by Francis Ray
We. Raven swallowed. The mare’s stomach was enormous. It rippled with a strong contraction. Belle groaned. Raven shuddered, then took a deep breath. The horse and Duncan both needed her.
On her knees, Raven did as Duncan instructed. “What do you want me to do now?”
“Stand back for the moment. I’m going to get her to stand and walk to hopefully reposition the foal.” Sliding a halter on the mare, Duncan urged her to her feet. “Come on, girl.”
Raven stood to one side, watching for several long minutes that seemed to go on forever. Belle groaned again. Raven clenched her fists.
“All right, Belle. Easy, girl,” Duncan murmured as the mare lay down. “I’m here.”
Minutes ticked slowly by—then the hind feet appeared. Raven wanted to sag in relief until she heard Duncan curse softly under his breath. “What?”
“The foal is breech. The hooves are flexed upward.”
“What do you want me to do?” Raven asked, wanting to help the mare.
“Go to her head and stay with her,” he told Raven.
Raven gladly went to the horse’s head and tried to comfort the mare. She heard Duncan murmuring, his voice soft, calm, reassuring, and the whinny of Black Jack, as if he sensed a problem.
Duncan glanced at a clock on the wall. “It’s been twenty minutes. We should have seen the foal by now. I can’t wait any longer.” Duncan washed and lubricated his arm. “I’ll have to reposition the foal myself.”
Raven nodded, stroked the mare’s head. “Easy, Belle. Duncan is going to help you and your foal.”
“You’re almost there, Belle,” Duncan murmured a short while later; then the mare began to struggle and groan.
“What’s wrong?” Raven asked, her heart thudding.
“The hips are the widest portion and the most difficult to deliver,” Duncan said. “Hand me the towel over there.”
Jumping up, Raven retrieved the towel and gave it to Duncan. As she turned she caught a glimpse of Duncan using the towel to grasp the foal’s wet, slick feet and pull downward toward the mare’s hind hooves.
The head and shoulder appeared. Belle whinnied. Raven went back to the mare’s head.
“Everything is going to be all right. You’re going to be a mother soon.” Raven glanced around again to see the foal in a white sac. Duncan used a pair of scissors to free the foal. Finished, he positioned the foal near the mare.
“She’s out of the woods now. She’ll rest, and then stand,” Duncan said, looking at Raven. “We might have to help her foal to stand. Thanks. You did good.”
“I didn’t do anything,” she said, still a little in awe of the whole thing.
The mare made a motion to stand. Raven came to her feet and stood back, watching as Belle stood. After a few tries her foal stood beside her. Duncan cut the umbilical cord and dipped the foal’s navel in a liquid solution.
“Boss, I’m coming!” called a man’s voice, quickly followed by that of another man. “The vet is right behind us.”
The stall door opened and Pete and Harvey came in, quickly followed by the vet. “We missed it.”
“Looks like you woke me out of a sound sleep for nothing,” said a middle-aged man with rumpled white hair and a black medical bag in his large hand.
“Sorry, boss. There was a traffic tie-up on the road. The ditch was too steep for us to go around,” Pete said.
“The state trooper wouldn’t even let us try,” Harvey added.
“Raven was here.” Duncan urged the foal to his mother’s teat.
Raven wanted to squirm under the men’s scrutiny. “Duncan did all the work.”
With his hand on the mare’s rump, he looked at her. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I’ve seen grown men keel over at the birth of a foal,” commented the man with the medical bag.
“I didn’t look most of the time,” she said honestly.
The men laughed. Duncan simply stared at her, his hand still on Belle’s rump. “Doc Harrington, Raven La Blanc, a houseguest doing research for a book.”
The man stuck out his hand. “Pleased to meet you. Always a pleasure to meet a woman who is as strong and courageous as she is beautiful.”
“Duncan did all the work,” she repeated. She glanced at the foal and smiled. “He’s beautiful and hungry.”
“It could have gone differently if you hadn’t helped and stayed calm,” Duncan said.
“You were calm, and I never doubted that you’d bring mother and foal through,” she said, her warm gaze on Duncan.
She became aware of the silence, could feel the men looking from her to Duncan, speculating. Afraid she hadn’t been able to hide the sensual undercurrents between her and Duncan, she moved toward the stall door. “I was glad to help. Good night.”
“Good night, Miss Raven.”
“Good night, miss.”
“Nice meeting you.”
Raven closed the stall door and looked back over the top. The men were crowded around the mare and foal. She shouldn’t expect Duncan to look at her one last time, but she wanted him to.
Just as she was about to turn, his gaze shifted to hers. She’d seen his eyes angry, annoyed, aroused, but this was the first time they’d ever been tender. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. Together, they’d brought a new life into the world. An extraordinary feat, creating a shared bond.
Turning, she started for the house. Be careful, Raven, she thought, or you might be the one who won’t be able to forget.
Duncan rolled out of bed Sunday morning earlier than his usual time. He wanted to check on Belle and her foal before he took his Cessna and flew over the section of fence that Ramon and the hands were repairing and to check on the men watching the newly bred heifers to make sure they were all right.
Although there had been no sign of the mountain lion on Duncan’s land, he wasn’t taking any chances, especially after a ranch to the east of him had lost a calf to a cat a couple of months back. If that weren’t enough, he worried about Raven being alone in the cave, but there was nothing he could do until tracks or signs were actually spotted. Wild animals roamed the area. It was a fact he had accepted and lived with—until Raven arrived and worked alone.
He admitted that he was being overly cautious and protective of her. He reasoned it was because he owed her after her Jeep had gotten stuck and she hadn’t called. The thought that if she was in trouble again she wouldn’t call was never far from his mind.
Dressed, he left his room. He’d stayed with Belle until early that morning, watching mother and son bond. He’d even taken Black Jack to see his family. It had been a silly thing to do, but Duncan hadn’t cared.
At the top of the stairs, he stopped and looked down the hall at Raven’s closed door. She was a unique puzzle he’d never figure out. Last night, when he saw Belle in trouble and realized his men and the vet would arrive too late, she was the first person he’d thought of. He hadn’t a doubt that she’d be able to handle the birth.
And he’d been right. He trusted her. Raven had guts. Which could present a problem. Like the vet said, it was always a pleasure to meet a strong, courageous, and beautiful woman.
Duncan hit the stairs. Midway down, his nostrils twitched. Coffee. Not the too-strong brew that Rooster made, either. Duncan’s steps increased. It had been after one when he’d seen her light go out. After the vet had checked out Belle, he and his hands had left for home, and Duncan went back to the house to shower and change clothes before returning to Belle for the rest of the night.
Entering the kitchen, he saw Raven at the table with a cup in her hand, probably hot chocolate, since he smelled it as well as the coffee. She looked up.
As always, she looked beautiful. This morning she wore a simple tan short-sleeved blouse. “Are Belle and her foal all right?”
“They’re fine.” He stopped by her chair. “You all right?”
A smile curved lips he wanted to press his against. “Yes. I just keep thinking about the bi
rth.”
His hand squeezed her shoulder; he understood a little of what she felt. “The awe of bringing a new life into the world never gets old.”
She nodded. “Duncan McBride, you have just about the perfect life.”
“Shock” was a mild word for what he felt at her unexpected statement. He gazed down at her upturned face. Sincerity stared back up at him. “You haven’t seen the winters with six feet of snow and the temperature below zero when you have to go out and check on livestock and mend fences.”
“No, but facing the elements is part of the price you pay for what you’ve been blessed to have, don’t you think,” she said, a statement, not a question.
Her thoughts were so close to his own that his hand clenched. He felt the fragile bone structure, but there was strength there as well. “Who are you, Raven La Blanc?”
She laughed, a sultry sound that stirred his body, slithered down his spine. “Just a woman.”
He shook his head before she finished. “I’ve met women before and you’re nothing like them.”
She looked up at him through a sweep of lashes as black as coal. “It takes more than age and gender to make a woman. A man like you should know that by now.”
Desire to close his mouth on hers curled though him again. This time he had no intention of not satisfying the urge. His head bent until his lips were inches from hers. “I’m beginning to find that out.”
“Dun—”
His mouth on hers cut off whatever words she had been about to say. Drawing her warm, willing body to his, he took his time relearning the exotic taste and texture of her lips. His hand swept up and down the elegant curve of her back, learning her shape, shaping her to his hardness.
His head lifted. “I want to take you to bed.”
“So I gathered.” She pushed out of his arms and went to the oven. “I thought you might be hungry and cooked a sausage pie.”
“I don’t suppose we could eat—”
“You would be right.” She removed the pie and placed it on a wire rack. “Grab a cup. Rooster isn’t here to serve you coffee.”
Duncan’s eyebrows lifted. People didn’t order him around, especially women. They tended to want to wait on him, try to gain his attention. Raven wouldn’t cater to any man unless she wanted to. Yet she gladly took care of him and Rooster, even cooked special treats for the other hands. She was a woman a man could depend on.
He took a cup out of the cabinet, filled it with coffee, and poured her more hot chocolate. “You must have been up a long time to do this.”
Putting their plates on the table, she took the seat he held. “I decided to stop tossing and turning and get up to do some research on a discovery I made yesterday.”
He cut into his pie. Delicious, as he expected. Wasn’t there anything Raven couldn’t do well? “What kind of discovery?”
“Just a drawing,” she said.
Duncan reared back in his chair. If he hadn’t been watching her, he wouldn’t have seen her blush. The woman had decimated him with a kiss, talked frankly about desire, yet she she’d just blushed about a drawing.
“Why are you up so early on a Sunday morning?” she asked, sipping her hot chocolate.
He could push for an answer, but he decided to let it go. “I need to check on a few things.”
“You taking Black Jack or the ATV?”
He finished off his pie. He liked it that she was learning about the ranch. “I’m taking the plane.”
“Really?” She leaned across the table. “Could I go with you? I’d love to get an aerial view of the area where the cave is located—if you’re going in that direction.”
He hadn’t planned on it. “We could swing by.”
“Great! I hate to ask another favor, but do I have time to go by the barn and see the foal?”
“I would be surprised if you hadn’t asked.” He nodded toward her untouched food. “Eat up and we can leave.”
She picked up her fork. “Thank you.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” he said, meaning it. “You were there when I needed you the most. You didn’t let me or Belle down, just as I knew you wouldn’t.” He hadn’t intended the words to sound so needy but couldn’t for the life of him think of trying to negate what he’d said. She had made a difference.
She looked across the table at him, her face softening. His chest felt tight for some odd reason.
He came to his feet. “I’ll be at the barn when you finish.” Not waiting for an answer, he continued out of the house.
If he wasn’t careful, he’d forget that Raven was here just for the summer.
Chapter 8
Sitting beside Duncan in the cockpit of his Cessna, Raven had a new appreciation and understanding of the vastness of his ranch. The Double D sprawled over mountains, flatland, and valleys.
In his face she glimpsed the determination and pride it took to manage property that far-reaching. His roots were deep, his responsibilities innumerable.
“I had no idea the Double D was this large,” she murmured as he flew over Ramon and the other men repairing the barbed-wire fence.
It was almost inconceivable that one man could take on so many responsibilities and not buckle under the weight. “How do you do it?” she asked.
“I love the land, love what I do,” he answered, waving to the men below, who waved back. “As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a cowboy, to own a ranch in Montana.”
She turned to him. “Why not Santa Fe? Faith said you grew up there.”
“Perhaps it was those Western movies I saw as a kid,” he said, banking left. “Montana, with its beauty and its harshness, has always appealed to me.”
“It couldn’t have been easy buying this much land,” she said, then quickly added, “I’m sorry, that was rude. I didn’t mean to pry into your personal business.”
“That’s all right. It wasn’t easy, but I had an ace in the hole,” he said. “We’re nearing the cave. Follow the crop of trees to your left in a straight line and it will lead you to the mouth of the cave.”
Raven was surprised how reluctant she was to look away from Duncan. She wanted to hear more about how he had acquired the ranch, hear about his life as a child. Sighing inwardly, she looked below. “I wish I had a pair of binoculars.”
“Here.”
She glanced around and took the binoculars, recalling the glints of light she sometimes caught in the trees when she came out of the cave. Putting them to her eyes, she scanned the area, thankful when he circled again and took the plane in closer. “I don’t see anything.”
“Did you have reason to believe there might be other caves?” he asked, continuing east toward the ranch house and landing strip.
She placed the binoculars in her lap. “No, but I wanted to check out the possibility. I didn’t see anything when I checked the area out in my Jeep the day before yesterday.”
Duncan’s fingers flexed. “If you decide to look again, remember to stay away from the bushes.”
“Will do. The Jeep makes enough noise to scare any animals, predatory or otherwise, away.”
Lowering the wheels, Duncan smoothly landed the plane and taxied to a hangar. As soon as he shut off the motor, she handed him the binoculars. “How many of these do you have?”
Frowning, he placed the binoculars in a case. “What do you mean?”
She unfastened her seat belt. “Because you’re a man who plans ahead. You didn’t have them when you got on the plane. You must have another pair.”
He unbuckled his seat belt and followed her off the plane. “How would you know that?”
“Because I’ve caught the glint of the sun on the binoculars’ lenses,” she said. “After this morning, I realize a little bit of what a huge responsibility you have. Yet you check on me every day.”
“As long as you’re on the Double D, you’re my responsibility.”
Raven was silent on the way back to the house. They were in the kitchen before she had enoug
h courage to ask the question that had been nagging her. “What if I wasn’t on the Double D? How would you feel about me?”
His hand curled around the back of her neck, bringing her closer. “We would have been in bed long ago.”
The back kitchen door abruptly opened behind them. Raven jumped. Duncan whirled.
“Why am I the last to know?”
Raven bit her lip and tried not to look at Duncan, who remained silent.
“I might not ride the range anymore, but I’m still a part of the Double D,” Rooster continued, glaring at Duncan. “I deserve to know when something important happens. Everyone is talking about Miss Raven helping with Belle’s foal. One of you could have told me.”
Raven almost wished he had been talking about the attraction between her and Duncan. Not for anything would she have wanted to hurt Rooster’s feelings. Without thinking, she looked to Duncan for help. He moved to Rooster.
“Did you check your cell phone for messages?” Duncan asked calmly.
Rooster’s gaze faltered. “You know I don’t know how to do that yet. You got me the dang thing in case I was away from the house and needed to contact you or the boys.”
“I’d hoped you’d hear it ring and pick up,” Duncan said. “I called you shortly after Doc and the men left. I’ll show you again how to check your cell phone for messages.” Duncan placed his hand on Rooster’s slightly stooped shoulder. “You’re an important part of the Double D. You taught me more about this land than anyone else. Without you, I wouldn’t have made it that first year or the next, and we both know it.”
“Well.” Rooster worked his shoulders. “You never acted like you knew it all. You might have owned the land, but you were willing to learn from the bottom, willing to work as hard as any of us, the first one up in the morning, the last one to go to bed.”
“I learned from you,” Duncan said. “I couldn’t have had a better teacher or friend.”
“Well,” Rooster repeated, running the back of his hand across his eyes; then he looked at Raven. “I suppose you’ve already taken care of the boss.”