When Daniel saw his older neighbor arguing with her son about her plants, he decided to help her.

He offered to water her garden while she moved.

Later, he discovered a note hidden in the soil that changed everything in an unexpected way.

“I can’t believe you would ask that of me!

I can’t come here every day to water your plants! If you gave me the house, I would do it!” Daniel heard someone shouting as he stopped his bike in front of a pretty little house with a lovely garden. He knew Mrs. Carrino lived there, but he had never spoken to her and didn’t know who was yelling.

Suddenly, he saw a man leave the house, still shouting, with the older woman following behind. “Arnold, I asked you to help me, but all you care about is getting this house! Are you crazy? Do you want me to die so you can have my house?” she exclaimed.

Daniel’s eyebrows raised in surprise, and he thought about leaving, but he couldn’t move.

Then, he heard a loud crash of metal. “What the—” he said to himself.

“You’re being dramatic, Mom! This house will be mine anyway. I can’t believe you’re acting like this when I’m trying to help you move!” Arnold shouted.

“Leave right now if you’re going to act like that!” Mrs. Carrino replied. Arnold angrily stomped to his car and drove off. They were so caught up in their argument that they didn’t even notice Daniel standing there with his bike.

Finally, Mrs. Carrino looked over and noticed him. “Oh, dear. What are you doing here? Do I know you?” she asked.

“I live two houses down the street. I’m Daniel, Caroline’s son,” he said, pointing back to his house. “I’m sorry, but I was biking around and heard the yelling. Are you alright, Mrs. Carrino?”

“Oh, I remember you now! It’s nice that you know my name. Don’t worry about it. It was just my son being difficult,” she explained.

“Why is he acting like that?”

“Well… I’m moving to a nursing home, and I asked him to help me. But he only came here to ask if I could give him the house. He wants to move in, but I know he’ll just sell it. He doesn’t value it like I do. I worked hard for this place, and as long as I’m alive, I won’t sell it,” Mrs. Carrino said. “Then he threw a fit when I asked him to water my plants. I guess you saw the rest of the fight.”

“I can do that,” Daniel said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Do what?”

“Water your plants.”

“I can’t pay you, dear,” Mrs. Carrino replied, looking sorry.

“I know. But I live so close. It’s not a problem,” Daniel insisted, making her smile brightly.

A few days later, Mrs. Carrino moved to a nursing home nearby, and Daniel kept his promise. He visited her home almost every day to water her plants and was happy to help. Before long, he started to love gardening and would visit Mrs. Carrino to ask about adding some new plants.