a brow.
“Your things made it to the B and B. I’m going to have to tell my mom what’s going on.” She really didn’t want to do that until she was home.
“You should have told her a while ago, Kendall.”
The skin between her shoulders tightened. She hated when he called her by her name. Lately he only did it when he was perturbed. “I know. I just know how she’s going to react, and I don’t want to deal with it.”
“How’s she going to react?”
