Suited to be a Cowboy by Lorraine Nelson Page A

had to give him credit. The man knew horses.
    She’d better have a chat with Brian and make sure nothing
like this happened again. Although, if it worked in her favor, those two horses
would make beautiful babies. What a mess! Melissa locked up the office and went in search of her foreman. Maybe he had
some badly needed answers for her current dilemma.
    She walked straight to the foaling barn, knowing that
Brian would be keeping a close eye on the mares ready to give birth. When she
entered, he and Jimmy were down on their knees helping Starshine birth her first babe. Jimmy held her head and talked to her in that low, sexy
voice that had Melissa’s nerve ends tingling. She shook it off as best she could
and approached the men.
    “Can I help?”
    “You sure can, Missy. Mama’s in trouble. We need to turn
the babe around and our hands are too big. If we don’t help her, we could lose
both of them. Get in here.”
    She opened the stall door and quietly stepped inside. “What
do I do?”
    “Come down here beside me. Now, reach in with one hand.
What do you feel?”
    “A hoof.”
    “It should be the head. Understand?”
    “Yes, but how do I do this?” She was scared spitless she
would hurt the mare or her foal.
    “Reach your other hand in and using both, try to find the
head.”
    Brian must have sensed her unease for he said, “Slow and
easy now. You’re helping, not hurting.”
    She nodded, reached in with both hands, and with slow,
cautious moves, felt around until she could feel the head. “Okay, got it!”
    “Now, ever so gently, turn the babe until its head is
pointed toward us.”
    Sweat ran down her forehead in rivulets, stinging her eyes
as she worked to turn the babe. “His foot won’t move out of the way.”
    “Just give it a soft shove. It’ll move.”
    “Okay.” She let go of the head with one hand and concentrated
on moving the horse’s leg out of the way. “It worked.”
    “All right. You’re doing great, Missy. Now guide that head
down.”
    Melissa held her breath and closed her eyes, her mind
focused on the job at hand. “It’s there.” She pulled her hands free. “What now?”
    In answer, the tired Mama gave a big heave and out came
the head, swiftly followed by the rest of its body.
    “It’s a colt! A beautiful baby colt,” she cried, tears
streaming down her cheeks. “We did it. We saved them.”
    “No, girlie. You saved them. By the time I realized what
was happening, it was too late for the vet to get here. I was going to call you
when you showed up. Good job.”
    Brian assisted her to her feet. “We’ll go now and let Starshine bond with her baby. Did you need me for
something?”
    “Yes, but it can wait,” she said, conscious of Jimmy being
within earshot. “I’ll go clean up and come back in a little while.”
    “I’d better go clean up too,” said Jimmy as he ambled past
them on his way to the door.
    “Thanks for your help, Jimmy,” Brian called after him.
    “Any time. See you later.”
    Jimmy hadn’t glanced her way at all, just walked on by
without even acknowledging her presence. So be it. He might be angry because of
what had happened, but so was she.
    “Actually, Brian, I came to talk to you about Jimmy’s
horse.”
    “Yeah, he told me about Midnight Rain, but I don’t see how he could’ve jumped the
fence. That’s a high one.”
    “Has anyone ridden him today?”
    “Just Aaron. Maybe he let him loose in the wrong corral.”
    “Now that’s something I didn’t need to hear. Given the
circumstances, if Sherry is pregnant, who owns the foal?”
    “Well now, that’s a tricky one. Sherry’s boarding here
with your permission, so if one of your stallions got to her, I’d say it’s Jimmy’s
babe.”
    “Darn! What about stud fees? Can we collect on those?”
    Brian scratched his head. “I don’t see how. Jimmy told me
she was in heat and I’ve kept her in the home paddock, away from the stallions,
for that reason. Hard to collect on nature