Ann was never sure why Tom had chosen her. It wasn't as if she was the only option. She was a sensible girl, she knew what growing up in a small town was like, the whispers, the judgement, the vying for position on this strange social ladder.
There was Elli, so sweet and kind with a soft face and a caring nature. She was a nurse, she could heal him, offer him a kind word in trying times as she maintained her composure. Elli was clean and polished, a delicate china doll sitting on the shelf with her neatly pressed uniform. And what was Ann next to that? A scruffy girl in a somewhat clean yellow shirt, hair quickly braided into a long plait, the end matted with dirt from her hands as she twisted it, overall's long since stained. If Ellie was a china doll, Ann was a raggedy Ann, made from patchwork and mismatched thread. So why her?
Karen was calm, cool and collected, always so confident in everything she did, a biting glance, a witty remark. She made him laugh, had steady constant employment in the shop and Ann knew she got a discount as well. Farming was many things, but consistent it was definitely not. Tom went hungry last winter so his animals could eat, an early frost crippling the last crops of autumn and stretching his remaining money to it's very limit. The bar was changeable as well, customers flooding in like a wave, all hungry, voices calling over each other until Ann's feet ached and her ears rang with the noise of so many voices, or there was no-one walking through the doors all day until Tom to visit her, sometimes to buy a hot meal and sometimes just to speak with her. And Ann would talk too much, ramble on about her day, her life growing up in this tiny town compared to his in the big city. Tom would grin and listen, head cocked to one side to encourage her to go further. Karen would be able to support him if it came to it, the older girl organised and sharp, each penny that passed through her fingers carefully budgeted. Ann couldn't give him that, couldn't promise any support except for her when times got tough.
Mary was quiet, but she knew things, a well of knowledge bubbling underneath the surface. Her knowledge of plants was unmatched except by that of her father's and Ann had seen Tom, brow furrowed in worry and confusion run past the Inn one morning to see Mary, desperate for some help to save his crops. She couldn't give him that, she could cook with the plants but she couldn't keep them healthy. Mary was sweet and kind. Ann was loud and combative, temper as fiery as her hair and just as noticeable. She clashed with her father over almost everything, proximity driving them to the breaking point again and again, and Tom had seen this to her shame and embarrassment. And yet he didn't seem to mind, comforting her and yet managing to patch her faulty relationship to the best of his ability with a bright smile and a gentle word. Why would he choose her over the quieter, less combative Mary?
Popuri was beautiful and bubbly, her joy contagious to everyone she met. That exhausted Ann, her own smile becoming tight and strained a few hours into her shift, dropping almost completely towards the end as her eyelids drooped and she began to yawn. Ann didn't know the first thing about taking care of animals, backing away from them nervously before Tom took her hand to ground her. The chickens were cute when she got over her initial nerves, their movements twitchy and funny as they pecked and scratched in the ground for worms. But Ann was unlikely to obtain the boundless connection with them that Popuri had, the girl letting out squeals of joy and gathering the chickens up into her arms to kiss them when she stopped off to check on them. She radiated happiness, hair always neat, dress always pristine even after dealing with the chickens. Ann couldn't do that, didn't know how Popuri did that. If Ann didn't know any better, she would have said it was magic.
The Harvest Goddess was an actual goddess. The ruler of growing things, and animals. Everything Tom needed, a small shrine down by the spring covered with flowers he found and gave to her for a good season. She was everything and nothing, her beauty as striking as she was fickle. Ann couldn't compete with that, didn't even try. And yet Tom found her, plain normal Ann, and gave her the same flowers he gave a goddess, his smile brighter for all her faults.
"Why did you choose me?" She asked him eventually, Tom lying next to her, one hand resting in hers, a smile still on his face from his success at the horse racing festival earlier.
He opened his eyes and looked over at her, love clear in his eyes.
"Because I love you. There's no comparison, only you."
Ann smiled back, snuggling into the cushions behind her, feeling the weight on her chest lift as she rested one hand on her stomach where new life was hiding. She would tell him in the morning, she decided, her eyes slowly drifting closed. It would be a challenge, but one she was eager for with Tom, her husband, the one who chose her, by her side.