Raining In My Heart (Book One of the McKay's) (11 page)

Chapter
Six

Cade
didn't know why he felt so elated that
Julie
's kid wanted to watch the birthing, but it tickled him for some reason. He'd liked
Kellie
from the start and until this moment didn't realize that men had a biological clock too.
He'd often thought of getting together with
Julie
again, as she was the only woman he'd ever been interested in
, but figured her absence meant she wasn't interested in him. She'd never know
how
he'd felt that next day when she walked out of the barn without so much as a word to him. She'd also never know how much he had wanted a relationship with her, but knew how crazy she was for
Wade
.
Spilt milk, he remin
d
ed him
self, but he knew he'd never gotten
over
Julie
completely.
If he had he wouldn't still keep the clasp from her hair she wore that night.

He wouldn't pull it out of his nightstand and finger it like a precious
memento
.
Maybe now that he had to face
Julie
, he could realize they were never meant to be together.
Thinking about it, he reached into the nightstand by the bunk and pulled the familiar piece of leather out to touch it once more. Silly thing
,
what a man would do when he loved a woman. He traced the intricate tool work of the leather, the lone hair that had been pulled into the clasp,
Julie
's
hair.
Man, he was losing it.

Julie
was too high class for him
, he told himself
as he put the clasp back in the drawer
. He was a happy man in most respects but he doubted seriousl
y if a woman like
Julie
could live happily
with so few luxuries.
Not that he hadn't invested wisely and saved his money. But the kind of money the
McKay
girls were coming into was way out of his league.
The
McKay
's were off
-
limits, and he knew it.
He'd been told that a million times when they were younger. However, he couldn't just forget the fact that he had made love to her that night, all night.

He
busied his thoughts as he cleaned
the stall
, spreading fresh hay so as to make a soft bed for the ten
-
year
-
o
ld
heifer
expecting
,
Nellie. Why he
named a cow he wasn't certain, but it seemed the older he got the more he became partial to his animals.
Thank goodness everyone wouldn't know how sentimental Cade Weston was.

Nellie was one of the oldest of the stock on the ranch and every cowhand seemed concerned for her as this was her fifth calf and she was not in the best of health.
Cade
made sure everything was set up then went to get Nellie and bring her in. Stubborn and obstinate, Nellie didn't want to go to the barn, preferring her calving in the pasture, but Cade wanted to make sure nothing went wrong as she was one of the most valued breeding stock the ranch had.

Finally convincing the old gal to follow and bedding her down safely, Cade looked at her sad brown eyes.

"
If you were a girl, I'd marry
you
Nellie.
"
He smiled and petted her rump as he led her inside.
"
Y
ou'll do fine now, don't you worry.
This one might not win any blue ribbons or major honors, but we are all pullin' for you.
And I've got someone
pretty special
who wants to watch, so I'll be right back."
C
ade
smiled, closing the stall
and
turning away.

He headed for the big house.
He wound his rope back in a big loop as he walked toward the
McKay
ranch
h
ouse.
Detachment…that's what he needed. Concentrate on your work!

So why was he humming a tune?

Kellie
saw him before he ever reached the main yards and came running out. "Hi, Mom's coming with us."

"Really, well, that's great." Cade tried to hide his shock
and gut reaction of glee
. "You ready for this?" Cade asked
,
glancing at the wide-eyed girl who had donned a pair of jeans and shirt and
pulled her hair back in a pony
tail.

"I can't wait. I've never seen anything like this before, but I've read about it."

"Read about it?"
Cade
twisted his head
and glanced at
Kellie
.
"Now where would a little city girl read up on something like this?"

Kellie
laughed
.
"I went to the library a lot last summer and I read up on it.
Mom said Grandpa was a champion breed
er. I know this sounds kinda silly but
I wanted to
be able to talk to him about the ranch and stuff
, when I met him. Only…I never did.
"

"
He would have enjoyed talking to you about it, I
’
m sure.
I re
ckon your grandfather knew everything about breeding and breeds.
"

"Did he like kids?"

"Your grandfather, well yes, he did.
He couldn't wait to have some grandkids running around the place.
I heard him say it many times.
"

"Am I like him…do you think?
"

"You are a lot like him. He'd be proud of you
,
"
Cade
spoke,
curious that someone so young and not familiar with ranch life would take such an interest.
"Yes ma'am, he'd be proud of you.
"

"
I want to
learn everything I can about ranching
, because someday I want to help run a place like this, myself
,
"
Kellie
boasted.

"Well…now, that's a big ambition. But I wouldn
’
t think a girl from the city would care much for this kind of life."
Cade
smiled.

"
I
don't think it matters where you're from
.
I mean,
I love animals
, and taking care of them, and
I've wanted to live on a ranch all my life
,
"
Kellie
cried with enthusiasm.

"You don't say
.
" Cade's brow furrowed.

Julie
finally joined them and looked from one to the other
.
"What's wrong?"

"Nothing M
ama, Cade just doesn't understand how a city kid could love ranching so much."
Kellie
laughed.

Julie
flushed
.
"She loves animals and when she found out we were coming
here
she was so excited."

"It's too bad you couldn't have come more often…"
Cade
wanted to bit
e
his tongue for saying it, especially since he saw the frown forming on
Julie
's pretty face. So tactfully he changed the subject.
Cade
couldn't stop himself from assessing
Julie
up and down
in her form
-
fitting jeans and multi-layered tops,
and then a slow burning smile lit his lips. "You girls are sure dressed proper. Well, come on, Nellie is waiting for us in the barn."

"Nellie? Is that her name?"
Julie
laughed
obviously glad
Cade
didn't
pursue
the subject of coming home
.

"Yeah, I know it's not very original, but she is an original
;
she's been with us for quite some time. Don't be surprised if half the boys stop off and see her while we are busy."

As they neared the barn,
Cade
began rolling his sleeves up and mentally assessing what he might or might not need. He didn't like how stubborn Nellie had become about going into the barn, but he knew old habits die hard.
He also knew that Nellie was acting much as though she wanted to give birth
just now, but it was certainly
time and he needed to assess the problem before it became one.

As they reached the stall
,
he swung open the gate for them to enter.
Julie
paused and hung back
.
"This ought to be a little education for her."

"Yeah, that's for sure."
Cade
smiled, brushing against her as he entered the stall and went to check Nellie.

Nellie had bedded down and was restless to say the least.
Cade
patted her on the neck, whispered some calming words and checked her stomach. Something didn't feel right and he needed to get inside to find out what was going on. He never called the vet out unless he was sure he couldn
'
t handle the situation himself and this time was no different.

Kellie
fell down on the hay, knees first and petted Nellie.

"She likes you to rub arou
nd her ears
.
"
Cade
smiled at
Kellie
.

"She's beautiful…"
Kellie
said as she gently stroked the animal.

Nellie responded with a mellow mooing.
Kellie
laughed.

Julie
propped herself on the stall gate and watched Cade work.

Cade
had to check the position of the calf and he didn't waste any time putting on some long rubber gloves and going to the back of Nellie.

His expression seemed contrite though as he finished his examinatio
n. "Something wrong?"
Julie
ask
ed
as she obviously spotted the frown growing on Cade's face
.

"The calf…it's turned wrong.
I had a feeling there was something going on, she's a week past due
,
"
Cade
said, his voice conveying a sense of worry.
"A cow gets this age they get a little contrary about things too, Nellie's no exception. We usually don't coddle the animals quite as much or even give them names, but Nellie is special stock and always has been."

"
Looks like y
ou're gonna need some help
,
"
Julie
insisted.
"Did you call the vet?"

"No, no
t yet. If I run into too big a problem I can always call him out. But I've saved the ranch a few dollars here and there by not doing so."
Cade
continued to work with Nellie.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I got some extra gloves hanging behind you, mind putting them on. I've got to get some rope
,
"
Cade
said, firming his lips and wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand as he took off his hat and threw it in the hay.
"
B
irthing isn't usually something that difficult, letting nature take its course, but this time we'll have to help out a little."

Julie
put the gloves on without question. Cade was glad she had come with them as most of the hands were out in the north pasture th
is evening and he'd have little
other help.
He knew
Julie
had helped in similar conditions when she was younger, he only hoped she remembered.

He glanced at her several times, but not once did she balk from being asked to help.

"You know what I gotta do, so I'll need you to steady her as much as possible and help me pull once I get it positioned. Nellie is getting old and I doubt she'll be of much help during the birthing."

Julie
nodded. "Just let me know what you need…"
Julie
added.

Kellie
looked at them
as they busied themselves
.
"Is something wrong?"