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This was my new life. And I was going to grab it by the balls, goddammit. I’d been terrified of making a move for ten years. Enough was enough. I was making decisions now, for better or worse. Last night I had and that had seemed to work out well for all involved. I bit my lip and tried not to remember exactly how well as we left calf #2 in peace and moved on.
We drove on, crested yet another hill and then Reece stopped by a wooden wall that looked like one side of a building that no one had ever finished.
“What’s this?” I asked Reece as we slowed down.
“Wind break,” he answered. “It gives the cows a good place to stay warm on windy days. And look, here’s our newest addition and Mama.”
He pulled the ATV to a stop and got out. Again I saw another mother/calf pair, but the calf was lying at the feet of the mother cow. “Alright #3, it’s up and at ‘em time.” All the calves were only known by their tag number, not given names like Bessie since that was only reserved for the first born of every season. Information I’d gathered like a good little sponge at the first stop. Because this was simply instructional. We had a professional relationship now and that was all.
He smiled at me and it was harder to remember the professional BS I’d just been trying to convince myself of. I mean, it wasn’t like we were in corporate America or anything.
“I swear all the newborns hate me ’cause all I do is come around and disturb their rest during calving time. But you’ll have to do this too. In fact, here, come on over.” He gestured me to join him.
I climbed off the ATV, my legs feeling a little wobbly once I hit land again after the vibrations of the four-wheeler, but I managed.
“Help him stand up like you did Bess the other day,” he instructed. “See if he can walk around. It’s important the first few days to make sure they’re always able to get up so we can double check that they aren’t having any problems.”
I nodded and walked over to where the little calf was laying nestled in some hay. The mother snorted and took a step my direction.
“Whoa, Mama,” Reece said, voice calm but his hands out low and wide, stepping between me and the mother. “But be careful. Not all the mothers are excited by the idea of you messing with their babies. We just have to remind them that we’re here to help them, that’s all. We want your baby to thrive just as much as you do, Mama,” he said, directly to the cow.
I reached down and grabbed the torso of the big baby calf and hefted him up. He was a heavy fella, maybe seventy-five pounds, so a little more than half my body weight. But he was doing some of the work. At my coaxing, he got right up on his feet and then started walking around his mother like it was no big deal. He started nosing at her utter and nursing.
“It worked!” I looked over at Reece.
He smiled at me. “Of course it did. You’re a natural.” I couldn’t tell if he was just blowing smoke up my ass, but I’d take it.
I went to climb on the back of the ATV again, but then paused. “All right, so I guess if I’m gonna be doing this I should get comfortable driving this thing, huh?”
The sooner I could do this myself, the sooner I could get out of his proximity. Plus, I wanted to be useful, not have a babysitter.
He tossed me the keys. “You’re up, Captain.”
“Oh,” I said, only just managing to catch the keys. A good thing, considering there was a cow pie on the ground right in front of where I stood.
I climbed on the front of the ATV and put the keys in, turning it on. Reece gave me a brief rundown on how to work it. It had a button shifter on the handle, hand and foot brakes. Nothing too hard. Plus, driving it looked… well, fun.
The only moment I got a little trepidatious was when Reece climbed on behind me. He didn’t put his arms around my waist or anything, but I was suddenly very aware of the inside of his thighs cupping the outside of mine.
“Okay. Where to?” I called over my shoulder.
He reached forward, bringing his face into near contact with mine, so near I could smell the mixture of mint from his toothpaste mixed with his morning coffee. “Up over the ridge. You’ll see there’s a sort of trail that’s been worn down between the grass.”
I had the ridiculous thought of how easy it would be to turn my head and kiss him.
Which was one of those absurd, fleeting thoughts that just turned your face red and made you think: what the hell?
And simultaneously made me think with a sort of wonder—holy crap, was this what attraction felt like? When being close to a person feels like a torture and a tease both at the same time? It had been so long, I’d forgotten.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yup!” I said too quickly, in a voice that was a little too squeaky. I cleared my throat. “Just… I mean, I’m ready when you are.”
He chuckled, a warm sound in that husky voice of his. “Ready to go, Captain.”
I pushed on the gas with the handle and the ATV launched forward with such suddenness that Reece’s arms immediately grabbed for my hips. He let go a second later, as if he’d been as surprised by the four-wheeler’s quick takeoff as I was. Not that I let up. This was way too much fun.
We couldn’t be going faster than ten or fifteen miles an hour but it felt exhilarating to be flying across the pasture with the air rushing against my face and through my short hair. We came up to another group of cows and Reece tapped on my shoulder.
