The Forbidden Brother Read online

  She spread a blanket out that was balled up and stuffed in the corner—unnecessary, but it was something to do. Bennett strained and gave one final pull and brought the calf down as gently as possible onto the barn floor.

  “There he is,” Bennett said, breathing heavily. “There he is.”

  His voice was filled with that rush of adrenaline that always came when they worked jobs like this.

  She and Bennett ran the practice together, but she typically held down the fort at the clinic and treated smaller domestic animals like birds, dogs, cats and the occasional ferret.

  Bennett worked with large animals, cows, horses, goats and sometimes llamas. They had a mobile unit for things like this.

  But when push came to shove, they helped each other out.

  And when push came to pulling a calf out of its mother, they definitely helped each other.

  Bennett took care of the cord and then turned his focus back to the mother.

  Kaylee moved to the calf, who was glassy-eyed and not looking very good. But she knew from her limited experience with this kind of delivery that just because they came out like this didn’t mean they wouldn’t pull through.

  She checked his airway, brushing away any remaining mucus that was in the way. She put her hand back over his midsection and tried to get a feel on his heartbeat. “Bennett,” she said, “stethoscope?”

  “Here,” he said, taking it from around his neck and tossing it her direction. She caught it and slipped the ear tips in, then pressed the diaphragm against the calf, trying to get a sense of what was happening in there.

  His heartbeat sounded strong, which gave her hope.

  His breathing was still weak. She looked around at the various tools, trying to see something she might be able to use. “Dave,” she said to the man standing back against the wall. “I need a straw.”

  “A straw?”

  “Yes. I’ve never tried this before, but I hear it works.”

  She had read that sticking a straw up a calf’s nose irritated the system enough that it jolted them into breathing. And she hoped that was the case.

  Dave returned quickly with the item that she had requested, and Kaylee moved the straw into position. Not gently, since that would defeat the purpose.

  You had to love animals to be in her line of work. And unfortunately, loving them sometimes meant hurting them.

  The calf startled, then heaved, his chest rising and falling deeply before he started to breathe quickly.

  Kaylee pulled the straw out and lifted her hands. “Thank God.”

  Bennett turned around, shifting his focus to the calf and away from the mother. “Breathing?”

  “Breathing.”

  He nodded, wiping his forearm over his forehead. “Good.” His chest pitched upward sharply. “I think Mom is going to be okay, too.”

  UNTAMED COWBOY

  by New York Times bestselling author

  Maisey Yates,

  available July 2018 wherever

  HQN Books and ebooks are sold.

  www.Harlequin.com

  Copyright © 2018 by Maisey Yates

  The Rancher's Heir

  by Sara Orwig

  Prologue

  During the night under a starless sky, they had driven their Humvee into an ambush, and now they were barely holding on, pinned down in a firefight with nothing but a crumbling rock wall between them and the enemy. Noah Grant had only cuts and bruises. His two close friends, Mike Moretti and Jake Ralston, also had non-life-threatening injuries. The other member on this US Army Rangers mission, Captain Thane Warner, was hurt badly with wounds to his chest and head, an injured leg and deep gashes all over his body from flying shrapnel.

  Mike had applied pressure to two serious wounds, trying to save their captain and friend until help arrived. Their last communication had been cut off, but before it was, Noah heard a chopper was on the way.

  An explosion rocked the ground not twenty feet away, sending up a plume of light. Mike turned to punch Noah’s shoulder. As Noah Grant lowered his weapon, Mike told him, “Trade places. Keep pressure on his wounds. He wants to talk to you.”

  Without hesitation, Noah took Mike Moretti’s place, holding Thane’s own jacket and Mike’s jacket over Thane’s wounds, trying to apply pressure to the two most serious ones, hoping his captain and friend could hang on until help arrived.

  Thane gripped his arm and Noah leaned closer to hear him over the explosives. With shallow breathing and a hoarse whisper, Thane spoke through obvious pain. “Noah, promise me you’ll take two gifts home for me.” Coughs racked his body and he grimaced. “Promise me.”

  “I promise,” Noah said without thinking as he concentrated on trying to keep pressure on the wounds.

  “Two keys in pocket,” Thane said in a raspy, weakened voice, placing his hand on a pocket. “Keys alike. Other one for Jake. Mike has one.”

  “Don’t talk. Save your strength.” Trying to keep pressure on the wounds, Noah slipped his hand into the pocket, leaning down closer to Thane. “I have the keys.”

  Thane’s eyelids fluttered and he looked at Noah. “...in box...two packages go to Camilla and Ethan.” He closed his eyes and stopped talking. Noah leaned closer.

  “Thane. Thane. Hang in there. Chopper’s coming. Thane!”

  Thane’s eyes fluttered and he grasped Noah’s wrist with surprising strength. “Promise...you’ll give Camilla...gift yourself.”

  “I promise I’ll put her gift in her hands,” he said, not wanting to think about actually doing the deed.

  “Other present—promise me...you...give to my nephew...have to...give to him, no one else...want him to see a soldier. Don’t give to Camilla... Promise me even though—”

  “I promise to put the present in your nephew’s hands myself.”

  Thane’s eyes fluttered open and for an instant Noah felt a shock as Thane looked intently at him.

  “I promise to place it in the baby’s hands,” Noah repeated emphatically, startled by the piercing look from Thane.

  The last statement seemed to pacify him as he nodded and closed his eyes. “Get Jake.”

  Noah looked around, spotted Jake and shouted at him. He didn’t dare let go of the blood-soaked jackets he held against Thane’s wounds.

  “Jake,” he shouted again and jerked his head when Jake looked around.

  Noah turned back to tell Thane that Jake was coming. Anxiety filled him as he saw Thane’s eyes were closed, his head turned away. Noah felt for a pulse and was surprised to find one. “Thane,” he shouted, trying to keep the man awake until medics arrived. “Thane, stay with me.”

  Jake slipped down beside Noah just as another explosion ripped the ground in front of them. “Thane wants you to have this key,” Noah said, handing a small key to his friend. “He’ll tell you what he wants you to do. Hold these against his wounds. Where the hell is the chopper?”

  “I don’t know, but last I heard it’s coming.”

  “It better get here soon. He’s lost too much blood.” He leaned close to Thane’s ear.

  “Thane, here’s Jake,” Noah shouted and moved away as Jake took over keeping pressure on Thane’s wounds.

  “Hang on, Thane. Help is coming,” Jake shouted, leaning close to Thane as the man stared blankly at him.

  Noah moved away, pausing when he heard another sound besides the bursts of gunfire and the explosion of a grenade. Were they going to get some help? He opened his hand that was smeared with Thane’s dried blood. A brass key lay in his palm and Noah drew a deep breath. He didn’t want to go home and give Camilla a gift from Thane. When they broke up, he didn’t expect to ever be with her again and it still hurt to think about her.

  He didn’t want to see her, talk to her or do anything to stir up old feelings. It had hurt to walk away but he had and now he had to go
back to her. He wondered whether he would ever reach a point where he would stop thinking about her.

  Copyright © 2018 by Sara Orwig

  ISBN-13: 9781488092107

  The Forbidden Brother

  Copyright © 2018 by Joanne Rock

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

  www.Harlequin.com