Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm very sorry that I've been gone for a while. I'd like to take a moment and just talk with my readers because you guys know me pretty intimately if you've read my work. The beginning chapters of this story were very hard for me to write. Earlier this year, when I wrote the first few chapters involving the death of Pappy Pete, my own grandfather (who I call Pappy) was diagnosed with leukemia. I wrote those chapters knowing that one day in the not-so-far future I would have to go through something very similar, and on October 24, 2014 my own Pappy passed away. I have lived with him my whole life and he was like a father to me since my real father is not part of my life. Every night, when I would be up surfing the web or writing this story, he would be up too and we'd talk and eat at like 4 in the morning haha! We are both night owls. His bedroom is right next to mine and as I wrote in my room, I would hear him in there snoring or playing music. He liked reggae music a lot and steel drums. He liked to watch me play Harvest Moon, especially when I would fish or water crops. In real life, we had a big garden with tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, almost all of the main HM crops!

I am having a really hard time coping with the loss. It's hard to stay strong and find purpose once you have lost someone you love so much, and right now I am finding it hard to be happy and live my life normally. This silly story has taken on a much bigger role for me now; it's helping me to realize that there is a reason to be happy even after someone you love very much leaves this world. Look at all the crazy, fun things Jenny is doing even though her Pappy passed away. Even though she misses him, he lives on through her and by living her life fully she is honoring Pappy Pete and his memory. So I continue to write this story with the hope that I will be as strong as Jenny :)

I smiled today when I read your reviews. It's been hard to smile these past few weeks, so thank you very much.

Music Suggestion: "'75 aka Stay With You" by Lemon Jelly.

Chapter 25: Another Summer's Promise Almost Gone
(Jenny's POV)

'What have I done?'

I kept asking myself that as I laid in the mud, my body contorted in an unnatural way. I had been like that for some time, but for how long exactly I didn't know. I had left the Yodel Ranch in the late afternoon and decided to take a walk up to Mother's Hill to my favorite spot among the clearing just near the peak. I liked to think there, especially during the Indian Summer days of early fall. Somehow I had lost my footing on my descent and had tumbled down the steep edge of the mountain, tangled in brush on the last rock ledge before the plummet into the Goddess Pond. My resolve weakening, I began to cry softly as my struggled movements only pushed me further between the rock layers. The sun was beginning to set and soon it would be completely dark on the mountain. The area I was trapped in was already cast in shade from the changing phase of the seasons and I could already hear the murmur of night crickets. It was rare for anyone to venture this far up into the mountain unless it was a special occasion. It could be days before someone even came within hearing range of where I was trapped. I looked up at the expansive autumn foliage blanketed across the rolling hills and remembered that this was Pappy's favorite season. He loved to go into the mountains on days like these. I cried for him. I cried for myself.

Accepting my fate there on the mountain, I let myself drift off thinking that it was okay to just die. It had been so hard living with the pain of not being with Pappy during his final days. 'How could I live the rest of my life without ever hearing his voice again, or seeing his face?' I had asked myself these questions almost every day since I had come back to Mineral Town, and finally I succumbed to the melancholic thoughts and decided that this is what I wanted. I wanted to die only I had been too afraid to do it myself, I reasoned, so fate put me here. I looked out again across the mountains and began to sing a tune I had known since I was little.

"La, lala la, la la-la la-la..."

My foot started to go numb from where it was trapped but the rest of my body still felt strong, save for a few cuts that were starting to burn. Suddenly, an overwhelming energy came over me and I became scared. I was scared to die. This is not where my life was going to end. I was not subject to fate. I had May to take care of, and people who I cared about, and they cared about me too. I also had a choice, and if Pappy had been in my position he would fight to the last breath. I began to panic and a loud scream escaped from the depths of my being. I screamed again, louder and louder until I had no more breath and even still I screamed.

I'm not sure how long it was until my calls were answered by Dr. Trent, who had decided to stay out just a bit later than usual that evening to look for medicinal herbs high up near the lake. Eventually, he and Gotz managed to get me out of my precarious position and to the hospital. Thankfully, I had suffered more emotional wounds rather than physical, having only a sprained ankle and a bruised pride. As I watched Elli gingerly wrap my leg with gauze I became angry with myself, though at the time I wasn't sure why. Then, I heard a door open and a familiar shuffling of feet coming into my hospital room. I turned to see Jack standing in the doorway with a troubled expression on his face, his breathing was heavy and his cheeks were flushed as if he had been running. I put my head down and diverted eye contact because I was so mad at myself for being in this situation. And, unfairly, I was mad that he hadn't been there to help me but I didn't voice any of these thoughts out-loud.

Elli recounted Dr. Trent's story to Jack as she finished dressing my minor wounds. As they spoke about me in the third-person, I managed to pull myself off of the bed and put a bit of weight on my foot, struggling not to wince from the pain.

"Oh, Jenny!" cried out Elli as she rushed to my side, supporting me under the arm with her small frame. Jack followed right behind her and held my other arm but I pulled away.

"Stop it," I said sternly to both of them. They looked at me in shock. I stood up on my own for a few seconds, allowing the pain in my foot to subside a little. "Thank you, Elli, you've been great but I want to go home. I can walk by myself-"

"No!" they both said in unison. Elli insisted that I use a crutch but I refused, finding it only to be a hindrance and I was really not keen on the helpless feeling it gave me to use it. Jack stayed right by my side as I hobbled slowly down the stone path through town. I wished that he hadn't shown up. I wanted to walk on my own and not have to feel like someone was watching me as I struggled.

"The more you walk on it, the longer it may take for it to heal," he finally said. Sensing my humiliation, I could tell he chose his words carefully as not to upset me more.

"I know..." I replied in a tone that sounded more defeated than I meant for it to. My foot was really starting to hurt and we hadn't even made it to the library yet. The street lamps hummed above us as the dry leaves rustled around our feet.

"Well, I'd offer to carry you but I know it's against your strict independent woman code."

"Smartass," I replied with a slight grin. He knew me better than I gave him credit for. That fluttering feeling filled my chest again and the nervous butterflies took flight in my stomach as I thought about him carrying me. "Maybe a piggy-back ride wouldn't violate my code of independence."

He chuckled at my response and wasted no time in hoisting me up on his back in much the same way he picked up May after a long afternoon of running around. He carried me with ease as we continued on past the library and the Aja Winery. My arms were crossed around his neck, holding on to his shirt for support as my chin rested on his shoulder. We hadn't been this close in so long; really, not since the night of the Goddess Festival. I had successfully forced much of that memory out of my mind since I had believed he didn't care for me in the way I did for him. I kept my thoughts and my breathing steady until my cheek brushed up against his and I could smell his warm, familiar scent. My heart sank.

"You okay?" he asked, revealing himself to be a little out-of-breath. I tried to hold it back, but my lips began to quiver and the flood gates finally gave way as I sobbed onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying," I managed to say though the tears. I'm still not sure why I started crying so much. "I must be hormonal or something," I added with a small laugh in an attempt to make light of it all. He laughed too as he shifted my weight higher up onto his back.

"I think you've just had a rough day. We're almost home."

I smiled when he said 'home.' It wasn't long until we stepped onto the familiar land and Scouty came running over to greet us. Even though it was dark, the moon was bright behind the trees and I could see the waxy leaves of the thick eggplant blooms glistening in the field. I let out a sigh and then took a deep breath of the cool, night air as Jack made his way up the front porch stairs and let me down near the swing. I felt much more at ease than I had earlier, despite the dull ache in my leg. Scouty paced the length of the porch, his paws pattering along the old, wooden planks as Jack sat next to me on the swing.

"I'm upset with myself that I wasn't there to help you," he said to me, his eyebrows furrowed beneath his brown hair as he leaned down to examine my ankle, "we should probably put your foot up, maybe put ice on it, to bring down the swelling."

His touch was so careful and light, yet it was a man's touch. Despite the slightly sensual nature of the situation, one look at my bruised and swollen ankle killed the moment for me and I pulled away. I changed the subject, asking how he had been and what he had been up to that day. I kept my legs stretched out forward like a little kid as he pushed the swing back and forth. He recounted the dinner with Karen's family, telling me about how her mother was under the impression that he and Karen were dating. 'Yep, I called that one...' I remember thinking to myself. Then he said that a rumor had been going around that he and I had been seen kissing up on Mother's Hill! Karen's mother, Sasha, revealed through her anger that much of the town thought that our 'relationship' was despicable because they were under the false impression that Karen was Jack's girlfriend. Initially, I become angry that a rumor had been spread about us, and a false one at that (though I wished so much that it were true). He then continued on, telling me about his conversation with Karen and what she had said about me.

"Oh," I was at a loss for words, "I...I never knew she felt that way. That really sucks to think that I've impacted someone who I always thought was my friend so negatively... and hurt them without even knowing." I dwelt on it a while longer, eventually becoming angry at Karen for being so spiteful and causing harm to my reputation. It hurt. It hurt because she was my friend-one of my closest too, despite our differences-and even though I had feelings for Jack, I had put them aside for her. I began to cry again, only this time I knew why.

"I'm so mad at her...now everyone in town has another reason to think badly of me! Just when I thought everything was going good again...now I realize it was all false hope and that when people in town asked me what I had been up to it wasn't because they actually cared about me, it was because they just wanted to use me for gossip! I just want people to like me but somehow I keep fucking that all up!"

Without hesitation Jack put his arm around me and tucked me close to his chest. I was startled by it, but I didn't fight it and instead let him rub my back as I calmed down.

"It's ironic that Karen's impression is that everyone likes you, and here you are saying that no one really does."

"I shouldn't care," I proclaimed, "I shouldn't give a shit about what others think of me! That's my problem... I'm weak."

"No," he replied sternly, pulling away slightly so he could look me in the eyes, "you aren't weak. You are the strongest person I know. You take on May as if she were your own daughter and you struggle every day to make this farm what it used to be. And it's only natural to be somewhat concerned about what other people think of you. Our interactions with one another are so important, arguably they are the basis of everything we do in our lifetime..."

I felt a rush of blood to my head as the silence grew between us. It felt like we were gravitating towards one another, and my heart started to beat faster and faster. It felt like the perfect opportunity to go in for a kiss, but neither of us did.

"'Non nobis solum nati sumus'," he said in his trademark academic tone. I gave him a perplexed look as he grinned at me. It figures; he would break the mood with some philosophical jargon. Assuming the romantic moment between us had passed, I sighed with a smile and asked what it meant.

"Not for ourselves alone are we born."

I smiled and looked out onto the fields as I thought about the deeper meaning of the quote, "I wish you had known Pappy."

"I did, a little bit," he said looking over at me, "I'm glad I came that summer. I feel like, if I hadn't known him, there's no way I could ever really know you."

Tears began to roll down my cheeks. I thought of Pappy again; the way his voice rang strong and loud across the summer field grass, the way his hands were rough from the work he had done but still soft when he held my hand. His eyes were so blue, and his hair a silver gray. Even in old age he was still strong and had the posture of a man 20 years younger. I missed him-and I would miss him for the rest of my days without him. Jack held me close as I began to talk through the tears.

"It's so strange to think about how I only knew Pappy for a small part of his life. Less than half really, but look how close we were! I think about all the people he's known throughout his life; his mom and dad, brothers and sisters, all his friends and his wife. They had all passed away by the time I knew him. But he wasn't crying every day about them, even though I'm sure he was very sad about it. He continued to live on and be happy, and he made my life so much better..." I looked up at Jack, "would you be upset if I said I didn't want to sell the farm anymore?"

He smiled and shook his head, "Not at all. I'd be really happy."

I wasn't as surprised as I probably should have been by his answer, but I guess deep down I always knew that he never wanted to leave this place either. And, maybe, he deliberately missed the ferry that day back in spring because he remembered that silly promise he made to me when we were kids. He said he remembered that promise, but I never asked if he stayed because of it or if it was all merely chance.

"Will you stay with me, like you promised you would all those years ago?"

The moonlight was so bright, illuminating half of his face and casting a soft glow onto the other. Then, he kissed me. Softly yet so surely. All the nervous energy that had previously inhabited me melted away and a relieving warmth filled my heart like a violin melody expanding through a quiet room.

"I promised you a long time ago that I'd come back," he said as he tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes, "it might have been fate that brought us together again, but it was my choice to stay with you."