Читать книгу The Maverick's Snowbound Christmas - Karen Smith Rose - Страница 9

Chapter Two

Hadley walked toward Eli, and for a few seconds he thought about backing up. But he couldn’t. He was mesmerized by her and the kitten in her arms.

As she stood in front of him, she handed him the kitten. “Can you hold her? I think the mom is back there, too.”

What choice did he have? Along with catching Hadley’s vanilla scent that was so different from the perfumes women usually wore, besides being close enough to think about touching her hair that looked even softer than he originally thought it might be, besides staring at her lips for a nanosecond and imagining—

Coming back to reality with a jolt, he took the kitten and nestled it on his forearm. It was adorable with colors split on its face. One side was tan, the other dark brown into black. All shades from gold to brown melded in its coat.

Hadley’s gaze met his, and they seemed locked in the moment. Then her focus went to the kitten. She brushed her thumb under its eye.

“She’s too little to be separated from her mom, so if we make friends with one, we have to make friends with both.” With that she swiftly turned and went back to the shelves. In another minute, she had another cat in her arms, a lighter tortoiseshell, one that hardly looked old enough to have a litter of kittens.

“Do you think they’re hungry?” Eli asked. “There’s cat food in the cupboard.” He motioned to the storage units near the shelves.

“Stray cats are usually always hungry,” Hadley agreed. “The little one should be old enough to eat a bit of cat food mixed with water. You haven’t seen them around before?”

“Barn cats come and go. My guess is they hide whenever humans come in. If I see them, I feed them.” He gave a shrug. “But I haven’t seen these two before.”

“They probably took shelter in here from the cold and the snow. They need to be tested, and the little one looks as if she might need eyedrops.”

“We can do that,” he said. “They’re not going to get out of the barn now, that’s for sure.”

Hadley settled the momma cat on the chair. Instead of scampering away like Eli might have expected she would do, she sat there and looked up at Hadley, as if grateful for the company and the attention.

“What about the kitten?” he asked. “Should I just put her down?”

“Do you have a box and maybe an old blanket? We can make her a better bed. After she eats, she might sleep there, depending on the mom.”

“You said they need to be tested. What are you testing for?”

“Feline leukemia and FIV.”

“And if they have it?”

“We’ll talk after they’re tested. No use jumping the gun.”

Eli handed Hadley the kitten, understanding that she dealt with this every day—clients bringing pets for her care, clients losing pets, clients hoping Hadley could make everything better. He found the food, then emptied a box that held old tack that needed repair. In no time, he’d created a bed with a fleece saddle pad.

Eli searched for something they could use for dishes. He borrowed the lid to a jar that held organic cookie treats for the horses. It was big enough that both mom and kitten could eat from it.

Handing it to Hadley along with a bottle of water from a case on the floor, he said, “This is the best I could do.”

“This will work great. Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

When their eyes met, Eli thought he caught a flash of attraction in Hadley’s brown gaze. He knew he was feeling it. Maybe it was just the idea of being cooped up during a snowstorm that made their awareness of each other so intense.

“I’ll check on Amber,” he said gruffly and exited the tack room to do just that.

Hadley told herself to focus on what she was doing while Eli checked on his horse. Why did her gaze want to follow him? Eli drew her eyes to him like he was a magnet and she was the weakest piece of metal. It wasn’t just his broad shoulders, though they were broad. It wasn’t his slim hips and his flat stomach under his vest, though she could imagine a six-pack under his flannel shirt. It wasn’t his long legs encased in jeans that fit oh, so well. How often had she seen cowboys in jeans? Eli’s jeans looked as if they were comfortable, worn white in some places. She had to stop sneaking peeks at him.

Focusing on the cat food and the water, she mixed it together in the lid. As soon as she lowered it to the floor, momma cat was there instantly and so was baby. Only baby seemed to be having a hard time of it. Not used to eating food from a dish? That was easily fixed.

Hadley dipped her finger into the mixture and held it to the kitten’s nose. The kitten’s little pink tongue snuck out and lapped at her finger. The hairs on the nape of her neck prickled, and she felt Eli’s presence as soon as he was near. It wasn’t his shadow. It wasn’t the soapy leather scent that seemed to surround him. It was just...him. He was back and watching her.

Hadley knew about the cowboy kind. She’d dated a few. They were hardworking, but often narrow-minded, never looking at the world around them, only at the world they knew.

Eli hunkered down next to her and lifted the cat food can. “It looks like she needs a little more.” He forked more food into the lid, his arm bumping hers.

Hadley poured more water from the bottle and almost spilled it. Being this close to Eli made her feel a bit shaky. How crazy was that?

“Do you really think they’ll sleep in the box?” he asked.

As she turned to face him, her body was close to his. She took in the details of his face, the lines around his eyes, the slight furrow in his brow. There was a light scar on the left side of his cheek, and her fingers suddenly itched to touch it.

No, no, no, she told herself, turning away from him. She murmured, “They might. If Momma thinks it’s cuddly, warm and safe.”

Giving her attention once more to the momma cat and baby, she saw the kitten was eating from the dish now, having gotten the idea from tasting the food on Hadley’s finger.

Feeling suddenly nervous around Eli, she needed something to say. “They’ll probably sleep after they eat. If you put the box right near those shelves where they were, they’ll probably settle there. They’re creatures of habit just as we are.”

She used a bit of the water to wash her fingers, and then wiped them on a napkin. She went to her bag that she’d dropped on the desk and took out a vial of antibacterial gel that needed no water and rubbed it on her hands. Then she hurriedly left the tack room to check on Eli’s mustang.

Immediately, Hadley saw that Amber didn’t seem to be in any distress. Maybe Eli had been all wrong about a problem with labor. Maybe she should leave while she could.

On the other hand, she sighed at the thought of being around a whole boardinghouse full of Stricklands. Maybe the truth was that it was getting harder to keep her secret from her family. In some ways, she wanted to talk to her sisters about it. Yet in others, she still felt ashamed and foolish about a romance that had been so wrong. No one really needed to know what she’d done. Not ever. But keeping her past romantic mistake to herself sometimes made her feel as if there was a wall between her and her family.

As she walked back to the tack room, she glimpsed Eli setting the box near the shelves. Joining him, she watched the momma cat walk toward the box and the baby follow. Momma circled a few times, hopped in and kneaded the saddle pad. Baby hopped in with her. Soon she was suckling her mom.

With a smile that made Hadley feel tingly all over, Eli studied the cats with her. Then he asked about Amber. Though she told him the mare was fine, he obviously needed to see for himself.

In the barn once more, he ran practiced hands over Amber’s flanks. “She’s restless, but not pushing. I don’t know what happened earlier. She’s even eaten a little.”

“We’ll keep watching her,” Hadley assured him.

The gusts of wind outside suddenly became more forceful. The side door of the barn blew open, and more than one horse whinnied.

“I’ll get it,” Hadley said, rushing toward the door.

“Put the bar across,” Eli called to her. “Or do you want me to do it?”

“I can do it,” she called back. She might be short and slender, but she was strong. She worked out with weights when she could. She had to stay strong to lift animals, even though she was a small animal vet. Sometimes she had to handle German shepherds that could weigh ninety or a hundred pounds.

The vehemence of the wind pushed against the door, and she pushed back, closing it with a bang. She hefted up the plank of wood beside the doorjamb and swung it into place. She glanced toward the other end of the barn, where, luckily, the large airplane hangar-style door was securely latched. When the wind blew, the plank rumbled a little, but it wasn’t going anywhere. She couldn’t see out of the high windows up above. Falling snow completely blocked them.

Eli came out from the stall. “That was impressive. Do you handle elephants in your small pet practice?”

She laughed. “No, but I try not to let the big dogs run away with me. I had to lift a pregnant Newfoundland once. Ever since then, I’ve kept up my strength. It comes in handy at times like these.”

He beckoned to the tack room. “Come on, let’s finish our lunch. Maybe nibbling on those cookies will help us forget about the wind howling outside. Are you nervous being in here?”

Following him to the warmest spot in the barn, she sat in the captain’s chair and watched as he poured coffee into the top of the thermos and handed that cup to her. He used a foam cup for himself.

“Nervous?” she asked. “You mean about the storm?”

“About the storm, about being cooped up in here with a relative stranger, about not knowing when you’ll get out.”

She motioned to the heater. “We have heat.” She gestured to the cookie tin. “We have food.” She pointed to the water. “We even have bottled water. That’s more than a lot of people have on a daily basis. I think we’ll survive. No, I’m not nervous.” Though if she was really honest with herself, being this close to Eli in a confined space caused the jitters to plague her.

“How long did it take you to gentle Amber?” Conversation seemed the best way to calm them. She had to admit she wanted to know Eli better.

“It depends on what you mean by gentling,” he explained. “It took about a week until she would come to the fence when I called. I just sat there and spoke to her in a low voice, not expecting anything from her. The next part of the gentling was treats. A hungry horse will want to get to know you faster. I ordered those organic cookies that are supposed to be good for horses. She definitely needed her share of vitamins. She took to them. I’d hold out one of those and she’d come right up. She was still skittish, but after another week or so of that, she let me touch her. First her neck, then her flank, then her nose. I would just go outside and sit with her and whittle.”

“Whittle?”

He shrugged. “It’s just a hobby of mine.”

“So you took time out of your daily schedule to spend with Amber?”

“I did. How else was I going to get to know her, or let her get to know me?”

Hadley pulled one of the cookies from the tin to give herself something to do and something else to think about other than the sound of Eli’s voice and the idea of him running a hand down Amber’s flank. The cookie was chocolate chip, and she took a bite and savored it. “Great cookies.”

“My mom knows how to bake.”

“Melba does, too,” Hadley said. “And she teaches me favorite recipes whenever I’m around her.”

“Do you cook much for yourself?” Eli asked.

Hadley shook her head. “I’m rarely at my place. Mostly I pick up takeout. Sometimes on weekends I’ll make a stew or soup, sticky buns or a loaf of bread. It isn’t that I don’t know how, it’s just that I don’t have time. I’m taking lessons for my pilot’s license now. I have even less leisure time than before.”

For some reason, Eli frowned. “A pilot’s license. You sound like a woman who wants adventure.”

Something about the edge to his voice told her he didn’t think that was a good thing. “I don’t know about wanting adventure. I just don’t want my life to be static. Piloting a small plane could help me reach patients at a greater distance, even the wild horses if they need medical care. I haven’t figured it all out yet. I just know I want to.” Changing the subject away from her life, she said, “I understand you have cousins staying here now.”

“I do, but I’m not in the mix too much. I built a cabin on my chunk of the ranch in late summer, so I have privacy when I want it. My brother Jonah designed it, and I worked on it myself.”

“Did you decorate it, too?” She could imagine that it was a bachelor pad with a requisite big-screen TV, recliner, king-size bed and not much else.

But Eli answered her seriously. “My sister Kristen gave me some suggestions, but for the most part I went online and found the rest.”

“You mean like stuff for the walls?”

“Why sound so surprised?” he asked with amusement twinkling in his eyes. “I like art and pottery. There’s a wall hanging a friend of my mom’s made. Or are you more surprised that I know how to use a computer? I’m a rancher, Hadley, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have other skills.”

He seemed insulted when he said it, and she’d never meant for anything she’d said to be an insult. But she must have touched some kind of nerve because he definitely had withdrawn.

Taking a cookie from the tin, he stood. “If you could keep an eye on Amber, I’m going to check on the other horses. Just yell if you need me.” Then he gave her a look. “Yell if Amber needs me. I have the feeling you’re the type of woman who doesn’t need anyone.”

Leaving her sitting there with her mouth practically open, he left.

* * *

Eli had to admit he didn’t know what had gotten into him. Maybe he’d just wanted to put some kind of wedge between himself and Hadley since they’d been thrown into this situation that had seemed to produce a potent attraction. Or maybe, truth be told, he’d never put his failed relationship with Elaine in the past. He thought he’d gotten over any insecurity he might have had about not going to college or seeking a higher education. At the time, he’d told himself it was an unnecessary expense and not essential to a good life. After all, he could read on his own, and he did. He knew about subjects from inorganic chemistry to horse husbandry, and he had traveled. He’d traveled with Elaine.

When she’d left, any wanderlust he might have had went with her. Hadley, with her education and expertise and adventurous spirit, had reopened past wounds without even knowing it. It wasn’t her fault. She was who she was. The problem was—she was damned attractive. But she seemed to have an attitude that he was a cowboy, a rancher who couldn’t see farther than the end of his nose. That’s what had gotten under his skin. Granted, he was self-taught at computer skills, but he could master any program or app. He didn’t care about just barbed wire and the best boots to wear on the ranch.

He was emptying a sack of feed into a bin when Hadley called to him. “Amber is down again.”

Without hesitation, he rushed to the horse’s stall, wondering if this time the foal would be born or if something else was going on. He saw right away that Hadley had wrapped Amber’s tail. Smart move, and he should have done it.

“Do you need the foaling kit?” he asked. He had one and kept it well stocked.

“No, I have my bag.”

He could see the placental sac had broken. The pressure of Amber lying down had probably ruptured it.

“She’s starting to push,” Hadley said, kneeling on the straw beside Amber.

Eli knew this part of the labor. It should happen fairly quickly. If it didn’t happen in an hour, then there was trouble.

Amber was making groaning sounds now, and Hadley was concentrating on her and what was happening. “I see it,” Hadley said, and he knew she was talking about the white sac that covered the foal.

But Eli realized suddenly that this wasn’t going to be a normal birth. The foal was in the breech position, hind feet first.

Crouched down beside Hadley, Eli asked her, “What’s the best way to handle this?”

They both could see the hooves, and they were flexed upward toward the mare’s tail. “Are we going to lose it?” he asked, his chest feeling tight.

“We are not going to lose it,” Hadley assured him. “Breech births are more difficult, but we can still make this as natural as possible without complications.”

As Amber groaned, Eli’s elbow brushed Hadley’s. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he said huskily, “I’m glad you’re here.” He meant it, feeling something deeply comforting because of her presence. And it wasn’t simply because she was a vet.

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” she murmured. Then louder, she admitted, “I haven’t done anything like this since an apprenticeship with a vet right after college. But I know what to do, Eli.” This time Hadley pulled on gloves that reached to her elbows.

His thoughts seemed to be in an uproar until he pulled one free. “What are you going to do?”

“Just give her a little help if she needs it. Let’s just see if nature takes its course. I don’t want to step in if I don’t have to.”

He was experienced enough to know that letting nature take its course was the best route to take. Amber giving birth was a natural process. Yet he didn’t want to lose either the foal or the mom.

The foal’s hocks delivered, and Eli knew the foal’s hips and tail would follow. Yet there seemed to be a problem, and Amber was straining hard.

Hadley murmured almost to herself, “The hips are the foal’s widest part when delivery happens this way.”

“Can you help? Can you get her baby unstuck?”

“I don’t want to interfere too much, and I don’t want to hurt either of them. I remember when Charlie did this...”

“Charlie?”

“The vet I worked with. He was seventy and had been delivering horses for almost forty years. I can picture exactly how he handled the birth. I’m going to grasp the foal’s feet and just pull gently down toward Amber’s hooves. That should rotate the foal’s pelvis so it can pass through the birth canal more easily. Say a prayer.”

As Hadley did what she said she was going to do, Eli did say a prayer. They both seemed to hold their breath as the foal slid out, making its appearance into the big wide world.

In the next few moments, Hadley removed an instrument from her bag and broke the sac surrounding the foal.

When Eli glanced at Hadley, he saw her eyes were misty. The birth of Amber’s foal had touched her deeply. His throat constricted too because a miracle lay before them. What would have happened if Hadley hadn’t been here?

“You saved them,” he said, close enough to Hadley to kiss her.

She seemed to be eyeing his lips the same way he was eyeing hers. “You could have done the same thing,” she whispered.

He got a whiff of that vanilla scent of hers that right now seemed as magical as an aphrodisiac. Shaking off the feeling and gathering his concentration, he conceded, “Maybe. But you knew what you were doing. I’ve only read about it.”

Her eyes searched his face. “You were prepared for this?”

“I try to be prepared for everything. But I’ve never delivered a breech birth.”

Awareness of the fact that he and Hadley seemed to be breathing in unison swept over him.

He was also aware of the way Hadley’s bangs lay near her brows...aware of her high cheekbones...aware of the curve of her lips. With a supreme effort, he forced himself to focus on the situation at hand.

“They’ll probably lie like this for ten to fifteen minutes,” he said.

The horses needed to rest as the umbilical cord transferred a vital amount of blood from mare to foal. When that was complete, the cord would break on its own.

“I know,” Hadley responded.

Her eyes were on his again, and she was close enough for their words to mix in the chilly air. Suddenly, she backed away. “Since we still have some waiting to do,” she said, pulling off her gloves, “is there any more coffee?”

Now Hadley had refocused her gaze on the foal and his chocolate-brown coat. He had a white blaze like his mom.

“Do you see babies delivered often?” Eli asked.

“Mostly dogs and cats. It’s been years since I was present at a foal’s birth. I’m always in awe.”

“Just wait until the little one starts to nurse. That’s a sight to behold, too.”

She nodded, her long dark hair slipping over her shoulder. “When a baby’s born—dog, cat, horse—it’s hard for humans not to want to step in, care for it, wipe down and cuddle it. But letting nature take its course and letting momma and baby bond is so important. Maybe that’s why some women like to use midwives at home instead of going to the sterile noisy atmosphere of a hospital. Mother and baby can bond more easily.”

“Could be.” Eli had never really thought about that. But Hadley could be right. Hospitals, antiseptic walls, nurses and doctors could muddle up the whole process.

He would have stepped away then to go fetch the coffee for their wait, but Hadley took hold of his arm. Her touch through the flannel of his shirt caused a reaction inside him he hadn’t felt for a very long time.

She said, “I’m glad you called Brooks, and I’m glad he called me. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this.”

In spite of what he’d thought about Hadley earlier, he suddenly realized his attraction to her wasn’t going to go away merely because he wanted it to.