Promise Broken (The Callahan Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

wanted to be one.”
    “A vet?”
    “Yeah.”
    “So why didn’t you?”
    She gave him a look he couldn’t define before she answered.
    “I didn’t finish college. Never got to vet school.”
    He waved an arm at the calf that was now sucking on a teat. “Then how did you know how to do this?”
    “Grew up on a ranch,” she answered.
    “You’re a natural.” They sat in silence for a while. Mark so quiet Donovan forgot he was there.
    There was something elemental in both the birthing and the bonding process.
    “Wow!” Mark whispered when he saw the newborn wobble around on shaky legs.
    “Let’s go back to the house,” Nellie suggested. “We’ll check them again in the morning.” Taking his hand she led him out of the barn.
    Phyl stood, watched them leave. “That was Mark’s first birthing. I wonder what he thought.”
    “I thought you had an emergency.” Doc Waters grinned when he walked up to the stall, and saw the heifer and newborn.
    “We did. But Phyl took care of it.”
    Donovan introduced them.
    “Difficult birth, huh? You’re lucky you didn’t lose them both.”
    “Don’t I know it,” Donovan said.
    Doc Waters looked the calf and heifer over. “Looks good. No uterine tearing. Just make sure she expels the placenta and she’ll be fine.”
    When he left, they watched the cow and calf. “How did you know she’d deliver today? How did you know to bring her to the barn?”
    Phyl gave him the look. “Why wouldn’t I know? She was discharging, in obvious discomfort, her bag was full and her sides had sunk in. She was about to pop.”
    “Thank God you knew what you were doing.” Or they would have lost both cow and calf. If not for Phyl, they would have found them both in the pasture—dead.
    “Looks as if I’m in for another shower,” Phyl said. “See you later.”
    ****
    Every muscle begged for attention. Her shoulders felt as if they’d been pulled out of their sockets. Her arms were getting stiff. How long had it been since she’d birthed a calf? Years, and never one this difficult. Luckily, she’d assisted her dad many times and still remembered. Maybe it was like riding a bicycle.
    For the millionth time, she wondered how she could have been so stupid and quit school. It wasn’t that she didn’t like what she was doing; she’d loved it. It certainly wasn’t because she was failing her courses; she’d made exemplary grades. No. She’d fallen in love, had been swept off her feet by Victor Whitmire. With his litany of home, family, security, she thought she’d found a man with all the attributes she wanted in a husband. But he’d been a big disappointment almost from the beginning.
    She joined Mark and Nellie in the family room. Thanks to Nellie, Mark was ready for bed. Seeing him sitting there, eyes glued to a movie, his hands mechanically moving popcorn to his mouth, gave her more pleasure than anything. This was the reason she’d run so far.
    Mark was everything.
    She adored him. From the moment she had seen him in the delivery room she’d known it would be the two of them against the world.
    When the nurse asked if there was anyone she could call, Phyl had smiled her thanks and said no. Victor was off on one of his get-rich-quick trips. There was no one else. No loving family. Not even a close friend.
    She’d called Victor’s cell phone to tell him that he had a beautiful son, but the phone was disconnected. Probably because he didn’t pay the bill. It was the one thing she wouldn’t pay for. Not after the three hundred dollar bill he ran up in one month. She’d canceled the contract, paid off the bill in installments, and told him if he wanted a cell phone he had to get it on his own.
    She’d had Mark alone.
    So far, she’d raised him alone.
    She would protect him alone.
    Leaving him with Nellie, she took another hot shower, put on a T-shirt and a hip-length robe TJ had left in her closet.
    Gathering up her dirty clothes, Phyl went downstairs.
    Luckily,