Read Online Christmas with her Boss by Marion Lennox - Free Book Online

broken promise, like so many he’d been given as a child…
    A whistle split the air, so loud it hauled him out of his reverie. Maybe that was just as well. There was little to be gained by trying to change at this stage of his life, and maybe a lot to lose. He shrugged, mocking something that was part and parcel of how he faced the world—and then he tried to figure who was whistling.
    Meg had said she’d be helping with the milking. Who else was down there?
    There was only one way to find out.
    He checked his watch. It was five-thirty.
    Early, even by his standards.
    Whoever was down there knew how to work.
    Â 
    W S McMaster could be forgotten here. She was perfectly, gloriously happy. She was home.
    Meg stomped across the baked dirt and whooshed her next cow into the bail. Friesian 87 plodded forward with resigned equanimity.
    â€˜That’s Topsy,’ Kerrie said. ‘Her milk production’s gone up twelve per cent this year. You’re ace, aren’t you, girl?’
    â€˜I thought Letty decided we should stop naming them.’
    â€˜That was only when she had to get rid of half the herd. It broke her heart. Now your income’s so good she’s decided wecan name them again. She started with Millicent, and now she’s moving onto the whole herd.’
    Uh-oh.
    â€˜It’s not so stable as you might think,’ she said cautiously.
    Kerrie released her cow and stretched and glanced across into the vat room, where her three little girls were playing in a makeshift playpen. ‘We take one day at a time,’ she said. ‘We all know that.’
    Maybe everyone did, Meg thought as she washed teats and attached cups. Last year Kerrie’s husband had maxed out their credit cards and taken off with a girl half his age, leaving Kerrie with three babies under four. Milking here was now her sole income.
    Kerrie’s income was thus dependent on Meg’s income. On Meg’s job.
    William had said he wouldn’t fire her. She had to believe him. But first they had to get through Christmas.
    We’ll put this behind us as an unfortunate aberration…
    Christmas. An aberration.
    That wasn’t what he’d meant, but it was how it seemed.
    What was he intending to do with himself for the next three days?
    â€˜Can I help?’
    She didn’t have to show she was startled. The cows did it for her, backing away in alarm at this unfamiliar person in the yard. The cow Kerrie was ushering in backed right out again before Kerrie could stop her, and Kerrie swore and headed after her.
    â€˜You need to move,’ Meg said swiftly. ‘You’re scaring the cows.’
    He was in his gym gear. Black and white designer stuff with crisp white designer trainers. Very neat.
    The cows weren’t appreciating it.
    He backed into the vat room, where the playpen was set up. The oldest of the little girls cried out in alarm and he backed out of there too.
    Meg found herself smiling. Her boss, in charge of his world. Or not.
    â€˜Go back to bed,’ she advised. ‘It’s early.’
    â€˜I don’t like my PA working before me. Is there something I can do?’
    â€˜Really?’
    â€˜Really.’
    Goodness. ‘How are you at washing udders?’ she asked, stunned.
    â€˜I learned it at kindergarten,’ he said promptly and she found herself chuckling. He’d woken up on the right side of the bed, then. Maybe this could work.
    â€˜If you’re serious…’
    â€˜I’m serious.’
    â€˜The cows don’t like gym gear.’
    â€˜You think I should go back and put on one of my suits?’
    â€˜Um…no.’ She chuckled and saw a flare of surprise in his eyes. Maybe she didn’t chuckle around him enough.
    Maybe she didn’t chuckle at all.
    â€˜Kerrie’s brother helps out here occasionally when the kids are sick,’ she said. ‘Ron’s around your size. His overalls and gumboots are in