Читать книгу A Christmas to Remember - Rebecca Moesta - Страница 11

Chapter 7

John used extra caution driving the GMC 4X4 through the snow toward Stan and Holly Barbour’s ranch. One of their horses was having a difficult labor, so they had called John, and John had brought his son. Kyle, who claimed he wanted to be a vet, loved going on house calls with his dad. Normally, John wouldn’t have taken him out after bedtime, but the Christmas holidays had started, and Kyle didn’t have school the next day.

“You tired, buddy?” John asked Kyle.

Kyle rubbed his eyes and yawned. “No.”

John had to smile at that. In most cases, Kyle said exactly what he was thinking, but he wouldn’t admit to being tired. He didn’t want to lose out on spending extra time with his dad. John could understand that, but he wanted to make sure Kyle didn’t feel like he had to be interested in veterinary medicine just to get his attention. “You don’t have to come on these house calls with me if you don’t want to.”

“No, I want to,” Kyle insisted. “I’m your assistant.”

“The best,” John agreed. “Okay. Have you thought about what you might want to be when you grow up—other than a vet? You could be almost anything, you know. You have plenty of time to plan.”

“I know,” Kyle said. “Can’t I be an animal doctor like you?”

“Sure,” John said. But Kyle was only seven, and John wanted to make sure his son was prepared for what he might see tonight. John and Kyle climbed out of the truck, both dressed in layers against the cold. “I need to warn you, buddy. I’ve seen some breech births go wrong, and in those cases, the mare or foal can die. You need to be prepared, okay?”

Kyle nodded. “But we’ll try to save them.” His son’s endless optimism was one of the things that kept John afloat.

Stan met them at the barn door. “Thanks for coming down with the storm coming in,” he said.

“How’s she doing?” John asked.

“Not so good. It’s a breech for sure,” Stan said.

“Your mare is having a foal,” Kyle said, demonstrating his knowledge of the situation.

“That’s right,” Stan said. “It’s a good thing your dad’s here.”

John looked down at Kyle. “Let’s get to it. You ready, buddy?” He opened the stall and spoke in soothing tones to the palomino mare. “Good, she’s standing. That’s what we need during a breech delivery. First things first, though. What’s the first step, Buddy?”

“We wash up,” Kyle said.

“Exactly,” John answered. “We have to be fast but clean.” All of them disinfected their hands and arms at a deep sink in the next stall. They quickly wrapped the mare’s tail to keep it out of the way and then cleaned the hind end of the mare.

As they worked, John recalled the time Julie had helped him deliver a foal. Once when he was on call during veterinary training, they had been interrupted on a movie date by a call for John to assist with a foaling at a nearby farm. Instead of being disappointed, Julie had gone along to help. At the time, he had still been learning about horses, whereas she had grown up riding horses and working in stables, so she’d had far more hands-on experience with them than he had. She had assisted, coached him, and cheered him on through the whole process. Even in the horse stable with her hair messed up and straw sticking to her clothes, she’d looked beautiful to him. When he’d thanked her for being so understanding, she had winked and said, “I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. This is where the magic happens.”

From then on, every time they’d faced an unexpected situation—a burnt roast, a flat tire, a broken water heater, a baby arriving two weeks early—it had been their private joke to say, “This is where the magic happens.” In truth, the magic had been anywhere they were together.

It took John, Kyle, and Stan working together to position the breech foal and bring it out of the mare quickly enough to save it. Then John had to clear away some mucus to get the newborn breathing. It was a difficult, messy process—and deeply satisfying, once the mare and foal were both out of danger.

With the foal safely delivered, John packed up his medical bag. For a breech birth, the process had gone even better than he could have hoped.

“Pretty amazing, right?” he said to Kyle.

“Yeah, it was. And she’s going to be okay now. And the foal?” Kyle asked.

“She knows exactly what to do. They’re both going to be just fine. Don’t you worry,” John said. He and Kyle stopped at another stall in the barn to visit Aragorn, the Arabian chestnut gelding that had belonged to Julie. He was well taken care of, and Julie would have loved knowing that Stan and Holly’s kids were learning to ride him. The horse nuzzled John’s face. Just being near Aragorn made John feel closer to Julie. He blinked away the sting of threatening tears and put his arm around Kyle, pulling him close. They were still petting the gelding’s nose when Stan joined them again.

“I was pretty worried before you got here,” Stan said. “Hey, John, could I have a word?”

“Of course. Kyle, why don’t you head to the truck. I’ll be there in a second.”

“I hate to do this,” Stan said, his voice low and apologetic, “but we’re a little bit short right now.”

“Stan, don’t worry about it,” John said. “It’s the holidays.” Stan and Holly were generous, compassionate people who shared their kindness with a family of six kids, two of whom were adopted. John could well imagine how expensive this time of year was for eight people. And they took such good care of Aragorn.

Stan looked relieved. “I will settle up with you in the new year.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you, John.”

“You got it,” John said. He genuinely loved this time of year, and he didn’t want his friends to feel any pressure.

“In the meantime,” Stan said, “will you take one of Holly’s apple pies? She makes the best in the county.”

“We would love that,” John said. Julie had loved baking—bread, cookies, pies. He missed the aroma. He and the kids would enjoy a fresh homemade pie, especially at this time of year.

As they walked from the barn to the house to pick up the pie, John noticed it was snowing harder now. He would need to be especially careful driving. There were no streetlights on the road, and the temperature had fallen, so the roads would be slick. He would be glad when he and Kyle were safely home.