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11
Ian
Ian’s hands trailed along the cow’s back. He murmured a few soft words as he moved around the animal to check her out. She had been showing the usual signs she’d be going into labor soon.
Jessica approached after crossing the pasture. She looked back at the cows they’d passed and jerked her thumb in their direction. “Why didn’t we check out those ones first?”
“Because those ones aren’t quite as far along as Sally here.” Ian patted Sally gently.
She scrunched her face in the most adorable way. “How can you tell?”
He laughed. “Among a few physical indicators like loosening ligaments and changes in her teats, she’s distanced herself. You see how she’s pulled away from the others? I’ve also noticed she’s not as interested in eating.” He finished examining her and glanced in Jessica’s direction. “If I had to guess, I’d say she’ll going into labor within the next twelve hours.”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “Do we need to call a doctor—I mean a vet?”
He chuckled again and straightened. “There are a few births that end up being harder on the cows and might need medical intervention, but usually, they just give birth and we keep an eye on them.”
Her round, blue eyes took in the cow from top to bottom. “What kinds of things do you have to do when intervention is needed?”
Ian moved away from Sally and headed for another cow on the far side of the pasture. “If a calf isn’t positioned the right way, I might have to pull it out.”
Jessica stopped in the middle of the field. He glanced back at her, then paused. “What?”
“So you just reach inside and pull it out?” she asked with an expression made up of both horror and admiration. The combination of which was the perfect reaction to birthing calves. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to have you do any of that. It’s my job.” He turned and continued his trek across the medium-length grass.
Never had anyone been so intrigued with the work he did. His brothers all had their interests, none of which involved helping bring a new life into the world. Jessica ran to keep pace beside him.
“What made you want to do this kind of work?” Her hands were shoved into her pockets, and she looked straight forward as if she didn’t know how to talk to him anymore. Or maybe just learning about the calving process was enough to turn her off from having any interest in him at all.
Ian shrugged. “I guess it started when I was five or six.”
Her head whipped around. “You knew you wanted to help birth cows when you were five years old?! Didn’t you have any other hobbies?”
He tossed his head back and let out another laugh. A hesitant smile stole across her face. They both stopped and he faced her. “When I was really young, my dad was the one running this ranch. My twin brothers had recently come home from the hospital, and I was incredibly curious. I wanted to know where they came from. I asked my father so many times I guess he got tired of coming up with different excuses for answering me. One night he woke me up, dragged me out of bed, and brought me out to this pasture. One of the cows was having her baby. I got to watch the whole thing.”
She made a face. “Isn’t that called child abuse or something?”
He held back the chuckle that threatened to escape. “There was nothing cooler than watching that calf get born and seeing its first steps.”
Jessica tilted her head, making a crooning sound. “Aww. That’s so cute. So after that, you knew you wanted to work with the animals?”
He waved his hand through the air. “Nah, I was just a kid. I still wanted to be a dinosaur trainer like inJurassic Park. But working with the animals was a close second.”
It was her turn to laugh. And the sound was everything he’d imagined. Of course she’d laughed at the diner. But that laugh was a work laugh—a polite one she reserved for her customers. This one was different. He’d earned it. And he wanted more.
Ian rubbed the back of his neck, looking away before he peeked at her again. “That’s not even the best part of the story.”
Jessica grinned at him. “Oh? What’s the best part?”
“For the next few birthing seasons, I kept a close eye on the cows. Every year I was disappointed with the outcome. Finally, my dad asked what was bothering me.” He paused and let out an embarrassed chuckle. Why was he even sharing this with her? Because her laugh was infectious and it did something to him. Made him feel cozy and special.
She nudged his ribs with her elbow. “Well? Why weren’t you over the moon that you got to watch the babies being born?”
Ian shifted. “I was waiting for some new brothers. I’d gotten tired of the ones I had, and I thought maybe I might luck out.”
Jessica gave him a blank stare before she erupted into a fit of giggles. When she got marginal control over herself, she brushed at her watery eyes. “You poor kid. You thought your brothers came out of acow? How did you not notice your mother being huge? She was carrying twins after all.”
He lifted a shoulder, a shy smile on his face. “I was one of four kids who preferred spending his days outside rather than inside. I’m sure to some extent I knew the babies came from my mom’s stomach, but at the time, I’d only connected that babies came from cows. Besides, my mom always said she carried her babies in her back so we didn’t notice as much.”
