Page 54 of All I Need

“Hold tight, okay? We don’t want her or her calf to go into distress and we need to keep her moving through this process quickly.”

Ellie’s head bobs up and down rapidly.

Together we pull the last little bit as I can feel Stormy’s body do what comes natural and right into Ellie’s waiting arms comes a wet, goopy baby girl calf.

Ellie’s body relaxes against mine, my legs still spread around her as she cradles the calf in her arms. Brett comes over to inspect her and to help get her cleaned up, making sure Stormy is ready to accept her new baby.

“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” Ellie whispers, her voice full of awe. “It was life,” she says, face upturned to mine and I can’t resist it a single second longer.

I lean down, grazing my lips against hers and she responds exactly how I prayed she would. With just as much desire that’s been flowing through my veins since the day I first saw her.

The kiss isn’t passionate or sexy. There’re no tongues involved. But, somehow, it’s so much more.

She reaches around with her not-gloved hand and places her small hand on my cheek before leaning back. Her eyes flutter open and I can feel her breath come out rapidly. I don’t know if it’s a result of the adrenaline that was just coursing through her body because of Stormy or the kiss, but I’m telling myself it was the simple kiss that was anything but.

“I told you it would be tough,” I tell her, knowing that when I said that earlier she understood I meant not giving in to our desires.

“That’s where you’re wrong. That was the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

She’s gonna be the death of me.

And what a way to go.

“You guys ready to leave Stormy alone with her new baby?”

“Aren’t you gonna name her?” Ellie asks, slowly standing up.

I stand also and we begin cleaning up, getting rid of the gloves and putting away the tools I used earlier.

“I think you need to do the honors,” Brett says to Ellie.

“Pardon?”

“Want to give our new baby girl a name?”

Ellie’s face lights up like he just offered her a million dollars.

“Hell yeah!”

I chuckle and we watch her, waiting for her to tell us the name.

“Oh, like right now? No. I need to think. This is a big deal. The name she’ll be stuck with her entire life.”

She’s something else. Who thinks they need to spend time worrying over the name of a calf.

Ellie.

Only Ellie.

“That was incredible, as usual, Courtney,” I say, dropping my napkin to the table and leaning back in my seat. I have to bite back a moan because of how full my stomach is.

“I take it you’re a fan of roast, huh?” Ellie looks at my plate and back at me with her eyebrows raised.

“It’s got nothing on lasagna.” I wink at her and she smiles, taking a sip of her lemon water.

The conversation throughout dinner flowed as if the four of us have been friends for years. Even though Brett and Courtney are about eight years younger than me, we’ve become pretty close. Brett’s parents used to run the farm he and Courtney live on now but a few years ago they were in a tragic accident. His mom died on the scene of the horrific car crash after a drunk driver crossed the center line, his dad passed away two days later. Brett doesn’t have any siblings but he’s never once acted like it was a burden to take over. He knew I was his dad’s vet and was honest that he needed a little help. Not that he’d never worked the cattle with him, but he didn’t want to fail.

He and Courtney work their asses off to keep the farmstead the way his parents did, to keep their legacy alive, and they do a damn good job at it.

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