Spring was coming. Already the winter snows were starting to melt, and the gradual change from gloomy grey to bright green landscapes was occurring in Mineral Town. It was Winter 29, and the town was all a bustle with activity for the upcoming New Year Celebration.
That Saturday night found Jack sitting at his customary table in the corner of Doug's Inn. He had a cup of wine in front of him, and was sipping it as he glanced around at his fellow people in the bar. All were good friends, the people he had grown to care for in his two years of living in the friendly town. As he scanned the heads at the tables around him, he spotted Doctor Trent and Elli at one of the tables and grinned. Elli was looking down at the table blushing furiously while Trent gazed at her with a fondness he was evidently trying to hide from anyone but her. He was saying something to her quietly, so that Jack had no chance of hearing what was being said. He saw Elli give a slight smile as she took a shy sip of her lemonade. Jack knew that the two had spent the Starry Night Festival together, just the past Monday, and they had been the talk of the town (or at least of Manna, the mistress of the winery) ever since. When he looked at Gray, the capped young man in the other corner of the dining area, he lifted his hand in greeting. Gray gave him a lopsided grin and nodded at Jack.
The inn was alive with activity, and it seemed as if most of the town was gathered there. Jack laughed when he saw Duke's hands rising triumphantly, his face covered to the chin in fruity pie filling. Karen, slumped in the chair next to him, patted her full stomach and laughed at him, being a good-natured loser in their pie eating contest. Doug was talking to Barley at the counter, exchanging stories and jokes with the old man. Everyone seemed happy.
Well, not quite everyone. Looking around more, he noticed Cliff at a table near the stairs, looking at Ann's back. The redhead, rather than exchanging glances with the wanderer as she so often did, was rushing around to the various tables, picking up plates and cups with her natural smile—and ignoring Cliff entirely. Her eyes turned stone cold whenever she turned away from her customers. It was obvious Cliff was trying to get Ann's attention. He watched as Cliff, exasperated, threw up his hands and trudged up the stairs to his room.
Concerned, Jack got up and started to follow Cliff to his room, when he passed close by the table at which Mayor Thomas and his son Harris were sitting. Giving them a nod, he walked casually past their table, not wanting more intrusions than necessary while he spoke with Cliff. The Mayor nodded back, his voluminous mustache waving like a tree branch in the wind as he did so. Going back to his conversation with Harris, Jack heard Thomas say, "Yes, as I was saying, there's a new farmer coming. A girl farmer. She called this morning, and her voice was much too chipper for my liking, especially at that hour of the day." Here, the mayor adopted a high pitched imitation of what the girl had sounded like. "'MT Realtor?' she says, 'Hi! This is Claire Canon,'" Jack froze mid-step, "'and I was wondering if I could procure that empty lot you have near town? I'd be ready to come as soon as—'"
The mayor was interrupted by a hand slapping quickly down on the table, as Jack had rushed over, grabbed the edge of the table, and slapped the surface down with his other hand to prevent it from toppling over. Both Harris and Thomas looked up, startled at the antics of the usually good-natured farmer. Right now, it was evident that the man was flustered.
"What was that name you said?" Jack demanded. The mayor spluttered nonsense as he tried to get his tongue around his words. "The name of the girl, you bumbling idiot! The new farmer girl! What's her name?!"
Somewhat taken aback, the mayor stuttered, "C-c-Claire Canon?" Thomas looked around to the others in the inn, and shrugged as he met the questioning eyes of Basil.
Jack's eyes widened and he stepped back from the table. He rocked back on his heels and whistled. "Claire Canon…" he said quietly to himself. He looked back up at the mayor and the constable, who were both staring at him as if he were out of his mind. "Well, thanks," he said, as if he hadn't even acted so demanding and urgent. He turned toward the stairs again, continuing on his way. At the bottom step, he turned back to the pair, who was still staring at him. "Oh, and sorry for calling you a bumbling idiot, Mr. Mayor. Got a little out of hand." With a grin and a salute, Jack walked up the stairs.
--
Jack knocked quietly on the door of the far right room on the upper floor. He heard some shuffling inside the room, and then Cliff opened the door, poking his head around the door to see who it was.
"Oh, hey, Jack. What do you need?" Cliff's voice was hollow.
"Do you mind if I come in? I kind of want to get away from the crowd." Cliff nodded silently and opened the door wider. Stepping in, Jack noticed nothing amiss about the room. It was totally clean, and the sheets on the bed were not tousled at all. Cliff had been alone in the room.
Now, the ponytail-ed man had shut the door and slumped against the wall by the window, simply staring at the room. His eyes lingered on each piece of furniture in the room, from the bed to the nightstand to the floor. Jack moved to sit on the bed, but Cliff let out a small gasp of protest. "No, please don't…" Jack looked at him questioningly, but sat in one of the chairs anyway.
"She fixed them up, cleaned them… I don't want to ruin her hard work already when I'm not even going to use the bed for a while…" Cliff mumbled. Jack didn't need to be a rocket scientist to deduce who Cliff meant by "she". He had needed but one look at Cliff and Ann when he came to Mineral Town to know that they would be, if they hadn't been already, together. He had first noticed them when he had walked into this very room, his first day in town. Ann had just gone in to have a conversation with Cliff, and had accidentally hit a sore spot in Cliff's past. Jack smiled as he remembered Ann's blush when Cliff had thanked her for talking to him as she had walked away, embarrassed.
Remembering what had happened downstairs, Jack cleared his throat. Cliff lifted his head at the sound. "Cliff, is something the matter with you and Ann? I noticed that you guys didn't seem on the… friendliest of terms down there."
A red tinge colored Cliff's face. "Oh, well… we just had a little… disagreement." After some silence on Jack's part, Cliff finally explained. "See… I told her how I might not be able to stay after next year. Come next Winter, I might not have enough money to afford living here, you know? So yeah, after I told her that, she was really sweet about it and offered free room and board and things… but I can't do that to her! Think of what she and her dad would be missing just because I wasn't paying for my room and food! I tell her that, and she keeps trying to convince me to take her offer, but I, being the stubborn idiot I am—well, with good reason—keep on saying no, so now she's mad at me because of it."
Jack gave a low whistle. "Hard stuff," he said. Cliff nodded in agreement.
"It's not like I want to leave her, I mean," Cliff looked up quickly and corrected himself, "I mean, I don't want to leave the town and all of you, but it's like… I feel like I don't have a choice."
After a few minutes of companionable silence, Cliff ventured in a few words. "So, uh, hey, what's up? Anything new with you?"
"Ah, well," Jack hesitated, but continued anyway, "actually, yeah. I just heard there was going to be a new farmer coming. I overheard Thomas and Harris talking about it."
Cliff nodded. "Yeah, I heard that, too. Should be pretty cool, meeting another person. I wonder what he'll be like…"
"Actually, it's a girl. The empty farm is going to a girl." Jack was mumbling, and he knew it. Although he didn't mean it, Jack sounded like a sullen little boy who didn't get his way. Cliff smirked, thinking that Jack was resentful of a little competition.
He didn't know how wrong he was. The reasons Jack had for his mood were far from the question of competition. After another bout of silence, Jack stood up, gave Cliff a "Fare-thee-well" and strolled out of the room and into the night. He had a lot to ponder.