Page 19 of Sweet Surprises

“I’ve never had my own place before,” she reassured him quickly. “I love it. And the view is so nice.”

“You can see the whole town from up there, can’t you?” he said, sounding more cheerful. “Well, I hear you’re curious about the cows. Want to meet them?”

“Yes, please,” she said.

But he didn’t have to take her anywhere, because there were already cows approaching. One was snuffling Mr. Lawrence’s pockets.

“Easy, Jane,” he chuckled, giving her a scratch behind the ears. “Jane Austen here was a bottle baby, so she’s extra affectionate.”

“A bottle baby?” Charlotte echoed.

“Mom will explain,” Tag said.

“Oh, she sure will,” his father laughed. “At any rate, most of them are very friendly, though one or two might be shy because you’re a stranger.”

“How many do you have?” she asked.

“Fifty-eight,” he told her.

“You can’t do a good job with more than about sixty-five on this much land, with this much help,” Tag put in. “But we like to keep it to a lower number.”

“Fifty-eight is Maggie’s lucky number,” Mr. Lawrence said with a smile. “And as much as these cows need to eat each day, it’s good to have plenty of land for them.”

Jane Austen was sniffing at Charlotte’s coat now. Charlotte lowered her hand to touch the soft-looking fur.

Jane snorted, and Charlotte jumped a little at the sound and the feel of the animal’s hot breath. But she managed to hold her ground. A moment later, she was scratching behind one of Jane’s ears as the little cow arched her neck for more.

“Well, look at that,” Mr. Lawrence said proudly. “We’ve got ourselves a natural cowgirl.”

“So what are you doing with them right now?” Charlotte asked, looking up from Jane.

“Normally, we would start our day off here with some nice grazing,” Mr. Lawrence said. “And then we’d make our way up the hillside for more grazing, and end the day in the lower fields. For these girls, eating and napping is their whole job, and it takes a lot of quality grass to get what they need.”

Charlotte’s eyes went to the snow-covered fields.

“With all the snow,” Mr. Lawrence went on, “we’re planning to go down to the lower field first. The other two are in the shade of the hillside, but I’m hoping there’s been enough melt down there in the sunshine that the girls can find a snack and stay busy for a while.”

“We’ll give them feed later on,” Tag said. “But it’s expensive, so we like them to find grass if it’s possible.”

“Here’s hoping,” Mr. Lawrence said with a smile. “If nothing else, they’ll get a little fresh air and exercise, and so will I.”

“See you back at the house for lunch?” Tag asked his father.

“Yep,” Mr. Lawrence said, swinging back up onto his horse. “Your mother’s got a stew in the crock.”

Tag made a sound of appreciation and Charlotte watched as the older man led the cows away, singing out to each of them by name.

“Do theyallhave names?” she asked as she watched.

“Yes,” Tag said. “Makes it easier to keep track of them. And it only seems right.”

“Wow,” she said, nodding and wishing he would go on about why he thought it was right for the cows to all have names. That felt a bit out of character for the gruff man.

“Want to see the barn next?” he asked.

“Sure,” she told him.

She followed him through the wooden door and into the dim, sweet-smelling space beyond. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she heard scraping sounds and the swish of moving hay.

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