(a/n: sorry if there are any breaches in continuity.)

After the farmer and Sam exited hastily, Abigail and Sebastian looked at each other in stunned silence. Sebastian's face retained shock, while Abigail's soon morphed into a crazed expression of awestruck incredulity mixed with tormented giddiness.

"Wow, that was—" Sebastian started, but was quickly cut off.

"I knew it!" Abigail excitedly claimed through gritted teeth, laughing as she got closer to Sebastian. "There were never any doubts in my mind, of course. But now I know! They're totally gay for each other. Do you know what that means, Sebastian?" Sebastian looked at Abigail with frightened confusion and shrugged.

"It means I—we have so much power!" Abigail paced around Sebastian.

"Does it?" Sebastian asked timidly.

Abigail, remembering her company, forced herself to calm down. She didn't want Sebastian to become an X factor in this. Sure, he was involved, but she didn't need him. And if he got a sense of her true intentions, he would inform Sam for sure. No, she had to make sure he stayed neutral and ignorant. "Sorry, no, haha, I just mean...well, isn't it crazy? I can't believe Sam likes guys."

"You're kidding, right?"

Abigail felt a sting of emotional remorse. "No, he never told me."

"Well, he never told me, either. But it's obvious."

"Whatever. Well, good for them."

Sebastian cocked an eyebrow at Abigail. "Hey, why did you stop us outside when you heard them talking?"

Abigail panicked. Only on the inside, though. Naturally, she had plenty of practice in keeping her cool. And kept her cool she did as she formulated a fake response. "I guess I couldn't help myself." She thought about what she wanted or even could tell Sebastian. "I had a feeling those two were up to no good."

"So you eavesdropped? That's, like, a huge breach of privacy. Don't you still want to be friends with Sam? Jeez, I know he left you a little worse for wear, but you should never do things like that. I mean, how would you feel if—"

"Oh, screw off, Sebastian! I know you wanted to listen just as much as I did. And besides, Sam's been treating me like dogshit so give me a little bit of a break, why don't you?" Abigail's anger towered over Sebastian. She knew he couldn't handle an emotionally-charged confrontation and, though she didn't want to lash out, knew it would get him off her back.

"Okay, okay, you're right, I'm sorry. But it's not like learning about them did us any good. So why do you care?"

"Curiosity. I mean, he is my ex-boyfriend. I wanna know who he moved on to."

"I guess that makes sense..." Sebastian trailed off, and Abigail didn't respond. She simply pursed her lips and let her mind race. Things were good.

Sam and I walked home together after our little incident. Sam was still on edge from the experience, I could tell, but he was also seemed less nervous in general. I figured now that he had finally talked to Abigail, although it was just a little intermittent hello-and-goodbye, he felt much more comfortable in the town. So we walked through the square as the sun set, casting the valley in a billowing shadow.

"And the hardest part about a kickflip is always landing it. Like, I can get my board to flip, but standing on it again, I mean, that's another story."

"You don't say." I hate to admit it, but Sam's skateboarding talk tends to go in one ear and out the other with me. I prefer when he rambles about music.

"But I've gotten a lot better." Sam continued his speech straight through my slightly-sarcastic approval. At least, he did, until something seemed to strike him. "Hey, by the way, you remember me talking about my dad, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, he wasn't supposed to come home until next spring, but we, uhh, we just got word that he'll be home within the next week." Sam stopped walking and sat on a bench next to the river.

"Oh, wow, that's great!" I replied while sitting next to him, trying my best to stay sincere despite the lack of excitement on Sam's face.

"Yeah, I guess. I just," Sam inhaled through his nose and looked at the sky. "I don't know how much I want to see him."

I looked at him, puzzled.

"I know that's ridiculous to say, Of course I want to see my dad. But I don't know how much he's changed, and me and Mom and Vincent, we've gotten so used to it being just the three of us. It's just, I know it's gonna be a weird change."

"Sam, it's okay to be worried. That would be weird, to just have someone who's supposed to be close to you but is really emotionally distant re-enter your life like that."

Sam smiled only a little until a distraught look returned to his face. "And, I-...I know I keep talking about this, but..." Sam started to tear up again. God, I hated seeing him like that. "but Mom knows about us. And if Dad knows, he'll, h-he'll," Sam panicked and tears welled in the corners of his eyes, as he stared straight ahead. He wasn't looking at the river, though, he was focused on his mind's eye. He was imagining something awful, knowing what his dad would do, I could tell by the look on his face. I had been there.

"Shhhh, it's okay." I looked around, making sure no one was nearby. Fortunately, almost the entire town went to the saloon on Saturday nights, so I knew we were safe when I hugged Sam close. I planted a kiss on his head as I fiddled with his golden locks. "I know it's scary. Your dad sounds like a tough dude. Well, not like, in a cool way. But he sounds intense, is what I mean, I guess..." My attempts to console Sam fell a little flat, but there was kind of nothing I could say. I remember Sam's stories about his dad. This was guy a you didn't want to mess with. And I was sure he would be the last one we would want finding out about us. Sucks that he's my boyfriend's dad, then!

"I know." Sam said, returning to reality. "It's only...when I was young, I wanted nothing more than to make him proud. But I was never good enough for him. He settles only for perfection. He's efficient and doesn't tolerate...well, to be honest, he doesn't tolerate most things. Poor Vincent barely remembers him, and what he does recall is of our dad being a hero. But I wouldn't call abandoning your family to go fight for a land that'll forget your name and toss you aside the first chance it gets very heroic!" Sam started to shout, realized the commotion he was making, and quieted back down.

"But he loved you, Sam. He still loves you. You're his son, and you might not be perfect in his eyes, but he can't deny that you're his son and you're a great kid."

Sam looked up toward me—he was still hunched over. "You-...you're right."

"And if he can't embrace the fact that you can't choose who you fall in love with, then he'll just need to get over it." At this, Sam looked back toward the river. The vacant look of distress returned to his face.

"Yeah..."

But I knew Sam was just worrying too much. People can change—I know it. And this was his dad we were talking about. There's no way he would reject his own son over something as true as whom he loves. People just need some convincing sometimes, that's all.

Abigail woke up excited the next morning. She had barely slept, she was frenetic at finally having solid proof to confirm her suspicions. Soon she would lay waste to their relationship. Alright, that feels like kind of a harsh way to put it. She just wanted them apart, and she knew how to do it. The first step was Jodi. It was Sunday, and Jodi went to the chapel in the back of Pierre's on Sundays. Better yet, she did so without Vincent or Sam. Afterward, Jodi would stick around and mindlessly shop for a couple of hours. This is when Abigail would catch her, butter her up a bit, remind her of the sweet, loving, responsible girl her son had so stupidly ditched in favor of that cocky newcomer farmer. And as soon as the topic of their former relationship came up, that's when she'd hit her with the "your dirty sinner of a son likes boys and is dating one right now" line. Of course it wouldn't be phrased like that, but Jodi would get the message. And once Jodi was sufficiently riled up, all that would be left would be to sit and watch the fireworks.

But by the time the afternoon rolled around, Abigail was a little more hesitant. She knew it would be obvious to Sam that if his mom found out today Abigail would have to have been the one to tell her. She knew Sam well enough to suspect he had used a little deductive reasoning on her convenient timing yesterday. No, she needed to take things slower. As much as she hated it, she needed to wait. But a little small talk with Jodi might help, so as soon as she heard the middle-aged laugh make its way past her doorway and toward the shop, Abigail headed out.

"Abby, nice to see you today! I almost forgot you live here." Pierre commented snidely upon seeing his daughter. Abigail rolled her eyes in response.

"Don't worry, soon enough I won't be!" Abigail reminded her father of time's inevitable passage and sent him into an existential whirlwind of the horrors of aging and watching those you love age alongside you, all the while being helpless and unable to stop the enraging, carnivorous tick of the clock. In other words, Pierre pouted remembering how old his daughter was.

Pierre quickly recovered. "Well, if you're going out, don't be too late."

"I won't." Abigail finally looked over to where she knew Jodi was standing. And indeed, there was Sam's mom, eyeing up a particularly hefty stem of bok choy.

"Jodi! How are you?" Abigail upped the charm factor as she walked over to the vegetable-enthused woman.

"Hm? Oh, Abigail! It's good to see you, it's been long. I'm doing great, and yourself?"

"Oh, I'm alright. I'm sad I don't get to see you as much."

Jodi gained that excited-mom look. "I know, I miss our coffee runs..."

"And our book talk..."

"And our endless complaints about you-know-who!" The two girls-at-heart laughed quietly at the insinuating joke.

"Tell me about it...so, what've you been up to?"

"Well," Jodi flipped her ponytail over her shoulder, "don't tell anyone, but," Jodi leaned into whisper, "Kent's coming home early!"

"Oh, Jodi, that's wonderful! I'm so glad to hear it. You must be so excited." Abigail returned with genuine excitement. Jodi grinned and nodded in response.

"When?" Abigail asked.

"A week from yesterday."

"Wow, that's amazing. I'm so excited for you guys!"

"It really will be great, I'm so-..." Jodi choked up a little. "Well, you know."

"Of course. Well, I'm glad we got to catch up, if only a little. But I told Sebastian I'd meet him in 5, and it's been about 5, hasn't it?"

"I don't want to keep you. Text me some time, though. Let's get coffee!"

"Sure thing!" Abigail smiled and waved as she exited the shop.

No way. No way. Kent was coming home. Sam told stories about that man all the time. He was insane. If he found out about him and the farmer, Kent would tear Sam to shreds. She was sure of it. This was a million times better than spilling the beans to Jodi. Jodi was kind and thoughtful and might at least hear Sam out. Kent was a headstrong nationalist Catholic who tolerates, well, almost nothing. She instantly hatched a new plan. All she had to do was wait a week, expose those two, crush their hopes and dreams, transform the farmer into a disgusting outcast in the eyes of the town, rescue Sam, regain his love, and she and he would live happily ever after. Foolproof.