was.
Except tonight. Tonight heâd dropped off, slept without dreams, and while he had woken confused, heâd been less so than usual. He even remembered what theyâd been talking about when heâd gone lights out.
âWhy are all calves in Three Harbors born in the dark?â
She had her hands on her hips as she contemplated the back end of her patient. âIs this a riddle?â
âYouâre the one who told me that before I fell asleep. Did you answer and I missed it?â
âI didnât say theyâre all born in the dark. Just that they never seem to need me to help unless itâs three A.M. Weâve got another hour, maybe two, before weâre done.â
âHow do you know that? Something you learned in school? Something youâve figured out since delivering a dozen or two?â
He leaned forward. He was fascinated with her.
He leaned back. Fascinated with what she did, he corrected himself. How she did it. Who wouldnât be?
In the field he was responsible for Reggie, had taken a few courses so that he could detect if the dog was overheated, overstressed. Heâd also had to learn what to do for bothâlots of water, ice, keeping the footpads and the belly cool, there was a reason a hot dog would flop into a mud puddleâas well as minor cuts, abrasions, stomach issues, and the like.
âIâve yet to attend a calving that didnât take place in the dead of night. Iâve yet to deliver a calf at any of them before dawn.â She spread her hands. âWhich at this time of the year is ⦠six-thirty?â
âIâll take your word on that.â
âThat the calf wonât be born until dawn, or that dawn is around six-thirty?â
âYes,â he said, and she laughed.
âI should probablyâ¦â She flexed her fingers.
Duchess snorted, stomped, and swung her butt in the other direction so fast she nearly knocked Becca over.
Becca shoved her back where sheâd been with a shoulder to her rump. âStop that, or youâll never have it out.â
The cow grumbled, but she quit moving.
âYou have a way with animals. You always did.â
âHence the DVM after my name.â
Becca inserted her hand where it had been earlier, closed her eyes, appeared to listen. Her forehead crinkled. âI can just get my fingers around a hoof, but when I pullââ She gritted her teeth, braced her legs andââDammit.â
She stepped back and stuck her hand in the bucket of water, washing with more enthusiasm than was probably necessary. Though maybe not considering where that hand had been. She paced over to Owen, head down, muttering, then to the bucket, then over to Owen again.
âIf I donât get that calf out soon, I could lose it and the mother.â
âWhy are you whispering?â
She glanced at the cow, which was staring at them both. âNo reason.â
She laid a palm on the animalâs side. âRelax.â She stroked the heaving rump. âI havenât been in labor. I donât know. Iâm sure it isnât easy.â
Why did it seem as if she were answering the cowâs questions? Probably because Owen was so tired he could almost hear them.
âWhat?â she asked.
âI didnât say anything.â
âShh!â She set her cheek against the animalâs side, spread her fingers along the rib cage, closed her eyes again, breathed in, out, in. Then she straightened as if sheâd been goosed. âTheyâre stuck.â
She returned to the rear end. â Theyâre stuck.â Joy sparked in her eyes. âNot one in there but two.â
As dawn tinted the sky, twin calves teetered on spindly legs while Duchess licked them all over.
âTheyâre beautiful,â Owen said.
Youâre beautiful, he thought.
This was why heâd left. So she could become Dr. Rebecca Carstairs, DVM. It was what