Logan ran a hand across a nearby cow. “Their coats are nice and thick. They should be okay for the night. Did you check the water tankheaters?”
“Yep. Everything’s working well.Noice.”
“They’re already huddling. That’s a good sign. I think they’ll be fine. I just wish they had been delivered earlier in the day so we could check them more thoroughly,”Logansaid.
“I didn’t see anysickones.”
“Ah shit.” Logan spotted the cow lying in the snow away from the herd. “The hind hooves and legs are already sticking out. We need to get the calf out as fast as we can. I’m going to need you toholdher.”
Logan yanked his dirty gloves off and ran to a pile of clean snow. He didn’t have enough time to run back to the house to scrub up properly. This would havetodo.
Hank knelt on the ground in front of the cow. “Good girl. We’re going to help you get thatbabyout.”
As Logan returned to the back of the cow, he noted another few inches of leg were out. With a mournful moan, the cow trembled. Normally he’d wait out the process unless he saw a problem, but with the storm coming, he needed to help her birth the calf so he could move both of them intothebarn.
“Hold her tight now. I’m going to have to use my jacket for leverage.” Logan slipped the jacket off and goosebumps instantly popped up under his shirt. He’d worry about the cold later; right now, he needed to getmoving.
After tying the jacket around the calf’s legs, he waited until she strained, and then he pulled. “Comeonbaby.”
The cow struggled as the calf slid out. The second the calf was free, Logan cleared its nose. When the calf took his first breath, herelaxed.
“He’s good. How’s she doing?” Loganasked.
“Looks weak. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get her to walk tothebarn.”
“Maybe if we pick up the baby, she’ll comewithus.”
“Rock, paper, scissors?” Hankasked.
“It’s on.” Logan grinned. They used the game to divvy up the ranch’s more unsavory tasks. He fisted his hand and tapped it against his palm in time with Hank. On the third tap, he flattened his hand and declared, “Paper.”
In the same moment, Hank formed scissors with his fingers. “Youlose.”
“Damn.”
Hank eyed the calf. “I’m guessing he’s around seventy pounds. He’s allyours.”
“Crap.”
Logan scooped the calf up and headed toward the barn. When he turned to find Hank half-dragging the cow, he smiled. Maybe he hadn’t gotten the shit jobafterall.
As he walked over a hill, he looked across to the Wrangler ranch. A light shown in a window near the back of the house. He wondered if Kate would be sleeping in the room, and if he’d end up curled up beside her onenight.
With a body like hers, he’d use every bit of his charm to get her into bed. He probably wouldn’t be so fixated on her if she wasn’t so mouthy. But women with that much fire in their eyes were usually tigressesinbed.
Chapter2
In the middleof the night, Kate startled awake. Disoriented, she glanced around the bedroom, half-expecting someone to step out of the shadows. Howling wind snaked through numerous cracks in the walls. Snow fell from the roof to thud against the side of the house. A mostly boarded-up window hid most of the pre-dawndarkness.
A sense of emptiness hung in the air, as if her father’s death had sucked all the ambient energy from the house. And maybe it had. When he’d been alive, he’d sucked the air out of every room he entered. Without his stifling presence, the rooms felt…lifeless.
She shivered and pulled the blankets up to her chin. Even with the heater on, the air had to be below fifty degrees. She eyed the fireplace on the other side of the room. She’d checked the flue multiple times to make sure it was closed, but cold air still wafted in fromoutside.
A stack of firewood sat next to the hearth. At least he hadn’t burned through all of it. She briefly contemplated starting a fire, but she couldn’t linger in bed today. She had worktodo.
However, after poking her toe out from under the blankets, she decided to wait five more minutes before getting out of bed. She wasn’t exactly eager to deal with the cold, or Logan for that matter. Why he’d insisted on helping her was a mystery—one she didn’t care to solve. She’d indulge him for today, but if he got out of line, even for a second, she’d kick him off herproperty.
Her property.It sounded so weird to think of it as anything other than her father’s land. She’d never felt at home here, even as a child. That was part of why she couldn’t wait to get rid of it. Too many badmemories.
