Milk Money Read Online Free

expressed her concerns about her farm. “I’ve been calling my mom all day. I think she’s avoiding me.”
    “Why would she avoid you?”
    She sipped her drink. “Laura has never been the most straightforward person. She beats around the bush about things and expects you to figure stuff out yourself. It drives me nuts.”
    “You told me earlier that she was your stepmother. You two must be pretty close if you call her Mom.”
    Emily nodded. “Sometimes I call her Mom. We’re kind of close. My dad married Laura ten years ago, right before I graduated from high school.” She shook her head, not wanting to discuss the somewhat complicated relationship she shared with her stepmother. “Believe me, I didn’t start calling her Mom right away.”
    He opened his briefcase and removed a stack of paper before placing his reading glasses over his caramel eyes. She watched him flip through the papers, her curiosity about him sprouting like a geyser. He looked up and caught her staring. She looked away, wanting to put this whole situation into perspective. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
    “Number one, I just want you to know that it’s going to take me a long time, probably a week or more, to complete the audit for your farm. It’ll be costly, but we have payment plans, and Laura has already signed the agreement.”
    “That figures,” she mumbled. “She agrees to your services and doesn’t tell me a thing.”
    He continued to flip through his papers. “I’ve already accessed a great deal of your father’s files, and I think I can help advise you and your mom about budgeting, forecasting, and doing the bookkeeping on your farm.” He looked at her, and her heart pounded from his intense gaze. “What I need from you is a description about where all of your revenue comes from. I know you get revenue from the milk, but where else do you get revenue? I just want to be sure your father has everything covered in all his files.”
    Emily started talking about where money flowed into their farm—from cows, beef cattle, heifers, and crops.
    He interrupted her. “So, you have cash crops as well as crops you grow for feed?”
    “We sure do. We’ve always done this, because it’s hard to make a living from such a small herd of cows. We usually just plant extra so we’ll have some left over to sell.”
    He continued to write, nodding. “I understand. A lot of smaller dairy farms must have some cash crops to survive.”
    She explained how they hired outside help to assist with harvesting their crops.
    He scanned his notes. “Are there any other sources of income?”
    “No.” She thought about it for a few seconds, figuring she had covered all of their revenue sources. Then she grabbed his arm. “Oh! I forgot about one thing! It’s not a source of income directly from the farm, but it does help out.”
    Frank flipped to a fresh sheet of paper, encouraging her to continue.
    “Well, my mom’s back went out on her a few years ago. So bending over, milking the cows, and doing manual labor on the farm just wasn’t agreeing with her anymore. Since she didn’t work on the farm any longer for health reasons, she got a job down at the elementary school. She works in the cafeteria. She loves being around the kids, and she said the work isn’t as intense as farming. Since the school is closed during the summer, she’s free to do other things.” Emily continued to talk nonstop about the farm for twenty minutes, and Frank took notes. She talked about her cows, telling him their names and describing their personalities.
    “You name your cows? I’ve never seen a farmer do that.”
    “I don’t name all of them, but I name my favorite ones.” She explained that she had them trained to go into the same stall each night and that most of the larger farms didn’t have such a personal relationship with their animals. Their pizza arrived, but she didn’t touch it until she’d finished answering Frank’s questions.