Carmen caught her breath and stared at Katie. "I enjoy my work. And I'm not competitive. I'm conscientious. If you're going to do a job, you might as well do it right."
Katie took the towel from Carmen's hands. "Do tell," she responded dryly. She wiped her hands and tossed the towel on the counter. "All the same, you'd better take a good, long look at what you're thinking about giving up."
Carmen picked up the towel and hung it on the rack. "I'd be less than honest if I said the security Josh can offer wasn't tempting - that and the idea of having an instant family. His folks were there when I was born and they're like second parents to me, but I'm not going to marry Josh because I'm lonely and poor."
Katie opened the barn door and let four goats into the dairy. They sprinted across the floor and leaped up to the elevated platforms, poking their soft muzzles into the stanchions to gobble the grain. Katie glanced at Carmen. "So what kind of man are you looking for?"
"I'm not looking for a man," Carmen answered sullenly as she examined the first doe for signs of impending birth.
"Okay," Katie responded amiably as she worked with another doe. "Just for the sake of conversation, what kind of man would appeal to you?"
What kind of man? Carmen shrugged. "Well for starters, I'd want a man to be taller than me."
Katie's eyes twinkled. "That shouldn't be hard to find." She sobered. "But seriously, there are a lot of women who love men shorter than them. Does physical appearance make so much difference?"
Carmen frowned. "I don't give a hoot what he looks like. I just don't want our kids to go through life being teased about being short."
Katie nodded. "I guess so, but I wonder sometimes if heredity is the major factor. I mean, look at Alex and I. We're both short, and both Mom and Dad were average height." She hesitated, as if wanting to elaborate and then shrugged.
No doubt Katie was going to say something about short people and thought better of it for fear of hurting feelings. Still, there must have been someone in the family who was short. Never having met Alex or any other members of the family besides their Aunt Polly, it was hard to guess. Aunt Polly wasn't exactly tall.
"Whatever," Carmen finally replied. "Other than that, I'd want a man who was confident and assertive."