All I Want (A Farmers' Market Story) Read Online Free PDF Page B

trip to the kitchen and she retrieved two bottles of water.
    “The cab should be here in about twenty. Hopefully.”
    He nodded. “Thanks. For that. And for this.” He held up the toast and then took a careful bite. She guzzled some water and they sat in silence, only the sounds of insects and goats in the air.
    A pretty spring morning, and she needed to get to work before the cab got here, but first she had to feel human. Or at least like her head wasn’t going to explode every time she moved.
    After an awkward silent breakfast, Meg forced herself to stand and smile. “Um, so, I need to go milk the goats.”
    “Milk the...? Right.”
    “You can come watch if you’re curious.” She wasn’t sure where the offer came from. It would have made more sense to ask his name. But he hadn’t asked hers. So either he knew it and she was the sole uninformed participant, or he didn’t want to know hers. Which meant she didn’t need to know his. In fact, the less she knew about him, the better.
    Fantastic idea inviting him to watch you milk the goats, then, yeah?
    “Sure.”
    She tried to smile at his agreement and not hate him for following her. Although hate was too strong a word. She didn’t hate him. Surprisingly she didn’t even hate herself. Sure, this was embarrassing and uncomfortable and stupid, but she’d done a lot worse. And in about fifteen minutes it would all be over.
    Or so she hoped.
    She went inside while he waited on the porch. She sped through changing into jeans and a sweatshirt and tried to ignore that that guy existed. But the sooner she got her goats milked and him out of here, the sooner that could be accomplished.
    She went back outside, and there he was. She walked down the porch steps, realizing she hadn’t grabbed socks, but was too tired and nauseated to care. Besides, he was following her; there was no way she was turning around.
    She collected the containers from her sanitation station outside the barn, then shoved her bare feet into the work boots she kept outside the doors.
    Her stomach was still sloshing, her head still pounding, but the goats didn’t care. That was why she loved them. They needed her to be responsible. To do something the same way every day. It kept her on the right path. So, even with last night’s slipup, she hadn’t totally screwed herself and her life over.
    She entered the barn with a shadow for the first time ever. What was she supposed to call him? Ugh, she didn’t want to call him anything. So she talked him through the process of milking: bringing the goat to the stand, offering it grain, cleaning, milking.
    He watched, asked a few questions, and it was almost comfortable. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, talking about goat milking and the soap she made tabled some of the weirdness between them.
    Just as she was loading up the containers to be refrigerated, a honk sounded from out front.
    “If you go ahead and meet him, I’ll be there in a second.”
    He nodded and she took the milk to storage, then hurried inside her house from the back to find some socks and shoes.
    She walked to the cab, sliding her purse over her shoulder. A few more awkwardly silent moments and this would all be over. She would probably never see the guy again, and she could maybe even convince herself it had been a figment of her imagination.
    Fall down seven times. Get up eight. How many times had Grandma said that to her? And yes, Meg was pretty sure she’d exceeded seven, but as long as she kept getting up, she’d be okay. Getting up was the only option.
    Besides, she had some people to prove wrong. People who’d never have to know about this lapse in judgment.

CHAPTER FIVE
    A S D AN ’ S CAB idled at the stoplight, Charlie could feel the man’s stare. He knew what had happened, and he was going to say something. Oh, not to Charlie’s face, but probably within earshot of someone related to him.
    It was amazing—truly—how life could turn you around in a complete