So I know this really great guy and these last few weeks have been a mixture of heart-shattering sadness and fly-to-the-moon happiness. Sufficient to say, I was a little bit sidetracked and got a tad behind on this fic.
Isn't it just so funny how you finally get a good guy right when you really can't be together? No? Yeah, I didn't think so either.
CHAPTER STATS
Word Count (excluding A/N): 1425
Date Updated: 6-17-13
Current Review Count: 765
Chelsea yanked a stubborn tomato off of the vine and put it in the basket with the others. She'd been harvesting all day and she was still barely making a dent in her tomato crops. On one hand, this was a good thing because she would make a good amount of money—certainly at least enough to pay Chen back and then maybe get some corn seeds.
On the other hand, though, she was way too distracted to work efficiently enough to actually get everything shipped by nightfall.
She took the last tomato off of the last plant of the first plot. She'd gotten a late start after accidentally sleeping in, sure—but it had still taken her until after five to just finish harvesting one plot. At this rate, she wouldn't be done until close to midnight.
She didn't usually work this slowly. Her mind was just all over the place.
Vaughn was probably fine. There were only two missing people out from that shipwreck, and even though she didn't know that they weren't him—what were the odds of him actually going out on the boat when there was going to be bad storms? And besides, his company had called to say he wouldn't see there.
But then it was also strange that he hadn't called to say that.
And it was also noteworthy that there had been absolutely no word from him in over a week. No calls, no letters. It was like he was gone.
Chelsea shook her head and wiped at her forehead. That was nonsense. He wasn't gone. And besides, he would call if something bad had happened. He was probably fine.
Ooo
The next day was a Saturday. Chelsea had finished all her harvesting and slept in again.
There was no word from Vaughn even though he would be back at his apartment in the city.
"Morning, Chelsea," Julia said as the farmer walked into the animal shop. The blonde surveyed her friend's sluggish appearance. "Jeez, you look like you didn't sleep at all."
Chelsea just shrugged. "I was up late harvesting and had trouble staying asleep for very long."
Julia gave Chelsea an understanding smile. "He's fine, Chelsea. If you want you can call him on our phone to make sure."
Chelsea perked up at the idea. She was so past the awkward phase she'd been stuck in last week—at this point, she just needed to hear his voice and make sure he was alright. "Are you sure?"
"Of course," Julia laughed. She picked up the phone and grabbed a phone book. "Here, his number's right there."
"Thanks," Chelsea smiled and found Vaughn's name in the hundreds of city listings. She took a deep breath and dialed before putting the phone up to her ear.
It rang, and it rang again. It seemed to just keep ringing. After a dozen rings or so, Chelsea realized he didn't have an answering machine, so she hung up.
She met Julia's concerned gaze. "No answer. He must… not be home."
"Yeah," Julia nodded. "You can try again tomorrow."
Ooo
Tomorrow came and she tried again.
"Any luck?" Julia asked, but she already knew the answer as Chelsea set the phone back down on the counter.
"He's probably just really busy," Chelsea said, mostly to herself. "He probably has lots of errands to run—right?"
"Definitely," Julia nodded enthusiastically, severely overcompensating.
Chelsea looked out the window at the fading summer light, trying not to notice her friend's obvious attempt to make her feel better. "It's getting pretty late. I should head home."
"Aren't you going to go to the Diner?" Julia asked, pursing her lips. Chelsea had been working all day and the blonde doubted that she'd stopped at all to eat.
"I'm not hungry," Chelsea said absently as she shook her head.
"But Chels," Julia said, frowning. "You really have to eat—especially considering how much work you've been doing."
"I'm fine," she mumbled, still looking out the window.
Julia sighed. "Chelsea, didn't you promise Vaughn you'd take care of yourself?"
"What?" Chelsea looked at her now, her eyes cloudy. "You're saying it like he's—I don't know, like he's dead or—something."
Julia shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant. I just meant that he's going to be really mad if—when he comes back and sees you emaciated and half-dead."
Chelsea was silent for several moments. Finally, she stood up. "I should go. I'm tired."
"Alright," Julia said, standing as well. She walked her to the door. "Goodnight, Chels. See you tomorrow."
Chelsea nodded and walked through the twilight to her farm, leaving Julia in the doorway of the animal shop.
Julia's eyebrows knit together in concern. "That girl is going to run herself into the ground."
"Julia, honey, close the door—you'll let the bugs inside."
"Yes, Ma," Julia said, walking back inside. She leaned against the refrigerator in the kitchen, watching her mother put the last of the dishes away. "Ma, I'm worried about Chelsea."
Mirabelle nodded. "Poor girl has been through so much these last few weeks."
"And now with Vaughn gone MIA, she's all but stopped functioning," Julia looked up at the ceiling helplessly. "She's going to starve herself or work into exhaustion at this rate."
"I'll make her a box lunch and you can take it to her tomorrow," Mirabelle said, giving her daughter a warm pat on the arm. "I'll fix her a peanut butter and honey sandwich. She won't be able to resist."
Julia smiled halfheartedly, but shook her head. "It's not that she doesn't have food—she has some money now from the harvest. She's just not eating."
Mirabelle stopped and folded up a washcloth, shifting the bulk of her attention to her daughter. "She really is worried about Vaughn, isn't she?"
"Ma," Julia shook her head, "she's totally in love with the guy. She hasn't heard from him in a week and a half. The boat he was supposed to be on sunk. Of course she's worried."
"Well, when you put it like that, I'd be worried, too," Mirabelle nodded, turning her gaze to the ceiling thoughtfully.
"Do you think Vaughn is alright?" Julia asked after several moments, breaking one silence and creating one that was even thicker.
After a while, Mirabelle sighed and looked down. "He's probably fine, Julia. We're all just a little paranoid right now."
Ooo
Chelsea tossed around in her bed, her blankets tangling between her legs and her clothes sticking to her body with sweat. It had been a long, hot summer night spent mostly with nightmares reliving her own shipwreck experience, or laying away in the darkness imagining how Vaughn's went.
But now the sun was creeping up over the horizon and dimly lighting her dusty farmhouse. She rolled herself onto the floor and wobbled, her vision going black momentarily and her head feeling light. She steadied herself on the edge of her table until she felt more stable and changed into her work clothes for the day.
It was Wednesday morning. Vaughn should be showing up sometime in the late morning, if the boats were on time.
Half of her was a strange mixture of relief and hope, looking forward to the promise of at least seeing him again. The other half was dreading the thing that made her stomach church and her heart beat uncomfortable fast—that she wouldn't be seeing him again.
But it wasn't even six in the morning yet and she had chores to do before it was even remotely time for his ferry to come in.
Heaving a deep sigh, Chelsea marched into the already-warm, mid-summer morning and broke out her watering can. Her muscles screamed with every crop she wetted, but she pushed on. She thought it was strange that she's been working so hard on the farm yet, instead of gaining muscle, she seemed to be thinning out all over. In fact, she was starting to look positively gaunt.
She finished her watering as quickly as her arms would allow and made herself pull a few weeds from around her crops despite her body's protests. By the time she'd finished, it was barely after nine and she felt almost ready to pass out.
Taking in a deep, warm breath of summer air, she forced her legs to carry her down to the beach, where she plopped down on the sand by the dock and fixed her gaze out on the horizon, waiting for that familiar black dot to appear.
It never did.
Moral of the story is that love sucks. I'll bet Chelsea would agree with me right now. Let's hear some encouraging reviews because everyone can use some encouragement every now and again, yeah?