Springtime meeting

"Do you do this to yourself just to see me?" the doctor asked, sighing over his clip board at the battered and dusty farmer that the ever-terrifying Marlon was laying on his clinic bed. Ever since they had come to town and started opening up the sealed off an abandoned mine up north of the town the new farmer had come back many trips with bruised and battered, bags ripped and out cold. But they seemed remarkably blasé, half the time on waking they were muttering about how much gold they lost. This time it was halfway through stitching up a particularly nasty cut on her arm that the farmer came to.

"Easy there, looks like you bumped your head. You need to be more careful down there in the mines." He helped her as they sat upright with a groan. She put a hand to her head and checked her bags.

"Oh rats I dropped that strange bun." She grumbled, causing Harvey to frown.

"Truly you must take better care of yourself. The life of a farmer can be a well-balanced one, with a good diet and lots of aerobic exercise but mining I find to be one with far too many occupational hazards." That earned a wheeze of laugher from the farmer who was rubbing her ribs with a grubby and calloused hand. She looked up and caught his eye.

"You're not wrong doc, though some days feels more like adventuring and smashing bugs than just smashing rocks. I guess Marlon did warn me." She slid off the bench, and though dirty with rock dust and smears of coal, with a darkening bruise over one eye she was a striking lady. She caught his breath in his throat a little, making her turn to look at Harvey but he quickly covered his with a disapproving cough.

"As your doctor I prescribe you some bed rest, and to stay out of those mine a week at least."

"A week? But there is so much to uncover, I wonder how deep it goes, the stuff you can find in there Harvey..." She tails off in wonder at the thoughts and Harvey cannot help but note he used his name that time, not just doc. "Well, I have been meaning to talk to Clint about doing some improvements to my granddads pickaxe, so I can manage 3 days if that would appease you." She smiled a weary smile, though behind her eyes he could see her working out the next few days work on the farm, and if she could manage other of the endless tasks in the meantime.

Harvey finally nodded at her offering, figuring it was the best he would get from her and let her go off into the evening limping back on the dark path back to her farm. Closing up the clinic he tucked into bed, worrying about all his townsfolk, but adding some extra worries for one newcomer in particular.

It was later in the month he saw her when he was shopping at Pierre's. He had been loving the new produce Pierre had stared selling in the last few weeks, so healthy and nutritious – they could definably be incorporated into a healthy diet. He had had some beautiful boiled new potato's last night, and a fresh radish salad the night before that. He was planning tonight for a cauliflower curry as Jodi had been telling him about how good they were earlier in the week.

While he perused the fresh veggies on the shelves the door swung over to show the farmer tromping in, carrying a basket overflowing with goods. She made a beeline for the counter and taking quickly she and Pierre made quick trades of her items for cash chinking into her wallet. Halfway through she caught his eye and smiled, her had tucked something to the side of her basket and she turned back to Pierre. It was only after he had lined up behind her, ready to buy his items once she had finished selling that instead of quickly leaving, she turned to say hello to him.

Without speaking first, she shoved a jar at him. Caught off guard and stammering he took it "Its for me?" he asked not registering before he looked closer at it.

"it's my first batch of picked green beans. Figured to give it to you as a thank you. When you told me to stay away from the mines, I spent a day setting up these new preserving jars, and this is one of the first off the line, as a thank you for always patching me up."

Harvey grinned so wide his glasses almost slipped off "This is my favorite stuff, its like you read my mind!" He exclaimed, feeling such a warm glow inside at such a thoughtful gift. Before they could continue the conversation, the farmer had already turned and strode back off out the door, onto her next task. Harvey felt the warm glow last all day as he tucked himself up into bed the smile still lingering.