Note from the Author: Hey again! Here's the next chapter! I'm churning these out quickly now because I've been feeling particularly inspired lately. Thanks so much for the reviews yet again! I love getting reviews from you guys and I'm really glad that you're all enjoying it.

Chapter Twenty One

Push

It was strange having Vaughn on my farm every day. I had spent so much of my time working alone in the past that I wasn't really sure how to react to him whenever he came up to me asking for more things to do. Whenever I tried to convince him that there wasn't anything left for him to be getting on with, he'd always insist that he do the jobs that I wanted to do myself and I must admit that it was nice having him around. For the first time in two and a half seasons I had been given the opportunity to relax and I tried my best to enjoy it while I could. I had to draw the line when it came to doing my own washing though; there was no way I was letting him get his paws on my underwear.

I had been in the middle of doing my laundry when my mom rang me up again to check on how I was doing. Although I had already been discharged from the hospital for a couple of days already, I kept forgetting to call her back and when I eventually did manage to answer the phone I got quite the earful from her.

"CHELSEA EVERETT! WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN ANSWERING YOUR PHONE?" she shouted at me as soon as I picked up.

I held the phone away from my ear. "I only have one hand at the moment and I've been quite distracted recently. So sorry."

"Don't lie to me. I know you've got someone helping you out on that ridiculous farm right now. You shouldn't be doing any work at all," my mother snapped back.

"So Trent told you, did he?"

"Yes," my mother replied. "Apparently it's that livestock dealer that is responsible for your current condition. Taking responsibility is he? Good. I can't believe he let a young woman of barely twenty years old help him with such dangerous animals. Completely irresponsible. He better hope I never meet him or I'll break his arm so he knows how it feels."

I sulked. "It wasn't his fault you know. It was mine. I can't believe Trent was blaming him."

"I can't believe you aren't!" my mother retorted. "Well, at least you had the good sense to tell him to help you out on the farm as compensation. Thankfully this silly farm business will be over after another year and a bit; then you can come back home and get a proper job in the city."

"I'm not going to come back home," I told her, tilting my head to one side to balance the phone against my face so that I could pull out one of my shirts from the washing machine.

"What?"

I shook my shirt out once before chucking it into the tumble dryer. "I'm not coming back home. I like it here."

"But I thought this bet was only for two years, sweetheart," my mother said, her voice becoming softer and almost pleading. "Are you seriously going to stay there even after it's finished? What about Mark? Aren't you two going to get back together?"

I sighed. "No. I can't get back together with him; even if he wants me to. I realised quite a few things in the past couple of months, one of them being that I actually like my new life here. The community here is so cosy and everyone knows everyone else. You just don't get this in the city, mom. I like knowing my neighbours and being on a first name basis with them."

"You know your neighbours here though," she protested. "You know Mark and Mark's parents. We know the Churchhill family across the road and the Joneses a couple of doors down."

I ignored her. "The second thing I realised is that I was never really in love with Mark to begin with."

My mother scoffed. "What bullshit."

"Lovely use of the English language there. No wonder I have a gutter mouth."

"But it is bullshit darling. You've been in love with Mark since you were a little girl. You've never had eyes for any other boy except for him."

I shook my head even though I knew she couldn't see. "No mom, I was infatuated with him. Not in love with him."

"It's the same thing."

"No, it's really not. My friend, Julia, told me that to truly love someone is to prioritise their wellbeing over your own. I never really did that with Mark. I only ever thought about myself and never about him. It was always about my feelings, my wishes. I was infatuated with him and enjoyed his company, but I was utterly selfish when I was with him," I told her, smiling to myself as I felt like a strange weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "Of course, I'm still bitter about the whole break up, but I think I can safely say that I'm pretty much over him. Now, I just want to get back at him for breaking my trust and hurting me by ditching me like that. Once I've had my vengeance I'll be able to move on from the whole thing without any regrets."

"I still don't believe that you weren't in love with him. You cannot pigeonhole what love is; it varies from person to person. Some people love selfishly, some selflessly. It all depends on the personality and temperament of the person," my mother replied with a sigh. "But if you say that you're over Mark, I'll have to accept it. He would have made a lovely son-in-law though. I always thought the two of you were practically made for one another."

"Yeah, so did I," I told her with a short laugh. "I'm just glad I came to this realisation before we did anything more permanent like getting married."

"Marriage wouldn't have been permanent," my mother said. "It's only when you have children that the connection is permanent."

"Some would argue that even that doesn't make things permanent."

"Parents who have children and then decide to separate before the kids are fully grown are selfish. Why do you think I stayed with your father for so long? We're more friends now than we are lovers; we only stayed together because of you and Molly."

I frowned. "Don't lie. I know you still love dad."

"I love him, but I'm not in love with him. See the difference?" my mother replied airily. I could hear her shutting the door in the background. "So what are you going to do now?"

"About what?"

"Finding another man."

I opened my window to let some fresh air into the room, inhaling deeply as I felt the sun hit my face. It was pleasantly warm and I closed my eyes whilst trying to imagine my mom as she was as she was talking to me. I hadn't seen her in over half a year and yet I could vividly remember her. Sitting in front of the television with the television remote in one hand and a program guide in the other, she spent most of her free time watching day time T.V programs or the shopping channel; much to my father's chagrin. Like me, she had fair skin and mousey brown hair, but with light brown eyes that my sister ended up inheriting instead of the blue ones that I'd gotten from my dad. Short but stocky in her middle age, she had been quite curvaceous in her youth and I often lamented my lack of figure in comparison to my younger sister who had been lucky enough to inherit that from her too.

"I don't think I'll get involved with anyone just yet. I'm not ready to jump back on that bandwagon," I told her after a moment.

"Don't wait too long sweetheart. Your looks won't stay around forever and I can't imagine there are many young men out there on those god forsaken islands. If you meet a nice man, settle down with him. He can help you out on the farm, if you really are serious about keeping up with it."

I tutted at her irritably. "Don't pressure me."

"Time waits for no one," my mother reminded me. "Don't forget that."

I sighed and leant my head against the window sill. "I know... I have to admit though... it is quite lonesome sometimes. Most of the time I've got my friends around me, so it's not too bad, but when they're with their boyfriends I feel like a fifth wheel. I was really jealous of Ellie and Trent the other day when he proposed to her."

"HE PROPOSED?" she shrieked in response. Once more I had to hold the phone away from my ear to save myself from doing permanent damage to my eardrums.

"Yes," I replied. "Ellie's punches are probably quite lethal now; that diamond on her ring is ridiculously large. I hadn't realised that Trent was so loaded until I saw that rock. Twenty-four carats. He must have spent a fortune on it."

"I don't doubt it. Trent is from a very good background. Both his parents were doctors too, weren't they? Why can't you find a nice man like that? Does Trent have any doctor friends you could get together with? Doctors make lots of money," my mother prattled on as I leaned out the window.

"Yes, they do, but they're barely around," I told her as my eyes swept my fields in search of Vaughn. "I wouldn't want to marry a doctor."

"Surely there must be someone out there that you're interested in. You're a young woman for goodness sakes; you must have noticed someone."

Almost as if on cue, Vaughn appeared from behind my lumber shed. He was carrying an axe on his shoulder and he had his hat off. And his top. I lost my powers of speech for a full minute or two. The only word I can think of that accurately describes what I saw is 'Adonis'. Ellie had been right; he did exude sex from every pore. I felt the heat of desire flush through me like wildfire.

"Chelsea? Chelsea? Are you there?" my mother crowed down the phone irritably when I didn't answer her.

"W-Well... there is someone," I spluttered as I stared in wide eyed amazement at the sight of Vaughn chopping up the pile of logs that I had put next to the shed. Completely unaware of my gaze, he continued to work without any idea that I was ogling him hungrily like a starving dog would a piece of meat.

"Oh? Who? Is he rich?" my mother asked.

"I don't know. He's rich in something though. He's definitely been getting his vitamins," I babbled nonsensically, my eyes bugging out as I stared at the way his muscles moved when he brought the axe down on yet another log. "Does he work out? I didn't take him to be the type of guy that goes to the gym."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"F-Forget I said anything. I need to go mom. I have... something to do," I told her absently, my eyes riveted on my livestock dealer.

"Fine. Call me later you're making sense. Bye darling."

I hung up without another word and continued to gawk out the window as Vaughn carried on chopping up the lumber. Was he really that warm that he had to take his shirt off? Was this his new way of bullying me? Or was he completely oblivious to just how goddamned sexy he was? I tried not to dwell too much on the reason as I attempted to distract myself with my laundry, though I couldn't stop myself from peeking out the window every now and then.

I had been peeking out of the window just as someone suddenly burst through my front door, which was usually left unlocked so that my friends could come right in, and I jumped in surprise like a child that had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Guilt was probably written all over my face and even more so when I saw who the intruder was. It was my eye-candy's cousin.

Julia stood beaming in the doorway for a minute before she noticed the guilty expression on my face and the weird way I was trying to shuffle away from the window. "What's wrong with you?"

I looked away and shook my head. "N-nothing."

Striding over to the window as I carried on with my laundry, she poked her head out and caught sight of Vaughn as he brought the axe down on another log. The smirk she was wearing when she pulled away from the window confirmed that I had been caught red-handed.

"Were you checking out my cousin?" she asked me slyly.

Blushing furiously, I ignored her question. "S-So what's up? Why did you just burst in here like that?"

Forgetting about Vaughn in an instant, Julia grabbed my good arm and forced me to look at her as she stared back at me with barely suppressed excitement. She looked fit to burst.

"Denny just dumped Lanna. Like... just now. Outside the shop. Right in front of me," she breathed with delight, her cheeks slightly pink. It was pretty obvious that she had run all the way to my house to tell me this.

"So?" I asked, not really understanding why she found it so important to tell me.

"So? SO? It means he's officially single! It means that he's probably going to ask you out! You've always been making an issue with him about the fact that Lanna's always dripping all over him, so now he's told her to back off. Don't you see? He did it for you! For you!" she told me, bouncing up and down on the spot.

This news didn't really please me. In fact, it made me even warier of the fisherman. Frowning, I turned back to my dryer and deposited the pair of shorts I'd been holding before turning the machine on. As the cylinder inside the dryer began to spin and spin, so did my thoughts. Denny had dumped Lanna. But was it really for me? What suddenly made him do this? Did he have some other motivation in doing it? Regardless of the reason, I found myself wondering whether Lanna was dreadfully upset about the whole thing. Although we'd done nothing but gripe and bicker with one another whenever we bumped into each other around town, I didn't dislike her enough to wish such heartbreak on her.

"Well?" Julia asked me expectantly, her face falling when she realised I wasn't as excited about the news as she was.

"You saw it, right?" I asked her, taking a seat at the kitchen table and leaning my elbows on it. "Tell me exactly what happened."

Julia took the seat across from me, her expression turning serious as she began retelling me what had happened.

"So, I was just coming out of the shop so I could pop over and see Natalie when I spotted Lanna and Denny standing over by that well. You know, the one in the legend? I think I told you that legend already when you first arrived," Julia said, pausing to confirm whether she had or not.

I shook my head. "No. You didn't."

"Oh, there's this well just outside of our shop and it's said that the water in it never dries up. There's a legend that if two people in love drink from the well together then they will stay in love with one another for the rest of their lives," Julia told me. "Of course. I've already drunk from it with Elliot; I forced him to drink from it with me when we were twelve. We've been together ever since. Hey, maybe I should tell Natalie and Pierre to drink from it too."

"You're digressing," I interrupted, wanting her to get back to the original story.

"Oh, yes, right. So anyway, I spotted Lanna and Denny over by that well and I overheard her asking him if he believed in the legend about it. Denny said he did and she got all overexcited and asked him if he would drink from the well with her. And guess what he said in response?" Julia asked, leaning forward with a sly smirk.

"There's no point in guessing since you're going to tell me anyway," I replied dully.

She ignored my flippant attitude and continued on with a large grin. "He told her, 'There's no point. It wouldn't work on us anyway since I'm not in love with you Lanna. I never have been. When are you going to understand that?' Lanna's face went completely pale after that and she ran off back to Sprout Island. And that was that."

"That sounds a bit harsh," I told her, folding my arm across my chest and frowning. "Denny sounds like a right twot now. How can he just say that to her after all these seasons of flirtation and encouragement he's been giving her? Has he got something wrong with him in the head?"

"What else was he meant to say?" Julia asked me incredulously. "She was practically proposing to him, Chelsea. Forever is a long time you know. It was a bit presumptuous of her to try and impose that tradition on him."

"I don't know Julia. Even if Lanna was being a bit too pushy, there's just too much about the guy that puts me on edge. And while I know Natalie is quite prickly when it comes to other people, I don't think she would warn me against him if she didn't have a pretty good reason," I said.

"Don't let what Natalie said put you off. Denny's a good guy really. He's been nothing but nice to you, right? He's attractive, attentive and he obviously likes you quite a bit. What's the problem? You're going to lose him to someone else if you don't take this chance," she replied with a grim frown. "It's not like there's anyone else on this island that's eligible and available."

"Are you sure about that? Your cousin was looking pretty eligible earlier," I told her jokingly.

Julia shuddered. "He has emotional baggage. Avoid men with baggage like that; it just complicates things in future."

"Yeah, I was only joking. But anyway, you're talking like you're experienced with guys when you've only ever dated one," I said with a scoff.

"Which means I must be doing something right," Julia pointed out with a smile. "But seriously Chelsea, just go for it."

I let out a groan of frustration. "I really don't know. It's just... my intuition is telling me to stay away."

"What have you got to lose though? Like honestly?" Julia asked, looking a little annoyed with my lack of enthusiasm. "Also, just imagine what your babies would look like. They'd be so effing adorable."

"What?" Had she gone mad?

"I can't wait to see what mine and Elliot's kids look like. I hope they get my hair though. Unless they're girls. Then they'd look like Natalie or Felicia. That would be so cool," Julia began babbling to herself.

I rolled my eyes and automatically tuned her out as I contemplated what I would say to Denny if he did actually ask me out. While it was true that I found him very attractive, I still had a lot of unanswered questions about his contradictory behaviour. Not wanting to dwell on it any more than I needed to, I changed the subject when Julia finally stopped mid-babble to take a breath and I decided that it would be best for me to just wait and see what would happen first before making any solid decisions.