Aside from Leah, Rei had grown really close to Robin. She was ever thankful for that cabin upgrade and she now had a working stove, fridge and a bathroom with hot water. To show her thanks, she continuously loaded up baskets of fresh produce to give to her.
And of course in return, Robin showed her a few more wood working techniques. Rei's favorite blueprint involved the bee houses. She constructed a few and set them up around the wildflowers near her property. Wildflower honey was always hard to come by in the city, and she was so thankful she could make it now. Plus, honey always seemed to be a great gift for the villagers.
It happened so fast, she thought as she watched Miso chase butterflies around her garden. I went from city girl to this. Part of her felt a little gnawing that she knew it was because the Junimos were helping her out. But it gave way whenever she delivered foraged goods, fish or crops to them. There was one plaque that gave her pause however: the gems and minerals from the mines. She was not much of a miner, and part of her was scared to go down into them. The blackness of the entryway screamed danger, and every part of her being cautioned against it. No mines for now, she decided, besides she still had autumn crops to tend to.
With her crops, she found herself wanting more information. She read as many books in the library as possible about growing tips and even bought herself a Farmer's Almanac. This summer she would plant coffee beans, gourds, peppers and tomatoes. Pierre had blueberry starters in his shop, and she couldn't resist those either. So she had set to work that week, under the summer sun, and often took small breaks to dip her toes in the pond.
A knocking at her door one warm evening surprised her. When she opened it, she cocked her head to the side in amusement. It was the Trio: Sam, Abigail and Sebastian.
"Hey New Girl!" Sam never stopped with the nicknames. "We wanted to see if you wanted to come catch fireflies with us!" He held out a glass jar to her.
She smiled, "Sure, let me find some shoes." And she welcomed them into her house.
"This place is so cute!" Abigail gushed, petting Miso.
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "We should come hang out with you more often. This place has some good vibes going on." Rei didn't mind his self-invitation; it got lonely sometimes out there.
"Sam don't be rude! But, maybe we could have a movie night sometime out here? Or a video game tournament?!" Rei could see Abigail's eyes filled with ideas.
"Movie nights have to be VCR based, and unfortunately no video games here." Rei looked at all three perplexed faces then explained, "I don't have internet…or a computer."
"How do you live?!"
"Comfortably, Sam."
Strange, she thought, in the city her friends all held the same shallow self-indulgence when asking her to hang out. It had felt that way since when she was a teenager, people flocking to her to jut be seen with the city's It Girl. She never participated in real friendships back home. Even though everyone present was in their twenties, this group from the Valley still managed to preserve youthful innocence and charm. They liked adventure, video games, and music and just genuinely liked…each other. Rei always wished she had a group of friends where they could just….hang out. In this moment of realization, she wished for the first time since moving here that she had Internet so they could all do what Abigail had suggested.
But might as well make use of the moment right? She finished pulling on a pair of white sneakers and stood to go.
"Are we catching fireflies or what?"
"Couldn't stay away huh?" She asked him the next morning.
Sebastian wore a blank expression and wordlessly handed her a thermos of coffee, however when their eyes met, she could see a slight amusement in them.
"Come in then, let me get some mugs for this."
As they sat at her small table in the newly added kitchen, drinking coffee, looking out the window, Sebastian explained himself.
"I'm sure you're fine without it, but Sam's concerned about you becoming a hermit." He pulled out a laptop and a router. "Mayor Lewis has town wide Wi-Fi, and if it can reach Marnie and Leah, then it could reach you too."
"Thanks Sebastian, I really am not sure how to repay you."
"I heard you're growing some coffee beans. Any idea on how to roast them?"
Rei smiled. "Well now I can look it up, can't I?"
Sebastian smirked at her and continued to set up her router.