“Then yes, we can go.”
“Okay.”
The timer sounded through the kitchen, drawing Sarah’s attention back to the oven. It was just the distraction she needed in that moment. It was going to be a long few weeks if she couldn’t figure out Eli. One minute Eli was sweet and the next she was sharp and brusque. It was confusing as hell, and unfortunately, as much as she had wanted to be the only one here, she really wished she had someone else with her to distract and buffer the two of them.
Chapter 7
Dinner had been pleasant enough,the conversation quiet but the food was excellent. Every time Eli thought she was making progress in pulling out the strands of who Sarah was, Sarah would pull back into herself. She wasn’t surprised. Someone of her position, even if she wasn’t the most popular and well-known musician in the world had to be careful, but Eli had hoped being at the house would help in some ways to ease that tension.
It probably didn’t help that she herself kept sending mixed signals. Eli had to keep reminding herself to rein herself in, to pull away from the flirtatious and inappropriate, and back toward being a good hostess. She’d called Mrs. Hargrave after dinner to ask if they could meet later in the day, which wasn’t a problem since they were also planning on attending the sausage supper.
The alarm had gone off way too early for her liking, but three in the morning was a necessary evil that time of year. Instead of rain that night, it had started snowing. It was light enough she could at least still see a good distance if she kept the lights off on her truck, and she could see the barn from the house. However, it also made it that much more dangerous for her cows to be giving birth and for the calves who were born.
She made her way out to the pasture, picking a new place to stake out for a few minutes as she followed the movements of her cattle from a distance. They were used to her, knew her truck, and often when they heard the vehicle, they would come running. Betsy was the first one to see her and come forward. She was the old maid of the group, and Eli had chosen not to inseminate her for the past few years, knowing Betsy’s time was coming to an end.
Eli had kept some of her calves, sold others—mostly the bulls. She needed to keep the cows so she could breed them in the future. It was a system she had continued from her father when he’d been the main rancher there for years, though his operation had been much smaller since he’d also been the town vet and didn’t earn most of his income off the cattle.
Betsy shoved her face into the window of the truck, and Eli laughed. She partly rolled down the window to rub against Betsy’s neck, cooing at her. “What are you doing, girl? I don’t have any hay for you tonight.”
Betsy snorted.
“Oh, get off your high horse. You’re not the most important one around here.”
Laughing, Eli shoved Betsy’s face out the window and cranked the handle to raise it and keep the snow and cold out. Sure enough, one of her cattle down the way was giving birth. She paced back and forth and looked agitated. Other cows surrounded her in the cold.
Eli put her truck in first gear and stepped on the gas while releasing the clutch. She moved slowly through the field until she could get a closer look. Snow fell around them, sticking to the fields below, but most of her cattle continued to eat and mosey around.
“Carmen, is that you?” Eli squinted to try and make out the different markings on the cow as she paced. “You rascal, youwouldgive birth today, wouldn’t you?”
It took Carmen another ten minutes before she finally laid down on her side, her legs stiff and her breathing heavy. Eli held her breath as she watched. The other cattle backed away, giving Carmen space, but didn’t go that far off. Eli was on the edge of her seat as she watched.
This was one of her favorite parts of ranching. Even if it was tedious. Watching her cattle do what they were supposed to do, and then seeing the fun little runts run around. They were so energetic and playful when they were young. Smart. But they certainly got stupider as they got older, and fast.
Carmen’s breathing picked up, and Eli witnessed her pushing the calf out. All in all, it took less than five minutes for the calf to be born. Carmen, however, didn’t move like she was supposed to. She got up and then stood over the calf. She didn’t bend down and check on it, didn’t start to clean the babe off or anything.
“Come on, Carmen, don’t do this.”
Eli checked the seat next to her to make sure she had everything she needed. With the temperatures dropping, she wasn’t going to wait too long to see if Carmen was going to do what she needed to. Maybe one of the others would come by and teach Carmen what to do next. It was her first year calving, but if this was how it went, Eli was going to have to reconsider inseminating her next year.
Another minute ticked by. Eli grabbed the bag next to her as she jumped out of her truck. If she didn’t get the sack off the calf quick, it could die. She walked rapidly the rest of the way to where Carmen still stood, probably in shock from what had just happened. Eli patted Carmen’s neck and tried to lead her down to the calf on the ground, but she didn’t budge.
“Come on, cow. This isn’t the time for this.”
Kneeling down, Eli pulled at the sack with her bare fingers to move it from the calf’s face and nose. Then she rubbed the calf’s chest to make sure it woke up. When its tiny hooves rustled against the grass, Eli focused on Carmen. Standing up, Eli stalked over to her cow and patted her back and then shoved her hand with the blood from the sack in front of Carmen’s nose to get her to smell.
“Carmen, deal with your calf already. You made it; you take care of it. That’s the deal, remember?”
Carmen didn’t really move or even acknowledge anything Eli said, not that she expected her to—she was a cow after all. “Come on, girl. Just check the baby out.”
The cow made no move. Eli tried for another few minutes before she bent over the calf and pulled the rest of the sack off. She tried again and again to get Carmen to pay attention, but the cow wanted nothing to do with her offspring. Giving up, Eli draped a blanket over the calf’s body and rubbed him until he started to move. It took longer than she’d hoped it would, but eventually the calf stood up on its wobbly feet.
“Well, what am I supposed to do with you now?” Eli curled her hands under the calf’s body and heaved as she lifted. Shoving him into the passenger side of her truck, Eli let out a grunt as she shut the door. The heat would help the baby out. Until then, she was going to remain annoyed with Carmen.
With the heat in the truck on full blast, Eli drove to her lower pasture to check on the cattle there. With nothing amiss and no other cows giving birth that she could see, she headed to the barn. The small calf next to her, much smaller than she’d expected from Carmen, nudged his nose into her face.
“Stop it,” Eli muttered and pushed at him. She was going to have to figure out a name, assuming it lived through the next few nights. Carmen had looked fine, but she would have to make sure to check on her the next day and maybe bring her up to the barn and see if she’d like to reclaim her offspring when she was a bit more rested. If not, her nightly duties were now also going to include bottle feeding a newborn.
She made it to the barn and wrapped her arms around the calf, bringing him inside. She settled it into one of the stalls and removed the blanket after rubbing the calf’s body some more to finish getting some of the blood off. She’d have to clean him up better assuming Carmen still wanted nothing to do with him in the next few days. Until then, she needed the calf to smell like his mother.