At first, his barrage of questions made her laugh. Then she got uncomfortable. Then she started feeling worse and worse, like she really was useless. “Can cows pass diseases on to goats?”
Cole scoffed. “Of course they can. What were you thinking?”
Kat did not appreciate his tone, but she did trust his experience. “Fine, Cole, can you go move the goats into the barn? They can stay there for now until we vet the cows and get a new enclosure built.”
Cole shook his head. “Fine. I’ll be back. Wait for me.”
Two of the calves slowly meandered out of the trailer down the ramp. There were only six of them, so the driver simply blocked the rest. The two that exited moved toward Kat, sniffing the air like two dogs. Their eyes were huge and innocent, and Kat was immediately in love. “Oh, you guys are so adorable! You’re going to be such a hit with the kids. Welcome home, babies.”
Before she was quite finished petting the precious little babies she’d just invited into her home, Cole returned. “Goats are in the barn,” he said.
“OK, let’s get these babies comfortable.” She finished petting one of them and helped Cole and the driver lead them into the goat’s enclosure.
Cole walked beside her and asked, “So, what’s your plan for these calves? Petting zoo?”
“At first, I thought, yeah,” she said. “As they get older, we’ll take a look at how they behave around people and make a decision as to whether or not they’d be good in rotation at the petting zoo.”
“You think kids would pay to pet a cow?” Cole laughed.
She turned to him and glared. “Haven’t you ever been a kid? I would have absolutely loved to pet a cow. And anyway, it’s not the kids who will be paying. It’s the parents. And they aren’t paying for the cows. They’re paying for that look on their kids’faces that tells them core memories are being made, the screen-free quality time they can’t get at home without tantrums, the photos they get to share with friends to prove they’re good parents. That sort of thing.”
All while she spoke, Cole watched her, looking more and more baffled. When she was finally finished, he said, “You missed your calling, you know.”
“Huh?” She couldn’t begin to guess where he was taking this, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to like it.
“You should have gotten into snake oil sales.” He paused and then smiled to himself. “Wait. You’re in social media advertising, right? Isn’t that basically the same thing?”
She slapped him on the arm. “Be nicer.”
He grinned down at her. “No.”
“Then at least be less predictable. You’re getting boring.”
His smile broadened at her snark. “Now, that’s more like it. Claws out, kitten. It’s way more fun to argue with you that way.”
She rolled her eyes and trotted ahead of him so he couldn’t see her blushing. She’d always had a weakness for overly confident men, and right now, the universe was testing her resolve.
For the next couple days,Kat had trouble focusing on anything that wasn’t the calves. She justified spending time with them by telling herself she was socializing them to be calm around people. They were just too cute for words. Curious little things, too, nudging her hand and licking her ear when she wassquatted down to greet them. It was love at first sight, and second sight, and third sight.
She spent so much time with them that she started to notice something peculiar. A couple of the calves were making a strange sound. It was almost like a sneeze or cough.
“Hey, little lady,” she said to the brown calf that had just nudged her. “You feeling OK? You got a sniffle or something?” The calf lay down beside her, looking listless.
Later that day, she offhandedly mentioned it to Cole, who immediately straightened up and started in the direction of the enclosure where the calves were kept. “I knew it,” he mumbled to himself.
Kat followed closely behind him. “Knew what? It’s just a little cold, I’m sure. Just the sniffles, right?”
Cole didn’t even turn back as he answered, “I knew those calves weren’t healthy. Never heard of the seller before. How much did you look into them before you bought?”
She half shrugged while she kept pace with him. “They were local. Are there local shady cow sellers here?”
“They don’t even have to be shady. Just a little negligence, like transporting them too soon after weaning, is enough. It could be shipping fever.”
“What’s shipping fever?” she asked, suddenly less sure of her decision-making so far. “Is it bad?”
“It can be, if you don’t catch it in time and if the calves aren’t healthy to begin with.” He reached the enclosure and opened the gate. As soon as he got inside, he started examining the calves. Although Kat was irritated by his attitude, she had toadmit that he was so comfortable working with the calves it was almost impressive. OK, it was more than impressive. The way he maneuvered and examined the calves left them calm and easy. She’d never seen anything like it before. Then he asked, “What kind of operation did you buy these from, anyway? And don’t just say it was local again. That doesn’t mean anything.”
With that, her irritation came rushing back, and all her admiration turned bitter. Either way, she could only answer honestly. “It was closing down, the ranch. They were selling off their livestock for cheap. I couldn’t let these girls go to the meat market.”
