Oh no! It's been so long! I'm so sorry! I hope everyone who had previously been reading this fic has not lost interest due to my inability to update faster. I beg your forgiveness! Enjoy the chapter :)

Jack. Jack. It was a cute name. I liked it. And I liked a certain farmer who happened to have that cute name. But now I was confused - and I mean more than usual. On one hand, there was Jack: nice, muscular farmer who just moved in real close to my house and was totally single. And hot. On the other hand, there was Cliff: sweet, loving, concerned Cliff. The guy who lived in the Inn with me. The guy I promised to help get a job.

Oh yeah! A job. At the Inn.

I didn't remember my promise to him until we started, all four of us, walking back to the Inn. It was after our lunch, which went pretty well after the whole pizza-in-Jill's-face episode, and we decided to go back to the Inn for dessert and a drink. Personally, I'm not one to drink much wine, but I was having such a good time that I decided this was a special occasion. I almost half-considered inviting Karen and Rick over, since they both like to drink, but ended up deciding against that. We did, however, invited Popuri and Kai to come back with us but they needed to stay and take care of the Lodge in case any more customers came. I didn't see that happening, though. Not many people go to Kai's Seaside Lodge to eat (not many people actually live in the village in the first place).

"Cliff!" I suddenly burst out when I remembered the whole job thing. "I completely forgot! You still wanted that job at the Inn right? I'll ask my dad once we get there." He looked grateful, and maybe like he was about to say something, when Jack interrupted.

"Job? Do you need a job, Cliff?" Without waiting for him to respond, Jack continued. "You could always be a hired hand on my farm. I could use all the help I could get, at least in the beginning. After a while I'm sure I'll have the hang of things."

"That would be great," Jill interrupted. "I could show both of you the ropes; that way, Cliff could help out on Jack's farm after I leave."

Huh? Jill was going to be showing Cliff how to do farm work? That means they would spend hours together on the farm, just the two of them … together … alone. Wait, Jack would be there. But then that would leave me alone doing nothing. It was like they were planning a 'party without Ann' all while I was right there. The nerve! Organizing some time together, without me, all while I was standing right there. And yet, in the midst of my internal raving, two words crossed my mind: over analytic!

Luckily for me, Jack started talking and catapulted me back into reality.

"You could come, too Ann, if you wanted. Actually, I was beginning to realize that I'll have to start cooking all my own meals. Maybe you could show me how to cook up some dishes while Jill shows Cliff some farm-related work." When I didn't respond, as I was too busy thinking through what he'd said and the possibility that he was flirting with me, he continued talking. "I just assumed you were a good cook since you're dad runs an Inn-restaurant type thing."

"Oh. Oh! Yeah, I'm a good cook." I said, his words finally processing in my mind. "Sure, I can show you some easy recipes."

"Great," he said.

"How about we start on that now?" Jill suggested.

"I thought we were going to the Inn for some drinks," Jack said.

"Well, if you guys really want to, I mean, sure we can …" Jill trailed off. I could tell that she wasn't one to drink too much, and maybe she wasn't looking forward to going to the Inn with the rest of us. It would be nice of me to do something, like agree with her and vote for not going to the Inn. But she's been all over Cliff lately. And you've been all over Jack! What? No I haven't! I started arguing with that little voice in my head. At first I thought I was crazy, but then I realized it was probably my conscience. Everyone has a conscience, right? Sometimes it just speaks a lot louder than it does other times, and sometimes other people even get the privilege of seeing their conscience, as when it is outside of your body it takes the form of a friendly little cricket … or, no, wait -- maybe I was going crazy!

But I told myself, it doesn't matter if I'm starting to like Jack and still like Cliff as well. Jill's just as bad; she has a boyfriend, after all, and here she is trying to steal Cliff from me.

Either way, you have to make a decision, my conscience told me. It doesn't matter what happens to Jill, you can't have both Jack and Cliff. At least not at the same time.

As much as I hated to admit it, my conscience was right. I needed to give up hope on either Cliff or Jack. But which one? Maybe I should spend time alone with the both of them to make my decision. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

"I agree with Jill," I said. "I think we should just go right to Jack's farm so we can start learning how to cook and work on the farm. After all, we all need to … learn, right?" I said rather pathetically. Jack just started laughing.

"Good thinking, Ann." He said. "Learning is important. Come on, let's go."

We all took the turn that would lead us to Jack's farm. Once we got there, Jill lead Cliff into the barn, I guess to start showing him how to care for the animals, and Jack and I went into the house. He flipped on the light switch and led me to the small area of the room that was used as a kitchen.

"Okay. So …" he paused. "Where do we begin?"

I sighed. "Have you ever cooked anything? Ever?"

"Well," he said, putting on a thoughtful face that made it hard for me not to stare. "I've made breakfast - specifically cold cereal and milk. I've thrown a frozen pizza into to the oven and cooked until the edges of the cheese were a delicious golden-brown."

I laughed at his antics, as his words were accompanied by funny gestures and amusing facial expressions. I could tell he was trying to look like he knew what he was doing, but he was failing miserably.

"Okay, let's start with something simple, like toast." I paused and made an incredulous expression. "You do know how to make toast, don't you?"

"Sure. Stick some bread in the toaster and wait until you hear it pop. Then you're done."

"Okay, fair enough." I said as if it were some kind of contest about one's knowledge of cooking. "How about pizza? Not the frozen kind." I quickly added on the end.

"Well I guess you do … what, take some dough, then spread on some sauce, then sprinkle some cheese and cook. Right?"

"Close." I said. "You need to know how to make the dough and shape it -- it can't be too thick or it won't cook all the way through, but if it's too thin, you might burn it."

"Alright, you got me," He said, throwing his hands into the air. "I can't make pizza unless it's the frozen kind. So, let's begin!"

I giggled. "Alright, let's start."

Jill's POV

I turned and watched Jack and Ann walk into the house, feeling a little guilty. For a second I wasn't sure if our little plan was working. Ann seemed to be a little too comfortable around Jack. And either Jack was a really good actor, or he was getting a little comfortable himself as well.

I breathed in deeply, trying to calm myself down a little bit. You can do this, Jill. I told myself. I could continue with the plan, which was to make Ann or Cliff (or both of them) jealous so that they'd get back together. I could do it and still not fall for Cliff. Besides, I already had a boyfriend. And he didn't deserve to be cheated on.

"So, Cliff." I said, trying to start a conversation. "Have you ever worked with animals before?"

"I've encountered them a lot on my travels," he responded. "But no, not really other than that. At least, I've never really worked with any domestic animals."

"Well, if you've worked with wild animals, I can't imagine domesticated animals being any more difficult. In fact," I said, opening the barn door. "they'll be easier."

"I figured as much," Cliff said, half smiling.

I led him into the barn, making sure the door was shut behind him. Jack didn't really have that many animals to begin with -- just a small sheep and a young calf. They were both pretty calm and I doubted they would give either me or Cliff any trouble.

"I'll show you how to milk a cow," I said, approaching the calf. "Now, this one won't give any milk because she's still too young. But it's good to learn the technique while you still can."

"Okay," Cliff said, coming up behind me, looking determined and ready for anything. I had to shake my head and tightly close my eyes in order not to stare into his eyes.

"What's the matter?" He asked with an inquisitive look in his eyes that gave him a childish quality I found irresistible. I swallowed hard before answering.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head again, though not as violently. "I'm fine." I hope. I silently added to myself.

A Harvest Sprite's POV

"Is that what's happening?" she asked me, her eyes full of worry and anticipation.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," I replied, scratching my head and looking away, not wanting to incur the wrath of the Harvest Goddess. Much to my surprise, she just sighed instead, her other-worldly eyes drooping into a sorrowful look.

"My work is never done, is it?"

"It's not really your fault," I said, trying to make her feel better. "The humans didn't know what was going to happen. They thought it would help."

"Yes, I know." she replied. "They were only trying to help. But in helping they are only making things worse by throwing themselves into the mix. They're ruining everything! My plan will need to be tweaked in order to work now!" Her eyes started to burn with a fire that I had never seen before in the Goddess -- at least not in this past week.

"Goddess?" I questioned, shrinking back ever so slightly.

"What, Nappy?" she sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Do you need any help?" I was trying to appease her. Hopefully it would work.

"I'll have to think about what my new plan will be first, my little helper." she said, sinking from a hovering position above the Goddess Pond to a sitting position on the edge of the grass as she gently swung her feet in the waters.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," I suggested, waddling over to where she sat. "Maybe they'll be happier this way."

She rose her head and stared off into the distance, as if she was seeing the future. And maybe she was. "They will be happy," she stated. "at first. But many other complications will follow." She snapped back into reality, shaking her head gently as she took on a tone of voice so soft that it surprised me. "These humans don't know what they are doing, falling in love with the wrong person."

I was trying to think of something to say, something to ease her feelings or perhaps an idea for a new plan. But nothing came to me. I looked up at her beautiful visage as she continued talking.

"It's my job to watch over this small town, Nappy. It's my duty to make sure the flow of events goes according to plan, to make sure that nothing too out of the ordinary happens that will throw this town out of whack. I was doing fine until this one came along -- this little red-head with a personality fiery enough to match her hair. She's a handful, I tell you. But I'm determined to make this work out."

"I know you can, Goddess," I said to the frazzled looking woman. "I know you can."