The Maverick's Snowbound Christmas Page 3

  In the barn once more, he ran practiced hands over Amber’s flanks. “She’s restless, but not pushing. I don’t know what happened earlier. She’s even eaten a little.”

  “We’ll keep watching her,” Hadley assured him.

  The gusts of wind outside suddenly became more forceful. The side door of the barn blew open, and more than one horse whinnied.

  “I’ll get it,” Hadley said, rushing toward the door.

  “Put the bar across,” Eli called to her. “Or do you want me to do it?”

  “I can do it,” she called back. She might be short and slender, but she was strong. She worked out with weights when she could. She had to stay strong to lift animals, even though she was a small animal vet. Sometimes she had to handle German shepherds that could weigh ninety or a hundred pounds.

  The vehemence of the wind pushed against the door, and she pushed back, closing it with a bang. She hefted up the plank of wood beside the doorjamb and swung it into place. She glanced toward the other end of the barn, where, luckily, the large airplane hangar-style door was securely latched. When the wind blew, the plank rumbled a little, but it wasn’t going anywhere. She couldn’t see out of the high windows up above. Falling snow completely blocked them.

  Eli came out from the stall. “That was impressive. Do you handle elephants in your small pet practice?”

  She laughed. “No, but I try not to let the big dogs run away with me. I had to lift a pregnant Newfoundland once. Ever since then, I’ve kept up my strength. It comes in handy at times like these.”

  He beckoned to the tack room. “Come on, let’s finish our lunch. Maybe nibbling on those cookies will help us forget about the wind howling outside. Are you nervous being in here?”

  Following him to the warmest spot in the barn, she sat in the captain’s chair and watched as he poured coffee into the top of the thermos and handed that cup to her. He used a foam cup for himself.

  “Nervous?” she asked. “You mean about the storm?”

  “About the storm, about being cooped up in here with a relative stranger, about not knowing when you’ll get out.”

  She motioned to the heater. “We have heat.” She gestured to the cookie tin. “We have food.” She pointed to the water. “We even have bottled water. That’s more than a lot of people have on a daily basis. I think we’ll survive. No, I’m not nervous.” Though if she was really honest with herself, being this close to Eli in a confined space caused the jitters to plague her.

  “How long did it take you to gentle Amber?” Conversation seemed the best way to calm them. She had to admit she wanted to know Eli better.

  “It depends on what you mean by gentling,” he explained. “It took about a week until she would come to the fence when I called. I just sat there and spoke to her in a low voice, not expecting anything from her. The next part of the gentling was treats. A hungry horse will want to get to know you faster. I ordered those organic cookies that are supposed to be good for horses. She definitely needed her share of vitamins. She took to them. I’d hold out one of those and she’d come right up. She was still skittish, but after another week or so of that, she let me touch her. First her neck, then her flank, then her nose. I would just go outside and sit with her and whittle.”

  “Whittle?”

  He shrugged. “It’s just a hobby of mine.”

  “So you took time out of your daily schedule to spend with Amber?”

  “I did. How else was I going to get to know her, or let her get to know me?”

  Hadley pulled one of the cookies from the tin to give herself something to do and something else to think about other than the sound of Eli’s voice and the idea of him running a hand down Amber’s flank. The cookie was chocolate chip, and she took a bite and savored it. “Great cookies.”

  “My mom knows how to bake.”

  “Melba does, too,” Hadley said. “And she teaches me favorite recipes whenever I’m around her.”

  “Do you cook much for yourself?” Eli asked.

  Hadley shook her head. “I’m rarely at my place. Mostly I pick up takeout. Sometimes on weekends I’ll make a stew or soup, sticky buns or a loaf of bread. It isn’t that I don’t know how, it’s just that I don’t have time. I’m taking lessons for my pilot’s license now. I have even less leisure time than before.”

  For some reason, Eli frowned. “A pilot’s license. You sound like a woman who wants adventure.”

  Something about the edge to his voice told her he didn’t think that was a good thing. “I don’t know about wanting adventure. I just don’t want my life to be static. Piloting a small plane could help me reach patients at a greater distance, even the wild horses if they need medical care. I haven’t figured it all out yet. I just know I want to.” Changing the subject away from her life, she said, “I understand you have cousins staying here now.”

  “I do, but I’m not in the mix too much. I built a cabin on my chunk of the ranch in late summer, so I have privacy when I want it. My brother Jonah designed it, and I worked on it myself.”

  “Did you decorate it, too?” She could imagine that it was a bachelor pad with a requisite big-screen TV, recliner, king-size bed and not much else.

  But Eli answered her seriously. “My sister Kristen gave me some suggestions, but for the most part I went online and found the rest.”

  “You mean like stuff for the walls?”

  “Why sound so surprised?” he asked with amusement twinkling in his eyes. “I like art and pottery. There’s a wall hanging a friend of my mom’s made. Or are you more surprised that I know how to use a computer? I’m a rancher, Hadley, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have other skills.”

  He seemed insulted when he said it, and she’d never meant for anything she’d said to be an insult. But she must have touched some kind of nerve because he definitely had withdrawn.

  Taking a cookie from the tin, he stood. “If you could keep an eye on Amber, I’m going to check on the other horses. Just yell if you need me.” Then he gave her a look. “Yell if Amber needs me. I have the feeling you’re the type of woman who doesn’t need anyone.”

  Leaving her sitting there with her mouth practically open, he left.

  * * *

  Eli had to admit he didn’t know what had gotten into him. Maybe he’d just wanted to put some kind of wedge between himself and Hadley since they’d been thrown into this situation that had seemed to produce a potent attraction. Or maybe, truth be told, he’d never put his failed relationship with Elaine in the past. He thought he’d gotten over any insecurity he might have had about not going to college or seeking a higher education. At the time, he’d told himself it was an unnecessary expense and not essential to a good life. After all, he could read on his own, and he did. He knew about subjects from inorganic chemistry to horse husbandry, and he had traveled. He’d traveled with Elaine.

  When she’d left, any wanderlust he might have had went with her. Hadley, with her education and expertise and adventurous spirit, had reopened past wounds without even knowing it. It wasn’t her fault. She was who she was. The problem was—she was damned attractive. But she seemed to have an attitude that he was a cowboy, a rancher who couldn’t see farther than the end of his nose. That’s what had gotten under his skin. Granted, he was self-taught at computer skills, but he could master any program or app. He didn’t care about just barbed wire and the best boots to wear on the ranch.

  He was emptying a sack of feed into a bin when Hadley called to him. “Amber is down again.”

  Without hesitation, he rushed to the horse’s stall, wondering if this time the foal would be born or if something else was going on. He saw right away that Hadley had wrapped Amber’s tail. Smart move, and he should have done it.

  “Do you need the foaling kit?” he asked. He had one and kept it well stocked.

 
“No, I have my bag.”

  He could see the placental sac had broken. The pressure of Amber lying down had probably ruptured it.

  “She’s starting to push,” Hadley said, kneeling on the straw beside Amber.

  Eli knew this part of the labor. It should happen fairly quickly. If it didn’t happen in an hour, then there was trouble.

  Amber was making groaning sounds now, and Hadley was concentrating on her and what was happening. “I see it,” Hadley said, and he knew she was talking about the white sac that covered the foal.

  But Eli realized suddenly that this wasn’t going to be a normal birth. The foal was in the breech position, hind feet first.

  Crouched down beside Hadley, Eli asked her, “What’s the best way to handle this?”

  They both could see the hooves, and they were flexed upward toward the mare’s tail. “Are we going to lose it?” he asked, his chest feeling tight.

  “We are not going to lose it,” Hadley assured him. “Breech births are more difficult, but we can still make this as natural as possible without complications.”

  As Amber groaned, Eli’s elbow brushed Hadley’s. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he said huskily, “I’m glad you’re here.” He meant it, feeling something deeply comforting because of her presence. And it wasn’t simply because she was a vet.

  “I’m glad I’m here, too,” she murmured. Then louder, she admitted, “I haven’t done anything like this since an apprenticeship with a vet right after college. But I know what to do, Eli.” This time Hadley pulled on gloves that reached to her elbows.

  His thoughts seemed to be in an uproar until he pulled one free. “What are you going to do?”

  “Just give her a little help if she needs it. Let’s just see if nature takes its course. I don’t want to step in if I don’t have to.”

  He was experienced enough to know that letting nature take its course was the best route to take. Amber giving birth was a natural process. Yet he didn’t want to lose either the foal or the mom.

  The foal’s hocks delivered, and Eli knew the foal’s hips and tail would follow. Yet there seemed to be a problem, and Amber was straining hard.

  Hadley murmured almost to herself, “The hips are the foal’s widest part when delivery happens this way.”

  “Can you help? Can you get her baby unstuck?”

  “I don’t want to interfere too much, and I don’t want to hurt either of them. I remember when Charlie did this...”

  “Charlie?”

  “The vet I worked with. He was seventy and had been delivering horses for almost forty years. I can picture exactly how he handled the birth. I’m going to grasp the foal’s feet and just pull gently down toward Amber’s hooves. That should rotate the foal’s pelvis so it can pass through the birth canal more easily. Say a prayer.”

  As Hadley did what she said she was going to do, Eli did say a prayer. They both seemed to hold their breath as the foal slid out, making its appearance into the big wide world.

  In the next few moments, Hadley removed an instrument from her bag and broke the sac surrounding the foal.

  When Eli glanced at Hadley, he saw her eyes were misty. The birth of Amber’s foal had touched her deeply. His throat constricted too because a miracle lay before them. What would have happened if Hadley hadn’t been here?

  “You saved them,” he said, close enough to Hadley to kiss her.

  She seemed to be eyeing his lips the same way he was eyeing hers. “You could have done the same thing,” she whispered.

  He got a whiff of that vanilla scent of hers that right now seemed as magical as an aphrodisiac. Shaking off the feeling and gathering his concentration, he conceded, “Maybe. But you knew what you were doing. I’ve only read about it.”

  Her eyes searched his face. “You were prepared for this?”

  “I try to be prepared for everything. But I’ve never delivered a breech birth.”

  Awareness of the fact that he and Hadley seemed to be breathing in unison swept over him.

  He was also aware of the way Hadley’s bangs lay near her brows...aware of her high cheekbones...aware of the curve of her lips. With a supreme effort, he forced himself to focus on the situation at hand.

  “They’ll probably lie like this for ten to fifteen minutes,” he said.

  The horses needed to rest as the umbilical cord transferred a vital amount of blood from mare to foal. When that was complete, the cord would break on its own.

  “I know,” Hadley responded.

  Her eyes were on his again, and she was close enough for their words to mix in the chilly air. Suddenly, she backed away. “Since we still have some waiting to do,” she said, pulling off her gloves, “is there any more coffee?”

  Now Hadley had refocused her gaze on the foal and his chocolate-brown coat. He had a white blaze like his mom.

  “Do you see babies delivered often?” Eli asked.

  “Mostly dogs and cats. It’s been years since I was present at a foal’s birth. I’m always in awe.”

  “Just wait until the little one starts to nurse. That’s a sight to behold, too.”

  She nodded, her long dark hair slipping over her shoulder. “When a baby’s born—dog, cat, horse—it’s hard for humans not to want to step in, care for it, wipe down and cuddle it. But letting nature take its course and letting momma and baby bond is so important. Maybe that’s why some women like to use midwives at home instead of going to the sterile noisy atmosphere of a hospital. Mother and baby can bond more easily.”

  “Could be.” Eli had never really thought about that. But Hadley could be right. Hospitals, antiseptic walls, nurses and doctors could muddle up the whole process.

  He would have stepped away then to go fetch the coffee for their wait, but Hadley took hold of his arm. Her touch through the flannel of his shirt caused a reaction inside him he hadn’t felt for a very long time.

  She said, “I’m glad you called Brooks, and I’m glad he called me. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this.”

  In spite of what he’d thought about Hadley earlier, he suddenly realized his attraction to her wasn’t going to go away merely because he wanted it to.

  Chapter Three

  Hadley had amazed Eli as she’d helped deliver the foal. In spite of being short and slender, she was strong, and she was capable. As they’d tended the mare, they’d been huddled close. Very close. If he had leaned in, he could have kissed her.

  But the enormity of the birth had prevented him from doing that. Watching the miracle had kept him grounded—grounded in what he did for a living, grounded in the satisfaction of raising horses, grounded in the knowledge that Hadley was an expert in her field.

  As they sipped their coffee on stools, watching momma and foal rest, he asked, “Where did you go to school?”

  “Colorado State. It was a good experience.”

  “Have you been in Bozeman since vet school?”

  “I have. They’ve been good to me at the practice. There are three vets, so we rotate and we can each get time off. That’s how I was able to come here to Rust Creek Falls for Thanksgiving.”

  “Delivering a foal came back to you. Maybe you should expand your practice,” he suggested.

  She looked over at the colt. “Actually, doing this has revved up my interest in larger animals again. One of our vets specializes in farm and ranch animals. I might tag along with him more often.”

  She gestured to the lid that had come from the cookie jar. “I noticed those organic cookies for the horses.”

  “I try to keep up with the healthiest feeds and herbs that help temperaments. I keep everything as natural as possible,” he confirmed.

  “You use herbs for temperament?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I mix them in with the feed. I’ve picke
d up a thing or two over the years.”

  He wasn’t sure why he’d just made himself sound a lot older than she was. But he didn’t think he was. He was thirty-five.

  “How old are you?” Eli asked her.

  “Thirty-one. Why?”

  He shrugged. “I just wondered.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Did you think I was younger or older than that?”

  Releasing a long breath, he knew he’d backed himself into that corner. “I plead the fifth. No matter what I say, it will be wrong.”

  She laughed, and he liked the sound of her laughter.

  Suddenly their attention was taken by Amber. Apparently the rest period for the mare was over. She stood and the umbilical cord broke.

  Hadley quickly stood, too, as did he.

  Arm to arm, they watched as the foal, on shaky legs, rose to its feet. Again, Eli could almost feel Hadley’s emotions as she watched mother and baby bond.

  Sometimes in the past, he’d had to guide the foal to its mom’s nipple. But this foal found it easily. His momma nudged him a little and accepted him.

  Eli knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. The placenta still had to be delivered. If that didn’t happen in about four hours, the risk of infection in the mare was greater. Once again he was glad that Hadley was here. Standing close together, shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm, he was disturbed by an attraction to Hadley that he now had to acknowledge.

  But acknowledging it didn’t mean he was accepting it. He stepped away. “I’m going to see what’s going on outside.”

  He felt Hadley’s gaze on his back when he went to the barn door. To his dismay, he couldn’t get it open.

  Hadley glanced his way. “What’s the matter?”

  Instead of going to the back door near the tack room this time, he went to the bigger door and tried to slide it on its tracks. He managed only a few inches when snow fell in. Lots of snow.

  “We’re snowed in,” he announced.

  Hadley came hurrying to the door, looked outside and gasped. “There has to be twenty inches out there.”