Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

B eau left the administration building and hurried down the steps. He'd just gotten a text from Finn that Charlotte had been working with one of their new horses "brilliantly" for the past several minutes.

Quite the crowd had gathered at the training ring where she had the tan-colored horse. He had darker brown hair that looked like it had been cut into shags and bangs, and Charlotte and another cowboy named Robbie both stood in the ring with the equine.

The other cowboys sat on the fence or clung to it, and Beau boosted himself up onto the rungs next to Finn.

"Hey," he said to the much younger man. He reminded Beau a little bit of himself—always with the positive outlook on life, full of laughter and smiles—and Finn turned toward him.

"Hey." He looked back into the ring. "She's so patient with them. It rivals Pete."

Beau nodded and asked, "Did you guys get the salt licks out?"

"Yep," Finn said. "Got back about twenty minutes ago."

"Great." Beau refocused his attention back in the ring where Charlotte and Robbie worked with the horse.

Valentine came to them from an overcrowded stable, and while the ranch didn't normally get unbroken horses, she'd definitely been one of the wilder ones. She could take a bit and accept riders, but she didn't like it. They'd only had her for a few days, and Charlotte had been trying to win over the equine from the first minute she'd arrived on the ranch.

Even now, she stood back and let Robbie use the flag to move the horse closer to her. Charlotte stood almost at the rail, and she looked dusty, sweaty, and downright gorgeous. Beau hadn't dated a lot of cowgirls—legit cowgirls—in his life, as he preferred a more girly, feminine woman.

Or, at least he thought he had. But watching Charlotte in her blue jeans and steel-toed work boots, her long-sleeved shirt that absolutely came from the men's section at The Boot Barn, and that oversized hat, and he dang near swooned right off the fence.

He climbed up and sat on the top rung like some of the other cowboys, content to watch for a few minutes. He couldn't believe he'd finally gotten up the nerve to lay some of his feelings out on the table, but it sure had felt good to do so. He figured now that Charlotte knew about his live-streaming, he didn't have too much more to hide.

Beau watched intently as Valentine circled around, her movements fluid but edged with a wildness that had yet to be fully tamed. The horse's mane flicked with each defiant turn, embodying the freedom she so fiercely clung to, and dust lifted into the air from her hooves. Beau's admiration for Charlotte grew with each passing second, with each time Robbie sent Valentine over to her and the equine dodged back; Charlotte's patience became a quiet force in the ring that expanded outward, her presence both calming and assertive.

Robbie looked at Charlotte, who gave him another nod, clearly telling him to send Valentine again. Out of anyone who worked with their horses, Charlotte had the calmest spirit, and they needed Valentine to trust someone.

So Robbie worked the flag, yipped at the horse, and forced her back toward Charlotte, who still stood by the rail. She didn't move. Didn't hold a flag. Didn't call or encourage the horse in any way.

She simply stood there, and they wanted Valentine to give in, stop being so stubborn, and approach her like a lady.

The thrumming energy of the horse pounded through Beau's chest, almost creating a second heartbeat within him. She possessed a power that Charlotte seemed to respect and understand. Her approach was different from the last Stable Master they'd had here at the ranch—less about asserting dominance and more about mutual respect.

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.

He watched her again, this time walking away from him and back toward the stable, a surge of protectiveness filling him from the bottom of his cowboy boots to the brim of his hat. He wanted to be the one who knew her signs, distressed or otherwise. He wondered if she'd ever admit to him that she was tired or overwhelmed or about to pass out.

She was such a strong woman, and Charlotte wouldn't want to admit any weakness. He suddenly understood the weight of responsibility Mason had been carrying all these years, and why he'd told Beau to keep an eye on Charlotte.

She won't admit it when she's not feeling well , he'd said.

His job wasn't just about running the ranch anymore; it was about caring for Charlotte, for seeing her through the storms of her health problems—because she would do the same for him. And in that quiet moment, with the dust settling and the cowboys dispersing and the sun dipping low, Beau realized that Charlotte wouldn't only become a fixture on his ranch. She was fast becoming the anchor in his life.

Oh, and he'd have to face her when they both returned to the cabin that night. He groaned inwardly, because they had a date on the schedule too, and he didn't want that marred by this afternoon's situation.

So, since he'd rather face her sooner rather than later, and he could work from the cabin, he returned there and stepped into the shower. He got dressed in date clothes for that evening, and he went through the schedule in the spare bedroom.

The moment he heard Charlotte come in, he abandoned his paperwork and headed out to the kitchen. She looked even dirtier than before, and he wasn't blind to how pale her face had become.

"Hey," he said.

She merely looked over to him as she hung up her hat.

"You made the sign for help," he said.

"I absolutely did not." She stepped toward him, her fingers curling into fists once, twice, before she released them completely. "You embarrassed me out there, and you interrupted a perfectly good session."

"I did not embarrass you," he said. "No one thought anything of it."

"How could they not?" She shook her head and dodged by him to wash her hands in the kitchen sink.

Beau had laid out some cards this morning, but he wasn't sure how many more to deal tonight. "I'm never going to apologize for taking one of my guys out of a dangerous situation," he said.

"I was not in a dangerous situation." She pumped the soap dispenser way too many times, pink foam filling her palms twice over. "We'd worked for forty minutes to tire her out. She'd just come over to me."

"You stumbled."

"She pushed me!" Charlotte shook her head. "I'm not going to explain it." She washed all the way up to her elbows while Beau tried to find a better explanation for what he'd done. One that wasn't him over-reacting.

"Maybe we need a new hand symbol," he said.

"There were a dozen men there," she said. "All I needed to do was turn to Kenny and say, ‘I need some help.' Case closed."

Beau moved in close beside her, the scent of lemons and sunshine coming from the soap. "But, Charlotte, will you do that?"

"Of course I will," she snapped at him, seemingly determined to be upset with him.

He slid his hand along her waist and drew her tight against his side. "Are you going to be mad that I worried about you?"

"Maybe," she said, clearly not willing to give in yet.

"I've pulled plenty of people out of a training ring before," he said. "I promise you, no one is going to think anything of it."

She dried her hands and rehung the towel over the handle on the oven. After drawing a big breath and then pushing it all out, she looked at him. "All right."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "You do look pale. And tired." He didn't want to suggest they not go out that night, so he didn't. He wasn't sure he'd even be able to get his voice to say something so contrary to what he truly wanted.

"Lovely," she said dryly. "I'm going to go shower. We're still going to dinner tonight, right?"

"I want to," he said, his gaze dropping to her mouth. She didn't wear lipstick for the horses, and he wondered if she would for him.

"Then stop crowding into me and let me go shower." She shoved against his shoulder, and he fell back the same way Valentine had earlier that day. "Jeez, you're as bad as her." She gave him a quick smile that seemed to carry some flirty vibes as she brushed by him.

"We need a new hand signal," he called after her.

"No, we don't," she called back, and then her bathroom door slammed closed, putting the final punctuation mark on the conversation.

"Well." He looked down at Pepper and Ruby, who'd been witnesses to the whole thing. "I suppose that could've gone worse and it didn't."

Ruby responded by turning and trotting over to her food bowl. She sat down next to it and looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah, all right," he said. "I'll feed you two, but then Charlotte and I are going out, and I don't want you to be tearin' papers off my desk while I'm gone. Ya'hear?"

Oh, they both heard all right. Whether they'd listen to him and leave his stuff alone was another story.

Once the dogs were eating, Beau retreated to his bedroom and closed the door too. He wanted to "pick Charlotte up" for their date, and that meant knocking on the cabin door and waiting for her to come answer it.

So he needed to finish getting ready and then make himself scarce for the next hour. Then, he might just be on his last first date. The thought made his heartbeat quiver, and he headed out to go spend some time with his mini donkeys.

He could tell Jasper, Sprout, and Tilly all about Charlotte—oops, he already had. But they didn't know about that afternoon's incident in the training ring, and they'd want to hear about it. Plus, then it would be off his chest, and they could talk about the forthcoming date too.

Then, he'd be able to return to the cabin at the appointed time for his first date with stubborn, smart, sassy Charlotte Wisenhouer.