Page 22 of Cole's Joy
Lois whipped around and grinned when she saw Ducky standing there in shorts, a polo, and she giggled when she saw the work boots on his feet.
“Don’t I know you?” He scowled at her as he barely used his cane when he walked toward her.
“Yes, Ducky, I’m Lois Gibson.”
“Ah, hello, how is your granddaughter?”
“Good, she’s had the stitches removed and she’s walking with no problem. All the bandages are even off. The hardest problem now is trying to convince Tom that she’s fine.”
Ducky laughed and shook his head at her. “Yeah, he comes by that stubbornness naturally. I grew up with his grandfather, the ornery son-of-a bitch.” The way he said it, Lois didn’t take any offense, and for some reason, she knew Tom wouldn’t either if he heard the other man talk. “So, Lois Gibson, what brings you to New Double?”
“Actually, you do, Ducky.”
“Me, what would you want with me? I thought you were dating Cole.”
“I might be, but I haven’t seen him in a few weeks.”
“Yeah, it’s been bedlam around here. What can I do for you?”
“It’s only the beginning of August, and I was wondering if you could show me the area where you used to have a garden. I think, since that area had been worked before, it would be easier to plant some things for a late harvest.”
“Like what?”
“Carrots.” She laughed her answer and they were both laughing when Cole found them.
“Lois, what brings you here?”
“Me,” Ducky said with a grin, then waved his hand at the other man. “Go away now, Lois is here to see me.”
“Can I enquire about what?”
“The garden,” they said as one. Then Ducky laughed. “Lois thinks she can get a crop of carrots in.”
“Will you have time?”
“I believe so, they might not be as long as I’d like, but it will help. Or I believe so. It only takes ten to twenty days before they germinate. That’s when the seeds start growing. From there, we just let nature take its course. I believe by mid-October we could harvest them. If I had planted them earlier, I would be harvesting them now. I’m here to see what Ducky’s old garden was like. The area over at Broken they want to put a garden in next spring will need some work.”
“What type of work?” Both Ducky and Cole asked.
“I’ll have to plow up the area, then disc it, and test the soil. I might have to add lime or ash depending on the soil content. Once that’s set, then I’ll have to run the rototiller through it several times to get the consistency of soil I will need to plant.”
“You know how to do that?”
“Yes, that’s why I’m here. I want to check out Ducky’s previous garden area, test the soil, and get to work. If all goes as planned, then we can have a crop of carrots planted by this time next week.”
“Follow me,” Ducky said firmly as he turned and took off toward the back of the house. He paused and pointed to where a lot of work was going on. “I liked the idea Pru had about putting in a community pantry, and I’ve cleaned up the canners my wife had. I also inspected the summer kitchen, and found that it really needed a new roof.”
“Wow, what about the inside?”
“I didn’t go inside until the roof was fixed. Let me rephrase that. The men wouldn’t allow me inside until the roof was fixed. They said it would be safer, and I had to agree.”
“Do you recall what type of stoves were in there?”
“If memory serves, there was a six-burner gas stove. I remember having it built to Sally’s wishes. She wanted a gas stove, there are propane tanks behind the kitchen. I imagine we’ll have to get someone out here to look at them. It’s been twenty years since they were last used.”
“Yes, that would be the safest thing to do. You’ll probably have to have new tanks brought in. Are there counters and cupboards?”
“Yes.” He closed his eyes, tipped his head back, and nodded. With his eyes still closed, he talked. “There are countertops all around the walls, three of them. The other wall has an industrial sink, the ones you see in restaurants, three sections. With spaceto drain the canning jars. At least that’s what Sally used it for. The island takes up the middle of the room, and there’s a sink in the middle of it. That was where Sally had me dump the vegetables, on the island, and she’d clean them using that sink.” He opened his eyes and looked at her and Cole. “That’s all I remember. I remember it took a couple of years of tweaking things so Sally was proficient in working there. She said she liked the flow.”
