Page 16 of Hero Unbound

She wanted to see this man smile more often.

His gaze moved from the mare to Eva and caught her staring. “What?”

She glanced away quickly. No way in hell she was going to try to explain this. “Nothing. Best thing we can do to help iskeep an eye on the clock to make sure things are progressing the way they should. We can also lay out some clean straw to keep everything as sanitary as possible.”

She walked out of the stall to the other side of the barn to grab a square bale of straw that had been brought inside the barn for this very purpose. Before she could pick it up, Theo was there, lifting the heavy weight out of her hands.

Eva categorically refused to acknowledge that there had been any sort of heat when his skin touched hers. Because that was ridiculous.

“You okay?” he asked, brows furrowed.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

“Where do you want it?”

Where did she want what? Him? A kiss right here against the barn door would be a fantastic start.

When was the last time she’d actually wanted to kiss someone? Kisses from Gareth had turned into something she’d merely endured a long time ago.

“Eva?” Theo lifted the bale a little higher in his hands as if the fifty pounds was nothing.

Hay. Right. “Over by the stall so we can spread it out.”

Wildfire was still moving restlessly, getting up and down, trying to ease the pressure building in her body. Theo shoveled out dirty straw, and Eva laid fresh all around the mare, trying to disturb her as little as possible.

“Shit,” Theo muttered, looking at his phone. “Becky is over in Sweetwater County in surgery. That’s three hours away if she left right now.”

Eva looked at Wildfire. She was close to stage two of her labor. Once the foal started to come, it wouldn’t be very long. “Becky’s not needed here. And she wouldn’t make it in time anyway.”

Theo obviously didn’t like it, andEva couldn’t blame him. He didn’t know Eva’s background—that she’d specifically trained with big animals and that the birthing process was an important part of that training. She was more than capable of handling this.She should be thankful she was getting to use her training. After what had happened, once she left Oak Creek, she probably wouldn’t get the chance to again.

The thought that this was the last foaling she might ever be a part of sent a crack through her chest.

“Look, are you sure you’re okay?” Theo took a step closer. “Do you want me to try to get some locals who have experience with horse births?”

“No, I—”

They both turned as liquid gushed from Wildfire’s hind parts.

“Okay.” Eva stepped back from Theo. “We’rein stage two of labor. Her water just broke.”

“That’s water?”

“Actually, it’s allantoic fluid, caused by therupture of the chorioallantoic membrane. And it’s all perfectly normal. That whitish color is good. Red would mean theplacenta had detached prematurely, and we’d have an emergency on our hands.”

Theo tilted his head and studied her.Shit. All that information might not besomethinga vet tech would readily know.

“Now we watch the clock,” Eva said quickly to get his attention off her. “Foal should be here in the next fifteen or twenty minutes.”

It worked. Theo turned his attention back to the mare. “Okay.”

Wildfire lay down, her uterine contractions starting in earnest. After a few minutes, she got back up then lay back down—still normal. But as the minutes ticked by and there wasn’t any progress despite the contractions, Eva started to get worried.

“How long has it been since her water broke?” she asked Theo.

He looked down at his watch. “Twenty-seven minutes.”

Damn. “We should’ve already seen the foal’s feet by now. Wildfire is in trouble.”

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