She froze.

“Say something,” he demanded softly.

“If you tell me you’re sorry…I will kick your ass.”

Finally his eyes met hers.

“That is the single best compliment I’ve ever gotten.” Celia traced his lips. “Don’t wreck it, okay?”

“Okay.” He pulled out, let her down, and tossed her sweatpants over.

She gave him her back as they got dressed.

Before she could face him, Kyle wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I don’t want to wreck it either. But I do want to explain at least part of the reason for my lousy mood the last couple of days. I was feeling so lost when I was goin’ through stuff that belonged to him. In every room there’s more of his things and I realize I’m not gonna get to know him by keeping his ratty-ass shirts, or by reading his cash register receipts from thirty years ago. None of this feels like mine. But then I saw you…and you feel like mine.”

Celia closed her eyes and let his words wash over her. He’d definitely reconnected with his sweet, romantic side. He’d definitely given her an opening to admit her feelings had changed. Did she have the guts to do it? Just as she opened her mouth, Kyle kissed the back of her head.

“So, thank you. I’ll be outside.”

Chapter Nineteen

Kyle adjusted the scarf against the arctic wind seeping beneath his jacket collar. He slowed the ATV down and his eyes scanned the herd, huddled together against the cold.

One cow stood off to the side. The little black blob on the ground beside her couldn’t be a calf. This group wasn’t set to calve yet. Unless…he’d somehow missed sorting this one into the group of “heavies.”

Entirely possible, given the fact that he still needed advice when it came to separating the cattle into different groups.

He’d managed to hide his surprise from Celia when she’d explained that cattle producers kept heifers—first-time mothers—away from the other pregnant cows. Evidently some heifers freaked out about the birthing process, either seeing other cows suffer though it or going through it themselves. And some were clueless about what to do with the calf after expelling it from their body. So pregnant heifers required extra attention during the birth process and after.

Once a cow’s teats were full, earning the nickname heavies, they were culled from the herd and placed closer to the cow barn in preparation for birth. Then those pairs would be turned out and the next set brought in, which meant plenty of trudging though the outlying pastures.

Kyle climbed off the ATV, intending to approach the mama out of her line of vision. But her big head whipped around and she mooed a warning. That didn’t deter him. He needed to check to make sure the calf wasn’t dead, so he cut off to the side, as if he had business in the herd.

Mama cow wasn’t buying it. She pawed the ground.

He stared at her in disbelief. She pawed the ground? Like a pissed-off bull? Yeah, she wasn’t leaving that calf anytime soon. He pulled out his cell and called Celia, not turning his back on the protective mama.

“Hey, I’m checking the herd in the southeast pasture and we’ve got a calf. Uh-huh. I can’t get close enough to see if it’s alive. It ain’t moved since I’ve been here and the mama is pissed off that I’m in the same pasture. I wasn’t aware I needed them. Are the ear tags in the ATV compartment?” Kyle held the phone away, wondering if she’d blister his ear for being such a damn greenhorn. But Celia’s tone didn’t change as she explained the necessity of checking that before taking off, as well as having a notebook to keep track of births and carrying antibiotics. She told him she’d pick up the necessary supplies and head in his direction.

After she hung up, Kyle was grateful for cell phones. Granted, they didn’t get service everywhere on the ranch, but it was much better than the old way of tracking down your ranching partner on foot, horseback, or ATV.

Kyle did a quick check of the rest of the herd, just in case he’d missed another calf. Then he settled on the ATV to wait, keeping a close eye on the unmoving calf. Hoping the thing wasn’t dead. Not only would it be a loss of income, he’d feel guilty and inadequate that it’d died on his watch.

The mama mooed and began to lick the calf’s head and lo and behold, it moved. The little bugger struggled to stand. Mama continued lowing encouragement. Finally it stood, butting its head on the underside of the mama’s belly searching for food. That hungry mouth latched onto a teat, sucking almost violently.

He heaved a sigh of relief.

The drone of an ATV drifted to him and he turned to watch Celia’s approach. She parked alongside him, her gaze on the pair.

“Did you assist in getting the calf up off the ground?”

“Nope. Why?”

“Just checking. It’s a good idea to keep notes on stuff like that.” She smiled at him and jumped off the ATV. “I’m gonna see if she’ll let me get close.”

Kyle wanted to warn her to be careful, but the words stuck in his throat because unlike him, she knew what she was doing.

She approached the mama head-on. He heard her talking, but not what she was saying. The cow mooed a warning and Celia froze when the mama started pawing at the ground again. His wife backed away slowly, much to Kyle’s relief.

“That’s gonna be a fun one to tag tomorrow. No sense in trying to do it tonight. Mama ain’t gonna let us any closer and that calf ain’t letting loose of the feed bag anytime soon.”