Page 23 of Sudden Summer

“No way. That had to be a fucking surprise of a lifetime. What happened? Her mom just showed up and plop her into your arms?”

Nothing about sharing this story with a stranger felt right. “Something like that.”

I slammed the truck to a stop, grateful for the timing of it all. Jumping out, Emmett moved the gate while I grabbed the calving chains and jack from the back of the truck.

We ran over to Travis, who was elbow deep inside the cow.

“What the fuck is the problem?” I barked.

“Calf’s got its face and one leg in position, but I’m having a hell of a time repositioning it for that second leg.”

“I can⁠—”

“Let me.” Emmett nodded as he interrupted me, rolling up the sleeves on his button down shirt. “I’ve helped in a presentation just like this before. It’s tricky, but I think I can do it.”

Travis pointed to the equipment he’d brought out with him on the ground. “Have at it.”

“Jesus, I’m glad you were here to catch this.” I patted Travis’s shoulder. “Fucking makes me sick when this happens in the middle of the night and we lose ‘em.”

“Calf was alive when I checked a minute ago, but it’s been like this for a while, boss. We still might lose ‘em.”

“Emmett?” I asked, watching as he stood by the cow, gloves covering his hands and arms.

“I’ve got to wait for this contraction to pass.”

I turned to Travis. “Have the calving chains ready. I want to help mama out as much as possible, and get this calf out as quickly as we can.”

He nodded, jogging over a few steps to where I dropped the chains.

“Okay.” Emmett turned his head towards me, his eyes closed as he tried to palpate the calf’s position. “He’s right. Retained limb. I’ve got to maneuver the calf back and see…if I can…oh, he’s a right rotten little thing. Let’s…go! I got it! Get me the chains.”

“You got both limbs and the head?” Travis confirmed.

“Yeah, I remember the rule of three. Let’s get this calf born, what do you say?”

“Sounds good to me.”

I watched Travis and Emmett work together to get the chains wrapped around the calf’s legs, which were now dangling out of our laboring mama.

“Grab the calving jack,” Emmett ground out as he began pulling the calving chains with the cow’s contraction. Little by little, more of the calf was born.

“Go back and forth…I’ve got a feeling this calf is a big one. It’ll angle the chest better for delivery,” Travis instructed as he handed over the jacks.

I watched, arms folded as the two men—one who wasn’t even technically my ranch hand yet—worked as a team to free the calf from its mom.

It took another contraction before the calf was fully born. Mama cow moved in quickly after that, not liking the time it took Emmett to get the chains off her baby. She spent time licking the little one clean before nudging it—encouraging it—to stand.

Relief swelled through my entire body as the calf perked up with the attention. Is this what Birdie felt like each time she watched new life come into the world? It was probably just a fraction of that, if I was being honest with myself.

My mind wandered to Juniper and her birth. That pit of anger and sadness burned in my stomach at the thought. I’d missed that with her, and it was something I’d never get back.

“Hey, I appreciate the help.” Travis extended his hand out to Emmett, both guys now out of their protective gloves, the birthing gear tossed once again to the ground.

“No problem, man. I’m Emmett, by the way.”

“Travis,” he introduced before turning to me. “You’re hiring this guy, right?”

“Yup.” I nodded, crossing my arms and pushing down all the emotions I had let bubble to the surface. “That is, if he still wants the job after that chaos.”