Walking to the barn hand-in-hand with Robert filled Brooke with a simple happiness. He’d taken her hand as soon as they’d stepped out of the house. It took her back to her adolescence when she’d done the same sort of thing with her boyfriends.

Not many men seemed to want to hold hands much anymore, but she was quickly coming to see that Robert enjoyed the casual physical contact. Looking at his profile as they walked, Brooke had a sudden moment of jadedness.

Was he too good to be true? So far, she hadn’t found anything negative about Robert, and it made her slightly nervous. Then she chided herself for letting her former suspicious nature surface, even for a few moments.

As they entered the barn, the various animals greeted them. Robert introduced her to Precious, but Brooke hung back a little.

Robert’s eyes filled with concern. “What’s wrong?”

Brooke folded her arms. “I feel so silly, but I’ve never been close to many horses. Emily, Tyler—everyone has tried to get me to learn to ride, but they scare me.”

Gently, Robert dislodged one of her hands from where she had it tucked against her side. “Come here. I promise that Precious won’t hurt you.”

Brooke bit her bottom lip in indecision, but his earnest expression convinced her to take a chance. “Okay.”

She was confused when he led her over to a large plastic garbage can and opened the lid.

“This is Precious and Cletus’ sweet feed.” He scooped up some with his hand and held it out to her. “Smell that.”

Brooke sniffed it, surprised that it smelled so good. “Yum.”

Robert said, “I love the smell of it. Here, take this. You’re going to feed Precious.”

Startled, she shook her head. “No. She’ll bite me.”

“I promise that she won’t. Don’t be a chicken.”

She glowered at him, but he just smiled back. “Fine. I’ll feed her.”

“Attagirl.” He gave her the grain and took her back over to Precious, whose ears were pricked all the way forward. “Hold your hand flat, like this. That way, she won’t accidently catch you. If a horse bites you while you’re feeding it, it almost always means that you weren’t holding the treat right. Precious is a good girl with great manners.”

Brooke swallowed hard as she looked into Precious’ large, dark eyes. “Okay. Hi, Precious. You’re a pretty girl.” Battling her fear, she flattened her hand out and extended it to the horse. “Please don’t eat my hand.”

She closed her eyes tight and prepared for the worst. Gentle sensations on her palm made her open her eyes and she watched Precious delicately lip the treat off her hand.

A smile crossed her face. “Her whiskers tickle.”

“Yeah.” Robert stroked the mare’s neck as she munched on her treat.

When the snack was gone, Brooke grew bolder and pet Precious’ face and felt her muzzle. “It’s so soft. Like velvet.” The horse nudged her and Brooke backed off a little.

“That just means that she likes you,” Robert said. “That and she’s coaxing for more feed.”

Brooke came back and pet Precious. “Can I give her more?”

“Another handful won’t hurt her, but no more than that. Too much sweet feed will fatten horses up,” he replied.

Excited, Brooke hurried over to the feed barrel and grabbed another handful. Returning to Precious, she offered it to her. Precious quickly took the feed. Brooke giggled, feeling like a kid at a petting zoo.

A loud bray to her right made her jump.

Robert laughed. “Cletus is feeling left out. You have to give him some now.”

Brooke almost ran back to the barrel.

“Put a little in the scooper. It’ll be easier to carry.”

“Oh. Yeah. Good idea.”

She put some in the scooper and brought it over to where Robert now stood by the stall next to Precious. A big black mule stretched his head out to her, his lips working comically.

“Does he do that all the time?” she asked with a chuckle.

Robert pushed his glasses back into place. “Whenever he really wants something, he acts silly like that.”

Brooke fed Cletus the same way she had Precious, smiling at the greedy way he took the treat from her. “He acts like he’s never fed.”

Robert said, “I know, but they get plenty to eat. He’s just a glutton. Want to see the goats?”

Brooke gave Cletus a few pats and nodded. “I like goats. I’ve petted them before.”

Robert went over to the goat pen and opened the door. “Holy shit.”

“What? What is it?” Brooke come around Robert and saw that one of the goats was stretched out in the straw. “Oh, no. What happened?”

Robert cursed softly, and his face grew worried. “Nothing yet, but it’s about to. Sally’s in labor.”

Brooke gasped. “She’s going to have a baby tonight?”

Robert knelt by Sally, who raised her head and gave a short baa. “Hi, honey.” He smoothed a hand over her swollen abdomen. “Time to become a mommy, huh?”

Despite her pain, Sally nudged Robert’s hand before she laid flat again. Sam stood a short distance away and let out a worried bleat. Going to him, Robert guided Sam outside and shut the pen door.

Brooke asked, “Will he hurt her?”

Robert knelt beside Sally again. “Normally, Sam is sweet as pie to Sally, but I’m not going to take the chance that he’ll get aggressive with her or however many kids she has.”

Approaching the pretty white goat, Brooke reached down to pet her belly. “How many will she have?”

“Goats can have up to five kids in a litter, but I don’t think Sally is going to have more than two,” Robert replied as he examined Sally’s hindquarters. “I think she’s been in labor a while. She might deliver within the next hour or so.”

“Really?” Growing excited, Brooke moved over to Robert. “Can I stay to watch? I’ve never seen an animal give birth before.”

Robert’s mouth curved upward. “Never?”

“Never. I’m not really the outdoorsy type,” she said.

His smile turned a little devious. “I’ll have to see what I can do to change that.”

“You think so, hmm?” Leaning closer to him, she stared seductively into his eyes. “So, can I stay?”

* * *

As he held Brooke on his lap, Robert thought once again how unpredictable animals could be. He sat with his back against a wall, his legs crisscrossed. Brooke rested in his lap and snuggled against his chest, fast asleep.

Sally was taking her time bearing her young, but Robert didn’t mind because holding Brooke felt so nice. Although desire hummed under the surface, he was content to enjoy her scent and admire her beauty. They’d started out sitting beside each other, talking about whatever came to mind.

Their conversation had been punctuated here and there with easy silences. It was during one of those silences when Brooke had rested her head on Robert’s shoulder and almost dropped off. He’d coaxed her over onto his lap to be more comfortable, urging her to take a nap. It hadn’t taken her long to nod off.

Checking his watch, he saw that it was almost midnight and he was torn over whether to wake Brooke or not. He wasn’t surprised that she’d been sleepy since she’d been up so long the day before. She’d told him that she’d gotten home around five that morning and had gone straight to bed.

However, he knew that she was probably still tired from her sleep pattern being interrupted. He didn’t regret his middle-of-the-night donut delivery, but he was a little on the sleepy side himself. Deciding to wait a little longer, he yawned and leaned his head back against the wall, closing his gritty eyes.

Sometime later, loud rustling sounds and a long goat bleat had him on the alert. Sally was getting to her feet, her back hunched and her tail curled up over her back. As she turned around, Robert saw a tiny nose emerging from Sally.

“Brooke.” He shook her gently. “Wake up, honey. Sally’s having her babies.”

Brooke started. “What? What’s going on?” she asked loudly.

Robert chuckled. “Sally’s starting to have her kids.”

“Oh!” She scrambled off his lap and got up as she focused on Sally. “It’s so little.”

Robert joined her, shaking the kinks out of his legs. “Must be a girl.”

“What time is it?”

Checking his watch, Robert replied, “Wow. It’s one-thirty-three.”

Brooke’s eyes bugged out. “In the morning? You said that she was going to deliver within an hour.”

“Having babies isn’t an exact science with animals,” Robert told her.

“Here it comes!” Brooke was distracted by the kid sliding out further.

Robert grabbed one of the feed sacks from the kid birthing kit he’d put together a couple of weeks prior. He’d help Sally out by cleaning each of the kids to make it easier on her.

“C’mon, girl. Push her out. That’s right,” he urged Sally as he put on a pair of latex gloves.

The goat grunted and the first kid slid free. Robert went to work, breaking open the embryonic sac and clearing its nostrils. He snipped the umbilical cord and rubbed the baby down. “It’s a doe.” Finished, he gave it to Sally. “Look, Mama. You have a pretty little girl.”

Sally bleated and immediately started finishing the cleaning job Robert had begun.

Brooke squatted close to the kid. “She’s adorable. She’s marked like Sam.”

Robert said, “She’s a paint, just like him.”

Brooke looked up at him. “Like a paint horse?”

“Yeah. Here comes another one.”

He got a kick out of the way Brooke squealed a little and moved back to watch. The next one was a buck, and while healthy, it was tiny.

“I think Sally has fooled us all the way around,” he commented.

“What do you mean?”

Robert gave the buck to Sally. “Well, both of those kids are small.” He started feeling and gently prodding Sally’s belly. “If I’m not mistaken, she’s got two more in there.”

“Four? She’s going to have four babies at once?” Brooke went to Sally and pet her head

Robert burst into laughter, the sound echoing through the barn.

Brooke became indignant. “Well, come on, Robert. Four is just ridiculous. She’s only one little goat. How’s she going to feed them all?”

Robert cracked up even harder.

Brooke motioned toward the outside. “And Three Legs out there isn’t going to be any help. Far as he’s concerned, his part in the whole thing is done.”

Catching his breath, Robert said, “She has four teats; one for each kid. And they’ll take turns. They’ll be fine. Sally is an experienced mother. This is her fourth litter.”

Some of the fight went out of Brooke as she looked at Sally and then back at Robert. “Oh. Well, all right, then.”

Robert smiled and then turned his attention back to Sally when she stood up and grunted a few times.

Brooke knelt in front of Sally and took her face in her hands. “Come on, Sally. You got this. I’ll help you.”

Sally hunched her back and bore down. Robert stood back, watching Brooke soothe Sally and cheer her on. The intensity in her eyes and the compassion in her voice stirred something in Robert’s heart.

It wasn’t every woman who would get right down on the ground and help a mother goat give birth. But as the next kid emerged and Brooke took over cleaning it, Robert knew that his initial assessment of her was spot on; Brooke was a very special woman.

She cleared the little doe’s nostrils and vigorously rubbed it down with a feed sack. Enjoying watching her work, Robert saw that Brooke was an excellent nurse and he felt completely comfortable letting her take care of the kid.

The first baby goat was already on its feet and had just started to nurse when Sally grunted and bleated. She hung her head slightly and panted.

Brooke looked up at Robert. “She really does have another one in there, doesn’t she?”

Robert nodded. “Yep. I think that’s it, though.”

“I sure as hell hope so,” Brooke said. “Okay, Sally. One more. You can do it. Rest a minute and then let’s get that baby born.”

Robert hid a smile.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me, Robert. Not now. Later, you can laugh, but not now.”

It reminded him of the way that mothers and teachers seemed to have eyes in the back of their heads. “I didn’t say anything.”

Her eyes pierced him. “I heard you thinking all the way over here.”

Robert was saved by Sally’s bleat. She laid down and he moved around behind her. A large nose poked out of Sally’s vulva. Sally strained hard, but the nose didn’t move at all. Robert sat down and Brooke moved to sit by him.

“What is it?” she asked.

With great somberness, he said, “She’s already tired and that’s a big kid. Most likely a buck. I’m calling Kate to come do a C-section.”