Page 54 of September’s Cowboy Travis

I wiped my palm against my jeans before taking hers. “Beau Jordan.”

“I gathered.” Her hand stayed in mine for a beat longer than it needed to. Or maybe mine stayed in hers. Either way, I forced myself to let go first.

She tipped her chin toward Hank and Gus. “I'm assuming Mayor Nelson didn't lie about them being in the parade.”

“They're in.”

“And the exhibition?”

“Depends on what you mean by exhibition.”

She tapped at the tablet. That thing was going to become a problem.

“Draft horse demonstrations Saturday afternoon. Harnessing demonstration Sunday. Wagon rides both days. Opening parade Friday night.”

“No rides.”

Her head came up.

“I never agreed to wagon rides.”

“Okay.”

That surprised me enough that I took a hard look at her. She deleted something. Just like that.

“No wagon rides,” she said. “Is that because of the horses, the route, insurance, or you don't want to do them?”

“It's the crowds.”

She waited. Most people filled silence when I left one, but Caroline didn't. That earned her another point.

“Hank's fine,” I said. “Gus doesn’t mind at all. But you've got kids climbing on and off, parents taking pictures, people cutting behind the team, somebody dropping food. Too much can go wrong for no reason.”

She nodded once. “Then no wagon rides.”

I glanced at her tablet. “You're not going to argue?”

“Why would I argue with the man who knows the horses?”

“It happens more than you might think.”

“I coordinate events, Mr. Jordan. I don't drive Clydesdales.”

There was a difference between admitting you didn't know something and making yourself smaller because of it. Caroline managed the first without doing the second. I was starting to understand why Mayor Nelson had hired her.

Unfortunately, she wasn't done. “The photographs are another issue.”

“No.”

“You haven't even heard me out.”

“I don't need to.”

“I think you do.”

“The horses photograph fine without me.” I ran a hand along Gus’s neck. Unlike me, he loved preening for the cameras.

“Yes, they're gorgeous.”