Shunned

“Of course, this is what I do, I’m always here to help if I can.”  Matthew had been building and fixing things since his childhood and he was glad to have the opportunity to help people in this town when they needed him.  “Perfect, I’ll get all set up and head over, but I should be able to finish it all up today, if it ends up having more structural damage than I thought I might have to come back tomorrow, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”  He accepted the paper from her and smiled, “Great, I’ll meet you there, I want to stop at the drugstore before they close anyway.  I’ll see you in a little while.”

Matthew stepped forward and took a look at the one he picked, “That is a good one, people don’t choose it a lot, but the ones that do all seem to like it, but if you’re ever unhappy with it, just let me know and I can get you something else or we can try a different style, I’m not overly concerned about that, I just want you to be happy with what you’re getting.”  Price was always tough when it came to what he was doing, he didn’t want to overcharge anyone, but he did everything by hand and a took a lot of time, plus he only used the best materials he could get his hands on, plus he did it all himself and that could get pricey, but he never wanted to gouge anyone.  “For something like that, depending on how quickly you’d need it, it typically runs about $215 a chair, so if you’re getting four, I can probably bring that down to $175 a piece and then for a table, a round tends to run at about $900 and a rectangle would be about $1200.  If you need it quickly that might run a little more, but we can discuss it.” 

Candice chuckled at his words softly and nodded. “You’re right, but they do have pineapples at the store freshly cut. I’ll pick those up to. Actually, you’ve never had them before so I’ll probably have to stay with you while you eat them. You could be allergic and I don’t want you going into anaphlatic shock out her by yourself.” Candice would never forgive herself if that happened. She nodded as he explained about his family and his brother’s passing. “Oh man, I’m so sorry, Matthew. So what do you think about this other way of living? I mean, do you miss your old way? Your family?” she asked softly. She did miss her family, but she knew it wasn’t safe to seek them out right now. She wasn’t sure when it would be. “Right now, I’m just seeing the corn. I can make some corn chowder with it and a few other things. Wait, is that fresh peppermint and basil? I may take some of that too.” she said before going over and smelling the herbs.

“That’s really nice of you.”  Matthew was used to taking care of himself and it was rare he had someone to help him out.  “Not really, we used to play back home sometimes, me and my brothers and some of the other kids in our community, it’s sometimes hard to have that reminder.  That being said, I also don’t have a TV, so I don’t really have a way to watch anyway.”  Though he knew a lot of people in Amory, there were very few people who really knew him well and he figured now was as good a time as any to let a friend in.  “It happens, but it did cut into my egg production this year, which was tough.  I’ll get some more this spring, I lost my rooster this year too, so I don’t have a way to breed any myself at the moment. 

“That’s possible, I’ve never reacted to any food before, but there’s a first time for everything, I guess, and that’s the last thing I need right now on top of everything else.”  He paused and thought about that for a moment.  “I do miss them and I sometimes I miss the simplicity of life there, but life is more exciting this way, I didn’t realize it was so bad until I moved here and saw that my father had trained me to be terrified of everyone, I feel like I’m in the right place for myself now.”  He looked to where she was pointing and smiled, “Yeah, this is my first season growing any herbs and I’ve got more than I know what to do with, take as much as you want, it’s on me.”

She had always felt more comfortable with animals than with people but was never brave enough to tell her mom about having a pet of her own. Her grandmother once mentioned it to her daughter that Sybelle was too alone and even when she had friends, a pet would be good for her. Nothing came out of that conversation but now that she lived at her own house, she was finally able to have a cat. Following Matthew to the barn, she squealed and kneeled in front of the kittens. “Hi babies!” A grey one immediately came to her and jumped on her lap, followed by a ginger kitty. “Hey, Bucky,” she petted the grey cat and the feline began to purr. “So precious,” Sybelle giggled.

“It’s true through, the cows and the goats are pretty much a full time job on their own, I love them though, they help keep life interesting, if nothing else.”  Matthew smiled, “I’d love to show you the basics of how to run things here.  You might not ever need it, but it’s a good idea to have someone who can help me out, if you’re willing to.  I’ll handle the cows myself for now, but I’m definitely going to have you start on the goats.”

Matthew had grown up on a farm and was most comfortable surrounded by animals more so than people.  The only thing that was different was that Matthew didn’t have any horses, he hadn’t ridden one since his brother had died in a riding accident over 20 years ago, but otherwise he was very much at home in the farm setting.  Lowering himself to the ground, Matthew gently lifted the tiny, black and white furball into his arms, he’d really only been considering a cat for practical reasons, but when he held this kitten he couldn’t help but feel genuine affection for him.  “What do you think? Do you want to take anyone home?” 

“You know the point of medication is to help you get better,” she mused as she dropped her hands to the side, keeping her eyes on his face.

“You have to sneeze again, don’t you?” She furrowed her brows. “How long has this been going on for, Matthew?” She asked as she shook her head at his words. “You don’t feel warm  to me so it’s probably just allergies… You can’t talk yourself out of plans with a doctor… but if I can’t drag you out… Then I’m sticking around here. Tell me where you want me,”

Matthew knew it was hard to hide things from Nicole, and he wasn’t actually trying to, maybe he was downplaying how quickly his condition was deteriorating, but he wasn’t exactly trying to hide it.  “I know that’s the point, but I don’t have any and I didn’t really feel up to riding my bike all the way out to the store, so I was just going to tough it out, as long as I’ve got my inhaler I’m usually just fine.”

He sighed and nodded, he did need to sneeze again, but fighting it had caused it to back off a little, so he scrubbed his nose with the back of his hand for a moment before he shook his head.  “It’s definitely a cold, my allergies are usually pretty mild this time of year, but I’m only on the first day, so I’m sure I’ll feel really terrible by the end of the week. .”  He looked around, “I’ve got to milk the cows, that shouldn’t take two long, I’ve only got two, then I’ve got some work to do in the shop if you want to wait for me there, otherwise you can come with me to the barn.”  He was barely able to get the last sentence out before the sneeze came back, “Sorry,” he said, wincing slightly as his headache intensified a bit. 

“You don’t look to good Matt.” Juliet said with a sigh. “I know this probably is insensitive, but my dear old dad wanted me to see about hay for the horses or something. I don’t know, honestly. He said you would know about it.” She shrugged, before glancing at his figure and taking in just how bad he looked.

“I’ve been trying, it’s only the first day, so hopefully it won’t turn out too bad.”  Matthew didn’t have  a lot of hope for that, his colds always got nasty, but he worked for as long as he could.  He’d worked with Juliet’s family for a while and he was used to their regular orders and was ready for them.  

“Matthew,” he corrected her, gently, he disliked being called anything other than Matthew and he rarely let it go, but he tried his hardest not to be rude about it. “It’s alright, I don’t feel great, but it’s nothing serious, I’m fine to keep working.   Your father called earlier in the week and I’ve got an order ready for you, if you want to take a look at it and see if you think it’ll work for you, if it does we can look into getting it delivered where you’d like.”

Matthew was very slow to realize that there was a spark between him and Nessa, so slow he was honestly surprised she hadn’t given up on him, but she didn’t seem to mind the snail’s pace he took in relationships.  He hadn’t been very successful in this department, but when he was with Nessa, something felt different, they seemed to mesh very well together and he was enjoying their time.  “There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day.  I’ve been looking for someone to help out around here part-time, but no one’s really been interested, so for right now I’m trying to manage the farm, the furniture orders, and everything people in town need help with.  It’s usually not too bad, but I’ve got a few big orders in the works right now and a lady a few towns over is coming in tomorrow to look at my work and see if she wants to hire me to furnish this B&B she’s building.   I’m not complaining, though, I love the work.”  He turned away from her to sneeze and then turned back when she felt his forehead, “Not yet.  I kind of feel like one might be brewing, but nothing’s...” he paused, feeling another sneeze building up, but carried on, “nothing’s happening yet.”  He barely got the words out before it came out, “I’m sorry, that keeps happening.”

“That’s okay, I’ll be fine, it’s really nothing to be concerned about.”  He’d bring his inhaler with him when he went over there and he was sure he’d be fine.  He spent the majority of the winters fighting one thing or another and he was fairly used to it at this point, he wasn’t worried about being able to get the job done, looking over the picture it seemed simple enough.  “I can probably get this done in about two hours, maybe three if there’s some structural damage I can’t see here.  I’ll get my stuff together and get organized, If you give me your address I can bike out and be to your place in about an hour and a half, if that works for you.”

“Don’t run off!” Her words were firm and she watched as Sawyer pivoted in her direction and headed straight for her instead. Sweeping the mini-her into her arms she smiled back at Matthew, “I know i’m supposed to pick up carrots, my mother, Rose, says she gets them for the horses here all the time. What else have you got to choose from?”

“I’m fine,” Matthew said, “Just a little bit of a cold, I’ll keep my distance, I promise.”  He was tired and feeling pretty terrible, but he was nothing if not professional, so he focused on the task at hand instead of on his building headache and the pressure in his sinuses.  “I’ve got a whole display set up for you in my shop.”  He pointed to a building just a little ways away, “I wasn’t sure exactly what you were looking for, so I set up a few different styles, but I can pretty much do any style you want.”  

Though he didn’t have any children, Matthew adored them and he couldn’t help but smile at the little girl, he was the oldest of 8 sibling and he’d always hoped he’d have kids by now.  “I’ve got plenty of carrots.  I’ve also got corn, apples, pumpkins, nectarines, pears, rhubarb, peas, asparagus, you name it, I’ve got a lot, I like to try my hand at different things.” 

Matthew was a fairly serious person, something he chalked up to the way he was raised, as his whole community was a fairly solemn one, but when he was with Nessa, it didn’t take much to make him smile, even on a day like today when he was two days into a cold and feeling pretty terrible  “Well, I really appreciate it.  I usually don’t have time for breakfast, I spend most of my mornings taking care of the animals and by the time they’re sorted it’s so close to lunchtime I usually just wait, but I can always use more coffee.  “Do you want to hang out for a little while? I’m sure you’ve got somewhere better to be and I don’t want to give you my cold, but if you want to stick around...I’d selfishly like that.”

At the mention of him having cats, Sybelle squealed and grabbed his arm. “You do? Yes! Oh, I wouldn’t mind running after them, cats are so adorable!” She was not allergic to them and she was glad because since she was a child she had been begging her mother but now she was finally able to. “Come on, let’s go to see them!”

“I will, I promise.  I’m really not feeling that terrible, I don’t feel great, but I can handle a cold and regardless I need to take care of the farm.  I can take some time off from my other jobs, but if I don’t take care of things, no one will, so I don’t have the option to just stop taking care of them.  I’m pretty sure the cows would bust through my walls if I didn’t milk them on time, they’ve got big personalities,” he said with a smile.  That being said, Matthew knew if he did get really sick, he wouldn’t have a choice but to stop for a while, he was pretty sure he could hire someone temporarily, but he wouldn’t like it. 

Matthew laughed, “I like them too, and they’re helpful to have around the property, otherwise when it starts getting cold the mice start working their way into my house, but I think having one of them in the house will help even more.  Come on, we’ll go to the barn.”  Matthew had never had a cat in his house before, his German Shepherd Liesl was the only animal who lived with him and she followed him around like a shadow everywhere he went, but now was as good a time as any to pick one out to bring in.  He led her out to the barn and he started with the small nest of about 8 kittens, “I was thinking about this little black and white one for me, he seems like a good fit.” 

Matthew knew he probably didn’t look great, he didn’t feel great, but he never stopped working.  He was on his own and he had two businesses that he ran, plus his farm and he didn’t have the luxury of taking much time off, but it was the life he’d chosen for himself and most of the time he had no issues with it.  He pulled his portfolio out and laid it on a bench and let the other man look it over.   “I have to admit, I’m not the most creative person out there, I  focus more on making it sturdy, long lasting, that sort of thing, so I promise I won’t be offended if I don’t have what you’re looking for, but if you see something you like, let me know.”  He stepped aside and took a drink of water before he smiled again, “I wish I could, but it’s getting close to winter and the money I make on most of my farming is about to dry up, so I’ve got to take whatever jobs I can get right now, but I’m alright, I’ve worked through worse, I promise it’s fine, but I appreciate the concern.”

Matthew laughed, “You wore me down, what can say?” The truth was, when he was growing up his little sisters would always beg to help him with his projects and if his father wasn’t around, he’d let them try and this reminded him of that.  “A little competition never hurt anyone, right?  Though I bet you and I would be a great team if we decided to work together.”  Matthew stepped back and let her finish what she was doing, he wasn’t actually finished sanding yet, but it had to be done eventually, so he let her go.  “Do you want to help me put some of the drawers back together?  They weren’t in too bad of shape, but they could stand to be reinforced, so I took them apart and I could use an extra set of hands to put them together, I’m going to wood glue them and put some screws in there to strengthen them a bit.  Is that a good start for you?” 

“Oh yeah, no problem. There’s plenty of natural remedies for colds too. Oranges, pineapple juice, broccoli. Lots of Vitamin C in those. Lots of water too. That always gets things moving.” she smiled hoping she helped in some aspect. “You use an inhaler? I never knew. Do you have asthma?” she asked looking him over. She knew that colds could sometimes trigger someone’s asthma as well. She would definitely be coming back to check on him. “Hold up, I’ll go get some for you.” she grinned as she jogged back to her car and pulled out a small bag of the lollipops and bring them back to him. “Here you are. Please don’t worry about having more than one. I have more than plenty where those came from.” she said handing them over before she caught sight of some really good looking corn. “Can I have some corn too? It looks amazing.”

Matthew blushed again, but he appreciated that she cared enough to want to help him out.  He had lots of people he considered to be friends in town, but he lived a very solitary life overall and while he didn’t dislike it, it could get a little lonely on occasion and someone like Candice being willing to help him out a little helped more than he could really express.  “That’s really nice of you.  I was thinking about making something myself, but I’d talked myself out of it, I lost a couple of chickens to a fox this year and I need the ones I’ve got left for eggs to get me through the winter.  I guess I could buy some, but I don’t really feel up to riding my bike into to town today.” 

He didn’t really know about many of the remedies she mentioned, but he had to smile at one of them, “I don’t think pineapples grow around here, but I could maybe try my hand it at, I don’t think I’ve ever actually tried one before,” he told her, trying to remember what pineapple even tasted like.  “Yeah, I do.  I wasn’t diagnosed until I moved here, but once I learned what it was, I realized I’d been dealing with it most of my life.  We didn’t go to doctors when I was a kid, they still probably done, we just...prayed that things would get better.  There’s nothing wrong with that but after my brother died I just...I thought there had to be a better way.”  That was probably the most Matthew had ever said in one sitting and she hadn’t asked about it, but it all just kind of came out.  He smiled again and took a couple of the lollipops from her and set them aside for the moment to get her order.  “Of course, I’ve got tons, my crop was really good this year, take as much as you want.  Can I grab anything else for you?” 

Everything tucked up underneath her arm, Ryler followed Matt inside, helping to get everything set up for them to eat together. “So, we’ve got some soup here in this container, a borscht, so it’s primarily beets, mixed with some other goodies. Over here, some Russian style pancakes called blinis. And then these guys here, kotleti, are a fried meat patty, these were made with beef and they’re absolutely killer.” Ryler set everything out in front of them, pointing each dish out as she explained a little bit of what they were, hoping that at least some of it would be remotely appealing to the man.

“I hope you’re right, “  Matthew told her, “I’d hate to share this with anyone.  I’m not totally miserable right now, but it’s only the first day and it hit me pretty hard this morning.  I really should have known better, I’ve been working fourteen hour days the last two weeks trying to get that last job done, but I finished it on time and they seemed happy with it, so I guess it’s worth it, but I could use a day off, you pictured the perfect time to come over and get me to stop for a bit.” 

Though Matthew was a pretty decent cook, he couldn’t claim to ever make anything as interesting as what Ryler had brought him today. Most of what he made was fairly basic, as was everything in his life, and he appreciated the chance to try things he’d never heard of before, even if he’d never be able to replicate any of it.  “It all sounds good, where do you think we should start?”

“It’s a cold,” Matthew said, clearing his throat, “my allergies are pretty mild this time of year, but it’s only the first day of the cold so I’m not feeling too bad right now.”  He listened to her explain the job and nodded, “That sounds like something I can handle.  Do you have a picture of the damage so I can get an idea of what I’ll need to do? If not, that’s okay, I can figure it out when I get there and we can talk prices at that point.  The other thing we need to figure out is  your timeframe, I’ve got plenty of time to do it today, but I’d understand if you’d rather I wait until the cold passes, whatever you’re most comfortable with is fine with me.”