“Nope, heading out.” She snagged her hat from one of the hooks and set it on her head. “It’s my night to watch the cows that are close to calving.”
“You’re going out by yourself?”
She started to bristle at his question, then decided he wasn’t being patronizing, just voicing concern. “I’ve been doing it for three years by myself. I’ll be fine.”
“Give me a second to change and I’ll come with you.”
His offer stunned her. “You must be exhausted.” The words slipped out before she considered them.
He turned in the doorway that led to the kitchen and glared at her. “So?”
“I just mean it’s a long shift. I spend between four to six hours in the saddle depending on how things go.”
“You don’t think I’m capable of doing that?”
“I didn’t say that.” Dealing with his ego was like getting into a ring with a peevish bull. “But you have worked all day and I didn’t figure you’d be up for pulling an all-nighter.”
“You think I’m soft.”
“Not at all.” She knew he could handle the work, but was a little surprised he wanted to.
“Then what is it?”
“I just reasoned that you don’t...that maybe you aren’t as used to the actual work that goes into ranching.”
“That’s the same thing.”
Brandee regretted stirring the pot. She should have just invited him along and laughed when he fell off his horse at 2:00 a.m. because he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer.
“I don’t want to make a big deal about this,” she said. “I just thought you might want to get a good night’s sleep and start fresh in the morning.”
“While you spend the night checking on your herd.”
“I took a three-hour nap.” His outrage was starting to amuse her. “Okay. You can come with me. I won’t say another word.”
He growled at her in frustration before striding off. Brandee grabbed a second thermos from her cabinet. Coffee would help keep them warm and awake. To her surprise, Brandee caught herself smiling at the thought of Shane’s company tonight. Working together had proven more enjoyable than she’d imagined. She didn’t have to keep things professional with Shane the way she did when working with her ranch hands. She’d enjoyed talking strategy and ranch economics with him.
As if he feared she’d head out without him, Shane returned in record time. She handed him a scarf and watched in silence as he stepped into his work boots.
“Ready?” she prompted as he stood.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to take separate vehicles? That way if you get...” She trailed off as his scowl returned. “Fine.”
Irritation radiated from him the whole drive down to the ranch buildings. In the barn, she chatted with her foreman, Jimmy, to see how the afternoon had gone. H545 had dropped her calf without any problems.
“A steer,” he said, sipping at the coffee Brandee had just made.
“That makes it fifty-five steers and fifty-two heifers.” While the ratio of boys to girls was usually fifty-fifty, it was always nice when more steers were born because they grew faster and weighed more than the girls. “Anyone we need to keep an eye on tonight?”
“H729 was moving around like her labor was starting. She’s a week late and if you remember she had some problems last year, so you might want to make sure things are going smoothly with her.”
“Will do. Thanks, Jimmy.”
The moon was up, casting silvery light across the grass when Shane and Brandee rode into the pasture. The pregnant cows stood or lay in clusters. A couple moved about in a lazy manner. H729 was easy to spot. She was huge and had isolated herself. Brandee pointed her out.
“She’s doing some tail wringing, which means she’s feeling contractions. I don’t think she’ll go tonight, but you can never tell.”