Chapter Fifteen
A Gift Many People Don’t Get to See
Daisy Sue was corralled inside the century-old, wood-sided barn. She paced around the twelve-by-twelve calving pen, vocalizing every few seconds, which were all indications of active labor.
George stalked around the edges of the pen, his muddy boots crunching through fresh straw. Every few minutes he muttered under his breath like an expectant father. He was a fourth-generation farmer with a soft spot for his small herd of dairy cows.
I loaded Bryce up with equipment from my truck and ordered him toward the barn like he was my own personal pack mule.
‘How’s she doing, George?’ I asked, stopping next to the pen and stepping into my coveralls.
He stalked toward the gate and quickly opened and closed it behind him.
‘She’s been like this for several hours.
That’s why I couldn’t come to the town meeting.
Too worried about her.’ He slid the black cowboy hat off his head and rubbed it across his chest. ‘You remember how difficult a time she had last year. This, well, it seems worse.’
Bryce huffed behind us like the weight of the gear was too much.
‘Is there a reason he’s here?’ George bristled.
‘He’s like a horse fly. Can’t get rid of him.’
That got a chuckle out of George.
‘Set the bags down next to the gate, and wait out here,’ I said to Bryce. ‘Cows can be unpredictable, especially when they’re in labor. The last thing I need is for you to get kicked by a twelve-hundred-pound animal.’
Bryce did as he was told, and even though his watchful stare was annoying, it was good to have backup in case we needed help with a calf in distress.
George’s three border collies raced into the barn. They beelined straight for me and before they could crash into my legs, George made a loud whistle, stopping them in their tracks.
‘Sorry,’ George said, holding the dogs back. ‘Thought they were locked in the house. Must have figured a way out of the dog door.’
Bryce gave me that same quizzical look from that day in town when the dogs surrounded me.
‘It’s all right, you can let them go,’ I said.
‘Hooks, Walker, Steinem, release,’ George said. The dogs trotted toward me, and I gave them each a warm scrub behind the ears without a single flash of dizziness.
Bryce admired the dogs, who sat still at my feet. ‘Interesting names.’
‘I might be a farmer, but I went to a liberal arts college on the east coast. Took a feminist literature class, because a girl I liked was in it. She never gave me a glance, but the books we read made a lifelong impression.’
‘Ever read Isabel Canas?’ Bryce said.
George scrubbed at his salt-and-pepper beard. ‘No. Should I?’
‘Absolutely. Start with Vampires of El Norte. You won’t be disappointed.’
I hid my smile while Bryce continued to give George a long list of feminist must-reads. Damn. He was full of surprises.
Daisy’s pacing inside the pen grew frantic, and I slid one of my equipment bags over my shoulder and entered through the gate.
‘She’s gonna be ornery,’ George called out. ‘Took me a half hour to get her into the pen.’
I set down my bag on the straw and took small, cautious steps, approaching Daisy from behind the tip of the shoulder so I wouldn’t spook her.
‘George,’ I said, keeping my voice low and steady, ‘grab some clean towels and leave them by the gate. Not sure what condition this calf is going to be in once it’s out.’
He moved to a crate in the far back of the barn and loaded up his arms.
I inched in closer to Daisy. ‘Hello, sweet thing.’ I reached out, bracing for the shock of what I’d feel when I touched her. I started easy, rubbing a hand over her back. Thankfully everything was normal. No dizziness or zap of pain.
‘Dani, you okay?’ The latch on the gate shook like Bryce was trying to come in, but the sharp tone to George’s voice stopped him.
‘She’s the best vet I’ve ever seen, and I’ve lived in this county for sixty years. Seen many come and go. Give her a minute.’
‘I want to help.’ Bryce’s voice went firm.
George dropped the load of towels next to the gate. ‘You can help by letting her do her job. Just watch and learn, city boy.’
I walked back to my bag and took out an OB glove, stretching it up my arm all the way to the shoulder.
Bryce’s eyebrows rose to his hairline as I slathered the sleeve with a mix of soapy water and lubricant.
I swallowed a laugh, because I was positive he had no clue what he’d signed up for by coming here.
‘Is Daisy struggling?’ George asked.
‘Let me do a quick exam to see how things are progressing.’
I followed Daisy around the pen at a safe distance. Her strides were slow from the stress of labor and weight of the calf. Bryce climbed up using the metal slats on the gate and leaned his elbows across the top.
When Daisy stopped moving, I safely approached her again. Once she clocked me, I took a few steps toward her backside, still using a calm voice. As I checked her, it only took a minute to figure out that the calf was alive, and in an anterior presentation.
‘It all looks good, George. She can do this on her own.’
George tugged down on his Stetson and let out a full breath. ‘Thank goodness.’
‘You’re doing good, mama.’ I patted the cow’s back and stepped away. Daisy walked around the pen again, her low mooing wafting all the way up to the barn’s twenty-foot-high rafters.
I removed my glove and headed back to the gate, which Bryce quickly opened for me. The look of wonder in his eyes was almost too much. ‘George is right. You really are the best.’
‘You’re too easily impressed. That’s all normal work for a vet.’
‘No. You didn’t see what we did, Dani. The minute you got close, that cow relaxed.
It’s as if she sensed you were there to help her.
That you could be trusted. It’s not a good comparison, but when I first got Indy from the rescue, he wouldn’t come near me.
Wouldn’t let me pet him. It took weeks of working with a trainer and a lot of patience to build what we have now.
But you.’ He shook his head. ‘You’ve got a gift. ’
There was that lilt to his voice again. Like he believed there was something supernatural happening. I ignored it and climbed up onto the gate beside him.
‘What happens now?’ Bryce asked.
‘We let nature take its course,’ I said.
Daisy moved around the pen again. The volume of her moos rose and her behavior grew more agitated.
George stayed still but clocked the cow’s every movement.
She continued to pant and pace for another hour until she lay down on her side at the far edge of the pen.
A few minutes later, the calf’s head appeared.
After a few more pushes, the full body slid out and landed on top of the thick bedding of straw.
Bryce’s eyes widened. ‘Holy shit! Did that just happen?’
I gripped the edge of the gate, waiting for any movement from the calf.
If it looked like it was in trouble, we’d have to go in and help.
We collectively held our breaths until the calf started to shift on the straw.
Daisy began licking at it. A few minutes later, the calf lifted its head, and George let out a cheer.
Bryce’s fingers threaded through mine, and that familiar connection between us made my nerve endings flare. For the first time in so long I didn’t feel the hollow ache of loneliness.
Daisy cared for her baby like a good mama. The calf shifted on the straw and rose forward in a wobbly kind of balance. Daisy nudged the little creature until it finally stood on its own.
George let out a rough ‘Atta girl.’
The calf turned to the side so I could get a good look at her. ‘Yep, that’s right.’
George let out a relieved breath. ‘More milk for the farm. That’s a good thing.’
Bryce beamed like the early morning sun as he watched Daisy connect with her newborn calf. ‘Does Daisy need any kind of care now? Because that seemed like a lot of work for her.’
‘No, but I’ll stay for a bit. Make sure the calf latches on all right. Babies need that important colostrum from the mother’s milk right after birth,’ I said.
George added more straw to the pen for warmth. After another hour, the calf began to nurse. Bryce stayed glued to the gate, enamored with the new addition to George’s herd.
‘I’ll be back in a few days to check on them, but if anything comes up before then give me a call,’ I said, stepping out of the coveralls and sliding them into my dirty laundry bag.
‘For now, please keep them together in the pen. The calf needs to stay warm, and space from the herd would be good for a little while.’
‘Of course and thank you for coming out so quickly.’
‘Happy to help,’ I said.
George reached out and gripped my hand. ‘There’s no doubt in my mind you are one of the best things that’s ever happened to Harvest Moon.
I know it hasn’t been easy, but I’m real appreciative of the fact that you came home to practice, even when a lot of folks here gave you plenty of reasons not to return. ’
Bryce’s head tipped to the side, surprise coloring the lines in his face.
‘This is my home, George. Always has been. Always will be.’
‘Your grandfather would have been proud of you.’
Those few words shook me. It was in moments like this that the loss of him felt the most painful. ‘Thank you. That means a lot,’ I said, blinking away tears.
He gave a sharp nod and moved back to the pen, watching the newest addition to his farm with a careful eye.
I slid the strap of my equipment bag over my shoulder, and Bryce picked up the rest of my gear. We walked in silence but it was hard to ignore his intense gaze as we ambled back toward my truck.
‘You need to stop staring that way. It’s beginning to freak me out.’
‘I just…’ He bit into his full lower lip. Studied the darkening sky like somehow he’d find the words he was looking for in the deep gray clouds. ‘Is it weird to say that what just happened was magical?’