Koro sat still and looked at Gotz with wide eyes as he carried his heavy tool box into the house and set it on the floor with a loud clank. At the sudden sound, Koro let out a few yips, wagging his tail in an agitated manner, quickly placing himself between the stranger and his master. Claire was about to scold her dog when Gotz crouched down and looked at him kindly. Koro's tail slowed immediately as he looked at the carpenter with a tilted head.

A large, calloused hand was offered to the pup and he padded over to him, investigating the guest with suspicious sniffs. Koro gave the hand a lick and happy bark, wagging his tail.

"See? No one to be afraid of," Gotz laughed, reaching in from the side to scratch under the dog's chin.

It wasn't long until the corgi/beagle mix flopped over on his side for pets. Claire shook her head with a giggle, returning to her seat and looking over her spreadsheets once more. It was drizzling this morning and she was taking the opportunity to plan her finances for the months ahead. "He's really quite shameless."

"He seems awfully protective of you, though. That's a good quality in a dog…" His dark eyes had a faraway look to them as he let out a soft sigh.

"You seem familiar with handling them," Claire ventured. She watched his hand freeze as she said this and Koro looked up at him with wide eyes, silently asking why he had stopped scratching his belly.

"Had a white German Shepherd eleven and a half years ago."

Claire began trying to imagine the large wolf-like dog, but the oddly specific time frame Gotz had given left her curious and distracted. She pushed the papers away from her; it was unlikely she was going to focus on them at the moment.

The man's words caught her by surprise. "His name was Waffle." He let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. "My little Mila named him…" His face grew somber at once, the smile fading from his mouth.

She smiled at both of the cute names he had provided. "Mila…" Claire echoed the name under her breath. Did he have a daughter around her age? Where did Mila live?

"She was the sweetest little thing…" Gotz trailed off, moving to his toolbox and retrieving a tape measure along with a pad and pencil. He suddenly became absorbed in his work as he took the measurements of the area he was going to work on first. "Always saw the good in things, just like her mother… Everyone said we balanced each other out."

Claire noted his use of the past tense and felt an intense wave of sadness.

"She and that dog were always playin' together…" He let out a soft chuckle that had a hint of fondness to it. "Tug o' war… That dog could pull her across the room, but he was so gentle with her... We were real happy, y'know…" Gotz could still hear the record player on rainy nights, twirling with his beautiful wife in the living room. Little Mila would bob her head to the music and do some spinning of her own, plopping on the floor loudly when she got dizzy, collapsing in giggles. He could still see Hilda tucking their precious daughter into bed and luring him into their own with a warm smile and loving eyes. Her lips were always so soft and tasted like vanilla lip balm… The man's voice died down a bit as he scratched some numbers onto his pad of paper, his throat tightening. "This is probably hard for you to believe, but Harris used to tease me and my wife, Hilda, for being too lovey-dovey…" He shook his head with a snort, but Claire could see his eyes fill up with tears. Gotz blinked them away, tucking his pencil behind his ear. "But it wasn't like I hadn't caught him and Duke's girl kissin' in the vineyard before. A real romantic, that boy used to be… Always asking me for advice with women…"

She was a little surprised he had brought up Harris of all people, but his roundabout way of speaking seemed to help him collect his thoughts.

"Hasn't been the same since Aja left. Duke and Manna took it pretty hard, too... Still do, really. You lose a part of yourself when someone you love is no longer a part of your life," he said with a regretful sigh.

Claire once more thought of the letter she had sent her parents and she felt a pang in her stomach. Had she unknowingly cut them out of her life as she made the choice to move here? That seemed so extreme to her… It wasn't like her older sisters, Simone and Colette, had never moved out themselves…

Of course, they moved out to marry wealthy doctors… Claire bit back a smirk. Doctor Trent, while kind and polite, would not have met her parents' criteria for a suitable husband, as he likely didn't have much extra money due to a low number of patients. They'd likely say he wouldn't be able to support a family.

Her cheeks were suddenly set ablaze. What about Cliff being a suitable hus-?

"There was a bad storm that week," Gotz began. "It'll be twelve years this winter."

Claire blinked, settling back down into reality as the blood rushed around her ears. Her eyes darted to the spreadsheet.

This is the kind of planning I'm focusing on right now! Don't be ridiculous, Claire!

She repeated Gotz's last line in her head and she felt her heart sink and her blood run cold, too stunned to inwardly scold herself for her lack of focus. "A… st-storm…?" Claire gulped.

Gotz would never forget that day, yelling in the mountains until his voice was hoarse and going numb at the sight of Hilda's rose-colored scarf peeking out of a snow bank. Adrenaline had coursed through him as he dug desperately, and it overflowed from him in the form of uncontrollable sobbing. The sight had been etched into his brain – the three of them curled up together under the snow, attempting to warm each other. Waffle had draped himself across their laps to offer his dear friends some warmth… They were all three slightly bluish and still; they had been gone for hours.

It never got easier with time, and for a while, Gotz wished they had taken him along with them. He had simply lain in the snow sobbing until Harris, Duke, Doug, and Zack found him, dragging the broken man indoors.

He'd never hear those delighted high-pitched giggles and playful barking again. He'd never again kiss those warm vanilla lips…

Sometimes, in his weaker moments, he still wished he could have gone with them.

"Took all three of 'em," Gotz choked. He quickly cleared his throat and looked down at his pad of paper, letting out a soft grunt when a couple of tears splashed onto the paper.

He looked up at a flash of white in the corner of his eye. Claire was standing beside him with a hand on his arm and offering him a handkerchief with her free one.

"That must have been hard. I'm really sorry." Her eyes were sincere and he wasn't sure why it surprised him so much. He had to remind himself that no one blamed him for what had happened.

He gratefully accepted the cloth, wiping his eyes. "They were trapped in the snow… Waffle… was sittin' on their laps, tryin' to keep 'em warm…" His heart broke all over again as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

Claire's hands flew over her mouth and her face screwed up as she held back some tears of her own at the very mental image. She quickly returned one hand to Gotz's hairy arm, stroking him soothingly.

The pup at his feet caught him by surprise. Koro had flattened himself against the floor and rested his chin on the top of Gotz's boots, looking up at him with wide eyes as his tail wagged slowly. The man gave Claire a heavy pat on the shoulder, apologizing under his breath for getting upset.

His eyes moved back down to Koro and he let out a soft chuckle, unable to hide the pain in his voice. "He's gonna grow up to be a good dog… He's got a strong heart like Waffle did…"

Claire's voice quavered. "I can only pray to have a dog that amazing…"

Gotz had thrown himself back into his work, muttering to Koro as he jotted down his measurements. Claire looked out the window. The skies had cleared and the ground was soft. It was the perfect time to start clearing out more of her dead and dying tomato plants.

Leaving a couple of pieces of fruit on the table as a snack for the carpenter, Claire headed outside to tackle her next project. A gust of cool autumn air blew through her hair and while it was refreshing, it also reminded her that she was going to need to buckle down if she was going to live comfortably during the cold months. A mental image of Gotz's family in the snow flashed through her mind and she pushed it away with a shiver, swallowing the lump that started to form in her throat.

Her sadness faded with time as she became absorbed in tearing out the old plants and tossing them over her shoulder onto an old tarp she found in the barn. When the tarp got full, she dragged it out to the compost heap, adding the plants to the pile. It was monotonous, simple work, but she found she didn't mind too much as she smiled at the results of her labor. The ground was still so soft from her previous tilling that it didn't need to be done again to plant new crops.

She hummed a couple of the tunes they had played at the music festival, but she stopped when she noticed a blob of pink out of the corner of her vision.

"Claire…" Popuri was looking over the fence at her with wide garnet eyes.

She wondered if she wanted to talk about the situation with May the day before. "Oh, hey, Popuri. What's up?"

Popuri looked behind her, and upon seeing her brother occupied with sharpening his axe, she hoisted her skirts in one hand and hopped over the wooden fence. Her hair and garments fluttered down beautifully as she landed and Claire absentmindedly wished once again that she was beautiful and feminine.

"I just wanted to say hello…" She walked over to Claire's patch of dead plants and ripped up a few, adding them to her heap. The farmer was grateful for the help and they pulled up a few plants in silence. She glanced at Popuri's bare hands and was about to offer her some work gloves when the Popuri spoke. "I kinda wanted to thank you for handling things so well the other day… I suppose I might've been a bit harsher with Barley and Zack than I should have been…"

Claire wasn't sure why Popuri was thanking her; they had both been dragged into the situation by way of May's crying, and it wasn't as if either of them was going to walk away at that point.

"Sometimes I wish I was braver like you and Ann and Karen," Claire admitted with a wry smile. "It can be frustrating when adults are the immature ones."

"You're telling me…" Popuri rolled her eyes. "Zack acts like he's the only Mom can rely on. I think he's living in a fairy tale; that's just the way he wants it to be…"

Claire felt a little uncomfortable as she suddenly remembered his flushed cheeks and fond gazes directed at the woman with the soft pink hair. "He does realize your mum's married, right?"

Popuri nodded with a laugh. "He's good friends with Dad. We all know he's too much of a gentleman to overstep his boundaries. I think he's mostly just overprotective; I doubt he thinks he's got an actual chance with her."

Claire frowned. "I'd imagine that would be kind of lonely."

"Yeah… I don't recall him ever having a girlfriend since he's lived here…" Popuri tossed a tomato plant behind her. "I think it would make Mom really happy to see him with someone who makes him happy."

Claire recalled the sad smile Zack had given to May and his shy mannerisms around the young girl. "Yeah… I don't think he was trying to make anyone upset yesterday…"

"Oh, I know that," Popuri replied. "Zack has a kind heart; he'd never try to hurt someone on purpose. I'd like to think most people don't…"

Claire nodded, a little unsure of what she meant by that comment. The two worked in silence for a few minutes and Claire focused her attention back to the cooler weather. She scanned the sky to the west, watching the birds fly by and idly wondering if Cain was too far away to see from where she was at. It was definitely a nice day for being outdoors; she could hardly remember a time where she wasn't covered completely in sweat while working. Spring felt like an eternity ago…

"So, we had a busy summer, huh?"

Popuri's sudden change of subject startled her. Claire realized with embarrassment that she had been so preoccupied with the birds in the sky and thought of getting her fields cleared that she didn't notice Popuri's eyes had grown in size. "Yeah. It was very eventful. It's kind of hard to believe that summer's only a few months long. Is… everything alright?" Claire asked gently, letting the tomato plant in her hand drop to the earth, stunned at the mood shift.

Popuri's eyes filled with tears as she tugged on a particularly stubborn vine, her deflated happiness keeping her from being able to finish her task. She looked around her before speaking, much like she did the day before when they met to pick up May. "Ah, I'm sorry… It's just… It's hard to talk to Karen about it because, well, she sees my brother all the time and wouldn't understand." She paused and let go of the plant, weaving her fingers together anxiously. When she spoke again, her voice was very soft. "Claire… you know what it feels like to be in… love…" She watched a few tears fall to the earth, leaving two small damp spots where the moisture hit the soil.

Claire wasn't sure how to respond to this. The mere idea that someone knew about her feelings for Cliff without her mentioning it first was dizzying. Her heart thudded in her ears and her knees went weak; she hadn't even gained the courage to tell Karen the full details yet. Flustered, she reached into the pocket of her overalls to produce a handkerchief for her friend and realized with surprise she had already lent it out to Gotz.

Popuri was already brushing the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Sorry… I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. I would never share that with anyone else, of course… I can just see the way you… glow around him, y'know…"

Claire felt her cheeks burning brighter by the moment and she played with a strand of her hair, a little unsure of what to say. She found that part of her was dying to gush about him and the other side of her was begging to keep quiet. Crushes were much simpler as a teenager, Claire thought with an inward sigh. Lost in her conflicting feelings, she barely realized that she was silently giving Popuri a shy nod.

Popuri's hand moved to Claire's shoulder as she acknowledged her hesitancy. "I won't pry into your business, but I noticed he hasn't been around much for the past week or so. If his hunting is picking up like you mentioned, you won't see him every day like you did before... I just…" Popuri took a deep breath as she attempted to level her breathing. She had grown so accustomed to visiting the beach every single day, and since the season changed, that location no longer held the magic and reprieve she craved from her everyday life. "I can relate, y'know?" Her voice became weak as Claire put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "How… how do you plan t-to… cope? Never seeing him, I mean?" Popuri broke into a sob.

Claire shook her head. While she definitely was starting to notice Cliff wasn't constantly at her side anymore, it didn't leave her particularly upset. "I-it's not that bad because I know that after the season's over-" Claire's voice died in her throat as her stomach dropped. She never realized how hard it must be every year for Popuri to say goodbye to Kai, especially when she couldn't talk about him very openly with her own brother. "I know he needs to make an income for himself if he wants to keep living at the inn…"

Popuri was silent for a few moments as she finished wiping her eyes and reflected on Claire's words. "You're right. I should be glad that he's taking the effort to do what he loves and wanting to live his own life…" She sniffed and ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it a bit.

Claire quickly realized with a bit of surprise and relief that Popuri had changed her focus to Kai.

"That's not easy to do," Claire admitted. "I know from experience…" She kicked her feet in the dirt a bit, a little embarrassed at the thought of her own parents not being supportive of her decision to move to Mineral Town. "B-but… the best we can do is be supportive of the people we c-care about," she stammered, flushing as her voice squeaked.

Popuri mulled over Claire's advice as she looked up at the clouds in the sky and Claire noticed that her companion's eyes flashed with an expression she had never seen before. "It's about being stronger then, huh…? I… I wanna be stronger, too," she murmured, the autumn breeze playing at her pink curls. "Maybe you're right…" She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked deep in thought for several silent moments. She finally turned toward Claire with a grin on her face, her eyes glowing. "I'm going to become a better woman. I'm in… love now, after all." Despite the blush in her cheeks, there was an aura of maturity over her that was new. There was no hiding now that she had developed over the summer, and her emotions had a new depth to them.

A smile crossed Claire's face; she was glad that Popuri was growing. She only wished she could say the same about herself. Now that Popuri had mentioned Cliff's absence, she found herself dwelling on it and her heart unexpectedly aching. "I believe that love can be wonderful," she whispered, "and I believe it can accomplish great things." She thought of Carter's sentiments when she first met Cliff. Surely they were both happier now that they had a close friend that they could talk to. Whether or not her romantic feelings would actually be able to help him remained to be seen, she thought as she bit her lip, but she could have hope for the future.

Popuri gave a small nod and her hair bounced as she did so. "Kai deserves a strong woman who can help him. He might seem cheery on the surface, but he has his share of troubles, too," she confessed. "I want to be the one that he can turn to. I want him to find comfort in me." Her voice cracked as she impatiently dabbed away a few more tears. "When summer rolls around again…" Popuri paused as she slowed down her breathing and looked up at her friend with a crooked smile. "He's going to find a woman, not a girl, who has been waiting patiently for him."

Claire gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder, pulling her into a warm hug. "I know that you can make that a reality, Popuri."

Hearing her validation made her heart soar. Popuri gave her a kind smile as she blinked away the last of her tears, letting out a congested laugh. "You are always so formal. You can call me Poppy, y'know!" When given a shy nod in return, she reached for Claire's hand and gave it a pat. "And… I think you can make your own dreams come true, too. There are a lot of people rooting for you. I know I'm not the only one who thinks you're a great farmer." She gave Claire a playful wink. "I think once the hunting season's over, you'll come out of this stronger just like me and Kai will. We just have to both remain patient and work hard."

"You're right." Claire grinned as she turned back to her tomato plants, pulling them up with new vigor.

"And we've got to let our men work hard, too!" Popuri murmured with a giggle and a light nudge. "Let them follow their dreams!"

"O-our?!" Claire stood up abruptly, a few stray blonde locks getting into her face. She impatiently brushed away her hair and shook her head.

"Hey, we can pretend, right? No harm done!" She looked back over the fence and noticed her brother was curiously watching them. She swished her skirts back and forth, a smile playing at her lips. "Well, I think I'm going to head back on over and help Rick with something, whether he wants me to or not!"

Claire let out a soft laugh. "Alright. See you later, Poppy."

The young woman beamed at her as she hopped back over the fence, jogging to catch up with her brother. Popuri had changed so much in just the past couple of months that Claire couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Despite this, she had a ways to go in maturing, Claire realized with a soft chuckle.

Still, entertaining the thought that Cliff's heart belonged to her was rather inviting… To see that warm smile reserved just for her and to wrap her fingers around his and share a fond gaze, not saying anything, but just enjoying one another's company and being grateful that by some twist of fate their hearts had been brought together…

The thoughts gave her a different glow than her fantasies from back in the springtime.

Perhaps there were some things it was alright to indulge in a little…

Author's Note: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I always felt really bad for Popuri at the beginning of fall; I'd imagine she's missing Kai and doesn't really feel comfortable talking to anyone about it. I also felt for Gotz when you learn that he lost his family in a storm up in the mountains. Poor guy…

Each and every review means so much to me, and I am grateful for your support! I'll see you in the next chapter – be prepared for a doozy!