Chapter one
Cora
Birthingacalfislike a lot of things in life. Hopefully, it’ll go smoothly and you just need to sit back, monitor, and relax. But sometimes—more often than any of us would like—we need to reach in and get our hands dirty.
Today has been one of those hand-dirtying days.
Three calves were born today. Three. Which isn’t unusual in spring on a cattle ranch. As one of Thatcher Ranch’s fulltime veterinarians, this is usually the busiest time of the year for me. Animals are born left and right, and I’m here to guide them into the world. Or, in some cases, pull them out kicking and screaming.
It’s been more of a “kicking and screaming” day than a “guiding” day, but I suppose that’s par for the course.
And now it’s time for a shower. Or three. My clunky SUV rumbles over the dirt road leading to my small cabin on Thatcher Ranch. Like a lot of the staff here, I live onsite. There’s a bundle of bunkhouses, a mess hall, and a rec area all situatedin an area on the ranch known colloquially as the Village. And my tiny cabin is right in the middle of it.
I park my car up front and hop out, jogging up to my front door and heading inside. I strip as I beeline toward the bathroom—the only actual separate room in the cabin, as the rest is just a bedroom and kitchenette lumped together. I don’t mind the small space, though. It’s not like I need more.
As I wash the day—and cow goo—from my skin, I already feel tremendously better. My stomach grumbles as I pull on new clothes. Good thing it’s dinner time.
I ruffle my chin-length blonde hair with my fingers and glance in the mirror. Not too crazy. And it’ll probably dry within five or ten minutes. I slip my boots back on, grab my phone and my keys, and head out the door.
The mess hall is across the road from my cabin, so I’m inside in minutes, immediately surrounded by the familiar chatter of ranch hands after a long day of work.
I see pans of lasagna laid out on the serving table and hurry over to grab a slice before scanning the room for familiar faces. A waving hand catches my attention, and I immediately zero in on Addison and Cruz, two of my closest friends here.
I grin and make my way over to the table, sitting across from them. “Long day?” Addison asks as I plop down with a sigh.
I shake my head and chuckle. “Three calves,” I answer.
Addison widens her eyes. “Glad I don’t have your job.” She’s the assistant cook here on the ranch and spends most of her days whipping up deserts for the ranch hands. Cruz, the assistant foreman, is her boyfriend.
He laughs beside her. “Yeah, I can’t imagine you doing well with cow birthing,” he comments.
Addison elbows him but doesn’t exactly argue.
The sound of a dinner plate clinking down beside me catches my attention, and I turn to see a tall, blue-eyed ranch handtaking a seat. I grin up at him, because, even sitting down, he’s more than a foot taller than me. “Hey,” I greet.
“Hey back,” he says with a soft grin, digging into his lasagna and taking a bite.
Theo Strickland and I have been close since the second I stepped foot on this ranch two years ago. He just so happened to be the ranch hand available to give me a tour, and by the time we were done, we were laughing and joking around like we’d known each other forever. He’s a big part of why I felt so immediately at home here at Thatcher Ranch. Especially considering what I’d left behind.
“Cora delivered three calves today,” Addison immediately fills Theo in.
Theo widens his eyes while chewing, then swallows. “Wow. Big day for you.”
I shrug, feigning humility. “All in a day’s work.”
“As if anyone here could just step in and do what you do,” Theo argues with an eye roll.
I laugh. “Well, I probably wouldn’t make a very good cowboy.”
Theo shrugs. “I could see you on a horse. A cute, little cowboy hat. Bossing people around.” His blue eyes sparkle as he smirks, a piece of his textured, sandy hair falling flopping forward.
I shake my head in mild amusement, digging back into my lasagna.
“Hey, so what do you guys think about going to Rick’s Friday night?” Addison asks. Rick’s is one of the bars downtown, not that there are many in the small town of Cedar Ridge, Montana. It also hosts line dancing nights, which has become one of Addison’s new favorite things since she started dating Cruz last summer.
I give a noncommittal nod of my head. “Sounds fun,” I admit. And sure, it does. But ever since Addison and Cruz became a couple and invite Theo and I out for something fun, it’s started to feel more and more like … I don’t know, a double date? Or some sort of third- and fourth-wheel situation. Addison and Cruz inevitably end up cozied up together or slow dancing, and that leaves me and Theo … just kind of there.
And don’t get me wrong. Theo’s great. He’s probably my best friend, well,ever. But ever since Addison and Cruz got together, she’s beenhinting. Hinting hard. She wants Theo and I together. Probably so that our “double dates” can be actual double dates. But I’m not about to start dating Theo Strickland.
