Page 36 of Mountain Target

“I do. You were your mother’s biggest treasure, her happiness, Ren. Wherever she is, I know she’s watching over you. You should have told me, though. I would have come with you.”

“I know, but you’re doing so much already, Aunt Val. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Oh, Ren … you and I, we’re a team, aren’t we?”

Ren sniffed. “I guess we are.”

“We should get back,” Beau said gruffly, embarrassed to intrude into the intensely private moment. But his phone was down, still, and he wanted them off the mountain as quickly as possible. “How’s your ankle, Ren?”

Ren’s young face contorted into a pained grimace at the reminder.

“Let me see,” Valentina said, kneeling down. She didn’t take off the girl’s trainer, but began palpating just below the knee. When Ren didn’t complain, Valentina’s hand moved lower. She pulled the foot forward gently while keeping the leg still with her other hand. Although Ren gave a little cry, Valentina must have been satisfied by what she felt.

Beau ripped one of the sleeves of his coat, his hands tightening against the fabric until all at once it ripped at the seams, coming apart in one single long strip.

He offered it to Valentina, who thanked him quietly and tested it for strength before wrapping the makeshift bandage expertly around the girl’s foot, crossing it above and below the shoe several times before tying it off.

“There. Okay. Try to stand up. Gently,” Valentina said, supporting the girl to a standing position. “Can you put any weight on it?”

“Some,” Ren said, looking very pale.

Valentina nodded. “It’s probably just a sprain. But I’d like to get you to the hospital, just in case.”

“Come on,” Beau said, leaning down to scoop the girl up again. “Put your arms around me, Ren. Let’s get you to the car.”

If we still have a fucking car.

He schooled his expression as he tested his knee, but something must have shown in his face. Valentina looked up sharply at him.

“Are you okay?” Valentina whispered. “I can take her. I’m stronger than I look.”

He believed her, even though she and Ren were barely inches apart. “I’m okay. It’s just an old knee injury.”

Eventually, he felt Ren relax in his arms. “She’s asleep,” he said.

“What about your head?”

“My head?”

“It’s bleeding.”

He shrugged, hoping to project clear don’t-want-to-talk-about-it vibes, but she was having none of it.

“If you stop now, I can clean it, see how bad it is.”

“We can take care of that later. We need to get to the car now, Valentina” he said in a low voice. “I don’t know where the epicenter of the earthquake was, but this wasn’t it.”

12

Valentina

Clutching the slim envelope in her hand, and breathing easier than she had all evening, Val strode back into the ER, looking for Beau.

He was in one of the small, curtained boxes, his long legs dangling off the side of the bed he was sitting on. One of his hands clasped his phone. With the other hand, he pressed a bloody gauze against the side of his head.

“Hey,” she said, pulling the curtain back far enough to walk into the small space.

Beau looked up at her.