One Night Rodeo (36 page)

Celia flipped her braid behind her back. “Not necessarily problems with the calves, but issues with the dam—otherwise known as the mama. Sometimes they’re just so mean after giving birth until the calf is weaned that it’s best to get rid of them. Summer stuff on the ranch means you get so busy that you’ll forget unless you can go back and look through the notes. It’ll especially become important if you increase the size of your herd.”

“What did you want to change at the Lawson ranch?”

“I wanted to keep a better eye on the sires, instead of just turning the bulls loose in the pasture and trying to figure out after the fact which bull sired which calf. They always said recording birth weights when we weren’t running purebreds was a waste of time, especially when they said they could see whether a calf was gaining weight. But I at least wanted to try it with a couple of the heifers and see if their calf weights went up every year.”

“What would it take to do that here?”

Her eyes turned shrewd. “You’re serious? So you’re really gonna listen to my ideas? And not just discount them?”

“Yep. I wanna start everything out right.”

“You’d need a portable scale.”

“The thing with the sling in the barn is the regular scale, right?”

“Yep.” She glanced at the sky again. “Let’s get the feed and then spread the straw. It’ll be damn close to dark by the time we get back here to spread it out.”

Kyle rubbed his chin with a gloved finger. “Remind me again why we’re spreading out two bales?”

“One to feed their bellies. The old, crappy stuff we’ll use to cover the
ground. It’ll give ’em some warmth, especially important if we have any more surprise births tonight. And if they get really hungry, they’ll eat the crappy stuff. It’s hard to chew, and chewing and digesting is part of what keeps them warm.”

He couldn’t help but kiss her. “I had no idea about any of this stuff. Every day you blow my mind with something new. You are so damn smart.”

“It’s pretty much common knowledge.”

“Not for me. You’ve done way more of this cattle-raising stuff than even I realized. You know what works and what doesn’t. I won’t argue with you just to argue.”

“Oh.” She nearly blinded him with her beautiful smile. Then she nearly knocked him on his ass when she threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you for listening to me. It means more than you’ll ever know.”

Kyle slapped her butt and kissed her again. “You’re welcome. But, kitten, I get to drive the tractor.”

Over the next twenty-four hours, Kyle didn’t have a chance to talk to Celia about anything that didn’t concern calving. He helped her pull a calf. Leading the distressed mama into the birthing equipment and hobbling her legs. Talk about a new experience. As was donning a long obstetrical glove and inserting his arm up to his shoulder in a birth canal to reposition the large calf. Then watching as Celia expertly used the OB chains to pull and tug the calf a little at a time until it slid free.

Even after ripping the amniotic sac away from the mouth, the calf still wasn’t breathing. Celia jerked it by the hind legs, hanging it upside down until fluid cleared the lungs in a wet gush and it breathed on its own. They placed the pair in one of the empty stalls in the cow barn and watched as mama and baby got acquainted.

The next two days a blizzard raged. Kyle spent his time on the tractor, clearing pathways in the pasture. Clearing a path to the creek for the part of the herd that’d taken shelter from the storm in a low-lying copse of trees. Clearing a path from the cow barn to the house. Clearing a path from the
house to the old barn where they’d brought the horses. After he’d spread feed and straw to the three separate sections of the herd, he plowed the road down to Josh’s place, in case an emergency arose and they needed Fletch’s veterinary assistance.

Then he mucked the cow and horse stalls at night—that Celia had mucked that morning. They split up the every-three-hour cattle checks. They worked together to get the cattle fed twice a day in the snow. He and Celia took turns catching a catnap here and there. In this frigid weather they burned a lot of wood, which required constant tending.

In the two weeks since that first calf dropped they’d added forty-seven calves to the herd. They had no choice but to move the mamas and babies back outside within twenty-four hours of the birth because the number of births was increasing every day.

Forty-seven down, one hundred and twenty-two to go.

After being up all night, at dawn Celia sent him to bed.

Kyle woke at nine o’clock—according to the alarm—and, disoriented because the bedroom shades were pulled, he had no idea if it was morning or night. He set his feet on the floor and noticed he’d fallen into bed fully clothed.

Not the first time that’d happened.

The sounds of a conversation drifted through the crack in the door. He recognized Celia’s voice and stood to listen.

“…Was afraid I’d have to send her to stay with her mother for the rest of it.”

Ah. Josh. The acoustics in this house funneled everything into the hallway, so he heard every word perfectly.

“I’m guessing Ronna argued?”

Josh sighed. “Yeah. She reminded me she’s a ranch wife. Since she wasn’t helping take care of the cattle, it was her job to take care of me while I take care of the cows.”

“Hard to argue with that logic, huh?”

“Impossible. I know William has been fussy and then we had the snowstorm and she’s been locked in the house with a cranky baby and an absent or a comatose husband for two weeks.”

“Maybe you oughta cut her a break. Let her plow the road. It’d give you time with your son and show her that you do need her help.”

Kyle grinned. His wife was so damn intuitive. He wondered if anyone else had appreciated that about her.

You keep forgetting she’s not your wife.

His happy mood vanished.

“You know, Celia, that’s a great idea,” Josh said.

Just as he reached for the door handle to join them in the kitchen, he heard Josh say, “That husband of yours is a hard worker.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I’m not. Okay, maybe I am a little. Most rodeo guys I’ve known are showmen. Guys born into the ranching life are aware of how much work it entails. I’ve got buddies who couldn’t wait to get the hell off the ranch. So bein’s Kyle wasn’t raised a ranch kid, it’s odd he hasn’t put the place up for sale.”

“If you had the chance to sell your place, would you?”

“Hell no. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Ranching is all I’ve ever known.”

“Same here. It’s honestly all I’ve ever wanted to do. Running his own ranch has always been Kyle’s dream.”

“He’s lucky to have you to show him the ropes. He never would’ve figured out a lot of this stuff by himself.”

“Oh, I don’t know. He’s bright. He has been exposed to some of this over the years. But mostly he’s determined. I’ve known Kyle for almost twenty years. He’s good at whatever he puts his mind to.”

No mistaking the pride in Celia’s voce.

Josh laughed. “Spoken like a newlywed in love.”

In love? Really? His heart skipped faster. Was it possible she’d already fallen in love with him?

“It’s a welcome change for us, having neighbors our age close by,” Josh added. “Between you and me, Marshall was…a hermit.”

“So you didn’t drop by for coffee to swap calving traumas?”

“No. Marshall was an intimidating old fella. I have no idea how he dealt with a herd that size by himself at his age for as long as he did. I was floored
when he asked me to take over his livestock after he’d finished shipping last year’s cattle so he could deal with his health issues. I was even more floored when he offered to pay me pretty well to do it. With a baby on the way, the drought, and the uncertain cattle market, well, I ain’t stupid.”

“We certainly appreciate how well you took care of them. We’ve had uneventful calving so far.”

Kyle heard her knock wood.

“Us too.”

Louder knocking on wood and they both laughed.

“I gotta get. Just wanted to check in.”

Footsteps echoed from the living room and he slid behind the door, which was idiotic because they couldn’t see him.

Kyle crawled back in bed, and as he expected, Celia checked on him.

The instant she pulled the covers over his shoulder, he groaned. “What time is it?”

“A little after nine. In the morning. Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. Go back to sleep.”

“Probably my turn to make the rounds anyway.”

“We’re good for a little while.” Her fingers traced the day’s worth of beard on his cheeks. “Rest while you can.”

“I have a better idea.” He grabbed her around the waist, rolling her to her back on the bed. Then he smothered her surprised shrieks. Dragging her into the kiss from the first touch of his tongue to hers.

Celia was as starved for him as he was for her. Six days was too damn long to go without touching her.

Then she ripped her mouth from his and put her hands on his chest, pushing him away. “Kyle. Stop.”

“Why? The cows can wait fifteen minutes.” He nuzzled her ear. “I’m dyin’ for you, Celia.”

“I…we can’t.”

He pushed up. “What’s wrong?”

Her cheeks were bright pink “I got my period.”

“Oh. So that means I can’t kiss you? Grind on you a little? Do you have cramps or something?”

She blushed harder. “Can’t we just drop it?”

“Why are you embarrassed?”

“Just stop looming over me. You’re making me self-conscious.”

Kyle rolled until they were on their sides facing each other. “Don’t be self-conscious. We’ve had our arms up a cow’s birth canal together. We can talk about this stuff.”

“That’d be a first.”

“Really? Why?”

Celia briefly closed her eyes. “After my mother died, I had no one to ask about that kinda girl stuff when it happened to me. I finally got up the courage to tell Abe and he got all embarrassed. He drove me to Kmart in Rawlins, handed me twenty bucks, and told me to stock up on female supplies. I doubt he ever mentioned it to Hank.”

“That was fuckin’ stupid and insensitive of him. It’s part of life for women and men who live together. My mom went to bed with a heating pad, a bottle of Midol, a stash of chocolate, and a bottle of wine after her bar shift during that time of the month. She never hid it from me because she said I’d have to deal with it. She never sent me to the store to buy tampons, but it wasn’t some dirty secret either.”

“Things were a little better when Janie lived there,” Celia admitted. “But I was back to ignorance with other female issues after she left.”

“Like what?”

She glanced down at his chest. “Like girl clothes. Bernice cornered me to tell me to stop acting like a tomboy and start wearing a bra. Problem was, I didn’t own a bra. I was so small-chested I didn’t think it mattered. And the last thing I wanted was to draw attention to my lack of curves and become even more self-conscious that I didn’t look like Harper.”

“Hey.” Kyle nudged her face up to look into her eyes. “I teased you about that, didn’t I?”

“You never called me tiny tits or anything, but you made cracks about whether I was even a girl.”

He rested his forehead to hers. “Jesus. I’m sorry.”

“I know. I also know you didn’t do it because you secretly had a crush on me, which in hindsight, would’ve made it worse. You were just being a
guy, jerking me around like you always did. I would’ve been more suspicious if you’d stopped.”

Kyle’s lips forced a path down her neck. Happy she’d worn a shirt with snaps, he popped them one at a time and dragged openmouthed kisses over each bit of exposed skin.

And looky there, she hadn’t worn a bra.

She made a soft noise when he licked her left nipple.

He cupped a breast in each hand and pressed the flesh together to tongue both nipples. “Put your hands up my shirt. Play with my nipples like I’m playing with yours.”

Celia’s cold fingers made him jump and she responded with a low, sexy chuckle that he felt beneath his lips.

Her hands were all over him, sending goose bumps across his arms and down his back. She brushed the ridges of his abs. She mapped the planes of his chest with her palms, her fingertips, not just focusing on his nipples.

He scooted up to kiss her in the same unhurried manner that he caressed her. Exploring her mouth. Sinking deeper into the moment. One last nuzzle and he eased back to look at her. Her face was flushed, her eyes a soft silvery gray.

Celia set her hands on his cheeks. Her thumbs followed the arc of his eyebrows, trailed down his temples and jaw. “You’re so damn good-looking, Kyle. Such a perfect mix of rugged and handsome.”

Kyle blushed.

“I’m sorry if I don’t say that enough. But I am thinking it. Every day when I look at you.”

“Thank you.” He kissed the inside of her wrist and changed the course of the conversation. “I love touching you, Celia.” His hands mapped her face the same way hers had mapped his. “I love that I can touch you whenever I want.”

“Same goes.” She yawned. And looked embarrassed by it. “Sorry. You touching me is far from yawn-inducing.”

“I’ll stop hogging your sleep time.” He kissed her forehead and pulled the covers under her chin.