Page 36 of The Hardest Part

By the time morning came, another forty-six calves were born. That made fifty-nine total, including Bodhi, during their time inside the barn. Yeah, he’d already picked out a name for the little guy. Billy didn’t know what the word meant, but he liked it.

He opened the gate to Bodhi’s pen, where he slept on a warm bed of straw. But as Billy came closer, he already knew. The calf was too still.

I ain’t never lost one.

“C’mon, open your eyes for me, buddy,” he whispered in vain, his fingers brushing over the baby’s head. “I’m taking you to Em. She’s gonna love you and she’ll be such a good mama.”

But Bodhi’s eyes never opened.

“I wanted to be wrong this time.” Kellen stood over him. “Sorry, Billy.”

I ain’t never lost one.

“Get cleaned up and go home. I’ll see to the calf.”

“His name is Bodhi.”

Something warm and wet trickled from his eye. What the fuck? He wasn’t crying over the death of a baby bull, was he?

I ain’t never lost one.

“Go on, now, and take tonight off.” Kellan crouched down on his haunches in front of him. “Spend some time with Emily. Wish her a happy birthday and love on her while you still can.”

Emily almost missed his call.

Cross-legged on the floor of her walk-in closet, the phone was buried in a sea of clothing she’d tossed out of drawers and torn from their hangers. It’s not that Emily suddenly had this obsessive-compulsive desire to purge and reorganize or anything like that, but once the thought crossed her mind, she dove right in. Besides, she had nothing better to do.

Colder than a witch’s tit, she wasn’t about to take Ruby out for a ride.

Arien invited her up to the house, but watching her stuff mushrooms for her next vlog post held little appeal. She didn’t even like them.

Shiloh’s parents forced her and Cassie to go on a trip to Arizona together for some sisterly bonding before the wedding.

This time of year, her mom worked in town, from daybreak until midnight ensuring every tax return was flawless and filed by the April 15th deadline.

And her boys?

Up to their elbows in cowpoo, I bet.

Giggling at the image in her head, Emily followed the voice of Stevie Nicks belting out “Edge of Seventeen” and found herphone hidden beneath a pile of old t-shirts she no longer had any use for.

A photo of Billy on his horse lit up the screen. “Hey, babes. Whatcha doin’?”

“Just finished my shift,” he said on a groan. “Is your mama home?”

“No.”

“I’m comin’ over.”

It wasn’t a request. His voice had an edge to it Emily couldn’t quite place. “Okay, I can make you some breakfast.”

“I don’t want breakfast. I just want you.”

After a sixteen-hour shift, and during a snowstorm to boot, Billy had to be cold, tired, and hungry. Except for stolen moments here and there, seeing each other while the cows were calving was a rarity, and surely, he missed her as much as she missed him…

There’s more to it than that.

“What’s the matter, Billy?”

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