by CeeCee James
Ever the competitors, the goats joined with their “I’m hungry and want out” bleats.
Heaving a deep breath, I sat up. It was no use. I found the clothes I’d dropped on the floor the night before and shrugged them on and then headed downstairs.
Emma was already sitting at the counter with a cartoon movie on the TV. She’d poured herself frosted loops into something that looked like a mixing bowl. Too tired to care, I sloshed coffee into a mug, silently thanking the machine’s timer, and took a careful sip.
“Finally, you’re here. I thought you woke up ages ago.” She crunched and stared at me glumly.
I winced, realizing she must have heard me stumbling around in my sleep. “How long have you been awake?”
“Ages.” She sighed dramatically.
I glanced over. Was she already missing her mom? “You okay?”
“No, I absolutely am not.”
I tried my best not to crack a grin at her formal words. “What’s going on, girlie?”
“Today is weird hair day.” Her eyes puddled up. “And my mom’s not here to help!”
“What? It’s okay. I can do it.”
“What do you know about fixing hair?” She sniffed and took another dribbly bite of cereal.
I huffed. “I happen to be an expert on weird hair. Don’t you worry. We’re going to rock this.” I headed over to the junk drawer. “I saw something in here last week that will work. Aha! There it is!” I plucked out a couple of pipe cleaners, stuffed there from an art project Emma had done earlier.
“I tell you what, finish eating, go get dressed in your cutest outfit and then bring me a brush.”
While she did that I fed Jasper, who had already nudged his dog food bowl out of the laundry room and into the kitchen. I scooped the cat off of the kitchen table where she’d found a box to sleep in, and got her some breakfast as well.
I’d just started a load of laundry when Emma came running downstairs. She was still wearing the same stressed-out frown.
This time, I decided not to press her. I patted the bar stool for her to climb up, and then began brushing her hair. Swiftly, I divided it and began braiding one chunk around a pipe cleaner.
Emma sat in stoic silence. I saw her gaze flick to the clock on the wall. She twisted to show me a panicked face. “The bus is going to be here soon. I’m going to be late!” Her eyes were huge. I’d never seen her worry about missing the bus before.
“All right, Emma Bean. What’s going on?”
She squirmed on the stool. “I need my hair to be just right. No lumps.”
“Lumps? There aren’t any lumps. You want to tell me why you are so anxious?”
She glanced down and mumbled, “Billy’s going to save me a seat.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Billy who?”
“He’s two stops before me. Yesterday he brought me licorice.”
“Ohh, licorice, huh?” I drew the brush through her hair. “Sounds serious.”
“I’m not sure if he likes me.” Her nose wrinkled.
“And why is that?”
“It was black licorice.”
I stifled a snort. “You don’t like black licorice?”
“I do! But Jessica said that black licorice is the grossest kind. She told me it was probably full of ants.”
I had to bite my lip this time to stay serious. “I don’t know about that. I love black licorice.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. Every Easter I’d eat all the jelly beans and save the black ones for last. Because they were the best.”
She grinned, full of gapped-tooth glory. “Oh! So maybe he was saving them. Because I’m the best.”
The laugh finally escaped me. “Yes. you are.” Carefully, I secured the braid with elastic and then stood back, admiringly. She had two pig-tails poking out from each side of her head just like handle bars.
“There you go, A mini Pippy Longstocking.”
“Who?”
My mouth dropped in horror. “You don’t know?”
She shook her head.
“Oh, we’re going to correct that real soon.” I tied on some colorful ribbons and then we went to gather her stuff. Not a minute too soon. I could see the dust from the approaching bus way in the distance. We ran out to the stop.
“Kiss Jelly and Bean for me,” she said.
I grinned. “I won’t tell you to do the same for Billy.”
Her face screwed up with a horrified expression. “Kiss him? Eww! Cooties!”
How could I forget about cooties? “All right. Have fun today. Can’t wait to hear about how it went.”
The bus jolted to a stop and opened the doors with a hiss. Emma jumped aboard with me waving. It left with a growl and a cloud of black smoke. Coughing, I turned away.
Daisy was stiffly standing in the field. As I wondered about her posture, she started walking splay-legged toward the barn. It was as if her legs were refusing to bend. A thrill of adrenaline rushed through me as I realized what had probably happened. Freckles had warned me of snakes a while back. I bet she had been bitten. As fast as I could, I ran for the house. Every second counted at a time like this.
Chapter 9
I called the vet who reassured me he was on his way over. Daisy wandered deeper into the field. I watched her for a moment, hands on my hips and unsure of what to do. She didn’t seem to want me. Rosy spurred me into action. By the time AJ showed up, I had the cow out in the field and the stalls mucked and filled with fresh straw.
I met him in the driveway, relieved to see him. And he was a sight for sore eyes, with his flannel shirt rolled up to expose muscular forearms, the hairs bleached from the sun.
“Hey, how are you?” His gaze grabbed and held mine for an answer.
I swallowed. “Is going crazy an answer?”
“Crazy? It seems like that’s the norm around here.”
“Hey!”
“Not that I’m judging,” he said hastily, holding his hands up like I was about to whack him. I was thinking about it. “Now where is this goat?”
“Thank you for coming. I’ve been worried sick. She hasn’t wanted anything to do with me.”
“Did you see the snake?” He grabbed his gear from the back of the truck. His eyebrows rumbled together.
I shook my head. “No, but she’s walking funny. Maybe she fell and hurt her leg. You don’t think she could have broken it, do you?”
He frowned but didn’t answer. Together, we hurried out to the field where Daisy stood. Hearing us, the goat slowly started her awkward walk away.
“Poor thing,” I murmured.
“So the kids weaned themselves early, huh?” he asked as we watched the two babies run after their mom.
“I don’t know. Maybe?” I glanced at him, curious. “Why do you ask?”
“Because that’s no broken leg or a snake bite. Mama over there needs some attention.” He nodded at Daisy.
Squinting, I examined her closely. Her udder appeared blown up and hard. She also gave the impression that walking hurt.
“Oh, no. What do we do?”
The corner of his lip quirked up. “Do? You milk her.”
My mouth dropped. This was about as welcome as news of having to climb in the spider-infested crawlspace to look at a plumbing issue. “Excuse me?”
“You know.” He mimed pulling. “Milk. Where’s your station?”
“Um…” My mind spun frantically. Would Freckles come back from Sharon’s house to help a girl out? “I’m not sure,” I finally stammered out.
“I think I saw something in there.” AJ brushed past me and headed to the barn. I followed, slightly whimpering. He wasn’t really expecting me to do this, was he? This was not what I’d agreed to when Tilly left. She promised me that it would be easy street this time.
“Here we go.” AJ’s voice was excited. He pulled out a stool from a corner and brushed it off. My eyes fluttered closed at the cobwebs.
“Follow me,” he said, and with firm steps, walke
d to the end of the barn.
There was a narrow stall back here, with a rope slicing down the length of it. AJ set down the stool and strode back outside, while I contemplated my life’s choices that led me to this moment. Soon he was back, leading Daisy. He paused to snag up a bucket. I shivered as I recognized it as the one filled with flowers from the pond a few days earlier.
“Ready?” he asked with a grin. A grin that was decidedly too cheery and full of glee. Gently, he coaxed Daisy into the stall. “Okay, here we go girl.” The rope acted like a boundary for her. With a grunt, he set the bucket underneath her udder. Then he beamed at me.
I wasn’t smiling back.
“Go ahead. Have a seat.” His head dipped in the direction of the stool.
So many excuses came to mind. But I detected a glisten in his eye that stopped me. I couldn’t tell if he was challenging me, or doubting me, but suddenly my resolve bristled. I wasn’t going to let him win this round. Or the goat.
“Sure.” I said, like I’d been doing it all my life. I perched delicately on the stool and inhaled. Immediately, the strong scent of goat and hay made me cough.
Daisy didn’t appreciate the coughing so much. She stomped her foot impatiently. Her hooves suddenly looked uncomfortably sharp.
“Go for it,” AJ urged.
The poor goat’s udder was bulging on the sides. I reached for the closest teat like I was sliding my hand into a snake den to retrieve a diamond ring.
“You’ve got this,” AJ encouraged. He leaned against the stall’s wall and crossed his arms. The subtle spicy scent of his aftershave or soap added itself to the mix.
I swallowed hard and took hold of the teat. It was squishy and warm. I gave it a squeeze.
Nothing happened.
Daisy wasn’t happy about that either. She bleated her disapproval and shuffled her feet again.
“Almost. Pull down as you squeeze.” He demonstrated it again.
“I’m kind of a hands-on learner,” I tried, pushing back slightly. “Maybe you should have a go.”
“You’re going to be here alone with her, you have to do it. You’ve got this, I know you do.”
I wasn’t going to get out of this one, was I? With new resolve to just get the job done, I went in again. Grimacing, I pulled and squeezed, like he said.
A hiss of milk rang into the metal pail. Shocked, I glanced at AJ.
“You’ve got this!” He chuckled. “Keep going. Do two at a time.”
I reached in with my other hand and began doing gentle pulls. Milk spurted out. Soon, with my forehead resting against Daisy’s side, I had the rhythm.
I swear I could feel her relief through the warmth of her fur. “I’m going to help you girl. Sorry your babies left you this way,” I whispered. “You’re doing so good. We’re doing this.”
“Don’t forget the other side,” AJ whispered. He stroked Daisy’s head. “You’re doing a great job.”
I drained the other side as well and soon had a pail of milk. It was exercise in a way I wasn’t used to. As I stood, both of my knees creaked and the muscles in my back protested.
It wasn’t the same experience for the goat. When AJ opened the door, Daisy scampered over to her bin to eat.
Sitting on top of it was a bundle of flowers.
“Wait. What’s this?” AJ asked as he walked over to the trough.
“What’s what?” Now that it was over, I was feeling all shaky again. I glanced at the milk in the pail and saw hair floating in it. I kind of wanted to throw-up. Farm girl I wasn’t. And life on the farm seemed to take it as a challenge to daily prove that to me.
AJ lifted out a daisy chain necklace. “Sorry, lady, but you can’t leave your bouquet here. This is toxic to goats.”
“What is?” I took the little bundle of flowers. Emma must have picked them. I’d have to let her know not to leave them around for the goat.
“See those purple flowers there? That’s chrysanthemum. Those are a no-go for animals.”
Where did she even find it? Was she wandering around in the morning? Maybe down at the pond? That concerned me. I had to get to the bottom of it.
“So, how are things going with your mom?” His gentle voice interrupted my thoughts.
“She’s fine. Getting ready to head back to Mexico.”
“Yeah? What’s she do down there?”
“She was rebuilding houses, but then her group split off to work with one of the orphanages.”
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
I glowed, thinking about her. “She really is amazing. She actually works with the street kids who aren’t in an orphanage but still have no one to take care of them.”
“Harsh. No one?”
I shook my head. “Not unless you count the gangs. Or worse.”
“Wow.” He hung his head, quiet.
He got so quiet, he made me nervous. Biting my bottom lip, I prodded, “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking about how yesterday I was ticked off because a truck lost a rock from their tire and cracked my windshield. I’d just replaced it two weeks ago. I about lost it, I was so mad. Crazy how easy it is to lose sight of how rough other people really have it.”
“You and me both, buddy.”
“I know this is crazy, but is there anything I can do to help her?”
I was surprised he was so sensitive to the need. “Uh, yeah. You can look for places to donate. They can use whatever help they can get.”
“Okay, I’ll do that. You’ll have to give me her address or something.”
I smiled. “I’ll get that for you. She’d like that.”
The conversation seemed to stall, so I desperately tried to think of something to say. I was in the middle of a brilliant comment of, “Beautiful day, isn’t it? when he interrupted with, “Hey, you want to grab a bite to eat?”
“Now?” I was surprised which flipped into panic when I saw the expression on his face falter. “Sure!”
“I mean, if you’re hungry.”
“I’d love to. You just took me by surprise.”
“Surprise how? You don’t expect vets to eat?” He grinned then, slow and easy. That’s what I liked about him. He was mellow and seemed to recover pretty quick.
“So what does a vet usually eat? Home cooking?” My inner voice pleaded, please say no, please say no.
He laughed then. “If I ate my home cooking I’d starve.”
Yes! My kind of guy! “What do you usually eat then?”
“Frozen pizza. Occasionally I switch it up with chicken nuggets. If I’m feeling fancy then I have corn chips and chili.”
I laughed. “I think you’re the first man I know of who admits to eating chicken nuggets.”
“Dinosaur-shaped ones are my favorite. I’m not kidding.” He grinned. “Get it? Goats? Kidding?”
I groaned.
He shrugged. “Hey, I’m a vet, not a comedian. So, you want to get out of here? Maybe Chinese for lunch?”
I quickly assessed myself. I looked like a farmhand.
He paused. “You okay? We don’t have to go for Chinese if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s just….” I gestured to my pants.
“Well, go change, I can wait.”
I glanced at the time. “How about if we meet there in thirty minutes.”
“Okay, sure. Sounds great. I’ll see you there then.”
He gave me that easy smile again, then hopped into his truck while I stood on the porch and waved. As soon as he turned on the road I dashed into the house. Thirty minutes was a stretch to make myself presentable, especially with travel time.
How I wished for one of those Jane Jetson beauty conveyor belts right about now. I’d loved those that show when I was a kid. I flung the blue shirt I’d worn the day before into the corner, powdered my face, and swooped on some mascara. Quickly, I ran the brush through my hair and rushed to stand in front of the open closet. What should I choose? A dress? I wrinkled my nose. He didn’t indicate this
was more than two friends having lunch. I grabbed out a fitted top and my newest jeans fresh out of the wash so they weren’t stretched out. I was about to put on lipstick when the feeling hit me again. I didn’t want to look like I tried to hard. Not date cute. But still cute enough. I opted for some tinted chapstick and grabbed my purse.
Clattering down the stairs, I whistled for Jasper. He appeared at the bottom, head cocked, one ear flopped back.
“I’ll be out for a bit. You be a good boy, okay?” I ruffled the fur on his neck. He sniffed my pants as if he could tell this wasn’t usual, and I was trying to impress someone.
“They make my rear look good,” I whispered. “You understand, right?”
He sat on his haunches and panted his doggy smile.
“Good. I knew you would.” With one final wave, I headed out, locking the door behind me. Just ten minutes left to get to the restaurant. But what if I was early and got there before him?
Then I’d order, I reminded myself. After all, I am hungry.
As I turned onto the street, I was surprised at all the other traffic. A gray or silver-colored truck pulled right up on my bumper with headlights bright as he rumbled behind me. Gritting my teeth I stepped on the gas to get him off my tail.
He backed off and eventually turned, his engine roaring as if in anger as his tires squealed out of the corner.
The rest of the drive was uneventful. AJ was already at the restaurant with his black truck in a stall right in front. I pulled into an empty one a few down from him and jumped out.
He waited for me by the front door. “You look nice,” he said as I walked up.
“Thanks,” I said, brushing back my hair.
Well, he must have taken a quick trip home himself because he had on a clean shirt and pants as well. His hair was brushed back and I caught the slightest whiff of something yummy on him.
“You do, too.” I smiled.
The waitress was sweet and smiley as she sat us down. I scanned the menu while she brought us our drinks.
“What do you think? Want to share a number four?” AJ asked.
I read the option and closed the menu. “Sounds great!”
The waitress came back and AJ ordered. Soon, we had hot soup, tea, and a warm conversation. I was amazed at how easy it was to talk with him, especially with slurping soup off of a spoon. We had one funny moment when he commented on how much I enjoyed my food, and I countered by asking if he was saying I was a pig.