His chest tightened. “I’m sorry, that’s terrible.”
Constance didn’t look him in the eye. She twisted her hands together, wringing them so tightly that they turned white.
James nudged her with his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll do fine this time.” He glanced back at where the foal was protruding and fought the instinct to go check while Constance was with him. Something looked wrong. As much as he wanted to assure Constance that everything was going the way it should, he got the distinct feeling he needed to do a thorough check on Calliope. His heart beat a little faster and he bit back a frown. It almost looked as though a hind hoof had come out rather than the front one.
They made it to the corral and Constance closed the gate behind them. He forced an encouraging smile. “Why don’t you go get me a big bowl of warm water and some rags.” He didn’t need any of that, but he needed her gone so he could investigate.
Constance nodded, hopping through the bars of the fence and running toward the house.
“Okay, Calliope, what do we have going on?” He ran his hands softly yet firmly along her back as he moved closer to her rump. His stomach dropped to his knees and a dark cloud hovered overhead. He didn’t want to be right about this one. He’d hoped he’d seen it wrong.
But there it was, plain as day. The foal’s hind hoof had come out first. He pulled out his phone and dialed one of his assistants at the clinic.
Chloe Roberts picked up on the second ring. “Hello, Dr. Pratt. What a pleasure.”
He turned and faced the house, making sure Constance didn’t make a sudden appearance. The last thing she needed to overhear was that her foal might not survive this birth. James raked a hand down his face and sighed. “How soon can you bring some supplies to the Callahan ranch?”
There was a pause on the other end. “What do you need?”
“I’m going to need a horse epidural and some lubricant. The horse is displaying signs of dystocia with a posterior presentation. I’m going to try to turn the foal around, but only if you can get here in time. Otherwise, we’ll have to make do and pull the foal out as fast as possible to prevent suffocation.”
“I can be there in ten minutes. Maybe less if I speed.”
“Just get here in one piece, will ya?” He hung up his phone and shoved it in his pocket just as he saw Constance emerge from the house with a large bowl in both hands. She had towels draped over her shoulders. Though she walked carefully, her pace was still a little too fast and the water sloshed over the side of the bowl with each step she took.
He opened the gate and gestured to where he needed her to place it. “I need you to find a few more things.”
She nodded, her gaze wide. Shoot, she could tell. He could see it in the way her beautiful brown eyes darted toward Calliope, then back to him. It was almost like she was dancing from one foot to the other. “What do you need?”
“We need something to tie up her tail to keep it out of the way. And rope.”
“Rope?”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he placed both hands on her shoulders. “There’s a complication.”
Terror crossed over her face like a flash of lightning. She tore her focus from him and toward her horse. Constance attempted to pull out of his grasp, but he held firmly to her shoulders as she muttered, “I knew it. I knew something was going to go wrong. I don’t want to lose another one. Last time the vet said this might keep on happening—”
“Constance.”
She was in a tailspin, and she wasn’t going to do him or Calliope any good going down that path.
“I wasn’t here last time. And we caught it early enough that I think I can turn it around. But if I can’t, I need you to remain strong. You have to push aside all your fears and help me with this.”
He hated the way she seemed to be crumbling in front of him. If he could, he would pull her into a hug and assure her that the foal would survive. But at the moment all he could say was what he felt, and that wasn’t a guarantee. He tilted his head and studied her. “Do you think you can do that?
She nodded though she didn’t look like she was convinced.
“Okay. Go get what you can find. I have my assistant coming to help. With a little bit of luck and some prayers, you should have a brand-new foal within the hour.”
Constance sprinted toward the house once more. On the other side of the property, Dax was with his girlfriend Sarah working with a horse. If things went south, he might need Dax’s help to pull the foal out. Hopefully, Dax didn’t still hold the whole night at the country club against him. It appeared he’d patched things up with Sarah.
Once he made sure Calliope was stable, he made his way over to the couple. Dax stood on the outside, a proud smile on his face as he watched Sarah do the rounds with her horse. He glanced in James’s direction but didn’t let his focus linger.
“What do you want, Pratt?”
James folded his arms on the top metal rail. His eyes followed Sarah, but his mind was still back with Calliope and Constance. “Have you ever birthed a foal before?”
Dax lifted a brow and turned to face James. “I’ve helped once or twice. What’s going on?”