Page 32 of Eighteen Bowties and Counting

He had to admit, there was something magnetic about a woman who could hold her own in such a dance of wills. She didn’t even seem to be bothered by it. And she hadn’t moved, not so much as a shuffle or a sidestep.

She’s standing for a while, he thought, an alarm starting a low wail in the back of his mind. He had no idea how long she’d been standing like that before he’d arrived, and he stopped watching Valentine and kept his gaze locked on Charlotte.

He’d told Pete, Squire, and Kenny about her heart condition, but no one else. Kenny stood on the other side of the circle, half on the fence and half off, and he didn’t seem concerned about Charlotte at all.

Valentine huffed and shook her head, her ears going back for a moment. She retreated back toward Robbie, but she didn’t want to be near him either. The horse tossed her head and kicked more dust up into the air as she faced Charlotte again.

She settled slightly in that she moved into a slow walk instead of the more excited pacing movement she’d been doing. And she headed straight for Charlotte.

“Nice and easy,” Finn said, echoing the thoughts in Beau’s head.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Charlotte’s face, but she made no move to wipe it away. Valentine continued toward her, the twelve-hundred-pound animal no lightweight. Horses could be bullies, just like people. They had huge heads and a lot of teeth, and since Valentine was new, and Beau had never worked with her himself, he had no idea how to read her mood.

They’d clearly tired her out enough for her to acquiesce, but he didn’t know what would happen next. He couldn’t even predict it.

Valentine moved right into Charlotte’s shoulder, her head down, her nose right against the human. She almost looked like she was pressing Charlotte into the ground and refusing to let her move.

Beau’s pulse picked up, and Robbie yipped at Valentine again. Charlotte reached up and pushed her back, forcing the horse to give her some room. She did, thankfully, and the cowboys here knew better than to make a ruckus or start clapping.

That would only spook Valentine—and honestly, Beau worried it would “freak out” Charlotte too.

Valentine crowded her again, and this time, Charlotte wavered on her feet. She looked away from the horse. She reached up with her hand, and Beau clearly saw her two fingers pressed together.

The sign for H.

She needed help.

He didn’t waste a moment. Not even to breathe. Not to think. He jumped off the fence and hit the dirt running. “Robbie, get her away from Charlotte.” He lifted both hands above his head as Robbie circled around behind Charlotte and lifted the flag to force Valentine back.

The horse huffed again and backed up, then turned and trotted as far from Robbie and Charlotte as she could get.

“All done for today,” Beau said, his voice too loud to his own ears.

Charlotte turned toward him, a mighty frown on her face. That was his first hint that he’d done something wrong. “What was that?” she asked. “We finally got her over here.”

“Robbie, can you get her back in her stall?”

“Sure thing, boss.” He glanced over to Charlotte, a hint of worry in his eyes.

“No,” Charlotte practically barked. “I need the time with her.”

Beau did not want to have this conversation with her in front of everyone, but he would if he had to. “You…feeling okay?”

She blinked a few times, her eyelashes practically whipping up and down. “I’m fine, Beau.”

He edged in closer to her and lowered his head. “You made the sign for help.”

She stepped back, her ire like the heat of the sun. Even Beau wanted to put more distance between them. “I did not.”

“I saw you.”

She made the same huffing noise of displeasure that Valentine had made, and she grabbed the lead rope from the rail. “I’ll get her back in her stall.” She marched away from him, and she didn’t sway or stumble.

Maybe she was okay.

But he’d seen her lift her hand. He knew he had.

Charlotte acted with an air of resilience and professionalism, but she threw Beau one more daggered look as she led Valentine out of the ring.

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