This time my phone rang, but I didn’t answer. Two seconds later it was going off again.
That wasn’t a good sign. I stopped and yelled for Mathias to hold up when I pulled the little device from my pocket.
My heart stopped a little when I saw Buck’s name on my phone. There had to be something wrong if he was calling me. I took a few gulps of air before I answered.
“Boss, I know you have a lot on your plate, but it’s Daisy. She calfed and is down. No matter what we do she will not get up. I needed you here yesterday. You know that you are the only human that can get her up,” he said before I could even say hello.
“Give me an hour and I’ll be there,” I told him and then I ended the call.
Mathias must have noticed and he walked back to where I was standing.
“I have to get back to the ranch. You coming?” I asked.
“What’s going on?” he asked as we headed back the way we came.
I filled him in before we started to jog again and I knew that he was on board to go back. My heart hoped that Taryn would go with us as well.
The jog back seemed to fly by and my lungs held out the whole way.
“I’ll get Ash and Taryn, you grab whatever you need to,” Mathias said as he ducked back in the house.
When I crossed the threshold, I headed straight to change back into jeans and boots. That way when we got back to the ranch I could have my boots on the ground and check in on my baby.
I was on autopilot as I changed and when I was buttoning up my pearl snap shirt, that’s when I heard a little cough from the doorway. It was Taryn, her coconut, kiwi, and vanilla scent drifted in but I was too focused on my task to look up.
“Sorry to bother you,” she said when our eyes met.
“You could never do that,” I promised. “Sorry, I’m just focused on getting back.”
“I love that you have a passion for the farm. Mathias filled us in. What can I do?” she asked as she walked towards me and finished the last two buttons on my shirt.
“Thank you.” I let out a breath to calm myself. “Daisy was my first bottle calf on the ranch. We have a weird connection, even if she’d run my ass over for a bucket of cow cake.”
“Oh, you have another woman in your life, huh?” she teased as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me on the lips.
When they met, I groaned at her taste… I wanted more, but Daisy needed me.
“I promise, you’re the only woman in my bed,” I said as I kissed her this time. “But it seems reality is determined to pull us back in.”
“Well, I want to meet this Daisy,” she told me, then bit her lip. “If you want?”
“I absolutely do. Pack a bag though. It’s just thirty minutes from here, and we can come back once I know that Daisy is alright, but we may have to stay the night.”
“I think I can handle that,” she smiled before turning and heading out of the room.
Taryn was the only one who really needed to pack, we all lived nearby.
We regrouped in the living room and Ash came and hugged me. They knew what she meant to me. This was why we were a pack. Having someone have your back but also understand, was huge.
“Daisy is a bitch, there is no way this is gonna keep her down,” he said when we both took a step back. I chuckled, knowing he was right.
To everyone else she was a whole problem, but to me she was my baby.
The ride back to the ranch was a tense and quiet one. I knew it was because of how stressed I was, and when I was like this, I had the tendency to bite people's heads off.
When we were about halfway back Ash tried to turn on the radio and I slapped a hand over the knobs. He didn't try again.
Taryn tried to give it a try, "Holt, do you just have cattle on the ranch?"