Page 77 of The Hardest Part

“One more thing.” And with a bob of his head, Walker grinned. “Found you a preacher. You’ll be wed come supper.”

A mild morning for this early in March, surprisingly, the temperature was above freezing. Usually, that didn’t happen until late April or May. Both of them working the same shift, Jake and his brother quietly slipped from the house before dawn. He’d been subdued these past few weeks, certain he’d lose favor, that the earth would punish him somehow for his‘mistake’.

Billy came to him that very morning to tell him what he’d done, that he’d failed his test, as did Emily, shortly thereafter. He understood. Jake couldn’t blame either of them, and to be honest, it surprised him they hadn’t given in to each other sooner. They weren’t the first, and they surely wouldn’t be the last, to have done so.

His brother’s concern, though, was a valid one.

He had broken the rule.

Still, Jake didn’t believe he’d be punished for it or lose favor.

I hope not, at least.

Not looking forward to another long day mucking through snow and shit, he pulled in and parked behind Kellan’s truck. “A couple more weeks, this’ll all be over, and we can get back to work on the house.”

“Yeah.” And he tapped away on his phone. “Griffin ain’t comin’ in today. He’s a daddy. Shiloh had the baby last night—well, early this mornin’.”

“Tell him congratulations from me.” Glancing at his brother, Jake smiled. “What’d they have?”

“A boy. Named him Jaxson.”

“Jaxson Archer. That’s a good name,” he said, and dropping his phone onto the console, he reached into the backseat. “I wonder how Cassie’s takin’ it.”

“Don’t know, and I ain’t askin’.”

The way his brother said it had them both laughing.

“Ready?” Jake tossed Billy his work bag.

“As I’ll ever be.”

He opened the door. “We best get to it, then.”

Calving is repetitive work. A lot of it is observation, looking after the cows and heifers to see if any need intervention. After delivery, it’s making sure the calf is warm, can stand, and is nursing. Once that’s going well, and the calf’s gotten a bellyful of colostrum from its mother, it’s time to process the baby critter—tag, inoculate, dip the navel, castrate the bulls, get a weight, and write it all down.

Jake was doing just that. Processing. Tanner and Billy were on the opposite side of the snowy pasture, pulling a calf. A flash of red in his periphery made him look toward the gate. Arien swung it open, and holding her pregnant belly, went over to Kellan. They spoke for a moment, then she turned around and headed back inside.

Thinking little of it, he returned to his task until Kellan tapped on his shoulder. “Justin called. He needs you and Billy to come home.”

“Did he say why?”

“No, just that he’s been tryin’ to reach you two on your phones.” He pursed his lips, rubbing at the back of his neck. “And he said to hurry.”

He drove like lightning. Neither he nor his brother spoke on the ride back to the house. Billy tore up the steps the moment he put the truck in park. Jake could hear him shouting from the sidewalk, “Ma? Dad?”

But no one was there.

“What the fuck, Jake?”

“I’m texting them.”

Then Billy handed him a note, written in their father’s barely legible scrawl.

We couldn’t wait.

Come to the hospital.

And come quickly.

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