Word Count: 78,007
Summary of Events:
Madeleine woke up still feeling troubled and became even more troubled when Erik didn't talk to her or hardly even look at her; he seemed cold and angry and she didn't know why, but she was certain that her marriage was as good as over. Axel, having seen Kaira the other day wearing makeup unlike usual, as well as behaving oddly about Erik, got up early and watched the milking; he got frustrated by how close Kaira worked to Erik and told her to give Erik more space for safety reasons before one of the other employees asked Axel for a moment's chat in the milk house, where the employee told Axel he and others had tried the same thing Axel had to no avail, and recommended that Erik and Kaira be separated for safety reasons . . .
Excerpt of the Day:
“I’ll have to talk with Uncle Morten about it,” Axel replied. “But I certainly would’ve gotten mad at her more than a few times if I were him.”
“I would’ve too,” Mr. Duncan said. “But he just seems to bear it, even if it does annoy him, but I don’t know if it does or not. He is one of the best guys we have, though, very teachable, very helpful, never complains, not even when he got splattered by one of the girls relieving herself, went right up on his face, it was gross. He washed his face off and commented that next time he’d pay more attention. Someone like Miss Phibbs or Porter or Stephens would’ve gotten mad and hit her, I think.”
“I’ve noticed that myself, to a degree,” Axel said. “He’s a really nice guy.”
“But that is my two cents on it,” Mr. Duncan said. “I’d actually been meaning to tell you about it for awhile already, but I kept forgetting once I was out of the barn, or when I saw you. Did someone else mention it?”
“No,” Axel replied. “I ended up in here the other day and talked to Erik when she came in with the makeup and the highlights and just behaving oddly, I wondered if it was just a one-off or not. Turns out it’s not.”
“Makeup and highlights?” Mr. Duncan asked.
“Yes, she’s wearing makeup, and she has highlights in her hair,” Axel replied.
“But she told us she’s not a girly girl who needs makeup to feel dressed,” Mr. Duncan said.
“My suspicion is that she’s attracted to him,” Axel said.
“Well so is my daughter,” Mr. Duncan replied.
“What?” Axel asked, startled.
“She came to bring me my lunch that I forgot the one day and ended up meeting him and she was still swooning over him when I got home from work,” Mr. Duncan said. “I told her he’s married, which deflated her a bit, but she then proceeded to declare that she wanted a guy as close to him as possible.”
“I mean, I’m not surprised that either of them would be attracted to him, he looks quite similar to me,” Axel said.
“I noticed that today,” Mr. Duncan said. “If it wouldn’t have been for the different outfits I would’ve been convinced Erik was moving awfully fast today.”
“And since I don’t have a hard time attracting women, I see no reason why he should,” Axel said.
“Good point,” Mr. Duncan said.
“But I’ll have to ask Uncle Morten,” Axel said. “He manages much more of this than I do, so he’d be able to say why they were put together and whom they’d be better put with.”
“Erik would work well with anyone,” Mr. Duncan said. “He’s just flexible and willing to do anything, even the most menial jobs. You two found a good man in him.”
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