Page 8 of Herds and Hooves

“Judgy. I remember Florence well. Most of his girls are very well-behaved. It’s amazing how smart they are.”

“Yes, they know the routine and don’t seem mean or aggressive. I’m not sure what I was expecting but that wasn’t it.”

“What else did you do?”

“The hoof trimmer was here, so I watched him trim one cow. That was nasty. I didn’t know a cow’s hoof even needed to be trimmed or could get stuff stuck in it.”

“Keith Brooks? He’s been working around Foggy Basin for years.”

“He helped me find the place. I drove past the road a few times and went back to the hardware store to ask for help. He happened to be there and offered to show me the way.” I hadn’t had a minute to think about him but now that I mentioned him, I couldn’t get those blue eyes out of my mind.

“That sounds about right. He’s a good guy.”

“That’s what Asa said. Do you know why he never had any kids?” I’d been curious for years but had never asked.

“You’ll have to ask him about that.” We talked a while longer and I told him I’d be home in a couple of days to get more clothes. “Okay then. I’ll tell your mother to expect you.”

I hung up then. It was still early and like I told him it had only been a day. Tomorrow would be a new adventure on the farm and that made me happy.

“Wake up, son, we’re burnin’ daylight,” Asa said as he stomped past the door to my bedroom on the way to the kitchen.

I sat up on the side of the bed and took count of the new aches and pains before heading straight for the bathroom. The water was hot and felt amazing in the shower while I wondered what the heck I’d done to make my back so tight and what Asa did to avoid it. Once I was showered and dressed I followed the smell of coffee and food to the kitchen. Asa stood at the stove scooping eggs onto two plates.

“There’s toast that just popped up, put two more slices in,” he said without turning. “Oh, and there’s hot coffee.”

I took a mug from the cabinet and filled my cup. “Food of the gods,” I said before taking a sip.

“You said it. I wouldn’t get so much done around here without it,” Asa said and handed me my plate before taking his over to the kitchen table.

“What do you do for your back?”

“I squat instead of bending. You’ll notice Noah and I doing that a lot especially when we’re milking,” Asa said as though it was just how it was and he didn’t mind telling me. “Now my knees are a whole other story.”

“Hm, squat instead of bend. I need to try that today,” I said as I shoveled in a mouthful of eggs.

“I want you to try to do the whole first milking. Noah will be there so don’t stress it. But it’ll show you exactly how it works, not just one cow. It won’t take long. We can milk them all in about three hours. Then we’ll clean up, eat lunch, and start all over again.” His voice had no regret or malice in it for the day ahead. More like he couldn’t wait to get going.

“As long as I don’t have to do it by myself, I’m willing to try anything.”

His brows shot up around his cup of steaming coffee. “You might regret those words.”

We walked outside when the sun was just beginning to light the horizon. Noah was already at the barn and guiding the cows into place. “Noah, Bart is going to help you this morning. If things go south, yell at me. I’m going to go check fences,” Asa said before walking over to a quad with a trailer attached.

“Will do, boss,” Noah said and led me past the milking stations. “I’m going to start you out slow. I know this is all new. Today you’ll be guiding the cows into the chute.”

“The what now?” I glanced in the direction he indicated, and there stood Florence looking even more judgy than she had yesterday.

Eight

Keith

Four Months Later

I drove out of town towards Asa’s place. He was on a regular maintenance plan and liked to make sure his cows were well taken care of. I’d gone back to check on the cow with the cracked hoof two weeks later and it had started to heal very nicely. Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen Bart. “Wonder what happened to that city kid?” I mumbled to myself as I turned off the main road onto the dirt road that led to the dairy.

It was early in the morning, but it was already obvious it was going to be hot as hell, and while I loved all the surrounding fields, the irrigation along with the lake didn’t help the humidity. I drove past Asa’s house and forced myself not to look for Bart’s vehicle, but at the same time was disappointed it wasn’t there.

I waved at Noah as I pulled up to the side of the barn where I usually set up for the day. “Hey, Noah, any special cases today?”