Page 62 of Cowboy's Sinful Bargain

I quickly stepped back out of the way, standing at the stall fence, and watched as Miko did his magic with his needles and the birth was underway.

Not ten minutes after we got there we were looking at a beautiful lightly tanned foal being cleaned by her mother. Both mother and baby were fit and healthy.

"How did he do that?" Cooper asked.

I shook my head. "I have no idea." I wasn't even sure what Miko had done. "He saved Bucky after he got gored in the hind end during a stampede. Bucky is fully recovered."

Cooper's dark eyebrows shot up. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we even rode him earlier today."

"Damn."

"I don't understand hardly anything that he does, but it works."

"I'm glad Doc called him," Cooper said. "Ethan and I are working on a breeding program and this little girl is our first birth. If we'd lost her, we would have had to start all over."

I slapped Cooper on the shoulder. "Glad we could help."

"What kind of payment does he want for this?"

"Knowing Miko, probably a chance to pick Colby's brain about what herbs grow around here. He's pretty interested in that stuff."

"Tell ya what," Cooper said. "If you get the materials, we'll come over and help with putting that greenhouse up. I'll even have Colby toss in some starter plants for Miko. Does that sound fair?"

It sounded more than fair.

"I think he'd like that."

I was pretty sure he'd be thrilled.

Miko had a happy grin on his face when he stumbled out of the stall. He walked right into my arms and peered up at me. "Did you see her?"

"I did." I returned his grin. "You did good, Miko."

"I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it without him," Doc said as he ambled over, wiping his hands with a clean towel."Mimi was too agitated to give birth. I was worried I'd have to do a C-Section and those are never pleasant."

"What is C-Section?" Miko asked.

I leaned down and whispered into his ear, telling him the basics of what it was. Miko paled and immediately started shaking his head. "I never want to see something like that."

Yeah, couldn't blame him there.

"Colby has food on for everyone," Ethan called out. "Why don't we head to the house and get something to eat? Let mama and her new baby have a little bonding time."

"I done ate already," one of the ranch hands—an older man—stated. "I'll stay out here and keep an eye on them."

"Thanks, Cookie," Ethan replied.

I didn't know all the ranch hands on the Eagle Creek Ranch, but I knew most of them. Cookie had been around longer than most. He was a cranky old soul, but he was a fount of information when it came to ranching. Id' learned a lot from him over the years.

I kept a tight hold of Miko's hand as we followed Ethan, Cooper, and the others to the house. I wasn't concerned about any of the ranch hands here, but I still didn't know what had happened to First Uncle.

I wasn't taking any chances.

The sheriff was sitting at the dining room table when we got inside drinking a cup of coffee. He glanced up when we walked in. "That black car hung around the gate for about ten minutes before heading back into town. Pretty sure they are the foreigners from before."

"How can you be sure?" I asked. "It's been a couple of months since they first appeared in the area."

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