Page 34 of The Hardest Part

“It’s a calving barn, baby cakes.” Kellan grabbed Arien’s face, and kissing her, he chuckled. “What’d you expect?”

“Baby cows are so cute and—”

And?

But Tanner cut her off, taking her from his brother and planting a kiss of his own on her lips.

Truth be told, that wasn’t the only source of the stench in here. No amount of antiseptic that could wash away the stink of piss and shit, sour milk, and bloody afterbirth.

Arien’s head shot up. “Wait, don’t they have their babies outside?”

“Most of the time.” Tanner’s fingers caressed her cheek. “Sometimes, like when the weather’s bad or if a mama is havin’ a hard time, we have to bring ‘em in.”

“Yeah, and it looks like tonight is gonna be one of those nights.” Kellan took a long swig from his thermos. “We’ve got a cold front comin’ through.”

“You can’t fit all the mama cows and their babies in here.”

“Don’t have to, girly.” He smirked with a shake of his head. “Only the ones that are close to calving.”

“But how do you know which ones those are?”

“Easy.” His fingertips traipsing down her thigh, they halted at her knee. Kellan squeezed. “We got a synchronized system here. See, gestation is roughly two hundred and eighty-three days.”

Two hundred seventy-nine to two hundred and ninety-two, but semantics.

“We breed ‘em in groups. The Angus bull gets turned out with the Angus heifers and has fun with them for a couple of weeks, then he spends a couple with the Angus cows. Then the Limousin gets his turn with his girls, then the Simmental, and down the line it goes. So, we know when each group is due to calve and who to keep a closer eye on.”

“Oh.” Her lips pursed, Arien accepted Kellan’s explanation with a shrug. Then her pretty eyes glazed over and she cocked her head. “Wait a minute, what do you mean the heifers andthenthe cows? Aren’t they the same thing?”

Exchanging a glance with his brother, Billy chortled.City girls.

Tanner’s arm came around her shoulders, drawing Arien closer to his side. “Heifer means she’s a first-time mama, pretty girl. A cow has calved before.”

“The boys are bulls—until their balls get chopped off, anyway.” Emily showed her, making a snipping motion with her fingers. “Then they’re steers.”

The look on Arien’s face.Priceless.She gasped, turning to Kellan. “Why the fuck would you do that?”

“Not all the boys get to play.” He winked at her, sporting his trademark smirk. “The best are for breedin’ and the rest are for eatin’. Testosterone gives the meat a strong flavor—most folks don’t like it, so…”

“I didnotneed to know that.”

“And yet, you asked.”

Most folks don’t know what it takes to get that nice ribeye steak on their table. Hell, they don’t want to know. The only thing they see is cuts of beef, prettily packaged for their consumption on plastic-wrapped Styrofoam trays at the grocery store.

Kellan followed in behind. Snapping him back to the matter at hand, he pointed at the cow with the hooves protruding from her backside. “How long she been like that?”

“Not sure.”

He thrust his hand past the hooves, into the birth canal. “Calf’s alive. Tongue’s wigglin’. Let’s give her another fifteen minutes. Might have to pull it.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“C’mon, get these girls into another pen,” Kellan ordered, lifting his chin toward the three with bulging bags. “Then come back here and check on her. I gotta get these new ones up and sucking. They’re cold.”

Billy shooed the laboring mamas into individual calving pens. Cows prefer to be alone when calving, and the set-up gave them a sense of privacy while allowing him access should he need to intervene.

After settling them in, he returned to check on the progress of the heifer. Nothing had changed. The pair of hooves hadn’t so much as budged. Noting the orange tag on her ear, Billy gave it a scratch. “C’mon, Miss 2079. I’m gonna help you get your baby out.”

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