Running Blind by Linda Howard

kids thought she was saying ‘Hey, Zeke.’ They called him Zeke and it stuck. He’s been Zeke ever since.” Kat shifted on her stool. “I don’t know what Aunt Helen was thinking when she named him. It was some family name on her side—a great uncle, I think. Maybe her grandfather, orher mother’s first cousin’s godfather. You know how it goes with families.”
    “Uh, yeah,” Carlin muttered wryly, thinking of her own name.
    Kat slanted a knowing glance at her, a look that carried more impact because of those witchy eyes. “So, you’re interested, huh?”
    “What? No!” Except she’d asked too many questions—not a lot, but about two too many. The last thing she needed in her life right now was a man, especially one who asked so many questions. So what did it matter to her if his name was short for anything? It didn’t. It couldn’t. She should keep her mouth shut, starting now.
    She shifted on her stool, put on an air of indifference. “Maybe he is a little hot,
if
you like the type,” Carlin conceded. Tall, hard, good-looking … yeah,
that
type.
Woo hoo!
She tamped down her reaction and blithely lied. “But he’s also a cowboy, and since you know the area and the people so well I feel honor-bound to follow your wise advice about avoiding the John Wayne wannabes.” Plus she wasn’t looking for any complications, but that went without saying.
    “You are so full of shit,” Kat said, grinning. Then her smile faded. “Okay, to be honest, I was kind of hoping that Zeke might hire you on as his cook and housekeeper. Since Libby left last year he hasn’t had much luck finding a replacement, and he’s getting desperate.”
    What?
Carlin felt the floor fall out from beneath her. Kat was letting her go? Why else would she be trying to find someone else to hire her? Talk about being blind-sided—one minute she’s relaxed, happy, joking with a friend, and the next she was mentally thumbing through the atlas wondering where she’d be headed next. She’d thought she had more time to grow her savings, plus she really liked Kat and this place, damn it. But lifewas what it was, and she’d deal. “You don’t have to find me another job. If this isn’t working out for you—”
    “No!” Kat said vehemently. “That isn’t it at all. I love having your help, and we get along great. It’s just that I know that business slows down every winter, and when that happens I won’t have the money to pay you. We’re good for a couple more months, but I was just trying to think ahead.”
    Crap. Carlin hated to think of leaving, but she’d known all along this was temporary. “When you can’t afford me any more I’ll move on,” she said sensibly. She’d keep an eye out for a decline in business, and if Kat didn’t let her go when that happened, she’d take care of it herself. It wouldn’t be the first job she’d quit since she’d started running. Usually she just left, without a word of warning and especially without any hint where she might be heading, but then the kind of jobs she’d had generally didn’t require notice. She wouldn’t leave Kat in the lurch like that. “I don’t want to be your cousin’s nanny, anyway. He struck me as a hard man to please, and life’s too short.” Besides, he was too curious, asked too many questions, and would probably balk at the idea of paying her under the table.
    “Just as well.” Kat’s eyes gleamed. “He wasn’t keen on the idea, either.”
    Carlin’s heart thudded hard. “You already asked him?” Her tone was just short of a squeal. Embarrassed, she cleared her throat.
    “I was just feeling him out. Don’t worry, he shot the idea down pretty quick, so I didn’t even get to the details about the way you need to be paid. He’s none the wiser.”
    Out of all that, what stuck with Carlin the most was that Zeke didn’t want her on his ranch. It was perfectly all right that she didn’t want to go, but the fact that he’d dismissed her out