“Hey there,” Eli called as she moved toward the front.
Sarah stepped around the stall and walked down the long barn until she reached Eli. “Hey. Cows okay?”
Eli snorted. “Right as rain. Carmen didn’t want nothing to do with him this morning. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Poor Buddy.”
The grin on Eli’s lips took Sarah off-guard and warmed her belly again. Sarah nodded toward the bottle. “Is that for him?”
“Yup. Here.” Eli handed it over. “Mix this with that and then shake it up.”
“Okay.” Hesitating, Sarah dumped the water and then the formula into the bottle as Eli watched her carefully. With a little more direction on when to stop with the formula, she closed the lid, put her finger over the top of the nipple, and shook.
Eli was doing something with papers, writing something down. When Sarah leaned over to see what she was writing, she noticed the time and amount written onto the chart.
“Keeping track?”
“Got to. Otherwise I forget.”
“How much does he get a day?”
“A lot.”
Sarah sighed as she continued to shake the bottle. Eli put her hand out, covering Sarah’s to stop the shaking and sending shots of delight through Sarah’s arm and up into chest.
“Let’s see.” Taking the bottle from Sarah, Eli studied it before handing it back. “You get to feed him.”
“W-what?”
“You named him. He’s yours now.”
“I...what?”
Laughing, Eli grabbed Sarah’s free hand and dragged her down the barn and back toward the stall where she’d already been a couple times that day. “Come on, you get to feed him today.”
Sarah’s insides were in knots until they reached the door and Eli let go. Eli slipped inside and beckoned Sarah forward with a wave of her hand. Sarah followed carefully, not quite sure where to step or what to do, but Buddy knew, clearly. He saw the bottle and came right up to her.
Her shoulders tensed as he got right up in her business. Eli chuckled again and stood next to Sarah, grasping the bottle with both of her hands. When Sarah glanced over at Eli, there was a grin on her lips, one side pulling up higher than the other as her eyes danced with delight.
“Hold on tight. Both hands.”
Eli’s much larger hands covered hers, holding them firmly to the bottle as Buddy mouthed the nipple. The first tug caught Sarah by surprise, and her arms jerked forward from the strength of the calf.
“Sarah, tight.”
“I got it,” Sarah muttered.
“Good.” Eli’s voice was gruff and sharp, but her breath was warm on Sarah’s cheek as they held onto the bottle together, their shoulders brushing.
Sarah had to swallow hard when she looked from Buddy to Eli, their gazes catching. Turning back to Buddy, she focused on him and clenched her jaw when he gave a particularly hard suckle on the bottle. Eli eventually let go and let Sarah finish feeding him on her own, no doubt once she felt Sarah wasn’t going to mess it up any.
Buddy sucked the bottle dry, and when Sarah straightened her shoulders she was surprised when he tried to find some more. Laughing and grinning she turned to Eli but was stunned into tense silence by the look she received. Eli’s face was withdrawn, her brows furrowed together, and her jaw clenched tight.
“Did I do everything right?”
“What?” Eli was shaken from whatever she was thinking. “Yeah, yeah. He’s just selfish and wants more.”
“He’s not selfish. He’s a growing boy.”