AN: Thanks for reading & reviewing! I've nearly finished writing the story, I'm just posting a couple chapters at a time as I go through and revise what I've written and finish the story. It's fairly lengthy, so there's still lots to come! I think it'll end up being around 40 chapters, give or take a few, but I can't say for sure yet.

One Thursday near the end of Fall, I had gone to Bluebell earlier than usual. It was Howard's birthday, and I wanted to be sure to give him a gift and wish him a happy birthday early on in the day. It was his day off, so I knew it might take a little hunting to track him down. He was delighted by my gift of a bundle of fragrant dried lavender, one of his favorite flowers.

I sought out Cam afterwards, as it was his day off, and we went for a walk along the river, enjoying the sight of the colorful trees, though most of the leaves had fallen by then. Winter would soon arrive. As we walked along, Cam looked over at me several times as if he wanted to say something but didn't quite know how to start. Finally, blushing a little, he said, "So… how's the farm over in Konohana? Are things going well there?"

Surprised more by his embarrassment than by the question, which seemed innocuous enough to me, I replied, "Things seem to be going fine there. Umm… why do you ask?"

He paused for a minute, then turning even more red, he said "Well, it's just that… when you left Bluebell, you said you were going to try your other farm for a season, like you did here. But now it's been most of two seasons, and you still haven't mentioned coming back… I mean, well… I wondered if you liked it better over there? Or maybe if you liked… liked some of the people there better?"

"Oh, no—it's nothing like that at all. It's like this: you know both farms had been kind of neglected, due to my grandparents' age and health and all? So both need a lot of work. The Konohana farm is best suited for crops, while the Bluebell farm is best suited for animals. So after some thought, I decided I'd stay on in Konohana until I could get the farm there renovated—you know, clear the fields that had been overtaken by saplings and weeds, plant an orchard, dig some rice paddies… that sort of thing. And that will take some time. Then, once I've finished restoring that farm, I can return to Bluebell and focus on my farm there. And I'll probably choose to live in Bluebell, since I can have more animals there than in Konohana. But if I do it the other way around, I'd have to try to move a lot of animals around, or find someone to look after them while I move back to Konohana to complete my work there. You see? So I'll be staying on in Konohana for a while yet—maybe another year, maybe longer. Then I'll return to Bluebell—most likely to stay, as I said."

Cam nodded, saying, "Yeah, that makes sense. But… a year's a long time." He sighed and looked away.

I thought to myself, "I have got to talk to Eileen about expanding that tunnel some more…."

Fumbling for something to fill the awkward silence that was beginning to settle over us, I said, "So, uh… I hear that the Pumpkin Festival is coming up in a few days in Bluebell. I bet Cheryl's excited about that. Are you going to make something for her?"

Cam looked at me, startled, saying, "Well, no… I won't be in town that day. It's on a Monday, you know."

"Oh, yeah, of course," I said feeling like an idiot. Then I immediately stuck my foot in it, saying, "So, where is it you go on Mondays, anyway? You're gone the whole entire day, every Monday." I turned red as I realized how intrusive that sounded.

Cam didn't answer right away, just looked off into the distance. "Oh… I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," I said, embarrassed. "It's none of my business."

"No, it's okay. I just don't usually talk much about myself. But somehow… I don't mind talking to you so much," he replied. "It's… I don't know if you've heard anything about my past. But I grew up here, in a nice little house with my mom and dad. They were wonderful people, and I loved them a lot. But… then there was a really severe outbreak of influenza. All three of us came down with it. I pulled through, but… but they didn't make it.

"That's when Howard took me in—he'd been best friends with my dad, and so he was always like an uncle to me. And since then, he's been almost like a father. But I still miss them… so every Monday, I travel to the cemetery to put flowers on their graves. I spend the whole day there. It… it might sound kind of strange, but… I just sit and talk, tell them about what's going on in my life and in the village. Just like they were sitting there with me. In case… wherever they are, they can hear me… and then, it's like I'm including them, like they're still somehow a part of my life. I… I guess that sounds kind of strange, huh?" he said, looking at the ground.

I felt choked up by this sweet display of filial devotion, and it endeared him to me even more. He looked back at me when I didn't respond, and then, seeing tears in my eyes, he looked distressed and started to apologize. "No, don't," I interrupted, reaching out and grasping one of his hands. "I think… I think that's one of the sweetest, loveliest things I've ever heard. I'm sure your parents are very proud of you. They must have been remarkable people to have a son like you."

He turned red at that, but he looked pleased nonetheless. He gave my hand a grateful squeeze, then still holding my hand, he continued along on our walk, pulling me along with him. We spent the next half hour or so just strolling along the river, holding hands and not saying anything—perfectly at ease with our thoughts and each other's company.

After a while, Cam spoke up, "You know, I was really glad to hear your plans for your farms. I think they're very wise plans. But… I was really glad mostly because I thought maybe you had another reason to stay there in Konohana…."

I looked at him, startled, then suddenly realized what he meant. "Oh! Oh, I see. You mean… you wondered if my plans revolved around a… certain person, rather than my farm?" He blushed and nodded, looking away in embarrassment. "No, nothing like that. I'm afraid I'm too practical to let something like that influence my decisions anyway. Otherwise, I don't think I'd have ever left Bluebell in the first place. It was really hard to leave, and I still miss living there."

"Oh," he replied, "then… does that mean that you haven't made up your mind yet? About Mikhail?"

I stumbled slightly, startled by the uncharacteristic directness of his question. I stopped, grabbed his other hand, and stood facing him. Looking straight into his eyes, I said, slowly, "Cam, as I said before, I won't lie to you. I still don't know how I feel about Mikhail. I still love him, yes—like I said, I probably always will love him. But I still don't know if I could fall in love with him again. And… and you know, you're giving him some pretty strong competition. But at this point, everything is too new and uncertain… I don't know yet how I feel about him… about either of you. So please, be patient, and let me find out where love will bloom in my own time. Please?"

He looked away, nodding his head, and I thought… was that a tear I saw in his eye? I pulled him to me and put my arms around him, holding him close and resting my head against his chest. After a moment, he awkwardly returned my embrace. I breathed deeply of his scent—he smelled like flowers, of course, but also like earth, and grass, and fall leaves, and the fresh breeze blowing across the stream. He placed a hand under my chin, tilted my head up to look into my eyes, and then he leaned down and kissed me.

His kiss tasted of fresh mint and was so gentle I wasn't even quite sure at what point it began or when it ended, although I felt far more certain about the part in between. He brushed a stray lock of hair from my eyes, and smiled down at me so tenderly, that I felt as though I had melted into the greenness of his eyes. "I don't know where love will bloom for you, dearest Alice," he said in his gentle, low voice, "but I know where it has bloomed for me. And I'm willing to wait as long as it takes for you to find out."

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, and most locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and MarvelousAQL Inc. The story's plot and some characters & locations are my own invention.