Going Home (Completed)

Chapter 14

Max looked as his foot and winced. If the old adage about being able to wiggle your toes was true, the foot wasn't broken. It was just bruised. And swollen. And it hurt. A lot.

He had been sitting on the deck most of the day with his foot in cold water until he couldn't stand it anymore. Well water was damn cold.  In-between soaks he had been slowly getting the 3 apple trees and 2 plums out of the car. Thank the gods the tallest was only 4 feet. He'd poured his soaking water on the root balls as he hobbled by to get more cold water.

As he rested the foot, he considered Stina. She seemed nice. Common sense. Helpful. Good things to have in a neighbor.

From their conversations, he had discovered she was a master gardner. He had asked her roughly a million questions which had caused her to laugh. She seemed more than willing to share her knowledge with him for which he was profoundly grateful.

He looked at his water wrinkled foot. It was going to be at least a week before he could walk properly. But it wasn't broken and bruises healed. With the foot situation, maybe he should bring Stina to the cabin for a visit. Nothing was ready to be transplanted yet but some things were supposed to be planted directly into the garden. A little advice wouldn't hurt either.

He spent some hours chewing on the subject before he finally said enough. Why he was freaking out about asking Stina to look at his gardening set up and seeing if she had any good ideas to improve it? She was an old lady. It wasn't like she was going to shoot him or something.

He shook his head. "I'm getting weird, Tul. Hope you get here soon." he muttered.

~~~~~

The next day found Max re-lacing his sneaker to allow as much room as possible. His foot probably wasn't as swollen as it could have been but it wasn't comfortable by a long shot. If he was carefully with it and put it up when he could, the foot should do okay.

Keys, bags, shillelagh, water bottle and he should be ready. Limp to the car. Slide into the driver's seat, check the windshield, start the car and then check again. Yep, just trees. Good to go.

Max coasted to town. He gave himself plenty of time so he could find some Epsom salts to soak his foot. According to the first aid book he'd found, it was supposed to help. It was worth a shot anyway.

A quick trip to the pharmacy proved impossible. All the stuff on the floor made it hard for him to limp through without smacking his bruised foot. On the plus side, he did find Epsom salts. "With lavender. Gonna have flower smelling toes, Max." he said to himself.

Back out in the sunshine, he started up the car and headed to the antique store. Stina was sitting on the bench outside and smiling at him.  He smiled in return.

"Sorry, I'm late! Had to get some Epsom salts for soaking my foot." Max said as he rolled down the window.

"No problem! How's your foot?"

"Huge but I don't think it's broken. Soaked it a lot yesterday. I should probably try to get those shelves into the car again. Maybe the back this time." In the confusion of the moment and his overall annoyance, Max had just left the shelves in the parking lot.

"I'll help. You don't seem to be terribly coordinated." Stina laughed.

Max laughed too. "I wasn't that day for sure."

The afternoon was enjoyable. They had gone through the antique store and Max had learned a lot. He had taken an oil lamp after Stina had told him the home improvement store he'd gotten the shelves at had lamp oil. Worth trying anyway.

Afterwards, they'd driven to get the shelves. The conversation was steady. Comfortable. Max had enjoyed it thoroughly.

The shelves were put carefully in the back of the SUV.  They had taken their time inside the store to accommodate the increasingly uncomfortable foot. Two gallons of lamp oil and some spare wicks had Max set up.

Stina had leaned against a rack of chains sold by the foot. "Anything else, dear?"

"Not today. The foot is talking to me and it's rude." Tight grin. They'd slowly made their way back to the SUV.

"I have a favor to ask of you and I don't want to make you uncomfortable." He paused. "Would you be willing to look at my garden and give me some hints? I know crap about gardening and now, after DV, I can't get it wrong. Not if we'r- I'm going to make it through this winter."

He looked at her and smiled. "I understand if you don't want to or don't feel safe but I had to ask."

Stina looked down for a few moments, apparently lost in thought. "Okay." She looked nervous. "After listening to your questions, I don't doubt it when you say you want advice on your garden. I-I'm a little scared to be honest but I can't see what benefit there would be in hurting me. You're a nice young man,  Max. I'm going to trust in that." She gave him a small smile. "Is it okay if we do this tomorrow? I don't want to impose on you this late in the afternoon."

Max sighed in relief.

"You aren't an imposition but tomorrow is fine. I'll come in early and siphon some gas too. Thank you for trusting me, Miss Stina and thank you for being willing to help me."

She patted his hand. "Thank you for trusting me." She smiled. "I'm going to head home now. Tomorrow, ten-ish at the antique store?"

"Absolutely." Max smiled.

~~~~~

Despite the throbbing of his foot Max was a happy camper. With some help, he was convinced he could grow enough food to keep Tul and his family fed through the winter. He just had a helluva steep learning curve.

Smiling, Max headed back up the mountain to soak his foot with Epsom salt and maybe help himself to another two fingers of bourbon.

~~~~~

Stina was happily smiling to herself as she walked back to the house she was living in. Things were going nicely. Very nicely indeed.

~♡~♡~♡~

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