Page 17 of Home Hearts Hooves

I remember she’d been crying; she wanted me to stay in Bellerelle, take a job at her daddy’s farm, get married, and start a family. She said she didn’t want to wait. No, she said she couldn’t wait. Couldn’t, not didn’t want to. Was she trying to tell me then? No. If shewaspregnant, she would have just said so. Wouldn’t she?

I rub the spot where the girl with Isabel’s eyes yanked a few strands of my hair free.

She’s wrong. She has to be.

My phone chimes, and I’m pulled out of my spiraling thoughts. It’s Atlas.

ATLAS: Sounds good. You can check onDaisy,her labor has just started.

I shake away the thoughts of the girl with Isabel’s eyes and head for the van. Daisy’s a heifer, so this is her first time giving birth. She’s only about one and a half, and we want to be sure we keep an eye on her. Last I checked, she was looking to have a decent-sized calf for her first run at itandso many things can go wrong.

I pull into the ranch, my mind still reeling from earlier, but as I step out of the van, a cold breeze sweeps over me, and my attention moves to the darkening sky in the distance. Shit, a storm’s coming. One of the doors on the milking barn slams closed and then swings open again.

“They’re getting the animals away,” Sally-May calls from the porch of the main house. I jog over to the milking barn and check inside, but it’s empty. I pull the door closed and latch it, adding the brace plank they keep beside it for wild weather, then head down towards the right paddocks.

Atlas is pushingclosedthe stable doorswhenI arrive.

“They’re all away. The guys are down with Connor; they could probably use a hand,” he calls, and I head that way.

Cows are smarter than people give them creditfor,they’ll often herd together, looking for shelter from storms, so it’s no surprise to me when I see the large barn doors wide open and the full head of dairy cows, and one quirky donkey, inside lying on straw beds. Conner is coaxing the last of them in with the others.

“Do you need any help?” I yell, and he points toward themini barnthat sits at the back of the cuddle cove area. I asked Connor once why it was called a cove when it’s not even that close to Beaker River or the new pool, and he laughed and said they took a vote between cave, cove, and commune. I’m kind of glad they didn’t choose commune.

“Dean’s in with Daisy,she’sbeen calving a while now, can’t move her,” Connor says, and I rush over.The wind whips my face, flinging my hair to the side as I jog towards the mini barn. The trees dance to the windhowlinglike it’s playing some song only nature can hear. To me, it sounds like the Earth is getting ready to open up and swallow us whole. I pick up my pace. I didn’t miss this in the city. One of the best things about being surrounded by tall buildings is that the wind met blockers at every turn, out here, on ranches like the Beaker Brothers, it can swirl and build as much as it wants, and right now, it’s looking and sounding pretty fucking scary. I hope the little girl got home okay. TheMoore’sfarm is further out than this place. If she’s with her mama orgranddaddyshe’ll be fine. They know the places to bunker down if you get caught out in wild weather, I think, but there is an unease swirling in my gut I just can’t shake. I don’t even know if I am her father yetandalready the need to protect her is there. That’s crazy, right? It’s just nerves about the storm, about me in the storm. I hate storms, it’s not some weird paternal instinct kicking in. She didn’t say I was her dad, just that I could be. My thoughts start to spiral.

I try to ignore them, push them down like the cyclone in my gut, and pull open the mini barn door. Dean is kneeling beside Daisy as she lies on her side, making breathy huffs as her contractions come and go. She looks really fucking tired, and Dean looks worried.

“Thank god you’re here. I think it’s too big. She’s been going for a while nowandit’s not coming,” Dean says when he sees me.

I don’t have time to worry about me right now,I think, shooting Dean what I hope is a reassuring smile.

“Looks like we’ll be pulling a calf tonight,” I say, stripping off my jacket and hanging it over the rail beside his hat. It’s his favorite, I’m sure of itbecausenine times out of ten when I visit, it’s the one he’s wearing.It’s weathered and worn and probablybeentrampled on, too, judging bythelooksofit, but it still looks incredible on him.

The small barn is probably perfect for Daisy. It’s away from the others, and there’s a good amount of fresh hay and strawoverthe floor. It’d be better if she were on her feet, but it looks like she’s not going to stand for us, so I position myself behind her.

“Hold her tail,” I tell Dean, and he moves to crouch beside her back to keep it out of the way and prevent it from flinging me in the face. I reach in with one hand and can immediately feel the hooves of her calf.

“This is a big one,” I tell Dean, and his worried frown spreads deeper across his forehead. At the beginning of the year, he lost a calf that was too big for the heifer calving. Tonight, I’m here, and I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.

“Grab me that rope,” I tell Dean, and he reaches across to untie it from between the stalls. I make a loop and then push it in, feeling my way to hook it around the front hooves.

It’s like trying to lasso a snake in the mud while wearing a blindfold and someone has hold of both arms andis pushing andpullingon them.I know Daisy can’t help bearing down on each contraction. She wants this baby out more than anyone.

“Okay, got it. Sorry, Daisy, this is not going to be fun, but we’ll get this calf out of you. You’re becoming a mama tonight,” I say, and I swing the rope around my back and grab hold with my other hand, prop one foot on the stall postand start pulling. The first hoof immediately comes out a little, and my heart rate jumps, excited that this might not be as rough as I thought. But then it goes back in on the next contraction. I can tell Daisy is trying to help, but it’s big and she’s tired.

“Dean, get back here and help me,” I say, and he positions himself behind me, wraps his arms around my waist, and heaves me back. In one large oomph, the front legs are out, and I can just see the nose.

“Keep going, come on, Daisy girl,” I say, and after a few more heaves, the calf slips the rest of the way out, and we fall back with anoomph,I’m on my back against Dean’s chestandhis large arms are around me. Heat spreads through my body every place we connect, but as much as I’d love to just lie here wrapped in his arms, I can’t hear the calf breathing.

I roll off him and crawl over to where Daisy is licking its head and neck.

“Good, Momma,” I say, clearing the calf’s nose.

“Is it okay?” Dean asks, but I don’t answer, because right now I don’t know.

“Come on, you can do it, little one,” I say, rubbing its chest in a circle to stimulate its senses.

“Doc, is it okay?” Dean asks again, his voice breaking just a little, and sending a small pang to my chest. The calf stirs, sucking in a breath, and I fall back on my ass, giving Daisy more room to keep cleaning its fur.

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