Chapter 5
Ridge was the first one up the next morning. He needed to check the cattle on the far range and make sure the newborns were doing well. When he walked into his office in the stable with his coffee he was surprised to see Mallory walking up from the stalls.
"Good morning." She said as she stepped into his office. "I didn't expect to see anyone this early."
"What are you doing here so early?" He sat down and took a long drink of his hot coffee.
"I've got an early meeting with a ranch across the county and needed to check on Chase's horse. He thought he might have something wrong with his back leg, but it was just a little strain. I've iced it up and left Chase a message on what he needs to do when he gets to the barn."
"That man rides his horses too hard. I've always told him to be easier on them." His younger brother was the wilder one, thinking about nothing but the rodeo.
She laughed, causing his heart to skip a beat. "Chase has his head set on the rodeo. I've tried to convince him it's not a good idea, but he doesn't listen to me." Rolling her eyes as she spoke.
Suddenly Ridge was jealous of his brother, but why? Was it because Mallory was having conversations with him? Did they have something together? Ridge's heart hurt at the thought. He used all his strength to push it out of his head.
"Well, Chase does have a stubborn streak." He commented as he looked down at his desk.
"Yes, he does. But I hear your stubborn streak is worse." She said in a quiet voice.
His head snapped up at her comment, causing him to become defensive. "I take it Maggie has been talking more than need be." He'd have a conversation with his meddlesome little sister.
"I didn't mean to make you mad, it was just an observation." Struggling with her better judgment, she continued. "You seem really high strung and tense. Maybe you need to have some fun, get out and live a little."
He leaned back in his chair as he studied the woman standing in front of his desk. "And what do you suggest I do for fun?" The look he sent her way made her step back a bit.
This man made her squirm with something she'd never felt before and she couldn't quite put a hand on it. Was it anger, envy, or interest? "I don't know what you like to do." She shrugged as she backed up to the doorway. "There's a dance in a couple of weeks. You could always find a date and go let off some steam on the dance floor."
"Oh I can think of several things to let off steam, but going to a crowded dance doesn't come to mind." He watched the blush creep up her neck and cover her beautiful face.
She stammered with her reaction to his comment. "I was just making a suggestion."
"Well, thanks for the evident concern, but I'm handling my 'stress' just fine." He stood and walked over to where she was rooted to the floor. "Are you offering to help me release my stress?"
She gasped and looked up into his gorgeous eyes, mesmerized by his nearness. Clearing her throat she found her voice. "No, not at all, just commenting on the obvious."
He grinned devilishly at her and walked past her, headed toward his horse. "Have a good morning, Mallory." The parting words spoken over his shoulder in humor as he gave himself a high five, realizing he still had it.
Mallory propped on the door frame to gain her senses. That man had the ability to make her speechless and that was a hard thing to do. She straightened and headed for her truck. Her heart was pounding like a thunderstorm in her chest as she pulled herself up into the truck. What a start to the day?
Ridge stepped into his horses stall with a grin. He'd made her stammer and blush. Maybe now she'd get the picture. He was unapproachable and happy to be alone for the time being. Women weren't off the table for him, but at the moment it wasn't advisable.
He rode out of the stables and across the pasture, feeling the wind in his face. Smiling he watched the sunrise slowly in the far horizon. This would be a good day he could already feel it. Continuing forward he headed for the far field with purpose.
The herd was in the far corner when he rode up. They looked skittish and that was unusual. It was evident that something had scared them. Looking around he saw something near the far fence in the distance. He turned and went toward the object. As he neared it his heart sank in his stomach. Lying in a puddle of blood lay one of the new calves. It had been mutilated by something.
Climbing out of the saddle he carefully walked around the scene trying to find a sign of what could've done this. Looking down at the ground he crouched down and saw paw prints. He ground his teeth together in frustration as he recognized it as coyote prints. From the looks of it there was more than one.
He stood and scanned the surrounding area, but there was no sign of the killers. Steam rose from the body telling him it was still warm. The kill had been made recently.
Ridge climbed up in the saddle and rode toward the herd. He could see that several of the cattle were injured and needed aide. Reaching for his cell phone he called Chase to tell him to send help and supplies.
This would be a long process because the injured animals were mingled in with the other cattle as they huddled together. It was clear they were scared and wouldn't readily separate. He decided to wait for help to arrive. It wasn't worth the danger to have them scatter in fear and trample him.
About twenty minutes later he heard the Ranch truck and riders headed in his direction. Many years ago they'd cut a narrow road that led to the far field for just this scenario. It was easier to ride a horse out here because the road was terrible.
He turned in the saddle and saw Chase, Maggie and Luke coming up on horses. Then he saw that Oakley was driving the truck, but his heart sank when he saw Mallory in the passenger seat. She should've been gone from the ranch by now.
"Ridge, where's the dead calf? I want to take pictures for insurance and then we need to drag it away so that the scent doesn't pull in more coyotes." Luke said as he rode up to his brother.
Ridge led Luke to the carcass as the others went over to check the herd. When he looked back at the others, Mallory glanced up and their eyes locked for a moment. She was the first to look away with a blush. He grinned and turned back to his task. Yeah, she'd taken the hint.
Luke jumped down and checked the direction of the retreating paw prints. "It looks like they went back up the hill to the north. We can put the carcass in the ravine that should keep the scent away from the pastures."
They worked together to get the carcass on the tarp and headed toward the gate at the back of the pasture. By the time they'd disposed of the dead calf the others were working on the injured cattle. At least it was only about half a dozen that were injured.
"Ridge it's a good thing you thought to come out to check on the new calves. If not we might not have any cattle left by the looks of these injuries. The larger cattle seemed to fair pretty well, but the older weaker ones took the brunt." Oakley said as he motioned toward the cow he was working on. Mallory had to administer mild anesthesia for the ones that needed stitching up.
Mallory walked up and looked grim. "Two of the worst ones will need to be put down. Their injuries are beyond help and one of them is pregnant."
Oakley looked up at the vet, "Is the pregnancy far enough along to save the calf?"
"It looks like it is, but we need to get her back to the ranch."
"I'll pull the trailer in and we'll get her loaded up." Oakley walked toward the truck that was on the other side of the fence. That left Ridge and Mallory standing alone. The tension between them was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Ridge was the first one to move away without a word. She just stared after him as he walked toward where Chase was stitching up another cow. Maggie turned and walked over to stand with the vet.
"What's up with you two?" She asked with a secret grin.
"He's a hard man to read." Mallory turned to Maggie with a grin. "I guess that's a cowboy for you. They don't let many people in and when they do it's for life." She wasn't letting him get her down.
Mag
gie secretly wondered if Ridge liked Mallory. He was usually at least polite, but with Mallory he was just plain out rude. "He's change a lot since his time in Iraq. I guess that would have an effect on anyone." She shrugged as Oakley backed the trailer up to load the cow.
The loading wasn't easy, but the brothers worked together and managed the task. Oakley took his time driving back to the barn. He didn't want to cause the dying cow any further stress or pain. This was hard on him because he cared so deeply for all the animals on the ranch.
When they arrived back at the barn, their father was waiting on them. He had put clean straw in the biggest stall. This wasn't their first emergency birthing and it wouldn't be the last. Death and birth were a big part of ranch life, but it still wasn't easy on any of them.
As soon as they had the cow in the cushion of the hay, Mallory went to work on the caesarean procedure. In less than fifteen minutes from arriving at the barn the calf was born. He was healthy and usually they'd cheer at the birth, but it was the death of the mother that tamped down the celebration.
Maggie wiped down the baby as the mother would. Then their mother arrived with formula especially kept for calves. They smiled as the baby hungrily lapped at the bottle, not yet sure about it. Tears formed in Maggie's eyes. Ridge put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her.
"Good job Mallory." Mr. Cauthen said as he knelt beside the vet. She placed her tools in the towel he handed to her.
"It was a team effort." She looked over at the calf and smiled. "I'm just glad we could save him. He's a healthy calf and that was luck in itself. The injuries to the mother were close to the womb. I was concerned that the baby would be injured."
He gave her a pat on the back and stood up. "Ridge has good instincts and this morning it was a life saver." Looking over at his son with a grin he continued, "Let's head up to the house for lunch."
Ridge cleared his throat uncomfortably. He'd never liked the spotlight and this wasn't an exception. He merely nodded toward his father in respect and headed toward his office. Maggie followed him curiously.
"What a crazy morning?" She said as she slumped down in the chair beside his desk.
"That's for sure." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. "You better head to the house or mom will have your head for being late for lunch."
Laughing she stood up, "Ok, I'll leave you alone but I do have a question."
"When don't you have a question?" He leaned back in his chair and gave her a withering grin.
"Why are you so rude to Mallory? You just met her yesterday and she's really great."
Leaning forward with a groan he pulled his hat from his head, placing it on the desk. "I'm not rude to anyone. She just rubs me wrong."
"Ha, I think she rubs you right and that's what bothers you." She started out the door quickly before the wad of paper hit her.
"Drop it Maggie." He ground out through his teeth as she retreated. Then his mind went crazy with thought. Was Maggie right?
Ridge Page 5
