The next morning as the first rays of light sifted through Davey’s bedroom window, he cursed himself. Nora was at work and he had a damn cow to care for. What had he been thinking?

He got out of bed, showered, and dressed. Making his way to the kitchen, he turned on the coffee, missing Cruz who had stayed in Vegas for an extra day to work with their team. Cruz was mentoring Billy to take over as Crew Chief when he retired, which would likely happen much sooner than Davey wanted.

 Cruz had stepped up the retirement talk after his engagement. Davey was happy for Cruz and his mom but when the day came for Cruz to retire, it would change everything. Cruz had been with him from the start and part of the joy he got out of racing was the time he spent with Cruz.

He pushed those worries aside. Now, he had more immediate concerns…like a cow to take care of. He guzzled down some coffee, then made his way outside.

Last night, Nora indicated she had connected with the cow—whom she’d named Concordia, after the Roman goddess of harmony. She’d suggested that the cow was distressed because her calf had been taken. “They killed her baby,” Nora had lamented.

Approaching the barn, he heard the cow’s mournful moo’s. He wasn’t completely convinced that Nora had communicated with the cow, nor did he know whether her calf had been taken. But it was clear that something was wrong. The cow’s sound wasn’t happy. It was a sad, pathetic moo…a moo of distress.

When he entered the barn, the cow stopped moo’ing and stared at him expectantly. He had no idea what to do. He didn’t know squat about farm animals and he didn’t have any communication magic up his sleeve.

Studying the cow, he scratched his head. He wanted to help, but he was out of his element. He knew cars and engines, not cows and farms. What could he possibly do to help?

Even so, he was inexplicably drawn to her. In a trance-like state he moved closer. The cow was at least 1,500 pounds but for such a large creature she seemed gentle enough. Maybe it was her light brown coat or the white curly hair covering her head. As he stepped even closer, he decided it was her big, soulful eyes.

She extended her head when he approached.

“Hey, Concordia,” he said, trying to imitate the soothing tone Nora had used with her. He held out his palm and the cow touched her nose to his hand. “I’d like to help, but this is outside of my expertise.”

Her large, dark eyes linked with his and he immediately felt a connection. It was an intense bond, like the cow had somehow looked deep into his soul. After a long moment, she lowered her head so it was directly in front of his face. Did she want to be petted? Nora had rubbed Concordia last night, but Nora was different. He didn’t think cows were animals one should pet.

But Concordia remained in place, waiting patiently.

What the hell. He reached out and pressed his palm to her big head, then gently rubbed it.

Concordia let out a soft snort.

Aw, she liked it.

Now, what? It was ridiculous to talk with a cow. But as he stroked her fur, he found himself doing it anyway. “Like I said, I want to help.” Concordia nuzzled her head against his hand like Daisy did when she wanted to be pet, making him laugh. “Sure, some of it’s for Nora, ‘cause I’m pretty into her. But you’re not so bad yourself.” He continued to rub her soft head. “But I don’t know what to do. If you have any ideas, I’m game.” Puffing his cheeks, he questioned his sanity. He’d just asked a cow for help.

But an idea popped into his head. He could go back to the farm and ask if Concordia had given birth. If she had, he could buy her calf.

Concordia bobbed her head up and down as if in concurrence with his idea. Jesus. He pulled his hand back and ran it through his hair, hoping he hadn’t lost his marbles.

An hour later, he was on the front porch of the big white farmhouse. Mrs. Potter pulled the door open with curlers in her hair and a baby on her hip. She gave him a questioning look. “Problem with the cow?” she asked. “No refunds on our deal.”

His jaw tightened. He would have expected her to care about the cow, instead of focusing solely on the money. But he had paid a ridiculous amount and maybe that was how farms worked—cows were simply products to be sold. He thought about sweet Concordia and the bond they’d established earlier. The sun poked through the clouds and lit up the entire sky as he identified with Nora’s way of thinking for the first time.

“How can I help you?” Mrs. Potter bounced the brown-haired girl on her hip.

“Did Concor—” He cleared his throat. Mrs. Potter didn’t know about the cow’s name, nor did she likely care. “Did the cow you sold me recently give birth?”

“Yes. Why?” She narrowed her eyes. “Do you need to learn how to milk?”

Hell no, but before he could say so, she pressed on.

“You look like a city boy, but anyone can learn how to milk a cow.”

“I don’t want to learn how to milk,” he said.

“But you have to. The cow you purchased is a dairy cow,” Mrs. Potter said, looking at him like he was a bumbling idiot. “She needs to be milked every morning and evening.”

Davey frowned. He didn’t want to milk Concordia.

Mrs. Potter must have sensed his hesitation because she put a hand on his arm. “You have to or you need to find someone who can milk for you. If dairy cows aren’t milked on schedule their udders fill with milk and they can get mastitis.”

He scratched his chin, and Mrs. Potter shook her head. “It’s an inflammation of the udder. Left untreated it can cause serious issues. If gangrene sets in, the cow could die.”

That got Davey’s attention. He wouldn’t let Concordia die on his watch. Shit. He was going to have to learn how to milk. Raking his fingers through his hair, he caught Mrs. Potter’s gaze. “There’s no other way?”

She laughed. “Not unless she’s nursing her calf.”

Relief whooshed through Davey as he remembered why he was there in the first place. “Can I buy the calf?”

She shook her head. “It’s too late. We sold the calves.”

Whistling out a breath, Davey stuffed his hands in his pockets. Nora had been right. About all of it—the reason for Concordia’s distress, the fact that her calf had been sold. His heart welled with admiration for Nora, for her special gift, for her kind and caring ways. “Can you tell me who bought the calf?”

“I’m not sure.” She gave him a flat look. “You know privacy and all that.”

“I understand but I really need the information.” He pulled a couple of hundred-dollar bills from his pocket. “Sure you can’t help me?”

Her eyes brightened as they locked on the bills. “Maybe, but we sold a bunch of calves.” She pursed her lips. “Even if I told you, you’d have no way of knowing which one was hers.”

He had no idea how he would he figure that out either, but first things first. He waved the bills. “Let me worry about that. I just need a name and contact info.”

“Okay.” She gestured for him to come inside. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll get the information for you.”

A short while later, Davey drove home pondering his next steps. He had the name and address of the farm who had purchased Concordia’s calf along with a truckload of other calves. He’d already located the farm on his phone’s GPS. Thankfully it was in Tennessee, even though it was an hour and a half away. But he still had the problem of figuring out which calf belonged to Concordia.

At home, he headed straight for the barn. He’d gotten his last idea while petting Concordia—maybe she’d plant a new idea in his head. When he made his way past the barn to the side field, Concordia stood at the gate as if she’d been waiting for him to arrive.

Like he had done earlier, he approached her slowly, extending his hand. She brushed her nose over his palm, then lowered her forehead.

He laughed. “You like rubs, don’t you girl?” He stroked the middle of her soft white head. “So, here’s the thing. I found the farm that has your calf. I want to get her for you, but how will I know which one is yours?” He still felt odd talking to a cow, but the crazy feeling vanished the moment an answer popped into his head.

He could take Concordia with him. Shaking his head, he caught the cow’s laughing eyes. “Are you really communicating with me?”

She gave him a happy moo.

He hooked the livestock trailer he’d purchased yesterday to his truck and backed it up to the fence gate. When he opened the door and lowered the ramp, Concordia simply walked up it and into the trailer. That went way easier than he had anticipated. Once she was in the trailer, she nudged him with her nose, in a soft appreciative gesture.

Shaking his head, he got behind the wheel and drove to the address near the Tennessee-Kentucky border.

Along the way, he called the number Mrs. Potter had given him and was beyond relieved to learn that the calves were still there. “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he told the farmer, promising big bucks for one of the calves.

After he arrived, the hardest part was explaining what he wanted to a farmer who didn’t get it. “I just want to put my cow in with the calves, let her find hers, then take them both home.”

“Whatever for?” Johnny Kent asked, his voice clearly perplexed.

Davey couldn’t blame Johnny. Last year, if someone had told him that he’d be at a farm begging for a calf so the mama cow who lived in his barn could have her baby, he would have deemed them a lunatic. Yet here he was.

He tried a new approach. “It’s my girlfriend’s cow and she wants the calf too.”

The old farmer gave Davey a look that was half-pity, half-what’s-wrong-with-you. His expression suggested that Davey was every bit as whipped as AJ had teased last weekend in Vegas, but he didn’t care.

The farmer cocked his head as recognition dawned on his face. “Hey, aren’t you Davey Johnson?”

“Depends.” He flashed a grin. “Are you a fan?”

“I sure am.” Johnny’s face stretched into a smile. “Hey Wanda, come ‘mere,” he called over his shoulder.

A plump older woman rounded the corner. “Davey Johnson!” Her whole face lit up as she approached. “What are you doing on our farm?”

“He wants one of the calves we got from the Potter’s,” Johnny said.

They talked NASCAR for a few minutes and then Wanda asked Davey why he wanted the calf.

Slightly embarrassed, he scuffed his foot on the ground, then explained the situation all over again.

“Well aren’t you a sweet man?” Wanda said, patting his arm. “Johnny, give him the calf.”

“I was gonna,” the farmer grumbled.

Relief fell over Davey like a summer rain. Nora would be beyond thrilled when she learned that he’d saved Concordia’s baby. He pulled out his wallet. “How much do you want for the calf?”

“This one’s on us.” Johnny gave him a lopsided grin. “But we’d sure love a picture with you.”

They snapped a few pictures, then Wanda patted Davey’s cheek and wished him Godspeed in Phoenix.

Afterward, Johnny followed Davey to his truck where he retrieved Concordia, feeling silly putting a halter on her so he could walk her like a dog. But the cow didn’t seem to mind. As they followed Johnny to the barn, an intense, almost unbearable stench of manure slammed into Davey. Eyes watering, he tried to hold his breath as he took a look around.

It was no wonder that the place reeked. The barn was jam-packed with livestock, cow after cow mushed together in tight living quarters. He hoped the cows didn’t live like that all the time. Maybe they were in the barn because of the unusual cold spell. He studied Johnny as they made their way through the barn. The old farmer had his hands in his overall pockets and was quietly whistling “Rocky Top,” seemingly oblivious to the animals poor living conditions. Focusing on Concordia, Davey attempted to communicate with her. Find your calf quickly so we can get the hell out of here.

Concordia moo’ed and bobbed her head up and down.

Davey rubbed a palm over his cheek. Maybe he really was losing his marbles.

“The calves are over here.” Johnny pointed toward a fenced-in section on the far side of the barn.

Taking it in, a heavy mass of sadness settled over Davey. The calves were crammed into a tiny space and were more tightly packed than the larger cows. He wondered how they could even breathe, then wondered why Johnny, who seemed like a decent man, allowed them to live in these conditions. But the farmer probably didn’t think about it that way. He probably figured it didn’t matter since they were going to end up as someone’s dinner. The sorrow inside Davey stretched into a dark, bleak cloak of hopelessness, which was probably how the cows felt.

Concordia tugged on the halter and he let her loose. She rushed over to the calves and bumped her head against one of them through the steel bar slats. The baby cow spun around—no easy feat in the tight quarters—and gaped at Concordia, his eyes full of wonder. The mama cow lifted her head and let out a long joyful moo. The adorable brown and white calf moo’ed happily along with her.

Johnny made his way to the gate and tugged the calf out of the enclosure. “I guess this guy is hers.”

Davey nodded in agreement. His heart squeezed when the calf ran over to her and began nursing. In between sucking, the calf bumped his head against Concordia’s milk bag. It looked like it may have hurt, but Concordia’s expression was delirious bliss.

On the way home, Davey drove with his window down even though it was freezing cold outside. He reeked of manure and the bitter cold was better than his own stench. Along the way, Cruz called. Davey had a hard time hearing so he turned on his Bluetooth and put the window up. “Sorry, the window was down.”

“You crazy?” Cruz asked. “It’s like thirty degrees.”

“Tell me about it,” Davey grumbled. He proceeded to fill Cruz in on his day. “Before you say anything, I know it’s crazy, but it’s important to Nora.” Thinking of her made his heart happy. He imagined his expression looked like Concordia’s had earlier—pure, blinding contentment. He needed to call her as soon as he finished talking with Cruz. She was going to be ecstatic over the calf.

“Love makes you a little crazy.” Cruz chuckled. “But it’s sure as hell worth it.”

Davey’s breath stuttered and clogged. He wasn’t in love with Nora…he couldn’t be. He didn’t do relationships. He didn’t even believe in that kind of love. Yet over the last few months, his life had irreversibly changed—all for the positive. And it was because of Ben and Nora. He was no longer the nomadic single guy moving from one shallow relationship to another. These days he was committed to one woman. Six months ago, that would have scared the crap out of him. Now, it made him crazy happy. He loved the time he spent with Nora and Ben, and the time he spent alone with Nora. He loved having her at his races, in his home, in his bed. Hell, he loved every moment he got to spend with her. His heart kicked in his chest, calling bluff on his denial.

He’d fallen headfirst, body and soul, wildly and madly in love with her.

Nora awoke feeling momentarily disoriented, then rolled over and remembered. She could still smell Davey’s manly scent on his pillows even though he’d been gone for a few days. She, Ben, and Cosmo were staying at his place for two weeks while he and Cruz were at the Phoenix and California races. Staying at his place made it easier for her to care for Daisy and for her cows too.

She rubbed Cosmo’s head, then Daisy’s. Stretching, she gave herself the luxury of a few more minutes in the big, new bed. Davey had purchased one of those expensive adjustable beds after she’d seen a commercial and had commented on it. She used the remote to lift the top of the bed, then her feet, getting a kick out of the easy adjustments. Davey had been renovating his entire house, and in doing so, things she had mentioned were popping up. Like the sunken tub in the master bath, the skylights in the living room, and the new stainless-steel appliances in the kitchen.

“What do you think Cosmo?” she asked, rubbing his shaggy head. “I appreciate him taking my thoughts into consideration, but this is his house. It’s not like we’re getting married.”

When Cosmo yipped, she glanced down at him. He gave her a look that told her she was getting ahead of herself. Don’t worry about the future. Enjoy the now.

Right. She was supposed to be living in the now. She tossed back the soft sheets and made her way into the master bathroom, then stepped into the ginormous two-headed steam shower.

Later, after Jamie gave Ben a ride to school, Nora drank her morning tea on the back deck as Cosmo and Daisy ran gleefully through the fields. The property was expansive, with plenty of wide open space. A burbling creek snaked along the edge of the green fields, and beyond the creek, were acres of forest. She wondered why Davey wanted all that land since much of it required upkeep. Regardless of his motives, she was grateful because it was the perfect home for her cows.

She still wasn’t sure what she was doing with the cows, but the calling to save them had been so powerful she hadn’t been able to ignore it. It had clearly touched Davey too, considering the time and effort he’d put into rescuing not only Concordia, but her calf as well.

She took her time sipping tea and enjoying the peace and quiet. Her steaming hot drink and the strong morning sun counterbalanced the chill in the air. As she drank her tea, she thought about the dream she’d had last night. Pap had come to her to talk about Concordia and Chance, the name she’d given Concordia’s calf. She’d chosen the name Chance because he’d been given a second chance on life.

In the dream, Pap had indicated there was a reason why she and Davey had rescued the cows. He’d told her not to worry about what to do with the cows or how to explain it to others. Instead, he’d suggested she take this time to appreciate the cows and to get to know them better. He’d said there was a broader purpose and that the next steps would come to her at the right time.

She would do as her grandfather had instructed. Now that she thought about it, Davey had said something similar on the phone last night. He’d told her that she didn’t owe anyone an explanation and that she didn’t need to label her cows as pets or anything else. Just enjoy them, he had suggested, which is exactly what Pap had said.

Sighing contentedly into her mug, she took another long sip. She loved the stillness and tranquility at Davey’s. There was no traffic, only the sounds of Mother Earth—birds chirping, trees rustling, the distant creek bubbling. Someday, she wanted to have a place just like this. She would live on a farm and have a bunch of farm animals. Of course, her animals wouldn’t become food. Instead, she would recognize the animals as sacred, sentient beings and give them the opportunity to roam freely, to play joyfully, to love and be loved.

Someday, she thought again, rising and picking up her empty mug. For now, she would visit the animals she and Davey had rescued.

Stepping inside the house, a long skinny table at the far end of the dining room caught her eye. Framed pictures of all shapes and sizes were positioned on the new table. She made her way over to take a closer look.

The first picture was of Cruz with his arm wrapped around Davey’s shoulder. She smiled at Cruz’s expression of father-like pride. Davey was lucky to have a man as amazing as Cruz in his life. Next was young Davey standing in front of a lake holding hands with Steph. She was thrilled that Davey had been spending time with his mother and that he was starting to realize the wonderful woman that she was. There were race pictures—one of Davey’s car and another of Davey and Cruz holding a big trophy. Moving along the table, there were several pictures of Ben. She inched back in surprise after glancing at the last two pictures—they were of her and Davey!

She’d progressed to framed pictures in his house. Moving closer, she ran a finger over the photo of her and Davey at Talladega, as warmth spread through her body. The last picture was of the two of them on Christmas day. He’d been chasing her around the couch—although for the life of her she couldn’t remember why—and in the picture, he’d just caught up with her. His arms were wrapped around her waist and she was leaning into the camera, laughing. They looked giddy, joyful, carefree. When she was with him, that was how he made her feel.

She tidied up the house, then grabbed her coat and headed to the barn. Davey had hired a teenage neighbor, Kenny, to keep the barn clean, but she visited Concordia and Chance every day.

Entering the barn, she drew in the scent of fresh hay. It warmed her soul seeing Concordia’s white nose nuzzling along Chance’s fawn-colored head. She ambled over, and kissed Concordia and then Chance. “It’s a beautiful day,” she said, opening the stall so the cows could roam the fields if they elected to do so. Either she, Davey, or Kenny, put the cows back in the barn every night.

She reached into her coat pocket. “I brought treats.” It had become a daily routine to bring a piece of fruit, vegetable, or a healthy cookie to give to them. Today, she had apples. She held them in the palms of her hand and both of the cows gobbled them up.

After, Concordia laid her head on Nora’s shoulder, as if giving her a hug. “How’s my girl?” She scratched the cow’s ears and then her neck.

She meandered out of the barn alongside the cows, enjoying the sunshine, as they made their way through the fields and down to the creek. Since she had the day off, she hung out with Concordia and Chance for a while, plopping on the ground in front of the creek. Thoroughly enjoying the peace of the land, she sat in stillness for a long while.

Sometime later, she jumped when someone nudged her from behind. She spun around to find Concordia. “You scared me,” she said, rising and stroking Concordia’s side. “Guess I zoned out.”

The cow gave her a knowing look and she lifted her hand. “Okay, okay…I was thinking about Davey.”

He’s a good man, Concordia said telepathically, nudging Nora again with her nose.

Nora had to agree. She just didn’t know what to do about her growing feelings for him.