“Christian, come show me how to do this,” Caroline said in her too loud and whiny voice. She held up a milker and was about to be kicked by a cow if she kept poking and prodding it like that.
“You have to hold it like this,” He said, taking the milker from her and putting it on the right way.
“Oh, I had no idea this could be so fun.” She gave him a sweet smile, but Christian knew better. He could see her smiles for what they were now: fake.
He turned back to find Maizie, but she had conveniently disappeared.
“Can we go somewhere less dirty?” Emi looked in from the doorway.
Christian shook his head and joined his sister. “Everything on the farm is dirty, sis.”
* * *
Stupid.That’s what it was. Feelings were stupid, and Maizie didn’t want them anymore. It was too easy to get hurt with feelings. She had escaped to the bathroom while Christian had been busy showing Caroline how to put a milker on a cow, and thankfully they were gone now.
“I didn’t know Christian’s mom and sisters were coming to visit,” Maizie said to Jayce, her head bent as she worked so he couldn’t read her emotions.
“Oh, Caroline? She’s not his sister. She and Christian used to date.” The news felt like a punch to the stomach, but she focused on the one good part of that sentence.
“Used to?”
“Yeah, she broke up with him a couple of months ago. Left the poor guy a mess.”
“Oh.” That’s all she could say. “So why is she here?”
“Knowing Caroline, it’s probably because she wants him back.” Maizie might as well have been kicked by the cow in front of her. It wouldn’t have hurt as bad as the pain welling up in her chest. The kiss really hadn’t meant anything. Christian hadn’t come looking for “problems”. But what the heck did that even mean?
“You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Jayce said, reading her mind. “That girl has issues. Christian won’t be touching her with a ten-foot pole.”
It hadn’t looked that way to Maizie. But she didn’t want to tell Jayce that.
She stayed silent as they worked, willing her mind to focus on anything but Christian and that clingy girl.
No other visitors bothered them during the milk shift, but as soon as Maizie began her afternoon chores, she became a reality show for Christian’s family and his ex. His mom and sister were wonderful. His ex, not so much.
She was wearing heels. On the farm. Who did that?
Caroline twirled her hair in her hand as she followed Christian around to each calf. “Are you really going to feed it so much?” Caroline asked when Christian dropped a piece of hay in front of the calf. “Won’t it get fat?”
Maizie covered her laugh in time, but Jayce didn’t.
“No. It won’t get fat.” Christian dropped some grain onto the hay and finally made it to the next calf.
“I can’t believe they have to sleep in their poop. When do you bathe them?”
Maizie changed her mind. Caroline wasn’t so bad. Her questions were keeping the rest of them quite entertained.
“When it rains,” Christian said through tight lips.
“Can I feed a baby?” Emi asked Maizie.
“Of course.” Maizie smiled and directed Emi to the next calf. “Just hold the bottle like this.”
Emi took two steps away from her mom, but she was still two feet from touching the bottle.
“It’s alright. She’s more afraid of you than you should be of her.” Maizie said.
Emi nodded and finally grabbed the bottle. She held it out for the calf who went wild trying to attack it.
