Once and for All by Jeannie Watt

to load the wireless printer she’d bought to replace the printer that had died the week before. Wireless had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but right now…
    “That’s what I need to find out,” he said grimly. “The snow’s so deep they probably walked over the fences.”
    “Won’t they come home when they get hungry?”
    “They should be hungry now and they aren’t home. And I have two heifers ready to pop.”
    Jodie tensed slightly as she realized what came next, but all she said was, “I’ll call Sam about the heifers.” This was what she was paying the retainer for. It was also an opportunity to make that first contact since learning she’d been inadvertently involved in his brother’s death, to hammer home the point that her professional life was separate from her private life. It was indeed a sad situation, but the hard truth was she would defend Colin Craig the same way today as she had then. She was a lawyer. That was what she did.
    So why did she keep having to repeat that bit of information to herself?
    Because she’d never had a case that had crossed over into her personal life before. This was new territory. Territory she needed to conquer.
    “Let me call,” Lucas said. “I can give him the particulars.” He went to the phone, and for once Margarite didn’t grumble about slush on the floor, but simply headed to the cleaning closet for the mop.
    Jodie listened as Lucas talked to Sam. Missing cattle. Oh, yeah. That would go over well. Her head snapped up when she heard Lucas say, “They haven’t come back, so I’m afraid they may be in one of the culverts. Yeah, if the boys could come, that would be a big help. And Sam…I think the one heifer is carrying twins.” He blew out a disgusted breath. “Yeah. Hope the county road is open. I plowed to the mailbox last night when the snow slowed down. There’s probably only six inches or so on the road, but it may have drifted some. Okay. See ya.”
    “You think the cows might be in a culvert?” Jodie asked when Lucas hung up.
    “Oh, no,” Margarite said as she came into the room, mop in hand.
    Jodie glanced from the cowboy to the housekeeper, not quite understanding. “How big are these culverts?”
    “Big enough to handle flood runoff during wet years,” Lucas said.
    “Cattle walk through them to go from pasture to pasture,” Margarite added. “And sometimes they take shelter in them.”
    “Wouldn’t that keep the cows out of the weather?” Jodie asked, not understanding the problem.
    “If the culvert drifts shut, the cattle can die of carbon dioxide poisoning.” Lucas looked past Jodie to the housekeeper. He spoke to her when he said, “I’m going to saddle some horses, then head out. I’ll check the culvert on the Gypsum Creek side. Margie, have the boys check the one on Samuels Creek. Jodie, you better go watch that heifer.”
    “What do I do besides watch her?”
    “Just watch her. Sam will be here soon. I hope.”
    If the county road was passable.
    “Why is my father in this business?” Jodie asked with a moan after Lucas disappeared back outside.
    Margarite shrugged. “Keeps a body busy. And your father is fortunate that something like this won’t make or break him. On a normal ranch, losing this many cattle would devastate them.”
    Jodie’s insides went tight. “Don’t talk about losing cows. I don’t want my dad to have a heart attack when he comes home.” And she meant that literally.

    J ODIE WAS IN THE BARN watching a confused heifer lie down and then stand up, over and over, when Sam arrived.
    “Thanks for coming,” she said when he walked into the barn.
    “No problem.” He set his equipment down and Jodie backed away from the paneled corral as if to give him room to work, putting her gloved hands deep into her coat pockets.
    Sam seemed to be in no hurry to do anything. He walked from one heifer pen to the other, then stood back and watched the two animals deal with impending birth in