use the hand sanitizer, though. Salmonella is not our friend.”
Leigh looked like she was going to make a snotty remark, but one look from Mac was enough to keep her quiet. It was concerning, though. If she didn’t like hard work, or getting her hands dirty once in a while, they were going to have a problem.
8
M UCH A DO, AND THEN L ESS
Mac let everyone else head into the house while she continued to work around the yard. She scattered some more feed into the chicken pens, just to calm them down a bit. Then she got to work on a nesting box setup. The hens would need a place to lay eggs.
She’d forgotten a lot of stuff from her childhood farming experience, and even though she’d been reading through as much material as possible, there weren’t enough hours in the day to learn everything a person needed to know to be self-sufficient.
Mac had spent years studying solar energy and electrical circuitry, and then she’d gotten her amateur radio licence and learned to set up a ham radio. She had relearned vegetable gardening, studied electromagnetic pulses, absorbed knowledge on medicine and human anatomy, and had boxes of books on every subject she could think of. It was overwhelming.
Part of her wanted to shut out the responsibilities she was faced with, and just drift. Mostly with thoughts of Neil. She was a practical woman, though, and romance wasn’t her strong suit. They’d spend what time together they could, when she was able to take time away.
She was finishing up cutting the slats she needed when the phone in her pocket vibrated. She took off her gloves, removed the ear protectors, and pulled it out to look at the display. Neil.
“Was your brain burning?”
“Not that I could tell, no. Isn’t that supposed to be my ears?”
“I’m not sure. I think that’s when someone’s talking about you, not thinking about you.”
“Well, I’ve got a bit of heart-burn. I just thought that was lunch coming back to haunt me. Guess it must have been you.”
“Food, huh? Guess I’ll have to get to that.”
“You haven’t eaten yet?”
“No. Too busy with live chickens to deal with a dead one right now.”
“How’s that going?”
“Disgusting.”
“You’re really a glass-half-full kind of woman aren’t ya? Well, this should cheer you up. I talked to Gerry’s dad, and he didn’t even try to pretend his kid wouldn’t do something like that. Most parents would, but I’m sure he’s been told time and again that his son’s a little shit. It’s a small town, and people are only too happy to shoot you down. I didn’t tell him anything about us, because I didn’t want his son to find out. If he thought you and I were seeing one another, he might try to stake out my place looking for you.”
“You’re a pretty smart cookie for such a stud. I ended up seeing an old friend when I went to make my report, so he’ll make sure the complaint is taken seriously. Hopefully the kid will be scared shitless for the time being, and he’ll cross to the other side of the street if he sees me again. I can deal with him if I have to, but I don’t want it going that far. I don’t want to be living with something I can’t take back.”
“No, you don’t. For now, what are you doing about food? Can I bring you something after I close the store?” Mac groaned.
“I’d love that, but I’ve got so much to do, and stuff that really needs to be cooked tonight. It thawed on the way up here, so I can’t refreeze it. I’ll take a break when I go to make dinner and eat, but then I’m going right back to work. I should have proper nesting boxes for the hens in an hour, and little cubbies for each rooster, but I need to build something for the back of the truck for bringing the goats home. The more I think about them, the more goats I feel I’m going to need, too.”
“Here’s a thought. I’ve got a horse trailer you can borrow, instead of building something. I was able
Leigh looked like she was going to make a snotty remark, but one look from Mac was enough to keep her quiet. It was concerning, though. If she didn’t like hard work, or getting her hands dirty once in a while, they were going to have a problem.
8
M UCH A DO, AND THEN L ESS
Mac let everyone else head into the house while she continued to work around the yard. She scattered some more feed into the chicken pens, just to calm them down a bit. Then she got to work on a nesting box setup. The hens would need a place to lay eggs.
She’d forgotten a lot of stuff from her childhood farming experience, and even though she’d been reading through as much material as possible, there weren’t enough hours in the day to learn everything a person needed to know to be self-sufficient.
Mac had spent years studying solar energy and electrical circuitry, and then she’d gotten her amateur radio licence and learned to set up a ham radio. She had relearned vegetable gardening, studied electromagnetic pulses, absorbed knowledge on medicine and human anatomy, and had boxes of books on every subject she could think of. It was overwhelming.
Part of her wanted to shut out the responsibilities she was faced with, and just drift. Mostly with thoughts of Neil. She was a practical woman, though, and romance wasn’t her strong suit. They’d spend what time together they could, when she was able to take time away.
She was finishing up cutting the slats she needed when the phone in her pocket vibrated. She took off her gloves, removed the ear protectors, and pulled it out to look at the display. Neil.
“Was your brain burning?”
“Not that I could tell, no. Isn’t that supposed to be my ears?”
“I’m not sure. I think that’s when someone’s talking about you, not thinking about you.”
“Well, I’ve got a bit of heart-burn. I just thought that was lunch coming back to haunt me. Guess it must have been you.”
“Food, huh? Guess I’ll have to get to that.”
“You haven’t eaten yet?”
“No. Too busy with live chickens to deal with a dead one right now.”
“How’s that going?”
“Disgusting.”
“You’re really a glass-half-full kind of woman aren’t ya? Well, this should cheer you up. I talked to Gerry’s dad, and he didn’t even try to pretend his kid wouldn’t do something like that. Most parents would, but I’m sure he’s been told time and again that his son’s a little shit. It’s a small town, and people are only too happy to shoot you down. I didn’t tell him anything about us, because I didn’t want his son to find out. If he thought you and I were seeing one another, he might try to stake out my place looking for you.”
“You’re a pretty smart cookie for such a stud. I ended up seeing an old friend when I went to make my report, so he’ll make sure the complaint is taken seriously. Hopefully the kid will be scared shitless for the time being, and he’ll cross to the other side of the street if he sees me again. I can deal with him if I have to, but I don’t want it going that far. I don’t want to be living with something I can’t take back.”
“No, you don’t. For now, what are you doing about food? Can I bring you something after I close the store?” Mac groaned.
“I’d love that, but I’ve got so much to do, and stuff that really needs to be cooked tonight. It thawed on the way up here, so I can’t refreeze it. I’ll take a break when I go to make dinner and eat, but then I’m going right back to work. I should have proper nesting boxes for the hens in an hour, and little cubbies for each rooster, but I need to build something for the back of the truck for bringing the goats home. The more I think about them, the more goats I feel I’m going to need, too.”
“Here’s a thought. I’ve got a horse trailer you can borrow, instead of building something. I was able
Similar Books
