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Chapter Two

Kaleb

The momma cows bellowed for their calves to stay close. The cowboys shouted as they moved the herd around and separated the calves from the cows. Levi, my best friend and fiancé to my little sister Katie, ran the hydraulic chute at the end of the lane. He worked the levers, testing it and warming it up. The chute opened and closed with a hum and a clang.

I eased my horse closer to him.

“We all set?” I leaned on the saddle horn to hear him over the noise in the working pens.

He pushed his hat back on his head and wiped at the sweat already accumulating. “I think so. Doc is just pulling into the drive.” He motioned toward the gravel road leading up to the working pens.

Doc’s vet truck rumbled along, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. He pulled to a stop next to the pens and climbed out.

“Howdy, fellas. How’s things going this morning?” He stretched and walked stiffly around the front of the truck.

Louisa jumped out from the passenger seat, waved to us, and ran around to the back. She opened and closed drawers on the vet box, gathering syringes, needles, vaccinations, and medications.

“Everything is set. They’re almost done separating the cows and calves.” I swung down from my horse to shake his hand. “How are things in town?”

“Good. Couldn’t be better. The new vet starts today.”

“Hopefully, this one works out.”

“I hope so too.” He took some supplies from Louisa. “I can’t wait to retire. The wife is collecting rescue horses like they are going out of style.”

I brought over the folding table next to the chute. Doc laid out the syringes, needles, vaccines, medications, and his notebook on the table.

“Patty always did have a big heart.” Last month, she came home with five miniature horses from a place that couldn’t feed them. Now, they were part of the local 4-H program.

“Well, it’s turned into a full-time job just keeping up with her.” He flipped to a clean sheet of paper and drew columns on it.

“Hey Doc,” Levi grabbed a syringe and started filling it. “When is the new doc going to be doing ranch calls?” His lips twitched up in the corners.

I frowned at him, and he shrugged. Why did he care when the new vet would be doing farm calls?

“It depends. Connie and Patty are showing Dr. Murphy the clinic today. It would be best to get that down first and then they can start out in the country.”

“Yo, boss!” Zack, one of the cowboys, called. “The calves are down the lane.” He waved his hat above his head and steered his horse closer to the alleyway. The calves slowed down as the horse and rider grew closer to them.

The back chute doors stood open, and Levi jumped to man the levers. The doors closed with a clang. The calves halted their forward motion.

“The calves are ready. Let’s get to work.”

#####

The day passed as smoothly as working cattle could go. All the calves were vaccinated, dewormed, identified with ear tags, and the bulls were castrated. The cows were vaccinated, dewormed, and retagged if their ear tags were lost over the past few months. Once the cattle were released, Levi paired up each cow and calf. Then, the cowboys herded them out to the spring pasture.

“They look good this year.” Doc washed his hands at the back of his truck.

“It was an easy winter and we had good hay.” I shook out a rope that someone had left on the ground. “We have one more group to work, but they are in the back pasture. It’ll take us some time to get them all up.”

“Call the office when you get them corralled. We can work something out.” He closed the tailgate on his truck. “Now that there are two of us, we can get more work done.”

Levi rode back toward us. He tossed me his notebook. “All paired up and ready to go.” His choppy handwriting covered the page matching cow ear tags to calf tags. “I better head back across the road. Katie’s cooking supper tonight and I’m starved.” He wiped the sweat from his brow and turned his horse.

Doc chuckled. “I thought I’d never see the day that Levi would be happy to stop working.”

“He’s smitten with my little sister. They seem happy together.”

“What about you, Kaleb?”

I crossed my arms. “What about me?”

“Are you happy?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I have the ranch, a house, and a herd of cattle to keep me busy.”

“Busy and satisfied aren’t the same thing.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’ve know you Kisments for a long time. Katie is happy and so are your other two brothers. Are you missing it?”

“What are you getting at, Doc?”

“Nothing. Just I hate to see you spend your life taking care of cows and missing the good things in life.”

“Like a wife that rescues horses?” I teased.

“Yes, like a wife.” He tapped the top of the veterinary box in the bed of his truck. “Louisa, time to go clock out.”

Louisa separated herself from the group of cowboys she was talking to and hopped into the passenger side of the truck.

“Call the office when you want to work the next group of cows,” he called out the window.

The vet truck pulled away in a cloud of dust, leaving me to my thoughts. I was happy here, wasn’t I? I shook my head. I didn’t need a woman to make me happy. They brought headache and heartache. Afterall, they were only after one thing. A man’s money. All of mine was tied up in my ranch. No woman would want to be burdened with it. And that's a fact.

Author's Note:

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