The faint lines at the corners of his eyes seemed deeper and his eyes were clouded.I placed my novel on my lap. “Are you okay?” Since I arrived at the ranch, it had all been about me. Even though I was struggling with my greatest challenge yet, I reminded myself to look out for Dustin in every small way that I could. I asked about his business, his work on the ranch, his family. It was a relief to discuss someone else’s life.Dustin collapsed into the chair next to me and swiped a hand through his hair. “The cow that recently gave birth is dead. Some kind of infection.”I leaned forward. “Oh my God. That’s terrible.” An image of the mother nuzzling her newborn calf flashed in my mind and my chest tightened. “She seemed all right yesterday when I went to see them.”“Things like this happen more than you might think. But that doesn’t make it easy.”“How… What will happen to the calf?”“We’ll have to bottle feed it. We found it lying next to its mother, suckling.
