The Rancher Takes a Cook by Misty M. Beller

Author:Misty M. Beller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: harlequin, inspirational romance, wholesome, clean, love inspired, christian historical romance, sweet historical romance, harlequin historical, love inspired historical, histrical romance
Publisher: Prism Book Group

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

As the snow finally melted and the sun began making a more regular appearance overhead, new signs of life popped up everywhere. The grass showed green patches scattered among the brown, and tiny shoots of new growth sprouted on most of the trees. Jacob and his men spent every daylight hour with the cattle, now that calving season had officially begun. Anna stayed quite busy herself, as she and Aunt Lola gave the house a thorough cleaning and airing. She longed to take Bandita out for a nice long canter, but that would have to wait. There was work to be done.

* * *

Edward rode his horse along the river trail, scanning the tree line for cattle as he listened for their low mooing. Monty had assigned him as a line rider along the river that day, searching for cows beginning to calf. When the birthing was imminent, the expectant cow would usually separate from the herd to find a quiet place to deliver. Most times, the cow would labor successfully without help from the cowpunchers, but if the calf was breeched or the cow carried twins, things could go south pretty quickly without a pair of strong arms to help the mama cow along.

Before coming to the ranch, the only thing he’d witnessed give birth was their neighbor’s hound dog, Bessie. This year, though, he’d already helped with at least a dozen calvings. Jacob had taught him how to tell if the calf was facing the wrong way inside the mama, and how to reach in and turn the baby so its front hooves and nose faced first. It was a tricky process and had to be done at just the right time in between the mama’s pushes. Edward still wasn’t sure he was ready to do it himself, but Monty seemed to think he could. He’d give it his best.

So far, he’d been riding the river’s edge for about half an hour and hadn’t spotted any longhorns in the area, but he’d follow orders anyway and ride all the way to where Two-Fork creek split off from the Guadalupe.

Just then, a low moo drifted from the woods to his right. The trees were much thicker here, but he plunged into the brush, dodging branches and hanging onto his hat so it wouldn’t be knocked off.

As he progressed deeper into the woods, the cattle noises grew louder, but they didn’t sound like a cow struggling to calf. Was it a whole herd of cows? But that didn’t make any sense. If a group of cattle were napping in the trees, they didn’t make a lot of noise, just an occasional stomping or tail swishing.

Edward pushed forward and finally broke through the woods into a little clearing. A huge group of cattle milled around the large open space, lowing uneasily. At first Edward wasn’t sure what was keeping animals in the area until he saw a small group of cowboys circling the outer edge of the herd.

Cowboys? This didn’t make sense, either.

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