Erin hoped if she climbed out of the side-by-side and stepped lightly, she wouldn’t sink. No such luck. Only unlike Wyatt, she sank almost to her knees. “Oh, God!”

He flashed her a grin that displayed beautiful, white teeth. “Sure you want to work here? Leaks are always muddy. Normally not this bad. I let the new hires check the water troughs this morning, and they must have ignored the soggy ground. When a main line is leaking and left to spew water, it gets bad fast.”

Erin held on to the closed door of the vehicle to pry one foot loose from the muck. She wore her commando boots, and it felt as if she had toilet plungers on her feet. A loud sucking sound came from the mud, and bubbles rose to the surface. She watched Wyatt trudge over to an aluminum pipe. She struck off after him. A couple of times, she almost fell. But using all her strength, she managed to reach higher ground and better footing. Then the work began, and Erin became well acquainted with mud.

Two hours later, they had replaced a section of main line, which was large-diameter pipe and heavy to work with. Erin didn’t know if she could have done the job by herself, and the thought frightened her. If she couldn’t carry her weight at the ranch, she couldn’t keep the job, even though her uncle might make exceptions for her. That wouldn’t be fair to the other employees.

When she and Wyatt got back into the side-by-side to resume touring the ranch, Wyatt started the engine and smiled at her. “Good job. You were there whenever I needed you. If you ever come across a broken main line when you’re out alone, call for help. It requires two people.”

Erin wondered whether he was telling the truth or felt she was incapable of doing the job alone. She had little time to worry about that, though. As Wyatt drove her around the ranch, she learned so much she wished she could take notes. One field, which Wyatt called the east pasture, was especially important. It was an area for pregnant cows due to calve late. He explained that Slade’s old-school philosophies on impregnating the cows made it difficult to prevent late births.

Erin gazed out at the bovines. “So these cows didn’t take when they were supposed to?”

“Exactly.”

“Maybe Uncle Slade should consider a March calving season so cows covered during the second bull turnout don’t have their babies so late.”

He flashed her a grin that made her belly go warm and tingly. “There you go. You’re thinking like a rancher.”

She returned her attention to the cows, which all looked as if they’d swallowed ginormous bowling balls. “So what do you look for when you’re checking these ladies?”

Wyatt crawled out of the vehicle and motioned for her to follow him. When they reached the fence, the cows moved closer. “They think I may feed them, which makes this part easier. A cow’s vaginal ligaments loosen up twelve to twenty-four hours prior to giving birth, and her vulva will look swollen and possibly wet with mucus. When we see that, we move her to a calving area and start checking her every couple of hours.”