Delving Beneath the Surface

Chapter 2

The winding mountain path that ran along the back side of the farm was her favorite place to take her morning run. The crisp air mixed with the sweet scent of pine and cedar. She loved to watch the sun rise from the plateau outside the carpenter shop. Thin strips of yellow and orange light bled through the sloped peaks, bathing the mountainside in a warm glow. Normally, she found it pleasant.

But she had never taken the path while carrying two crates of produce before today.

Mistakes were made.

The muscles in her arms screamed as she stumbled around the bend, the carpenter shop coming into view. Robin built it herself. A fact that the older woman loved to mention whenever she made the trip out to see her. The gloating was warranted, of course. It was a well-made log-style cabin with a painted shingle roof. The blue had started to chip away after a trail of heavy storms and Robin had plans to re-paint in the next few weeks.

She supported the weight of the crates on her hip as she pushed through the front door. "Heya," she greeted as she staggered inside. Robin looked up from her ledger, the smile faltering on her face.

"Oh dear, let me help you." She hurried around the counter and took one of the crates.

Verona breathed a sigh of relief as she set the other crate at her feet. "Thanks," she managed as she massaged the angry welts on her forearms. She plopped down on the crate, giving her burning calves a much-needed break. "I probably should have taken two trips, but I was already too far into the trek to turn around."

"I should have you toting logs for me," she chuckled as she set the other crate on the counter. "We'll build up that upper body strength in no time."

She laughed, despite her heavy breathing. "Demetrius sent me a letter the other day. He said he wanted a few melons for an experiment he was working on?"

Her forehead creased in confusion. That made two of them. Verona had no idea what kind of experiment he needed a melon for, but if he wanted to pay her for the effort, she wouldn't complain. She drummed her fingers on the side of the crate. "The first harvest just came in the other day, so I figured I'd bring him a few options."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear that when I tell him."

Verona motioned to the second crate. "Then I figured I would bring some blueberries too. Ya know, just in case you decided to make another blueberry cobbler out of the goodness of your heart."

"That's subtle." Robin snorted. "I'll tell you what. For your efforts, I'll whip something up and have Sebby drop it off sometime this week." She winked. "Out of the goodness of my heart."

"You're a saint. I would never say no to a fresh cobbler."

Robin smirked. "Oh, I know. You polished that thing off at the Luau."

Verona merely smiled. This was making up for lost time. Her mother never allowed her to eat sweets and Robin's baked goods put store-bought treats to shame. She still hated herself for only having one piece of the strawberry crumble at the Flower Dance.

"I'll go grab that payment for you."

"No need," Verona said as she slid her backpack off and sifted through its contents. "I figured it could be used towards my commission for a chicken coop." She pulled a pouch of coins from her bag and set it on the counter. "It'll save you the trouble."

Robin clapped her hands. "You finally saved the money. That's great news!"

"It wasn't easy," she admitted as she smoothed the flyaway hair that had fallen from her braid. In truth, she had been saving for the coop since she arrived in Pelican Town, but between buying seeds and all the equipment that she needed to run a farm, money was hard to come by until recently. "I still don't have enough to put anything in the coop when it's done, but I figured I'll have a little time while it's being constructed."