He pulled one back.
Goodness knows how long the standoff would have gone on, if it hadn’t been for Dulcie, who lost patience with the pair of them. ‘Maisie, please tie Princess up before she does another runner. Adam, shall I show you where I want the unit to go?’
He seemed to shake himself. ‘Er, yes, please. Sorry about the misunderstanding.’
‘I do take good care of my goats, you know,’ Dulcie said, her tone frosty.
Adam winced, and Maisie almost felt sorry for him. But not quite. There had been no need to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Dulcie softened. ‘It was an easy mistake to make. After all, you are here to give me a quote on installing my goat milk pasteurisation unit, so it was natural to assume the escaped goat would belong to me.’
Ah, so he wasn’t a delivery driver.
Maisie’s interest was piqued. If he got the job, he would be working here for a day or so, or however long it took.
She tracked his progress as he followed her sister into the single storey stone-built shed attached to the side of the barn, and sighed when the two of them disappeared from sight. She had better go do as she was asked and tie the blimmin’ goat up before it got up to any more mischief, then she would let the others out into the meadow. Even though they were all close to giving birth, Dulcie reckoned that a few hours in the early spring sunshine would do them good.
Adam stifled a groan of embarrassment as he entered a shed next to the barn, close on Dulcie’s heels. He had just made a total prat of himself in front of apotential new client. Not only had he shouted at the woman who had been chasing the goats, he had also accused Dulcie of not taking proper care of her animals. He was surprised she hadn’t ordered him off her property.
Deciding to take the bull (goat?!) by the horns, he said, ‘I’m sorry about…’ He jerked his head towards the yard. ‘It gave me a bit of a scare, that’s all. I hope I didn’t get her into any trouble.’
‘No more than she’s in already. I’m in two minds to send her home.’
Damn it, now he felt awful. ‘Please don’t sack her because of me. I should have driven a bit slower.’ He had been driving slowly enough, but if he had to shoulder the blame so Maisie kept her job, he would.
To his surprise, Dulcie burst out laughing. ‘Maisie isn’t an employee: she’s my sister.’
Oh, great. Could this get any worse? He had yelled at his client’ssister? Then he had to remind himself that Dulcie wasn’t his client yet, and probably wouldn’t be after this fiasco.
‘What do you think?’ Dulcie asked, and Adam scrambled to put his lack of professionalism behind him.
He’d been genning up on the milking and pasteurisation process, and he hoped he sounded knowledgeable when he asked, ‘Where are you planning on doing the milking?’
‘Next door.’ She placed a hand on the rough-hewn stone wall to her right.
‘Good, not too much pipework.’ He knew enough to understand that the area where the goats were milked should be separate from where the pasteurisation took place. ‘Can you show me the unit? And next door?’
‘Of course.’ Dulcie ushered him back outside and headed for another door.
Adam followed, but as he did so, he scanned the yard.
Maisie was nowhere to be seen.
The twinge of disappointment he felt caught him off-guard.
Ignoring it, he focused on the job at hand, making notes in the leather-bound notepad he carried with him when he was working.
‘How soon can you get the quote to me?’ Dulcie asked.
‘This evening?’
‘Brill! I thought I’d have to wait a few days.’
‘Do you mind if I take some measurements?’
‘The unit will definitely fit,’ she said, a small line appearing between her brows.
‘I can see that, but I’ll need to factor in some additional pipework. When will it be ready for me to install?’
