Chapter Eight
The cow was down in the far corner of the pasture, a new calf tottering around her. She turned her head to study them warily as they approached, her neck bent into an odd position.
“Wade and I tagged this one yesterday,” Trev said as he and Mac approached the pair. “Oh, look. It’s your friend,” Trev said when he was close enough to read her ear tag. It was the cow that had taken exception to Maclyn’s presence during her very first walk through the herd.
“You mean Killer Moo?”
“I believe so.” The cow didn’t move as he approached other than rolling her eye. Never a good sign. He circled her, checking for physical injuries, then pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed.
The wind whipped Mac’s hair around her face as he called the veterinary hospital who promised to send someone as soon as possible, which could be anywhere from hours to more hours, then pocketed his phone. “Nothing we can do but go back to work until the vet arrives.”
“Any idea why she’s down?”
“I hope it’s not tetanus. Might be an internal injury from calving.” Trev pushed his hat back. “I think we’ll get some small bales to prop against her side. We want her to continue lying on her chest rather than out flat.”
An hour later, a white truck with utility boxes pulled into the ranch and Trev, surprised at such speedy service, met it at the gate, waving the truck through, then pointing at the corner where the downed cow lay.
Mac caught up with Trev and they wordlessly crossed the pasture to where the vet was opening the side panels of the truck.
A guy in his mid-thirties with killer blond curls, he smiled as they approached.
“Chad Kelly.” He held a hand to first Maclyn, then Trev.
“Dr. Kelly,” Trev said. “Thanks for coming.”
“Chad.” The vet had an infectious smile, but when he turned toward the cow, he was all business. “How long has she been down?”
“We’re not sure. Maclyn noticed her this morning.”
Number 13F seemed none too happy to have a stranger haltering her and then conducting an exam, but after a mild struggle, she gave in.
“What do you think?” Trev asked when the vet returned to the truck.
“Judging by gut sounds and temperature and that weird way she’s holding her neck, I’d say milk fever.”
Trev pushed his hat back. “I don’t think we’ve ever had that.”
“Not common in beef breeds, but there are instances. I’ll give her a calcium injection and if she’s not up after that, we’ll have to look at internal causes related to birth.”
Trev’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, his mouth tightening when he saw his boss’s name on the screen.
Not the time. He dropped the phone back into his pocket.
Maclyn had been studying him, but looked away when he met her gaze, back to Chad who seemed to be conducting his examination of the cow as a training course for Maclyn.
“Are you with the vet in Marietta?” Whom he’d called.
“Brookstone Equine out of Big Timber.” He glanced at Trev. “I did an internship at the Marietta vet hospital, and now I help during calving. More cow emergencies than horse this time of year.” Calving was rough on vets as well as ranchers.
A few minutes after the injection, the cow let out an odd noise and started trembling. Mac touched Trev’s arm, and he put a hand on her back.
“A good sign,” Dr. Kelly said. “The calcium is working, which in turn means we may have nailed the issue first go.” He grinned at Mac. “Which means I can head to emergency number two.”
“How many today?”
He pulled a notebook out of his pocket.
“Five calls that I know of. I’m sure more will come in. Tomorrow I’m off, so I need to pack as much action in as possible today.”
“I applied at your clinic in Big Timber,” Mac said unexpectedly. Both men turned to her, and she gave a self-conscious shrug. “Just thought I’d introduce myself.”
“We’ve had a lot of apps,” Dr. Kelly said, giving Trev’s ranch hand an appraising look. “Maclyn?”
“Maclyn Kane.”
“I’ll tell the staff to keep an eye out for your submission.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. The vet smiled back. Trev looked away, not liking the territorial feeling that was creeping up on him. He had no claim on Mac.
Fifteen minutes later, the vet said he was confident that the cow would be up and around shortly, and to give him a call if she wasn’t.
Maclyn walked the man to his truck while Trev loaded the bales they’d used to keep the cow upright back into the tractor bucket.
Mac laughed at something the good doctor said before he got into the truck and closed the door.
Seconds later he opened the window to say something else that made Mac laugh.
She turned toward Trev, a smile still lingering on her lips as he finally drove away.
He seemed to be in no hurry for a guy with four more emergencies. He wondered if Mac noticed.
“Good vet,” Trev said.
“He’s going to put in a word with the owner.”
“Great.” He tried to match her enthusiasm, but it sounded forced to him. Better to keep his mouth shut than to have Mac give him another frowning look, as she was doing now. He honestly wanted her to nail down a job in her field.
Thankfully, she couldn’t read minds, didn’t know that he’d hated watching the vet make flirty small talk with her. It was none of his business, but he didn’t have to like it.
“It’d be great if you got on with those guys,” he said. “You’d be close enough to visit.”
“Would you want that?” she asked.
“I would.” It felt like a declaration.
“Too bad you’re not going to be here.”
He wasn’t sure if she was doing a mic drop, but it felt that way as she gave him a long look, then said, “I’ll see you after lunch.”
“Right.”
He turned back to the pasture, resting his hands on the panel rails as he studied the cow and thought about Maclyn.
It might take time, but he was confident that she’d land a horse-related job somewhere, while he would return to work and lose himself in technical problem solving.
Diverging career paths made for difficult relationships.
He didn’t want her to go. Or maybe he didn’t want to go.
He leaned his forehead against the cool metal of the panel rail after the thought struck him. Maclyn was scrambling to put her life together and he was thinking of tossing in another obstacle. Timing, bud. Timing is everything.
And this is not the time to fall for the woman.
*
You’re getting ahead of yourself. A word with the boss wasn’t the same as getting hired.
But it was the first glimmer of hope she’d had since being fired.
Raisin met her at the door of the foreman’s house, then darted outside as Mac stepped inside.
She let the dog back in a few minutes later, then started putting together a peanut butter sandwich.
Trev did not seem all that happy about her going to work for the vet, but she figured it had to do with being left shorthanded again.
She wouldn’t do that to him, and she was pretty certain he knew that.
She’d just washed the knife and put the peanut butter away when her phone rang.
“Just checking in,” Shay said. “Um … I heard Robyn and Julian talking in their office yesterday. A reference request had come in for you, and they were debating wording.”
In other words, how to pass along their negative feelings while avoiding a lawsuit.
“Do I want to know?”
“They went with adequate.”
Well, that wasn’t going to do her any favors.
“It kind of fried me after all the extra hours you put in.”
Maclyn agreed. She’d gone beyond the call of duty repeatedly, which was why she’d been stunned when they fired her. All she’d done was save a horse they’d wanted to kill.
“I thought if you knew, you could maybe come up with specifics to counteract their …”
“Less than enthusiastic endorsement?” Mac asked wryly.
“Yes. That.”
“I appreciate it. How’s your search going?”
“I’m picky.” Shay hesitated, then said, “I have tomorrow off. Would you like to meet up in Marietta? Girls’ night out? We can hash through things properly?”
Maclyn hadn’t had a girls anything for way too long. Nights of dancing and drinking and laughter had become rare after she’d hired on to the Sweet Grass Ranch. Getting up at five o’clock every morning to feed and groom had her in bed around nine, which did not lend itself to the party life.
But Mac was confident that it was like riding a bike.
“I’d love it.”
“Do you want to eat? Or just get bar food.”
“Bar food.”
Shay laughed. “Great. Umm … Grey’s? Seven o’clock?”
“They have bar food?”
“Not sure. I don’t go out much. We’ll order a pizza. As long as we have beer in front of us, I don’t think they’ll care.”
*
Killer Moo was on her feet by the time Mac rejoined Trev at the pasture gate. The cow was wobbly but could walk short distances and when she stopped moving, the calf would nurse, rooting impatiently as she tried to make up for the meals she’d lost while her mama was down.
“We’ll get her inside, where we can keep an eye on her, keep the other girls from bothering her.”
They drove the cow to the barn, letting her rest every few yards.
She moved a little faster toward the end and walked through the open barn door without slowing down, her calf beside her.
Trev shooed her into a straw-filled pen while Mac kept the calf from escaping.
Once inside, the cow went to the water and drank while the calf plopped down in the straw, exhausted after his journey.
Trev and Mac stood side by side, studying the cow as an odd silence fell over them.
“Okay.” Trev addressed the pen.
“Okay.” Tired of overthinking and guessing, she half turned toward her boss. “You’re acting weird.”
His gaze jerked up. “No, I’m not.”
Maclyn shrugged. “Distracted then.” He’d been that way since the vet arrived.
Trev pulled in a breath. “Wade’s having more issues getting around. I called Jordan and we’re going to double-team him and try to get him to the clinic to see if there’s an issue with his leg.”