His Pretend Amish Bride by Rachel J. Good

Author:Rachel J. Good
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zebra Books
Published: 2020-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Gabe waited until the inspector reached the barn to begin the milking. That way he could see it from start to finish. Gabe hoped observing it once would be enough.

As soon as Mr. Jackson entered the barn, Gabe began moving the cows to the milking parlor, cleaning their udders, and hooking up the machinery.

Alyssa burst through the door, startling Gabe and the first cow. She skidded to a halt and pressed one hand over her mouth. “Oops! So sorry! I didn’t realize you’d started. Are cows as skittish as camels?”

If they were, this one would have stopped producing milk already. “Neh, they aren’t as bothered by people, and they don’t seem to mind who milks them.”

“You use machines?” Alyssa’s horrified expression almost made Gabe laugh. “I thought you Amish didn’t believe in electricity.” She sounded almost sad that she’d discovered the Amish weren’t perfect.

“Actually, I don’t. I use an air compressor to power my equipment.”

“Oh.” Somehow, she made that seem worse.

“When we have a lot of cows to milk, we could be here all day if we did it by hand. Amish commercial farms use machines like this too.” Gabe had nothing against hard work—he did plenty of it—but if he wanted to make a living, he had little choice.

“Okay, then. Would you have time to answer a few questions?”

Gabe preferred to keep his mind on his work, especially when Mr. Jackson was examining his techniques. But if Alyssa wrote a good story, it could bring in customers. Provided, of course, that the inspector cleared him of wrongdoing.

Although he was late on the milking, he obliged her. “I can do it once I have all these cows hooked up.” Ordinarily, he’d do all this without thinking, keeping his hands busy while his mind wandered elsewhere. But conscious of Mr. Jackson, today he paid close attention to every small detail.

After he’d finished, Priscilla caught his eye. She made a show of handing him the keys in front of Mr. Jackson. Then she gave Gabe a reassuring glance before slipping out. He assumed that meant she intended to stand in front of the door. How could he ever repay her for all she’d done?

He spent a few minutes answering the rest of Alyssa’s queries. With a huge smile, she headed for the door. “Thanks for the interview,” she said. “Jake took so many photos, we can do a full spread in the Sunday news.”

Sunday? That would give him only a week to clear up this FDA mess. How likely was it that Mr. Jackson could compile all the information and get the test results in that time?

Gabe prayed while he milked the rest of the cows. Under Mr. Jackson’s stone-faced stare, Gabe tested and stored the batches of milk. The inspector gave no indication of whether or not he approved of Gabe’s actions.

“I’ll bottle the cow’s milk tomorrow,” Gabe told him, “but I still need to take care of the camel’s milk tonight.”

Mr. Jackson’s curt nod made it clear he wasn’t too pleased, but Gabe wanted to follow his usual routine.

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