“I’m sorry, this is difficult for me as well,” Mary muttered trying to give the cow an awkward pet. Did one pet cows? She frowned and shook her head giving the animal another pet. “I’m sorry, I’m not good at this am I?” she asked, reaching again for the udders with a sigh. “But I promise that if you help me, I will finish quickly, and all I’m asking for is half a pail of milk, which is really hardly anything. Alex tells me you will feel so much better once I’m done.”
Mary continued on talking to the animal, head bent low, hands working into a semblance of the rhythm she had observed Alex execute with ease. How was it that she was so damnably bad at this? It should be that difficult, and yet, here she was trying to strike a bargain with a cow as the sun rose.
“What if I bring you two sugar lumps? Cows like those don’t they? An apple? Surely you like apples, it would be a lot tastier than the cud you’ve been eating. I swear it and--” she stopped speaking when a spurt of milk hit the side of her pail. She leaned forward to peer into the bucket to see that she had indeed managed to get milk, however slight, from the cow.
“That’s lovely!” Mary praised before she tentatively resumed her ministrations. She nearly wept when the cow continued to yield milk for her. “Oh, thank god, I thought I was going to have nothing to show for the morning. You lovely beast, you!”
“She’s prone to taking bribes, it seems.”
Mary smiled at Alex’s voice and continued working, though this time there was a slight lift of her head and she did her best to showcase her posture as difficult as it may be while milking a cow.
“Is she now?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, and she adores apples.” Alex came to stand beside the cow and gave its head a stroke. “Isn’t that right, Andromeda?”
“That’s quite the name for a cow as humble as this.”
Alex chuckled and leaned her head against the cow’s forehead giving it’s ears a scratch. The gesture reminded Mary of what one might do with a loveable dog or pet and she stopped milking to lean back to watch her wife. There was affection in her actions, not at all like what she thought a rancher would show their livestock, and it was a lovely sight to see.
“Who said she’s humble?” Alex looked away from the cow to Mary a jerk of her chin towards the stalls where the other cows were. “Why her sisters Medusa and Cassiopeia show that she comes from quite the storied background.”
“That’s quite an affluent group to socialize within,” Mary said and smiled, leaning forward once more to continue her task. “Perhaps I judged too quickly.”
“I would say that you did, but it is an understandable mistake.”
“Oh, is it?”
Alex lowered her voice and leaned closer to where Mary sat. “Oh, yes, the thing is that Andromeda is quite shy and does not disclose such facts about herself to new acquaintances. However,” she shrugged and smiled as she spoke, “for an apple she will perform or divulge a goodly number of secrets.”
Mary laughed and leaned back on her stool. Her task was complete, and the bucket was well over half full with milk. She had done well, and she smiled broadly up at Alex. “I see that I settled too easily if such things can be bought with a single apple.’
“It’s true. You did. But it is a common mistake. Now that you know, you may strike a better bargain, hmm?” She inclined her head and Mary felt her breath catch, whatever blithe reply she was about to make dying on her lips the moment the rising sun lit upon Alex’s hair. The honeyed golden hues of it were brightened and made warm, coming to life like firelight in the early morning and she blinked in surprise.
Who would have known that seeing her wife in such a domestic scene, one that was so utterly and completely common would render her speechless?
“Are you well?” Alex raised an eyebrow and lifted a hand, a beautifully formed hand to push back the hair that had fallen into her face.
“I--sorry?” Mary blinked and remembered to breathe. She steadied herself with a hand on Andromeda’s side and focused back on Alex to see that her wife was staring at her.
“You look as if you might faint.” Alex squatted down beside her and placed a hand to her cheek. “Is it the baby? Do you need to lay down for a spell?”
“I-well, no, no. I’m fine.” Mary swallowed thickly and pushed back, rising from the stool though every part of her body screeched at her to stay where she was, her body so close to Alex’s, the other woman’s thighs brushing her skirts, concerned hands on her face as they were. But this was not a marriage of love or even lust. It was one born of necessity and kindness. She would not take more than was offered to her, she would not, she would not, she would not.
And with a choked sigh Mary rose from her seat and gave her wife a bright smile. She raised the pail and motioned towards the house. “I’ll just see this in and then come back to deal with Andromeda and--”
“No, no,” Alex waved a hand and stood. “There’s no need to fuss. I’ll handle her. You put that away and stay indoors for a bit. I’ll come in and we can see to the list of things you might need to purchase.”
Mary stopped in surprise. “Purchase?”
“Yes, for the house. I reckon you’ll be inclined to set it up in a way that agrees with you.” Alex gestured at the barn and gave her a rueful smile. “I’m more inclined to the outdoors and the house may be lacking in comforts I hadn’t thought of.”
Mary bobbed her head and gave a quick murmur of thanks before she turned and hurried towards the house. It was only when she entered the home that she realized she hadn’t the slightest clue what to do with a pail full of milk.
* * *
“What do you mean ‘my accounts?’”Mary asked, looking down at the neat notebook of papers Alex had slid across the table to her moments before.
“Exactly what I said, Minnie. Your accounts. Inside you’ll find all the information you need to access your account at the bank, and there’s paper enough in there to keep an accurate balance. I’ll make deposits regularly and you are free to add as you wish to it. I have already sent word to the mercantile, grocer, bookstore and dress shop that you will be in today to begin your own lines of credit.”
