Chapter 3
Tanner slowedFury to a stop and read the email on his phone from the Town Council. “Shit. I don’t have time for this.”
“Don’t have time for what?” Brody brought his horse closer. “I thought you said culling out the pregnant cows saved time.”
Stuffing his phone in his jeans’ pocket, he rubbed the back of his neck. “Not that. Keep separating them. Some are ready to start calving and with the monitors still down after the last storm, we’re going to need a man on watch.”
“So what don’t you have time for?”
Sleep. That’s what he didn’t have time for lately. They needed to hire another cowhand or two, but that meant time, too. “It’s the Town Council. They just emailed me asking a dozen questions. I’m going to have to ride in and answer them. They want them by close of business today.”
Brody’s brow lifted. “Today? They do know we’re running a ranch, right?”
“Obviously not. They must think we’re sitting on our thumbs just waiting to find out what our fate is.” Movement in his peripheral vision had him turning. He raised his arm and pointed. “Nash! Better get that bull away. He’s sneaking up on you.”
Nash swore and turned his horse around.
Once he was sure his cowhand had the animal under control, he turned back to Brody. “I’ll just make it short and sweet.”
“Uh-uh. Since when is that going to satisfy the Town Council. You saw Dad’s request. It was a flippin’ twenty-two pages long.”
Irritation flared. “I don’t have time to write a damn book.”
Brody held up both hands. “Hey, relax. I’m not suggesting that. What I suggest is that you compose it then replace me out here, and I’ll add to it.” He grinned. “You know I have a way with words.”
That was true, whether it was a letter to a supplier or a woman just in town for a few days, his brother could change their mind. Brody’s idea was sound, but it rankled. He should be able to handle it himself. He was the eldest. He was supposed to be taking over in twenty years. Then again, his father always said a good leader was one who knew how to tap into the strengths of those around him. “Fine. Finish getting the pregnant cows separated without letting the bulls and steers disrupt everything. I’ll be out as soon as I finish the rough response.”
“Great.” Brody turned his horse and headed for the other side of the herd.
Tanner kicked Fury into a gallop and headed back to the house. Part of him wanted to just ignore the Town Council altogether, but he owed it to his father to give it his best shot. It wasn’t as if he’d figured out any other way to keep their small ranch viable. None of this would be happening if Bill Hayden hadn’t convinced the Town Council that they should turn the land adjacent to their northern border into conservation land even though his dad had already made an offer on it.
If that five-hundred-more acres was part of Rocky Road Ranch today, they’d be fine, not dancing to the Town Council’s tune once again. At least Bill Hayden didn’t sit on it anymore. His conservation land stunt had earned him enough popularity to gain a seat in the state legislature where he could screw up more lives.
As he galloped across the ranch, the all-too-familiar anger grew. He didn’t want Rocky Road to turn into a dude ranch. But even as he gripped the reins, his mind spun in circles, trying to figure out another option.
Once near the barn, he slowed Fury and walked him inside, giving the horse a brief respite from the desert heat. Looping the reins over a hook in the stall, he checked that there was water before making a beeline for the house. It had to be after three already. If he’d been any farther west, he wouldn’t have had phone service. That was another thing on his to-do list. Find some way to boost the signal. Maybe he’d put Brody on that too.
Opening the door to the house, two sensations hit him at once, the cool air from the air conditioning and the scent of vanilla, her scent. He slammed the door at the reminder that there was a Hayden under his very roof. It amazed him that he could forget that even for a few hours.
“Come on, Jeremiah. You need to at least try it.” Amanda’s voice was coaxing. “You don’t really want mean old Tanner or the easily distracted Brody to feed you for the rest of your life, do you?”
No sounds followed, though a niggling hope had surfaced that there would be an answer.
“Me? Oh no, I’m not staying here the rest of your life to feed you. And no, Valeria isn’t either.”
The voice of the occupational therapist followed, and he walked in the opposite direction. Mean old Tanner? He wasn’t mean. He was nice. He was one of the good guys, but he couldn’t expect a Hayden to recognize that. True, he wasn’t easy going. No, he was…he was serious. He had a lot going on, that’s all.
But she was right about Brody. He was always being distracted by the next new thing. Actually, he was surprised his youngest brother was still at the ranch. He had no doubt the only reason Brody stayed was because Jackson was overseas.
Sitting down at the desk, he powered-up the desktop computer. Digging in his pocket for his keys, he unlocked the file drawer on the bottom right side of the large desk and pulled out the file on the dude ranch. Since his father had his stroke, he’d avoided it like last week’s leftover gizzards, but it looked like he’d have to delve into it now. He pulled up the email on the desktop and read the attachment.
“Shit. How the hell am I supposed to know what kind of traffic will be added to Black Spur Road?” He continued reading the questions about everything from food service certificates to building permits to emergency evacuation protocols. “We’re screwed.”
He glanced at the five-inch-thick folder sitting on the desk. Could his father have all the answers in there? It wasn’t like he could just go in the other room and ask him. Opening the folder, he found the original twenty-two-page request. Setting that aside, he discovered a site plan done of the property with new buildings added to it.
Leaning back in the leather chair, he studied the map. Why hadn’t Dad shared this with him? Even as he asked the question, the answer came. Because he’d argued against the dude ranch since the moment the idea was introduced. A strange ache in his chest caught him off guard. It was a mixture of hurt, regret, and shame. He’d let Dad down.
He sat forward and placed the site plan to the left of the computer. There was no way in hell he would fail his father a second time. Re-reading the top question, he began rifling through the file for the answers he needed.
He spent the next hour and a half digging through the paperwork and answering the numerous questions. To his relief, most of the answers were there and anything he couldn’t find, he talked around it. Hopefully, they would just ask clarifying questions on those. As he searched through the papers spread on the desk for the answer to the last question, quiet footsteps sounded down the hall. Glancing at the time on the computer, he froze. There was no way he’d get Brody in to finesse what he already had. He barely had time to finish it.
Frantic now to get it all completed in the ten minutes remaining, he stood and started piling documents in one corner. He’d seen the information on traffic estimates and road improvements somewhere. It was on letterhead of some sort.
“Hey, do you have a minute?”
He didn’t need to look up because he knew it was Amanda and his frustration mounted. The last person he had time for right now was a Hayden. “No. I don’t. If I don’t find this damn estimate for this email in the next five minutes all my father’s efforts will be for nothing.”
“Oh, well let me help. What are you looking for?” Her shadow came over the papers.
He looked up, ready to yell at her to get out of the light, but her soft smile took the wind out of his anger. “It’s a paper with letterhead that talks about road traffic and repair.”
“Okay, I’ll take this half of the desk and you take that half.”
Part of him said to tell her to get out because he didn’t want her to see everything his father planned, but the clock was ticking and he had no choice.
As she immediately started searching, the decision was taken from him.
Swallowing his panic, he fingered through a pile of papers interrupted by a map, which he threw to the side. He still needed to word the answer correctly and get the email off. Flipping over the top half of the pile, he started through the next half. It had to be―
“Is this it?”
He looked up to find her holding out a piece of letterhead from an engineering firm. He grabbed it and scanned it. “Yes!”
Sitting back down, he quickly put in the numbers the Town Council wanted, typed in a quick sincerely along with Tanner Dunn on behalf of Jeremiah Dunn and hit ‘send.’ He glanced at the clock. It was one minute until five. Collapsing back in the chair, he let out a breath.
“It looks like you’re planning some improvements to Rocky Road.” She held the site plan in her hands.
Jumping up, he pulled it from her. “Possible improvements.”
She hooked her finger over her shoulder. “I sure hope your rocky driveway is one of them. Oh, is that what that paper was about?”
He held his arm out for her to leave the room. Taking the hint, she walked out ahead of him, and he locked the door behind him since he hadn’t had a chance to lock everything back up in the file drawer. “You wanted to talk to me?”
She waited in the hall for him to finish with the door, but didn’t move when he faced her. “Yes. It’s about Jeremiah.”
That she didn’t smile when she said it had his gut tightening. “Is everything okay? Do you need more equipment?”
She waved off his questions. “No, I have everything I need. I just have a concern and a question, but it’s a little delicate.”
He’d been about to move toward the kitchen, but changed his mind. There was no need for Dad to overhear anything. “Then please continue.”
“Could you tell me when your mother died?”
“What does that have to do with―” Her hand on his arm stopped his thoughts altogether.
“Please, don’t get upset. I’m just gathering information, so I can best motivate your father.” She dropped her hand.
His mother’s death had almost killed his dad. “I don’t see what this has to do with motivating my father.”
“No, that’s not…what I mean is…can you just answer the question first?”
“We never talk about Mom around Dad. I advise you not to as well.”
“I understand.”
She kept staring at him with her blue eyes, willing him to tell her what she wanted to know. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t find out in the town records. It was public information after all. “She died fifteen years ago of respiratory failure.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened before she looked away. “I thought it was more recent. I’ll need to think on this.” She started to head down the hall.
He caught up to her and grasped her arm. “Wait a minute.”
She halted.
He let go of her, regretting his action immediately. He knew better than to grab a woman. What the hell was wrong with him? He stifled an apology as she looked at him, her eyebrows raised in question. “Why did you want to know when my mother passed away?”
Instead of answering, she appeared to think about why she had asked. “Did they love each other?”
He jerked his head back at the insult. “Of course they did.”
She smiled. “It’s not always a given. My mother only wanted my father as a stepping stone in her ambition to be a Washington, DC wife.”
He’d had many friends whose parents had divorced, but he’d never heard someone state the reason so baldly. A tinge of empathy for the Hayden offspring crept into his mind, but he stifled it. “Well, my mother and father loved each other.”
“That’s actually more concerning.” Her brow knit together as her gaze drifted from his.
“Why?” He didn’t want to admit it, but her opinion on his father mattered. As much as he hated the Haydens, he couldn’t help but accept the expertise Amanda had in her job. He’d read her therapy plan, while looking up the technical terms on his computer, and she was very thorough. But more than that, she had a sincere compassion, something he hadn’t seen at the hospital.
“The occupational therapist told Jeremiah that he couldn’t expect his wife to wait on him hand and foot.”
“What?” Outrage burned through him, and he took a step, ready to give the new therapist a piece of his mind.
Two hands against his chest stopped him cold, and he looked down to see Amanda’s fingers splayed over his white shirt, her nail-polish-free nails blending in.
“Wait. She didn’t mean anything by it. She didn’t know your mom had passed. She’s not from Four Peaks. Believe it or not, there’s life beyond this town.”
He moved his gaze from her hands to her face and found amusement twinkling in her eyes and her lips lifted in a smirk. He stepped back, not happy with the riot of emotions boiling inside him, including the way it felt to have her hands on his chest. “I know that.” He sounded grumpy even to his own ears.
“It was your father’s reaction to her statement that caught my attention.”
“Why?” Concern cancelled out all other emotions. “What did he do?”
She squinched the right side of her face. “Um, it wasn’t so much what he did, but how he looked. I wasn’t sure if it was longing for something he’d lost or longing to be with his wife now. My concern is that it may be the latter.”
He let out a relieved breath. “I can tell you that my father would not wish to be with my mother right now no matter how much he loved her. He’s a fighter.”
“I’m happy to hear that, but Tanner, you don’t know what it’s like to be unable to walk, talk, or simply feed yourself. It’s not just humbling and humiliating. It can make you wish you no longer existed.”
He scowled, not liking what she was saying about his father. Suddenly, he remembered that she had gone through something like it. “Is that how you felt?”
“Not all the time, but I admit there were days when I wished I had died. And my prognosis was far better than your father’s.”
This time sympathy for what she endured closed his throat. In high school, he hadn’t thought about what it was like for her to be in a wheelchair when she came back to school. In fact, he was pretty sure he may have thought she deserved whatever happened because she was a Hayden. The thought did not sit well with him, especially knowing she’d wished she wasn’t alive. But his dad couldn’t be thinking that. He never gave up on anything. Still, worry niggled its way through his confidence in his father.
“Of course, I can’t be sure yet.” She shrugged. “I’ve only been with your dad a couple of weeks now and I’m still getting to know his nuances. Every expression and movement means something.”
He swallowed hard, forcing his throat to work. “Do you think this is just a bad day type of thing for Dad?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I don’t even know if I’m interpreting his look correctly. But if I see something of concern, I’ll let you know. As his medical surrogate, you have that right.”
“I would think my right comes from being his son.” Though he knew what she said was true, it pissed him off that just being a Dunn wasn’t enough in the medical field.
Again, she gave him a soft smile. “I know. This is difficult for you and your whole family to navigate. You’re doing fine.”
At her kindness, his gut rebelled. She treated him as if he were a family member of another one of her patients, but he wasn’t. He was a Dunn and she was a Hayden, and she needed to remember that. “I don’t know why you would care. I’m a Dunn.”
Her smile disappeared and her chin lifted. “Of course. How could I forget that fact when your rudeness makes it so obvious?” With a strong turn of her head, she spun on her heel and stalked down the hall.
He couldn’t help smiling behind her back as she squeaked all the way into the kitchen, her sneakers making her irritation known. He lost his smile as he realized he’d been watching her ass. “Hell.”
Turning back toward the study, he set the key in the lock when his phone buzzed. Pulling it from his pocket, he read the text.
YOU NEED TO TELL LULUBELL TO GO IN WITH THE REST OF THE PREGNANT COWS. SHE WON’T BUDGE FOR US.
He responded that he’d be right there and relocked the office. Damn heifer. Thought she was queen bee or something. All because he nursed her as a newborn when her mother died, she wouldn’t do anything unless he told her to. Heading out of the house, he strode into the barn and prepared himself mentally to deal with the ribbing from his cowhands and his brother as he coaxed the lovesick animal to follow him into the fenced pasture.
Now, if only everyone else would follow him like that, his life would be easy street.
Five days later, Amanda was pretty sure she was right about Jeremiah. Even Isaac had noticed what he called “the gone” look, which was far different from the blank stare.
She patted Jeremiah’s hand. “I’ll be right back.”
His expression didn’t change as she walked out of the room.
Returning to the kitchen island where she left her laptop every day to take notes, she pulled up the hospital report again. There had been something in there. “Ah, here it is.” Quickly she read it aloud. “An uncommon behavior that reveals strong flights away, anger, and depression.” That was it! So why hadn’t the hospital suggested continued counseling? Closing her laptop, she returned to Jeremiah, who greeted her with a smile and a pucker.
Her heart squeezed now that she understood. He didn’t care about getting better because he didn’t believe he would. They would have to get him some help right away, but maybe there was something she could do in the meantime.
“Okay, enough of that. You get an A for those two movements but an F for tongue exercises.”
Jeremiah shrugged his shoulders, one raising more than the other, but not by much. “Brody was telling me about Maximus. Don’t you want to improve so you can ride him again?”
Jeremiah’s whole demeanor changed. His body stiffened and he shook his head.
“You don’t? I thought you and Max were close.”
The man’s eyes narrowed and a sneer formed on his lips. It was an actual sneer, something she hadn’t seen him do since she’d started.
At the sound of the front door closing and boots walking through the foyer, Jeremiah’s face relaxed into his usual stare.
“Hey, Dad. I’m here to make you lunch!” Brody yelled from the kitchen even as they heard him open a cabinet and withdraw a plate.
This could be her chance. “I need to talk to Brody.” Jeremiah didn’t respond which was just as well because the person she really needed to talk to was Tanner. That man had become a ghost since they last spoke, in and out without a word. She wasn’t sure if it was because she helped him, and he resented it or because she’d scared him about his father, and he didn’t want to know anymore. Then again, it could just be that she was a Hayden.
Granted, she probably shouldn’t have touched him, but she couldn’t have him yelling at Valeria, the occupational therapist. She entered the kitchen to find Brody closing the refrigerator door.
His eyes widened when he noticed her standing there. “Oh, it’s you. How’s he doing?”
“I’m not sure. Is Tanner around?”
He nodded toward the door. “He’s in the barn. Why?”
“I need to talk to him about your dad and his horse.”
Brody’s brows rose, but he refrained from asking any more questions and focused on preparing his father’s meal.
She was fine with that. She thought it special that the brothers took turns feeding their father lunch. She was impressed by that, especially when she thought of her own brothers.
As she stepped outside, she hooked a right toward the horse barn, passing what she suspected was Brody’s horse standing in the shade of the porch, content to munch on hay that had been set in a hay feeder on the side of the porch. It was a smart idea to have something at the house when a quick ride in was necessitated.
She continued to the stables, one of the many required structures on any cattle ranch. Her father even used half of his for his ATV fleet. Stepping into the shade of the wooden building, she was thankful for the slightly cooler temperature, though she doubted it was more than a couple degrees cooler than the hundred and eleven outside. She let her eyes adjust to the darker interior before heading in toward the noises coming from a stall at the end.
She’d almost reached it when Tanner stepped out and closed the door. Perfect. Just who she needed to see.
He took a double take when he spotted her. “What are you doing in here?”
At least he’d dropped the “hell” part of his question. “I want to bring your dad out here to see his horse. Where’s Max?” She turned to the side to look down the row, curious what a horse named Maximus looked like.
“No.”
She whipped back around. “What do you mean, no?”
He strode by her. “No. Surely you remember what that word means.”
She followed him into the tack room. “Of course I know what it means, but what I don’t understand is why you won’t let your father visit with his own horse.”
He pulled down a bucket and rifled around in a wooden box for something. “It’s too dangerous. Max is a big horse. One wrong move and my dad could be crushed.”
She crossed her arms, not a little insulted. She knew her way around horses. “He doesn’t even have to go in the stall with Max. He just needs to see him. Maybe even give him a pat or a treat. It would be like a reward for something he’s accomplished.”
He walked by her again. “No. I told you, Dad doesn’t work for rewards. If Dad can’t walk or ride, then he doesn’t need to see his horse.”
Shocked at how unreasonable he was being, she stood frozen to the spot. Since when did he become a tyrant? She dropped her arms and followed him to a beautiful roan quarter horse, where he tied the bucket to the pommel. “That’s a little cruel. I think seeing his horse could cheer him up.”
Tanner finally faced her. “Cheer him up?” He shook his head at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I guarantee you that won’t cheer him up. That would be like rubbing salt in the wound.”
“What?” Now she was thoroughly confused. “Horses are used in therapy all the time.”
“Strange horses. Not his horse. I know if it was me, it would be torture to see the horse I can’t ride.” He paused, a calculated look coming into his eyes. “When you were laid up, would you have wanted to see your favorite bike, skateboard, prom dress?”
Surprised by his reasoning, she didn’t have any words.
“That’s what I thought. So the answer is ‘no’.” He pulled the reins from the hook outside the stall, and walked his horse out into the sun before swinging himself up onto its back. He turned his mount to face her. “No horse.” With those final words, he rode out of sight.
“Jerk.” She fisted her hands. “What does he know about therapy?” He was just acting like a Dunn, all about himself. But her conscience reminded her that wasn’t true. She loosened her fingers. Tanner, if anything, was incredibly worried about Jeremiah getting better, sparing no expense, ensuring the therapy plan was the right one, asking questions, and even panicking when he thought his father’s work for ranch improvements would go down the drain.
A nicker came from a stall at the far end, interrupting her thoughts. Curious, she walked that way, surprised to see another horse in the barn as well. His stall had a metal name plate―Havoc. The Dunn boys certainly chose destructive names for their mounts. When she reached the final stall, she found Maximus, according to the small etched wooden sign, a pure black quarter horse, who upon seeing her, walked toward her.
She let the stallion sniff her until his nose nudged her shoulder. “Ah, have you been forgotten these days or is someone riding you?” She stroked Max’s neck, his ears twitching as he listened to her. “Surely they are taking you out, maybe switching off?” Any good horse owner wouldn’t let a beautiful animal like Max stand around inside the barn for weeks. She was learning more about the Dunns, and her gut told her they took care of their animals. After all, they were their livelihood.
Still…an idea started to form. Brody was in with his dad. She had her jeans and boots with her for barrel racing exhibition practice after her shift. “Max, I bet you wouldn’t mind a little exercise today, would you?”
The horse lifted his head as if he thought that was an excellent idea.
She grinned. “Then it’s settled. I’ll be right back.” Running out to her borrowed truck, she slipped into the backseat and quickly changed. She was still at work, but that was exactly what this was all about. She had to convince Tanner that his dad be allowed to see, maybe even pet his horse. Closing the truck door quietly, so Brody wouldn’t come out to see what she was doing, she slipped back into the barn and quickly saddled Max. He was a little taller than her own horse, but she boosted herself into the saddle and followed the worn path west.
Tanner couldn’t be too far. She’d heard Brody talking about moving the pregnant heifers together, so they would have them closer rather than farther away, in case any needed help with their calves. Even as she rode, memories of helping her dad and brothers during calving season flitted through her mind. She’d been young, maybe eleven the last time she’d been allowed to help. Then her mom left and she’d been regulated to the house as if she were too delicate for cattle ranching.
What her father didn’t know was every time he was gone overnight or for a few days, her brothers welcomed her help, though it never seemed to be when the calves were coming. From the looks of the semi-covered area ahead, she’d guess that was where Tanner was. Dozens of pregnant cows gathered beneath the shade of what looked like tarps held up by metal poles. She was so busy trying to understand the set-up that she almost missed the lone horse standing next to the outside fence. Riding up to it, she shaded her eyes since in her hurry she’d forgotten her hat. There was no one around that she could see, but a distinctive moo came from further back in the shade. Squinting into the darkened area, she could see nothing except a man on the ground with a cow. That couldn’t be good.
Jumping off Max, she tied him to the same fence and quickly opened the gate wide enough to slip through, before closing it tight. Tanner was completely engrossed in the cow on its side in an individual pen beneath the tarping. Had there once been a metal roof?
It may have been a long time since she’d helped a cow calve, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out help was needed. “What’s wrong?”
Tanner looked up briefly then took a double take before the cow heaved, and he quickly pulled on the OB chains, keeping his attention on the cow. “She didn’t dilate enough.”
“What can I do?”
He glanced at her again, opened his mouth then closed it before turning back to the cow.
“I’m here, so I might as well help.”
He jerked his head toward the corner of the pen. “I’ve got lube over there and a pump she kicked when I was getting the chains on.”
Now that her eyes adjusted, she could see the bucket of solution, but didn’t see the pump. Stepping around him, she moved slowly, not wanting to startle the cow. She found the pump in the next pen, which was unoccupied. Kneeling down on the ground, she reached under the railing and grabbed it. Getting up, she lifted the bucket with her other hand and returned to the cow’s back end. “Okay, but this isn’t going to do much if we can’t get her up.”
“I know that, but I can’t coax her and pull at the same time.”
“Let me see what I can do.” Putting the bucket down far from where it could be spilled, she moved to the front of the cow and squatted. “Hey, sweetie. I need you to get up, okay?” She stroked the cow’s head. “Believe me, it’s for your own good.” Standing again, she walked to the back side of the cow as she lay on her side and pushed.
She got a moo for her efforts. “Really?” Getting down on her butt, she pressed her back against the cow, set her feet against the ground and pushed with her legs. Again, she got a complaint, but the cow rose onto her legs.
Quickly, she stood. “That’s a good girl.” Ducking under the rope that held the cow to the side rail, she grabbed the bucket and pump.
Tanner had risen with the cow, the calf’s front feet now showing. “She’s going to need a lot.”
“Got it.” Pulling the cow’s tail out of the way, she pumped in a liberal amount of liquid.
On the cow’s next heave, Tanner pulled, but the calf didn’t move much. She pumped in more. Again a heave, and again the calf barely moved an inch. “Is the head in the canal?”
Tanner nodded as the cow heaved again and he pulled. She added more fluid, hoping they would have enough, hoping the cow had enough strength, and hoping the new calf would be alive when it came out.
For the next twenty minutes the three of them continued, the calf making slow progress, when finally the head popped through. Hope surged forth and tears stung her eyes.
“Just keep the tail back.”
Not questioning Tanner, she stopped lubricating and in a few more minutes the rest of the calf fell into the hay with his help.
She let go and stepped out of the pen with the bucket and pump as Tanner expertly detached the OB chains, cut the umbilical cord, and untied the cow.
He stepped out as well and joined her. They both stood at the gate of the pen, watching as the cow began to lick the calf.
She tried to discern if the calf breathed by watching its stomach, but couldn’t tell. After a few minutes of silence, the calf’s nose lifted toward its mother’s tongue.
Relief washed through her and she smiled, wiping her tears against the inside collar of her shirt.
“Are you crying?” Tanner’s green gaze and furrowed brow made it clear he was bewildered by her behavior.
“They’re happy tears. We helped that baby come into this world.”
“It’s a cow.”
She wasn’t about to let him know she hadn’t seen a calf born in almost two decades. “It’s a baby. Any new life is worth celebrating. And if we weren’t here to help her, neither might be alive right now.”
At that, he wiped the sweat from his brow with the upper arm portion of his sleeve, the rest coated in birthing fluid. “Yeah. That is worth celebrating.” He turned back to look at the cow, his profile softening.
It appeared there were many layers to Tanner Dunn. She finally returned her gaze to the calf, it’s mom busy cleaning it up. Neither of them spoke. There was something so elementally natural about a mama cow and her baby. A peace she hadn’t felt in a long time filled her.
“We better get washed up. This way.”
Tanner’s voice brought her back to reality. Her hands and sleeves were covered in guck. Almost his entire shirt was worse because he’d caught the calf as it came out.
Following him further beneath the cover, she saw a spigot and shower head.
He pointed to the tap. “You can wash up there.”
Happy to get clean, she moved to the spigot and found a refill container of body wash. Grinning, she poured some in her hand before turning on the water. It was quite warm, as all water was in the summer in Four Peaks, but there was a chance it would get colder depending on how deep the well was and―the sound of more water had her turning. She stilled.
Tanner had taken off his shirt and now stood in front of the shower, rinsing his arms, neck, and chest. Water coursed down his torso between the fine dark hairs on his chest and over his undulating abdominal muscles before settling into his jeans. His arms were lifted, his biceps bulging as he wiped his face.
Heat formed low in her belly, catching her unawares and she sucked in a breath.
“Pass me the wash?”
Blinking, she grabbed the bottle and held it out.
He stopped rubbing his face and opened his eyes. “Thanks.”
After he took the body wash, she quickly closed the spigot and walked back toward the pen, drying her hands on her jeans, but she couldn’t resist looking back.
Tanner, bent forward, washed his hair with the body wash, the muscles in his back dancing with his movements. His shoulders were broad and his back narrowed at the waist just above his jean covered butt, which was rounded perfectly.
Her fingers tingled, and she snapped her head around to focus on the cuteness of the newborn, but all she could see in her mind was the water washing over Tanner’s body. She could not be attracted to him. Simply could not. He was just the first man she’d seen naked from the waist up since being married to Claude. Her ex prided himself on going to the gym, but his pasty white skin and miniature body build was hardly cowboy strong.
Gripping the fence rail, she refused to look at Tanner again, even though she wanted to in the worst way. She really needed to get out more. This was proof it was time to start dating again, even if it was just for fun.
The dirt crunching beneath his boots told her he approached. He stopped next to her, but didn’t face the cow. In her peripheral vision, she could see he’d put his hat back on and held his shirt in his hand. She couldn’t just ignore him, so she turned.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” His scowl was back as was his favorite word.
Now if she could just stop staring at his chest and remember why she rode out in the first place.