Alyssa was in the middle of a hot dream, costarring Beau. When she startled awake, the bedside clock showed three in the morning. Did someone knock on her door? Another knock sounded. She hopped out of bed, grabbed her robe and slipped it on as she walked barefoot to the door and opened it.

“Sorry to wake you,” Beau said quietly. “One of the dams is giving birth and it’s a little too early, so I could use a hand in case the little guy needs some help.”

She snapped out of the haze of lust the dream had put her in. “Of course, let me get some clothes on and I’ll meet you downstairs in two minutes.”

“Thanks.”

Alyssa quickly pulled on jeans and a shirt, dragged a hair brush through her hair and pulled it up into a messy bun, put some mints in her pocket and one in her mouth and rushed down the stairs. It was about two weeks early for the calves to start dropping, but nothing that was particularly dangerous—the little guys could survive at this stage, but sometimes they did need some TLC to get them through the preemie stage. She’d been around enough early births, to know the ropes, and assumed anyone in the household had also, so she was glad Beau had come to her for assistance. He was treating her like a bona fide intern. When she’d signed up for an internship, she’d wondered if the ranchers would take her seriously or treat her like a little girl playing doctor. She was happy to see they were treating her like a professional.

Beau was waiting for her in the mudroom. She put on her boots and coat and followed him to the barn, where Drew was waiting with the mother that was clearly in labor.

“I was just getting home from patrol and heard this one laboring, so I got her into the barn and called you. I can stick around for a while if you need help. I’m off for the next two days so I can wait a while to sleep. Hi Alyssa.”

Beau answered, “You did great, brother. You’re welcome to stay, but you might want to put on something over your uniform.”

“Hi back at you, Drew. Another set of hands is always welcome,” Alyssa said.

Beau was checking the mother to see what the scoop was, and if they could stop the labor and keep the calf in a little longer. “Water’s broke so this one’s coming now. Drew, after you get some coveralls on, can you grab a couple of warming blankets? Alyssa, she looks to be nearly fully dilated already, so I don’t think this is going to take long.”

“Which heifer is this?” she asked.

“It’s 13-218.”

“So, she’s due in sixteen days, right?”

“Yes, you’ve already memorized their due dates?” Beau asked.

“I started with the ones due soonest. This is her second baby so it’s not uncommon for them to come early. 13-218 even delivered her first one a few days early. She must dilate too soon.”

“Yeah, we’ll give her one more chance to breed and bring her in with the two-year olds, so she’s less mobile and we can keep an eye on her. Okay, I see some hooves coming—glad the little ones not breech.”

Drew brought over the warming blankets and Alyssa and Beau were ready to help if the mother or baby needed it. They both had a hand on the mother to be able to tell how the contractions were coming and if there seemed to be any distress. But they wanted to allow the calf to come as naturally as possible. Nature didn’t always need man butting in to try to help.

Alyssa said, “She seems to be doing well.”

“I agree. The calf is in perfect position, so the heifer shouldn’t tear too much. Looks like it’s going to be an easy delivery—let’s just hope the calf is fine.”

As the delivery progressed they all relaxed and let nature take its course.

Drew said, “Guess I panicked a little, everything seems fine.”

Beau shook his head. “No, Drew, you did perfect. This little one is coming too early and we wouldn’t want it born out in the pasture. It will probably need some supplements and monitoring—that it wouldn’t have gotten tonight—if you hadn’t brought the mother into the barn. But I don’t think you need to stay up if you’re tired. Alyssa and I got almost a full night’s sleep, so if you need some shut eye you can head on in.”

Drew shrugged. “I’ll hang, to make sure the little guy is good. I’ve got some adrenaline still pumping.”

Alyssa chuckled. “Yeah, we’ve all been there, for sure.”

* * *

Beau could relax now that everything seemed to be working out smoothly. He wasn’t thrilled with the mother delivering so early, but he’d wait until after it was born to see if there was any real danger.

They talked shop while the calf was being born. Once the birth was complete Beau weighed the little guy—he was a little underweight but not too bad. He tagged the baby and gave him back to his mother. The calf started nursing and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He was early, but he would make it.

Beau was glad he’d gotten a couple of the stalls ready. They would need to get everyone busy in the morning mucking out the rest of the birthing stalls and putting clean straw in them. They had about sixty two-year-old mothers; a third were due in the early spring, and a third were due mid spring, and the rest in late spring. So, they needed all thirty cattle stalls ready, because there were always a few of the older dams that needed to be in a stall and kept close at hand.

Beau wanted to get the first twenty of the two-year-olds in their stalls in the next few days. They needed to set up a rotation for riding the herd. They had ten townies they needed to get into the bunk house for the next couple of months. There were a few with families in town that would need to be on a day shift—the rest would rotate so there was always a couple of guys in the pasture checking on the older heifers and a couple in the barn. His father and Adam probably already had the rotation all planned out.

Drew yawned. “Now that I’ve seen the little guy is good, I’m going to go catch some Zs. See you guys later.”

“Night, Drew. Thanks for catching this one. He probably would have been okay in the pasture, but you never know for sure. Better safe than sorry.” Beau punched his brother in the arm.

“No assaulting a police officer.”

“Can’t see that you are one, in the coveralls.”

Drew shrugged. “Guess I can leave them here for next time. I didn’t even get them dirty.”

“Something to be thankful for,” Alyssa said. She turned and started cleaning up the birthing straw.

Beau nodded and turned to help right the stall so the pair of livestock would be comfortable. He put away the medical supplies, filled the feeder, and refreshed the water.

Alyssa finished laying down the clean straw and dusted her hands. “I think we’re good for tonight.” She leaned back against the stall door and looked at the mother and baby, who seemed content in their new surroundings.

Beau walked over and stood next to her. “Yep, everything is looking good. Thanks for being quick to join me out here tonight.”

“Of course, it’s my job and my passion. I hope you don’t mind, but Adam told me how you decided to become a vet and about your work with Dolly. I have a similar story. I wonder if all veterinarians have a like tale.”

Beau laughed. “That would be my guess. It’s not the most pleasant job, and it certainly isn’t for the glory. I guess some people might do it for other reasons, like easy hours and the high pay.” He gave her a silly grin with those words.

Alyssa snorted. “Right, easy hours. Three in the morning. And so far, I haven’t made a cent, have you?”

“I work on the family ranch, so my work goes to the good of the family. I have money when I need it, but living at home makes it easy.”

“The house is plenty big enough for everyone.” Alyssa smiled.

“Yeah, for now. If any of us ever marries and starts having families of our own, it might get crowded. But so far, we’re good. There’s plenty of land to build on, so no worries there.”

“So, how come none of you are married?” Alyssa grimaced. “Never mind, that is none of my business.”

Beau shrugged. “None of us have found the right one, yet.”

“Do you believe there is only one?”

“Hell, I don’t know. Maybe there is more than one. But, so far, none of us have found even one—let alone multiple people—we would want to spend a life with.” He shook his head, and wondered if he would find someone he wanted to come home to every day. He was pushing thirty, with no one on the horizon. Although he had to admit he wouldn’t mind a small kiss from the little cutie standing next to him. He looked over at her and wondered. No, he needed to keep their relationship on a professional level. No kissing on the intern.

She grinned at him. “Well, I suppose that’s better than finding multiple ones at the same time and starting a harem.”

Beau laughed out loud. “You’ve got a point there. Let’s go in and see if we can scare up some coffee.”

“Right behind you.”