Chapter 1: How It Started

Did you ever do something that you wish you could take back?

Actually, scratch that.

Did you ever do something so terribly wrong, so terribly embarrassing, so terribly awful that you wish you could just sink beneath the ground and curl up in the fetal position?

Well, I was having one of those days today.

And this is how it started.

I woke up just like I did every morning at 5:30 AM on the dot. I twisted my long blond hair into two braids, threw on an old pair of dirt-stained overalls, and went to take care of the many duties on my farm. Yes, you heard me right: I run a farm. And I do a pretty darn good job of it, might I add.

After getting ready for the day, I would walk outside to begin my usual routine. I'd start by watering my crops (tulips, vegetables, and fruits in that order) and then go take care of my animals. I had four cows, two sheep, an alpaca, and too many chickens to count. And oh yeah, I had a border collie named Collin. Real creative, I know.

After that was done, I made the usual rounds to the three towns that surrounded my farm. I'd deliver all sorts of goods to the many residents Westown, Lulukoko, and Tsuyukusa, who I had grown extremely close with during the past two years that I had lived here.

As I was making my way into Westown, the final stop of my day, I nearly ran right into my Uncle Frank, who ran a farm of his own. He was the one who had convinced to move out here and start my own farming business, and I owed a lot of my success to him. That was why each day I brought him an extra bottle of milk. It was the least I could do.

"Mornin', Holly!" He greeted me, a hearty grin on his face. His bright orange beard was covered in hay and straw. "How are ya hangin in on this lovely afternoon?"

I smiled. "I'm doing quite well, Uncle Frank. How about yourself? I brought you some milk."

He immediately grinned once I pulled the two bottles of milk out of my rucksack and he eagerly accepted the offering, popping open one of the bottles and chugging the milk in one sip.

"That milk tastes mighty fine," He complimented me. "Almost as good as the kind my cows make. You sure are becoming one heck of a farmer, Holls."

I shrugged, still smiling. "Hey, I learned from the best!"

"There's someone I want you to meet," Uncle Frank winked at me. He gestured to one of his many barns. "I bought a new cow yesterday. She's a real beauty."

"I'd love to see her."

"Right this way, then." With that, we headed towards his spacious barn where he kept all of his award-winning animals. I loved getting to spend with Uncle Frank's cows. They were some of the most gentle cows I had ever met...unlike my cows, who had the temperaments of grouchy old ladies.

Once we entered his barn, a beautiful cow with a milky white face and black spots covering her back raised her head from where she lay on a pile of hay. She seemed to give me an uncertain look and I smiled gently at her, trying to let her know she could trust me.

"Ain't she something?" Uncle Frank remarked with admiration. He sighed a bit to himself. "I won her at an auction the other day. Poor thing was gonna be sold to some folks who didn't know how to take care of her. She hasn't had it easy."

"Well, she's lucky to have you," I concluded, and I began to make my way over to the now trembling cow. "What's her name?"

"Lucy. Lulu for short," Uncle Frank chuckled.

I outstretched one of my palms towards Lucy to pat her head, and she almost seemed to narrow her eyes at me.

"Careful," Uncle Frank warned. "She's a bit skittish…"

The words had just barely left his mouth when Lucy suddenly jumped up from her place in the hay and bolted out of the barn before I could blink. Uncle Frank never kept his barn doors shut...most of his cows knew enough not to leave the property of his farm...but this cow certainly didn't seem to know these boundaries yet.

"Lucy!" Uncle Frank yelped, but the cow was already gone.

"Oh my goddess, I'm so sorry," I stammered quickly, my heart racing and the guilt settling in my stomach. "I'll go get her. It was my fault that she ran away."

"No," Uncle Frank shook his head. "I should have known better than to keep the barn door open with a new cow in the mix."

"I was the one that frightened her," I replied grimly. "I'm the one that needs to find her."

"Holly…"

"You can count on me, Uncle Frank!" I saluted, racing out of the barn and making my way over to the path that led to the heart of Westown. Chasing a rogue cow around town certainly wasn't the impression I wanted to make on the local residents today, but my options at the moment were limited.

And this was how my horrible day began.

The sun was shining brightly. Not a single cloud hung in the sky. A small breeze swept through the unusually peaceful Westown, and the bright orange dirt on the ground stayed strangely in its place. It was almost a picture perfect moment.

But then, alas! Here I was, ready to ruin the moment yet again! It was one of my many talents.

I raced into town, kicking up the orange dirt as I did so. My clunky farmer boots hit the ground with a resounding thud with each step that I took and I was so out of breath that I was basically heaving by the time I reached the post office. People turned to look at me with rather perplexed expressions, but I didn't care. I had to find this cow before someone else did.

I was so fixated on running around town like a chicken with its head cut off that I wasn't even watching where I was going. I smacked into something solid and immediately tumbled to the ground.

I rubbed my now sore forehead and looked up to see who was standing in front of me. I groaned out of habit.

Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse, it did before my very eyes.

"Well," He chuckled, his southern drawl prominent. He adjusted his cowboy hat and his deep blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a bit too excited to see me."

"Shut up, Wayne," I muttered, standing myself up and brushing the orange dust off my overalls. If I was any other girl, the man standing before me would seem like a dream. With his dirty blonde hair, boyish grin, aquamarine eyes, and careless wit and charm, he had many of the girls in town falling all over him. But to me, he was simply the postman who thought everyone was in love with him. And his ego? Well, let's not comment on that one.

"What has you running into town like a headless chicken?" He grinned at me, tightening the strap on the satchel that held his daily mail deliveries. "Trying to get in a morning run?"

"If you must know," I rolled my eyes. "I'm chasing a lost cow."

"A lost cow?"

I nodded. "Yes, it's classified and important business, so if you'd excuse me…"

Wayne scratched his chin thoughtfully. "But aren't cows...big? Like, shouldn't it be hard for you to lose one?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Coming from I postman," I retorted. "I wouldn't expect you to know too much about farm animals."

Wayne rewarded me with a small laugh. "I suppose you're right."

Now, let me just take this moment to gift you all with a bit of knowledge: sometimes it was hard for me to hate the guy. I mean, he was definitely a friendly individual and he almost never returned my snappy comments with a rude one in return. So I had to give him credit for that, at least.

And it's not like Wayne and I weren't friends. Sure, we weren't the best of friends. But after living on my farm for two years, I had become fairly acquainted with just about everyone in the three villages. Wayne and I often enjoyed going back and forth with playful banter, and I enjoyed bothering him and flustering him. Because let's face it, when you're dealing with a guy who harnesses an ego as big as his, the funniest thing to do is embarrass him.

But was I falling all over Wayne like the rest of the girls in town? No, of course not. I didn't see what was so great about him. Besides, he loved all the attention he got. He was the biggest flirt around these parts. His occasional cockiness was enough for me to stay away from him most of the time (when I had the choice).

Apparently destiny wasn't on my side today, since I had basically run right into him (literally).

"So…" Wayne sort of rocked back and forth on his feet. "Are you going to the festival tonight?"

"There's a festival tonight?"

"I'll take that as a no," Wayne chuckled. "It's basically a festival celebrating all three of the towns. Everyone is baking a bunch of goods and Frank is lighting off a ton of fireworks to celebrate the beginning of summer. There's gonna be a lot of dancing too."

"Dancing?" I raised an eyebrow. "That seems a bit too coordinated for my liking. And besides, I have a cow to find."

"I'm sure you'll find her before tonight."

"Not at this rate," I rolled my eyes. "Look, it's been great talking to ya, Wayne, but I have to go."

"You know," Wayne grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "I still need a date for the festival."

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll find one," I answered smoothly. "Just about every girl in this town wants to marry you, so I'm sure you won't have an issue finding someone to go with."

"Holly, you know that's not true."

As if on cue, two girls (probably just a little older than us) walked by with blushes on their faces, smiling nervously at Wayne.

"Hi, Wayne," One of them giggled. The other batted her eyelashes at him.

I almost gagged.

"Hey girls," Wayne tipped his hat at them, flashing them one of his killer smiles.

The girls giggled excitedly with each other, and then ran off, whispering to each other giddily.

"See what I mean?" I gestured to the retreating backs of the girls in a frustrated manner. "Two potential girlfriends shamelessly throwing themselves at you."

"Bad timing," Wayne shrugged with a small frown.

"You're right, this is bad timing," I agreed with him. "I have a cow to find."

Something shifted in Wayne's expression, and maybe I'm crazy, but he sort of looked a little disappointed as I walked away.

At least the one success I could take from today was that I did find Lucy the lost cow. She was grazing on a small patch of grass in front of the general store, and I quickly tied a loose rope around her neck to lead her back to Uncle Frank's farm.

After returning her to her rightful owner, I decided my work was done for the day. I decided that in order to cheer myself up, I would reward myself by visiting my current boyfriend, Ford.

Ford was Westown's local doctor. Though a bit eccentric and often too engrossed in his clinical work, he was a sweet man who I had come to admire within the past few weeks of my relationship with him.

I suppose it wasn't accurate for me to call him my "boyfriend", per say. I mean, him and I were an item. Except Ford didn't really want to put a label on it, claiming he hadn't the time for something more serious. And the town didn't realize I was sort of dating him, as I kept the whole thing under wraps to avoid town gossip.

But alas, Ford could always cheer me up no matter the day.

I eagerly entered his doctor's clinic with a huge smile on my face. I had dressed in one of my best dresses (a fitted red dress with a small bow on its back) because I had an important question I needed to ask him.

"Holly!" Ford grinned when he saw me. He had been sitting at his desk and stood up to greet me as I entered. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon today. What a pleasant surprise."

I grinned at him. This day was getting better already.

"It's nice to see you," I smiled, blushing.

Ford came up to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, examining my dress with acute interest. "You look lovely. What's the occasion?"

"Wellllll…" I started off slowly, my heart rate increasing a little. "There's something I wanted to ask you."

"I mean, if you wanted to take this upstairs, I think you already know my answer."

"Ford!" I squeaked at him. "That's not what I meant!"

"Then carry on." He grinned devilishly at me.

"There's sort of this festival going on tonight. And I…" I took a deep breath. "I sort of wanted you to be my date? I mean, if you wanted to. There's gonna be a lot of food and dancing and people and…"

The smile dropped from Ford's face. "A festival?" He stared past me for a second, looking thoughtful. "That sounds a little...crowded, doesn't it?"

"Well yeah, that's kind of the point," I explained to him. "All three towns are taking part in the celebration."

"But it sounds so…" Disgust filled his expression for a second. "..germy."

I rolled my eyes. Did I mention Ford was an extreme germophobe?

"Ford, not every place outside of your house is filled with germs."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong! Do you know how many billions of germs live on…!"

"Ford," I interrupted him. "Forget about the germs. Can't we just enjoy one night together? Who cares what anyone else thinks? Who cares about the germs? I just want to have a fun night with you."

"Well, this festival certainly doesn't sound like my idea of fun."

I frowned. Why was he being like this? A lump started to form in my throat.

"You know, forget I asked," I finally stated glumly. Today had been such a hassle already, I really wasn't in the mood for anymore debates. "We can just do something else tonight."

"I think you should still attend the event," Ford shrugged. "I mean, it sounds like you were looking forward to it."

I was, I answered internally. But I wanted to go with you.

"I guess so," I stared down at the floor. The disappointment of the situation felt heavy in my stomach.

"Why don't you go?" Ford suggested again. "All of the villagers would love to see you there. You're basically a celebrity around these parts."

I grimaced. Don't remind me, I wanted to say.

I felt like this situation was...all wrong. Shouldn't a guy that liked me go out of his way to try to make me happy? Shouldn't be push himself just a bit out of his comfort zone to have a fun night with me? Ford's reluctance to compromise certainly wasn't promising.

But of course, just to dig myself into a deeper hole today, I decided against my better judgment to attend the festival solo.

That would turn out to be the biggest mistake of my day.