I just finished reading a truly wonderful book series that I had such a good time reading. Now I'm here to send another chapter your way. I hope you enjoy reading this like I enjoyed reading that series. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Here we go!
Konohana was always my home away from home. Or rather, it was my second home. Growing up, I spent just as much time in Konohana as I did in Bluebell. I suppose I had my mother to thank for that considering she was the force behind the villages making peace. She was also the person who assembled the materials needed for Eileen to complete the tunnel that linked the two towns.
Even though the two villages weren't that far from one another, they were aesthetically and culturally different. Whenever I set foot into Konohana, I always felt as if I had traveled somewhere foreign and cool. That was the same feeling I got as I stepped through the Konohana side of the tunnel on my way to the seed shop. My mom had taken on a request to water the crops there, but something else came up that she had to do right away. Therefore, she trusted me with the responsibility of getting it done in her place.
As I passed the shipping bin, I stared off over toward the road that led to the farm. A long time ago, my mom once lived on that farm before she decided to stay in Bluebell permanently. These days, Colby's aunt Cheryl lived there along with her husband Phillip and their children. And next to that road was the Konohana animal shop that was owned by Akito's father. I let out a groan as I noticed that Akito was actually out in the pasture there. He didn't see me, though, and I saw him make his way into the barn. Knowing him, he was probably going to dote on his beloved horse, Delilah. The two of them had been thick as thieves ever since she was a colt. Now that I thought about it, though, Delilah was getting up there in age so I was surprised they hadn't relocated her to the Bluebell shop to keep a closer eye on her. Kana commuted to work, but he wasn't there at night.
'Ugh!' I thought with a frown as I started walking again and hurried away from the animal shop. I was focusing on Akito again and that was something I did not want to do. So I put some distance between us before he came back out of the barn and noticed me. Once I made it into the actual town of Konohana, I nearly ran right into the mayor.
"Careful, Violet. I've always told you to watch where you're going," Rahi admonished before giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder and continuing on what I assumed was a walk around the village. When I was a kid, I always ran behind Rahi, Ying, and Cheryl. Quite literally. I would run directly behind them trying to keep up with their longer legs and run into them when they stopped. I pestered them to play with me all the time and I kind of idolized them.
Rahi became the mayor last year, after his mother Ina finally retired. The mayor of Konohana had always been a member of their family and I assumed that one of Rahi's children would fill those shoes someday as well.
I stopped at the request board to see if there were any requests I might want to take on myself, but none of them were striking my fancy.
"I'm assuming that watering can in your hand means you'll be watering my crops today?"
I turned around and found Keiko standing just within the boundaries of her yard, next to the big hedge. Keiko had the youthful face of her father along with the hair and poise of her mother. She had commented many times through the years, though, that looking so young made her feel like everybody around her thought she was twelve. Of course I told her that considering she was taller than me, nobody would make that mistake. And besides, the advantage of having such a youthful face was that when she was forty, she'd look thirty.
"That's right," I told her with a mock salute as I made my way across the road and entered her yard. "Violet Drayton at your service. Go easy on me because living in the city made me soft."
"You silly goose," she teased me as she closed the door behind her. "You're as tough as they come. And I know this because I cried like a baby that time you broke your leg and you didn't shed a tear."
I remembered that. I had been on the mountain with Willow. We weren't supposed to be up there since our parents didn't like for us to be up there without adult supervision. I was six at the time and Willow was about four. Usually we explored the mountain together under the watch of our parents, but they never let us jump on the big mushrooms and our young minds couldn't fathom why. Since I was older, I told Willow I would go first. I managed to climb up onto the big mushroom with a boost from her. I jumped up and that felt great. It was exhilarating. But I didn't get up high enough to reach the ledge I was aiming for and when I started coming back down, I panicked. I started flailing my limbs and then I missed the mushroom altogether. I landed on my leg and it snapped like a twig.
Willow ran crying back to Konohana to get help and Doctor Hiro hurried to where I was. Keiko tagged along with him because she was worried about me and immediately proceeded to burst into tears. She was wrong, though. I did cry. I managed to hold it together when it happened, for little Willow's sake. How, I don't know because I was only six and that was the worst physical pain I'd ever felt in my life. I held it together when the doctor came because I didn't want Keiko to be more upset. I even held it together as I was being transported to the clinic. Once I was in the privacy of the clinic and my parents came rushing through the door, though, I bawled like a little baby. I never told anybody that, though.
Keiko gave me a hug and then motioned her arm toward the field. Almost everybody in Konohana had their own field of crops. And sometimes, when they were too busy with other things to do it, they would put up requests for somebody else to get it done.
"I know it won't take you long to take care of this. Come in and chat with me when you're done. I'll be busy, but I can talk and work at the same time."
With that said, she made her way into the shop and I turned my attention toward her field. Keiko truly had a green thumb, and that's the opinion of a woman coming from a family full of green thumbs. I tended to her crops with all the care I would take with my own. The sound of the nearby river was soothing as I went about my work. When I was done, I put my empty watering can inside my rucksack and made my way into the seed shop.
I could see immediately why Keiko needed somebody to do the watering for her. Seeds were all over the floor! And there was Keiko, kneeling in the midst of them, careful sorting them and returning them to their proper bags.
"Oh no, Keiko! How did this happen?" I asked as I got down on my knees and started sorting seeds right along with her, quickly adapting to the little system she had going.
She let out a sigh and scooped up a handful of turnip seeds before depositing them into a bag. "One of the dogs over at the farm wandered off without them knowing and ended up in here. This is the result."
"Why don't I see Phillip over here helping you clean up the mess?" I asked, a little angry.
She saw the look on my face and hurried to clarify. "Oh they offered. Believe me, they did. But Cheryl is expecting a new baby and there are. . .complications. My father has put her on bed rest and I didn't want to make him leave her side."
My anger dissipated as soon as it had appeared. I hadn't thought of that, but she was right. Phillip shouldn't have to leave Cheryl at such a pressing time.
"Besides," she continued as she finished up another bag. "Makoto is coming soon to help me finish this up. I'm sure he will make sure everything is back as it should be before my mother gets back into town. I'd hate to have her see the shop this way."
I smiled at that, thinking about the tall, dark, handsome, and gruff guy who would be assisting her. Underneath that facade of his, he really was a big teddy bear. But he always had been and always would be the biggest sucker for Keiko. She'd had him wrapped around her finger since we were kids. They'd been a couple forever. They were the quintessential childhood sweethearts. I found myself envious sometimes because they were so perfect together. It had actually been her who convinced him to be the singer in Jackson's band. He certainly wouldn't have agreed to otherwise.
"I see. So what is he up to these days?" I asked since I had hardly seen him since my return to town. Makoto was the kind of guy who you usually had to hunt down if you wanted to see him and I'd been keeping busy so I hadn't had much of an opportunity.
"He's been making secret plans for Spring Harmony. He's planning on making me something special, but he won't tell me what. Apparently he's been baking different recipes each day, though."
Ah, Spring Harmony. The day when guys were supposed to give girls assorted chocolate goodies. Over the years, as the relationship between the two towns got even better, some of their holidays started mixing together so that both towns celebrated together. This was one of those holidays. I refrained from commenting about it and looked up to see Keiko raising an eyebrow. "What?" I asked as I continued to sort.
"Are you not looking forward to Spring Harmony?" she asked with a slight frown, sitting back on her legs as she assessed me.
"It's not that. I just haven't thought about it since I got back into town."
I was saved from hearing what she was going to say next as I heard somebody enter the shop behind me.
I looked over my shoulder and as expected, there was Makoto. He was standing there in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, a surly look on his face as he assessed the damage. His gaze finally settled on Keiko and his expression immediately softened. He hurried into the room and lifted her up as easily as if he were picking up a book before sitting her on her feet.
"I'll take care of this," he told her as he immediately dropped to his knees and started working.
"We can do it together," she told him as she started to bend down.
"I'll take care of this," he repeated. Keiko stood there for about fifteen seconds as she figured out whether she wanted to fight him on it or not. And while I knew she probably would have been able to convince him to let her help, she ultimately decided to respect his wishes.
After five or so more seconds, Makoto looked over at me, looking like he was considering picking me up and sending me away, too. So I raised my hands in front of me in surrender and hopped to my feet. He gave me the smallest hint of an amused smile before returning to what he was doing.
"Well, it looks like he has everything covered here. I think I'm going to head out," I told Keiko as I adjusted my rucksack.
"Thank you for helping," she said as she satisfied herself with bending down and collecting the completed bags since Makoto wasn't going to let her down anything else.
Makoto grunted in my direction, which I took as a thank you as well as a goodbye. What more can you expect from the strong, silent type? Makoto hadn't always been the strong silent type, though. He used to be more talkative and outgoing when we were children. His personality steadily shifted the older he got. I wouldn't complain, though, because talkative or silent, I liked Makoto just the way he was. I snapped out of these thoughts before I waved at them and exited the shop.
If there was one thing my father was not particularly fond of, it was chocolate. He wasn't big on sweets in general, but he especially disliked chocolate. Therefore, on Spring Harmony day, he always wrinkled up his nose whenever I came walking into the house with something chocolate. Part of that was because he was unhappy with the idea of boys giving me chocolate. The other part was the chocolate itself. Too bad for him considering I was an avid lover of all things chocolate.
I woke up that morning to the smell of something chocolate and delicious floating under my door. Naturally, this made me curious so I quickly got out of bed and went to see what was up. I wasn't expecting to see what I saw, let me tell you. Okay, so here's what it was. In the kitchen I found my dad wearing an apron and a frown. He looked absolutely adorable. My mom chose a real winner. What shocked me even more was the sight of my brother, looking exactly like my father only minus the apron and with chocolate on his chin. How come the most interesting things around our home always happened in the morning?
"Well what do we have here?" I spoke as I left my spot in the doorway and came further into the room. "The Drayton men are hard at work, I see."
I gave my father a good morning kiss on the cheek and he kissed me on my forehead. I then tried to pull Oliver down for a kiss, too. He resisted at first, but he relented during my second attempt.
"Good morning, kiddo," dad said as he picked up a bowl and stirred what was in it.
"Are you making mom a chocolate party cake?" I asked him. The fact that he despised chocolate, yet he was willing to make my mother a chocolate treat was something in and of itself. The fact that he was willing to make her the chocolate treat he despised the most was a testament to the deep and unyielding love they shared.
My father could cook, but when it came to baking he wasn't as talented. Still, though, my mother always ate whatever he made her on Spring Harmony with a smile on her face. I obviously didn't get my baking talent from him. I actually baked his birthday cake when I was only seven and I worked at the cafe making the desserts as a part-time job when I was a teenager.
"Of course I am," my dad said, bringing my mind back to the current events.
I looked over at the chocolate donuts Oliver had cooling on the corner and reached for one. He promptly slapped my hand away.
"Oww," I said as I rubbed my hand.
"These, we made for you," he told me as he pushed a plate of chocolate cupcakes toward me."
"Aww, thanks," I said to them both as I pulled the plate over and picked up a cupcake. "But wait. . .if this is for me then who are those for?" I asked as I pointed to the donuts.
Oliver immediately blushed at that and I knew I just struck gold. "Nobody," he said emphatically.
I smiled sweetly at him as I asked "Who is she?"
"W-Who is who?" he asked incredulously while looking over at my dad for help. My dad was too busy with what he was doing to notice. Or perhaps he was just making a conscious decision to stay out of it. . .
"Who is the girl you made those donuts for?"
"I didn't make these for anybody," he told me then, avoiding eye contact.
"Okay, don't tell me now. I'll find out later, though," I warned before I took my cupcakes and left the room. Perhaps I could be called a nosy big sister, but I felt I had the right to know the identity of the young lady who had caught my brother's eye. I started mentally cataloging all of the girls around his age in the two towns in an attempt to figure out which one it was. There was Kimberly, Colby's younger sister. Willow's younger sister, Serena, was also a contender. Then again, I certainly couldn't count out Akito's sister Annabelle. All of them were about the right age to make Oliver's heart go boom-clap and I would find out which one it was eventually, I was sure.
After my farm work was done for the day, I got a surprising visitor as I was coming out the door on my way to town. I had one foot out the door when I looked up and noticed Alan, Akito's younger brother, with his hand raised to knock.
"Oh, hey Alan," I said with one hand on the doorknob, not sure if I should call Oliver out to talk to him or just let him in. Oliver, Alan, and Serena's twin brother, Dale, were all as thick as thieves in the same way Akito, Jackson, and Makoto were growing up.
"Violet," he said rather smoothly, looking much more like Kana in the face than Akito did. The fact that his hair was brown also helped add to the effect. "It's nice to see you."
"You, too," I replied before I pointed my thumb back behind me. "Did you want me to go get Oliver for you?"
"Actually," Alan said as he shook his head. "I came to see you." He then handed over a plate of chocolate cookies.
I raised an eyebrow as I accepted the plate. "Uh, well, thank you." It's not that it wasn't a nice gesture. It's just that I found it weird for one of Oliver's friends to give me something.
"I have somebody special on my radar right now. If that doesn't work out, though, I just wanted you to know that there could be hope for us after all."
This quickly took a turn into Weird Town. "Hope for who?"
"You and me," he responded simply, as if that were that.
"Alan," I said patiently. "That's not gonna. . ."
"Shhh," he said with a smirk and a finger to his lips, effectively cutting me off. "It's okay, girl. I understand. These feelings aren't something you want to talk about yet. Listen, I have to go but I'll see you around. Later."
And with that said, he turned and walked away, leaving me standing in my door with a shocked expression on my face and a plate of cookies in my hand.
