"Well, be careful. If you have any problems, call Josh. You have his number, don't you?"
"I have it. But if I make it to the airport, I'm sure Alex can handle anything after that. No need to rout Josh out and make him drive 60 miles for nothing."
Carmen nodded. She wished she could share Katie's faith in her brother, but the only picture she could summons was a short, pale, overweight man with more brains for business than aptitude in mechanics. Why that picture settled into her brain, she couldn't say. The only picture Katie had of her family was an old family photo. Alex was an obvious six-year-old with two missing front teeth. Katie was an infant. Surely she had other pictures, but for the time being, Katie wasn't displaying them. When Carmen asked if she had more current pictures of her family, Katie grew sullen. Hopefully she hadn't thrown away all her pictures in a fit of anger. Since Katie had invited him up several times, she had obviously matured enough to forgive him.
Carmen closed the gate and sloshed back to the barn. The goats were going to need more hay and alfalfa pellets. After that the chickens needed to be fed and she needed to get that chevon roast in the oven so it would be ready for lunch. They had some canned peaches left. Did Alex like peach pie?
An hour later she was back in the barn, - and just in time. Two of the goats had gone into labor, so she transferred them to the building on the release side of the dairy, where they had set up temporary kidding stalls. She forked some hay into each of the stalls and checked the herd again. Two of the does had hollow looking stomachs and their udders were shiny. Better keep an eye on them. She returned to the first stall to find two new arrivals and another on the way. Everything looked normal, so she gave the doe her privacy. In the next stall the goat was laying on her side, straining . . . could be a problem there.
She hurried to the house and checked the roast. The pie was done, so she put it on the counter to cool. Pouring some coffee into a thermos, she headed for the barn again. Katie should be back soon.
The warm wind assisted the sun in melting the snow and most of it was already gone, leaving a trail of sloppy mud to the barn. Inside the dairy she shucked her coat and rubber boots, slipping into a pair of western boots she always kept in the barn. Abandoning her thermos on the counter, she stoked the fire and returned to the kidding stalls.