He spun me around the dancefloor as the sweet serenade of the town's orchestral group filled the festival space. At first, the space between us as we danced was distant, but as we twirled more and more Wayne lightly placed his hand on my back and pulled me closer. He squeezed my hand lightly and smiled, "I've been waiting for this moment since you first arrived 'ere, Nami."

"Me too," I whispered as I mustered the courage to look at his face and give him eye contact. Oh my god, those eyes.
I'm looking from his eyes to his lips and back again, and he's doing the same. I'm not imagining things. As I lean towards him our eyes lock and I feel myself being completely melted.

His hands, my face. He's cupped my face in his hands. His fingertips softly trace down my jawline and into my hair. My heart is beating at a thousand miles per second but I don't care. This is happening and I'm ready to embrace it. Light, gently, he's pulling my lips towards his until the space between them vanishes. He kisses me and it's so so-

"Mooooo!"

I'm pulled out of my daydream and back to reality. A reality where there hasn't been any kisses or touching. I sighed disappointedly. In disappointment, at the moment I envisioned being nothing more than a silly though BUT also in disappointment in myself for allowing myself to imagine something so silly.

I glanced defeatedly around the space of land I was meant to have prepared so it was ready to plant crops today. I had been whisked away for far too long and now the work needed to be done would take even longer than it would have if I wasn't so distracted daydreaming like a teenaged girl. I turned and patted Bella, the new bovine addition to my farm, who was prodding me impatiently as if she was scolding me for being so unfocused today.

"I'm sorry, Bella." I sighed as I stroked her quietly, "I got carried away for a moment."

In truth, there had been no kissing during the Goddess festival but ever since Dessie planted the idea in my head that Wayne looked like he wanted to kiss me as we danced together I couldn't help but let my mind wonder to the impossible. No matter how silly and improbable the reality of my thoughts was. Wayne had been kind and a gentleman that afternoon at the festival, which didn't help.

I could just imagine what my father would say if he saw me right now. Wasting time having a crush on some boy when you should be working hard on the farm? Terrible farmer. I glanced at the once-abandoned space of land that I began working on in the Springtime. It was Summer now and I wanted to be proud of the progress I had made, of all of the neglected land I had cleared and attended to, but I knew my dad would find something to criticise and use to insist on my improbable failure. I wiped the sweat from my brow and continued preparing the soil for this month's crops. I wasn't sure what exactly I had to achieve until my father believed in me but I wasn't going to let anything get in my way. Not even a postman.

~~~

The summer heat beat on my back relentlessly as I walked towards my tiny home after finishing my start of season preparations on the farm. For once I was thankful that I had gotten up at dawn to start the preparations as the heat was beginning to make working outside difficult. My hand had just made contact with the doorknob when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Howdy, Nanami! You're up early."

Cue the postman I had been foolishly daydreaming about for most of the morning.

I straightened my back quietly. Try to seem cool. I hoped the heat that had reddened my face would help to make my potential embarrassment look like a case of sunburn. Wait. Was I sunburnt? Did I look like some ugly tomato girl? Stay focused Nanami. Try to be cool. I blurted out the first response that came into my head in an attempt to silence my inner conflict.

"Hey Wayne. I could say the exact same thing about you." I hesitated briefly then walked down the steps of my house to approach him. I glanced at his hand to see that he was holding an envelope that was covered in an elegant floral pattern that had to belong to my mother. "I'm surprised to see you here at this time."

"Me? I'm making my delivery rounds. Thanks to some of the packages I had I went around the opposite way than usual today. This here's my last stop."

Wayne smiled and held out the envelope that had gained my attention moments ago. I took it gently and glanced at the handwriting that clearly belonged to my mother on the front. I felt a small pang in my chest at the reminder of my loved ones who lived so far away. Whilst I felt so free and liberated being able to build a life for myself on the farm, I still missed my family. I missed the warm embrace and comforting words of my mother and the fun I would always have with Lynn, there was so much here I wanted to share with her. As for my father... Despite the circumstances surrounding my move here I still missed my father, I just didn't miss the way he'd treat my dreams.

"Ya got anything nice there?" Wayne asked as he re-adjusted his satchel.

"It's a letter from my mum, She's been using the same stationary for years. I sent her a letter last month so I think this must be a reply to it." I glanced up and smiled shyly. I still felt quite embarrassed in his presence. "You must be quite the early bird being a postman," I added.

Wayne chucked, "Yep! You got that right! I've been doing this for long enough that I'm used to this, now. Besides, I like the early morning air. It's crisp and smells of flowers and trees. It really wakes a body up, you know?"

"Now that it's Summer the early morning is so pretty." I agreed. "I recently got a cow so I have to make sure I wake up early every morning to match her schedule."

"That's true. You have to match your schedule to your animals because they can't match theirs to you. Being a farmer must be rough work."

I nodded slightly. "It was tricky to adapt to it when I moved here but I like it so I don't mind so much now. Getting to wake up everything morning and do my dream job is enough to motivate me to get out of bed early."

"You've got to be working your tails off but you don't let it show. That's pretty impressive." Wayne took his hat off and fanned himself gently. Having a conversation with Wayne is nice. Despite the constant worry looming at the back of my head that there'd be repercussions for getting closer to Wayne, whenever I was around him that thought didn't matter. I just enjoyed being in the moment, with him.

Suddenly my stomach began rumbling, I squirmed on the spot hoping Wayne wouldn't have noticed the unflattering sound. I cursed myself for not eating something this morning.

"You must be hungry. I know!" Wayne smiled reassuringly, "Since you've been working so diligently let me give you a present to give you some more energy for the day."

Huh?

"A present?" I asked, surprised.

Wayne took a small box out of his satchel and held it out happily, "They're crackers I made myself yesterday. Crackers keep well and make good rations so I'm always making them. I like to think I'm pretty good at it, too." He winked then chuckled quietly.

"Wow Wayne..." I didn't know what to say. I was taken aback, not because a guy I had a stupid crush on had given me a present, but just by the act of kindness itself. I opened the box carefully and breathed in the smell. "Thank you, Wayne. These look so tasty. Are you sure you won't need these? You've been busy this morning too..."

Wayne shook his head, "It's fine, Westown is only up the road. I have more at the post office I can snack on." He readjusted his satchel quietly and added, "They're especially good if you dunk them in milk. Try it sometime."

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bella grazing behind us, I was quickly reminded of the other duties I needed to complete. Most importantly milking her. Now that she had settled in at the farm she started to produce a good supply of milk every morning, it made a good profit and there was usually some left to consume me. Suddenly I had an idea. "Hey, if you haven't got anything else to do this morning you could come with me to milk my cow. We could have some milk and crackers together if you'd like, I think it'd be a good combination."

Wayne's face lit up, "If you insist then I'd be glad to join you. I've never seen a cow being milked before!"

~~~

"Why did yer' name her Bella?" Wayne asked as he patted Bella gently.

I glanced up from milking the newest addition to my farm. I had been so excited to bring Bella home when I brought her at the market. She was an adult cow who came from a farm that could not keep her so I was eager to be able to milk her straight away instead of having to wait a few months for a baby cow to mature like the other ones they were selling at a market. Admittedly it was naive of me to expect a full-grown cow not to be so set in her ways. She was extremely stubborn and wasn't eager to patiently wait whilst I got grips with learning how to milk a cow. I expected it to be simple, I had read so many different animal care books as a kid that I had memorized the different instructions like a badge of honour, but the experiences I was gaining on my farm continuously taught me a lesson. Looking after animals isn't like following steps in a chemistry experiment, it's about feeling and working with another creature. If I wanted to turn Bella into a prize-winning cow I was going to have to give her love and attention in return, I needed to work on earning her trust.

I smiled slightly, thinking about the reason why Bella had earned her name. "When I was a kid I had this cow teddy that I'd carry around with me everywhere I went. I called her Bella after some character on a TV show I was obsessed with at the time but ever since then, Bella has just been a default cow name for me. I felt like I would be making my childhood self happy by naming her after this toy."

~~~

After milking Bella I led Wayne into my house, feeling a small glimmer of regret as I invited him inside as my humble shed was still as small as bare as it was when it first became mine aside from the addition of a few additional chairs around the small table.

"I'm sorry it's so tiny in here, apparently the road to the town where the local carpenter lives is still blocked so I haven't been able to expand this place," I said apologetically as I poured the fresh milk from Bella into two glasses and placed them in front of us at the table.

Wayne placed the metal tin containing the crackers he had made in the middle of the table and sat down. It felt strange to have him inside my house and to be sitting across from him. I tried not to sigh as I realised my imagination would probably get carried away with this situation like it did with the Goddess festival when I look back on it. I raised my glass to my lips and waited for Wayne to take a sip of his, observing his initial reaction to my produce.
"How does it taste?" I asked hesitantly once he had tried it.

"Mh! Now, this is some tasty stuff! It's rich, creamy and sweet." He grinned and took another sip.

"Really?" I felt myself sit up instinctively and smile, "Thanks Wayne, I'm glad you like it. I haven't had Bella for long so hopefully her produce will get better over time." I took out one of the crackers Wayne had made from the tin that held them and dunked them in the milk, I could feel my mouth salivating at the thought of finally having something to eat.

"Mhm, I never knew fresh milk could take this good. So how do the crackers taste after dunking them in milk?"

I shoved the whole cracker into my mouth hungrily and quickly devoured it. Sheepishly I took another one from the tin, dunked it in the milk, and devoured it slowly, embracing the taste rather than consuming it like a hungry animal. "It tastes so good. Usually, I find crackers so dry but yours taste delicious."

Wayne looked pleased and chuckled, "Great! Not that my crackers are anywhere near as good as the milk from the cow you take such good care of." I paused to take another sip of milk, "Come to think of it, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now. What made you decide you wanted to be a farmer, Nami?"

"It's a dream I've always held onto since I was a kid. I used to visit my Uncle Frank's farm when I was little and I remember always being so happy when I was interacting with the animals and helping out. My family moved around a lot so it was always difficult settling somewhere, but Frank's farm was always a familiar place." It felt like coming home. "I think that's where my interest in farming started, as I got older I'd read a lot of books about farmers and would try to nurture my own little garden when we were in houses that had space. My dad..."

I paused and frowned, remembering all the things he had said about my dream. How easily he had cast something I felt so passionate about aside in a heart beat.

"No. Out of the question. You are not moving away to become a farmer, Nanami." I recalled one of the last conversations we had had together. At night, when I couldn't sleep, I would often think about the day I announced my plans to my family. I wondered where I would have been right now if I haven't had stood my ground and if I would have obeyed my father's words. Would I be miserable? Would I have smiled as much as I have since moving here?
Would be father be proud instead of disappointed in me?

I sipped at the glass of milk in front of me and then let the floodgates open, letting my thoughts and memories spill out of my mouth like a river. "... Just before I moved here my dad got another job that required my family to move again. If I was younger I would have had to just pack up everything again and move to whether his work needed him, but since I'm an adult now I told him that I wouldn't be moving with my family and instead I was going to become a farmer... He didn't take it very well and didn't really believe that I could make this work. So now I'm here to prove him wrong." I offered him a shy smile, hoping I didn't come across as a naive child who should have actually listened to her father.

"I see. You're on something like a training run to get your pa's approval so you can prove to him that you can accomplish your dreams. I've always wondered how someone as sweet and pretty as you would want to do something so dirty and sweaty as farm work. Now I kinda get it." Wayne smiled.

I love it when he smiles at me. It never seemed fake, it always felt like an accomplishment when I something I said would make him smile the way he did.
No. I hate it when he smiles at me. Stupid smile. Too distracting.

I froze. Sweet? Pretty? Me?

Stupidstupidstupid.

He continued as I tried to process his response, "I've never seen you at work before, so it never really hit me. But your expression while you're absorbed in your work is just... How can I say it? ... Stunning."

For a moment I thought my face was on fire as a blush spread across my cheeks. I laughed nervously as he continued looking at me, expecting a response. "O-Oh you don't have to lie..." Was all I could get out, although I knew I'd be kicking myself later when I thought of a better response that didn't scream inept at communication.

Wayne looked surprised for a moment and shook his head quickly, "You don't believe me? Nope, it's all true, I'm not lyin'. I felt a bit moved when I saw you taking care of Bella earlier. Seein' you smile and talk about her as you milked her. It made me think, 'of course takin' care of cows and doing farmwork is heaps of fun'. I've never don' a day of farmin' in my life but because of you I suddenly wanted to try. I liked being able to see your passion. That sort of woman sines brighter than any other, on the inside and out."

I suddenly felt awkward, demure, and coy; I attempted to hide my rosy expression behind my fingers. "... Thank you, Wayne. T-That's really kind of you to say..."

Wayne laughed quietly and began to stand up out of his seat, "You don't have to be shy, I'm just telling it how I see it... That being said, I've been running my mouth for a while, haven't I? I still have lots I want to talk about but I can't keep you all to myself."

You can. It's fine. I felt like I had opened up to him a lot during out exchange over crackers and milk but I still didn't know much about him. I wanted to be greedy and find out more.

Wayne pulled his satchel over his shoulder, "Plus your animals might go wild looking for food if I keep you from them, you know? I'll see you later, Nami. I had a mighty nice time learning more about you." He raised his hat from his head and bowed slightly, "Have a fine day."