Chapter 1
Jane
It was Jane's second summer in Stardew Valley. She had inherited the farm from her late grandfather, whom she'd not really had much of a relationship with in decades. Before the farm she worked in a government office, going to work 9am to 5pm then hitting the gym afterwards. The idea of owning and working on a farm was an ideal opportunity to escape city life and try her hand at something new.
When she arrived at the farm she was met by the Mayor of Pelican City – Mayor Lewis. He welcomed her to the area and gave her quite a lengthy monologue about the stores, and the people.
'Everyone is talking about the new lady farmer,' Lewis chuckled, his grey moustache jiggled as he laughed. 'They are all excited about meeting you in some capacity or other.'
Jane laughed nervously. She wasn't really one for lots of attention. When she worked in the city she kept herself to herself and even listened to her iPod when she was working out. The truth is – she took on the farm because she'd hoped for a quieter life, a bit of peace from the noise and the all the gossip.
'Pierre runs the grocery store,' he continued, 'where you can buy your seeds and even sell your crops once you start producing. Then there's the doctor's clinic next door to Pierre's store, oh and the bar where a lot of us tend to gather in the evenings. There are the mines but I should probably discourage you from venturing there, as we don't want any injuries. Ohh the beach is a great place to fish.. umm you should speak to Willy. He smells like fish but he's got all the fishing supplies you'll need to get started.'
'Oh well thanks, that's great. Really kind of you to pop by, and I'll see you around soon.' Jane said smiling, trying to hide how overwhelmed she felt by the overload of information.
Lewis waved and left the farm. He seemed friendly she enough.
So two years later she had managed to transform the farm from its neglected state to something her grandfather would probably be proud of.
She had a sprinkler system set up to take some of the pressure off in the mornings as watering by hand was taking all day and didn't leave much time for anything else.
She had beautiful walkways that she'd hand built from the wood she'd acquired from clearing the dense forest of trees. Her little pond sparkled in the sunlight, and provided her with a good source of fish.
Her crops were laid out in sections, with fruit on one side, and vegetables on the other. She was currently growing blueberries, radishes, corn, and she even had a few fruit tree saplings that would eventually produce delicious apples, cherries, and apricots. She planned to make apricot jam next season.
There was still a lot to be done, such as fences that needed repairing or weeds that needed to be cleared. Brambles very quickly appeared and could be such a nuisance if you didn't tackle them whilst they were young.
The sun had been blazing hot, and after a long day repairing fences she decided she'd head in to the village and grab a drink or two at the bar. She got showered and changed in to a fresh pair of jeans and threw on old t-shirt. She didn't really have much in the way of a wardrobe and spent most of her time in dungarees. She pulled on her cleanest pair of New Balances, then tied her wavy red hair back in to ponytail. That'll do, she thought and headed out along the path.
The low sun cast a warm golden colour across the sky as it was beginning to set, and temperature was definitely much cooler.
Jane glanced at the door to the clinic. The sign read 'CLOSED.' Next door Pierre was locking up his store. He smiled and waved as Jane walked by. She waved back. Friendly guy she thought.
The door to the bar creaked as she pushed it open and she heard music and the sound of voices as she entered the building.
At the bar Gus was drying beer glasses with a towel. 'What can I get you?' he said smiling.
'I'll have a beer and have you got a food menu please?'
'Here you go,' he passed her a menu, 'and here's your beer.'
'Thank you.' She paid for her drink and went to find a table. After finding one in a quiet corner, she sat down, had a sip of her beer and then flipped through the menu. There wasn't huge choice, mainly hamburgers with various cheese options, pasta, or an all day breakfast. She reminded herself she wasn't in the big city where every restaurant was in competition with the one across the street.
'Hi there, I'm Pam,' an older blonde lady reached across the table to shake her hand. 'You must be June? Umm.. the farmer who came from the city?'
'It's Jane, and yes I own the farm. I'm still getting the hang of things so wouldn't quite call myself a farmer yet.' Jane could tell the woman had had more than a few drinks.
'Oh my, so sorry – Jane! And don't put yourself down, us women work just as hard if not harder than those men so you call yourself a farmer... *Hic* - you own that!' she wobbled and Gus who had just appeared to take Jane's order caught her.
'Come on Pam, I think you should have a glass of water over by the bar.' He made an apologetic face at Jane. 'I'll be right back to take your order.'
Jane picked up the menu again and looked at her options. Cheeseburger or... I'll have a cheese burger I guess she thought. Just then she had the feeling she was being watched. She lowered the menu a little and saw a pair of green eyes staring at her, but then the face they belonged to turned a shade of pink and quickly spun back towards the bar. The man was sat on a stool at the bar. He wore a green jacket, glasses, and had quite a shaggy mop of hair on top of his head. He was drinking from a cup so she assumed coffee or tea. Who drinks coffee in a bar, she snickered to herself.
She had a drink of her beer and tried not laugh at the fact that she'd caught him watching her.
Gus came back to take her order, and apologise for Pam bothering her. 'No, don't worry about it, she was fine. I'll have a cheeseburger and fries by the way.'
'No problem, it'll be about 30 minutes.' He took the menu and went behind the bar in to what must have been the kitchen.
Jane took another few gulps of her beer. It was so refreshing as the liquid washed down her dry throat. Why had she not come here before, after such a long day on the farm this was the ideal place to chill out. The music was enjoyable, not too loud and the atmosphere was nice. There were people laughing and joking at another table, and a few people sitting around the bar. One guy looked a little moody though. He had a blue JoJaMart hoody on, dark hair and in her opinion looked unfriendly. He rolled his eyes at her when he saw her looking in his direction. Weirdo she thought, maybe they aren't all sunshine and rainbows here after all. Miss Drunk. Mr StareyEyes. Mr Moodpants. She laughed to herself– those could be 'Mr Men' characters. She took another gulp of beer but couldn't hold back her laughter and spat beer across the table. She got some funny looks, but she drank back the rest of her beer and went up to the bar to get another.
Still giggling, she wiped her t-shirt down with her hand and asked Gus for another beer. As she turned with her drink in her hand she didn't realise that the guy in the green jacket was standing so closely behind her.
'I'll have another Coffee please Gus.'
'Fucking hell!' she yelled as she jumped out of her skin. She lost her footing and fell backwards in to the bar stools. Her beer went all over her, the bar stools were like fallen dominoes all toppled on top of each other. The glass shattered as it hit the wooden floor, and as she landed she put her right hand straight in to the broken glass.
'Ow!' she screamed. She couldn't stop herself from saying, 'You idiot! What were doing standing that close to me?' She turned her hand over. There was a piece of glass sticking out of her palm, and lots of smaller cuts in her fingers. Blood oozed out and stained her jeans red. She felt a wave of nausea, she was a little giddy from the alcohol, but seeing the glass jutting out of her hand turned her stomach.
'I'm sor-'
The man in the green jacket looked embarrassed and tried to help her up. '-No, don't touch me! You've done enough damage already.' She flung his hand away and frowned at him. He looked hurt, but she didn't care.
Gus passed her a towel from behind the bar to help with the blood. 'You'll need to let Dr Harvey take a look at that.'
'Yeah I would, but the sign on the clinic door said 'CLOSED'. He's finished for the day.' she sighed as she held the towel around her hand wincing at the pain. She turned to the man in green jacket and said, 'Thanks a lot idiot! Now I've got to catch a bus to the nearest hospital.'
Both Gus and Pam let out a laugh. The moody guy walked over and said, 'You're the idiot. That is the Doc.' he nodded towards the man in the green jacket and then left the bar, the door creaked closed behind him.
'*HIC* he's right. That's Dr Harvey. *HIC*' Pam added as she took a sip of her water.
To say she was embarrassed was an understatement. Jane felt her face getting warmer by the second. What the fuck!
'Yes that's me the idiot doctor, but most people call me Dr Harvey. I'll open the clinic and take a look at that wound for you unless you'd rather catch the bus.' He looked annoyed. Holding the door open he waved his hand in front of him indicating that she should follow. She did as she was told, without another word.
Harvey
Outside the clinic Harvey rummaged through his jacket. As he pulled the clinic keys from his pocket his inhaler fell out and landed on the floor. Before Harvey could pick it up, Jane swooped down and grabbed it.
'You've got Asthma?' she asked. She shook it before handing it back to him. Her hand looked tiny compared to his, and noticed how calloused they were. He chose not to answer, not really wanting to share personal information with her. 'Seems almost empty, you'd better get a new one,' she commented but again he didn't say anything. Perhaps he had been depending on it a little too much lately, anyway he was the doctor not her.
In the clinic the fluorescent lights flickered to life overhead as he switched them on. He told her to take a seat in his office. It was very tidy and organised, exactly how he liked things to be. Everything had a place. He was thankful that Maru helped out at the clinic, without her things wouldn't be so organised. If only Maru was a little older, or he a little younger he might have asked her out on a date. He didn't think her father would ever approve of the age gap, and to be honest he didn't want to find out what Demetrius' reaction would be. He didn't fancy a black eye or a broken nose.
He saw Jane glancing around the room out of the corner of his eye as he gathered the necessary medical supplies needed to treat her hand.
'Hold your arm out please.' He removed the bloody towel Gus had given to Jane and tossed it in to the clinical waste bin. 'Hold still, this is going to sting,' he warned her as sprayed antiseptic on her hand.
'Jesus!' she exclaimed, 'did it really have to sting that much!' He couldn't help but take a little bit of satisfaction from hearing her yell out; after all she did call him an idiot. Then he remembered he was in doctor mode and should be professional.
He took a pair of sterilised tweezers and began working the largest piece of glass out of her palm. She winced and bit her lip. He couldn't help but notice how attractive she was. Her wavy red hair, freckles, and her lips, oh gosh - the way she was biting her lip. He started feeling a little hot. No Harvey, head back in the game. Doctor mode remember, he told himself. He pulled the glass out and placed it in the metal kidney dish that was on the table next to him.
'How much longer is going to take?' She asked looking at the piece of glass he had removed.
'Is there somewhere you have to be right now?' He started removing the smaller splinters from her fingers, looking up at her briefly. She was so impatient.
'No, but – it's not exactly how I expected to spend my evening.'
'That makes two of us' he replied. He was annoyed. He had planned to build the new model aeroplane he'd received in the mail, but there was little chance of that happening now. He was obsessed with aeroplanes and it killed him that he had a crippling fear of heights. He'd never even been on a short haul flight before, he just wasn't brave enough. He took the bus everywhere.
He got the last splinter of glass out and began bandaging her hand. 'How does that feel?' he asked her pushing his glasses back up his nose. The air was feeling rather humid in his office.
'It hurts.' She moaned, the moody look still on her face. She held her hand up in front of her face and flexed her fingers.
'It will for a while, until it heals,' he said as he disposed of the glass and bits of bloody cotton he'd used to clean her wound. He retrieved a bottle of pain medication from the cabinet and tossed it to her. She caught it with her left hand, the contents rattling 'Take two of those, three times a day for the pain. I wouldn't drive or operate any heavy machinery as they are quite strong and may make you drowsy. And as you've not registered with the clinic yet I need you to fill out the paperwork.'
'Can it wait 'til morning?' she asked, not waiting for him to answer she got up and left.
Harvey shook his head in frustration as he watched the door close behind her. What a pain in the ass!