Kai wiped aimlessly at a table in his snack shack. His thoughts were consumed by his pregnant wife. She was due in less than a season now and it felt like there was still so much to do. Was Gray right that everything would change once he saw that kid? Right now, the pregnancy had all seemed so distant to him—so hands-off. Popuri was excited, of course, and had been gleefully keeping Kai up-to-date with the latest measurements. Baby is the size of a peanut now, Kai! Baby's as big as an avocado now! Baby's the size of a pineapple! He could hear her sing-song voice in the back of his mind. Why do they always compare babies to food? Why not something less… digestible?

Kai snapped out of his meandering thoughts as his phone rang. He quickly jogged around the counter, picking up the receiver.

"Kai's Snack Shack, this is Kai."

"Kai! My man," a bright voice boomed from the other side of the line. "It's Dan."

"Dan," Kai smiled. "What's going on? You get in touch with Blue yet?"

"That's exactly why I'm calling."

"Alright, what do you have for me?" Kai asked, his stomach flipping.

"So the guy you're looking for—what was his name? Don?"

"Vaughn."

"Right, yeah," Dan let out a laugh. "My bad. Vaughn."

"You found something out?"

"Yeah, this Vaughn guy has been with the company for ages—since before anyone else can even really remember."

"He's not that old though, is he?"

"Not that Blue could tell, but with the silver hair—"

"Yeah, hard to tell," Kai said, laughing.

"Excactly," Dan laughed. "Anyway, the name of the company is Hayward and Sons Animal Trading."

"Do you know where the headquarters is?"

"Nah, sorry man."

"No, that's okay," Kai said, trying to contain his excitement. This would be huge for Gray and Claire.

"Anyway, Blue also said to steer clear of our pal Vaughn."

"What? Why?" Kai felt his stomach drop.

"Dude's mean," Dan said flippantly. "He doesn't talk except to snap at you for doing something wrong, I guess. I thought it was pretty rich coming from Blue, who is basically exactly the same way."

"Alright, noted," Kai said, unsure how to incorporate that last bit of information into his message for Gray. It seemed more or less like old news anyway, so maybe he'd just leave it out…

"Anyway, that's about all I've got. This Vaughn guy's pretty private. Blue doesn't know a thing about him personally."

"I know the type," Kai said, smiling to himself and thinking of his baseball-cap-wearing friend. "Well, thanks, Dan. I owe you—"

"Oh, wait, there was one more thing," Dan said hurriedly, cutting Kai off. "The schedules all just changed for the animal traders, so he won't be in Flowerbud or Forget-Me-Not anymore."

"Do you know where else he goes?"

"There's one more spot on the route, but Blue couldn't remember its name. It's a newer stop so Blue wasn't sure."

"Alright, thanks, man."

"No problem. Come visit sometime! When's the little rascal coming again?"

"Next season," Kai said, antsy to get off the phone and head over to Claire's farm before he forgot any of this conversation.

"No way! That's so soon," Dan let out a loud laugh. "Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Seriously—come visit."

"I'll do my best," Kai said, smiling. "Take care, Dan. And thanks!"

Kai hung up the phone and hurried over to turn the sign on the door to "closed." He had information that had to be shared.

Ooo

Chelsea stood on the beach, watching the boat in the distance crawl closer and closer. The salty air whipped at her hair, let free of her bandana for the evening. She knew Vaughn liked it when she took it off.

The wind clung to her skin as it floated in over the waves, cool and crisp in the autumn twilight. The beach was lonely at this time of day, with only a few little crabs and gulls to keep Chelsea company. Sometimes she preferred this kind of solitude. It was pleasant just having a place to sit and be alone with her thoughts now that she wasn't constantly filled to the brim with worry. As she breathed in one long, thick breath, she shut her eyes, letting the sound of the waves moving gently in and out wash over her. She could hear crickets starting to chirp from the bushes behind her at the opening of the pathway towards town. The occasional caw of a seagull kept her from falling into a complete trance.

"You tryin' to fall into the ocean?"

She felt her eyes shoot open and she looked up from her spot on the sand. There he was, all of him—his silver hair, catching in the pink remnants of the sunset; his violet eyes, matching the hues of the sky; his soft, nearly-imperceptible smile on his mouth as he surveyed her beneath him.

"I am not," she said, smiling back up at him. "I'm safely on the shore."

"Tide'll come in in a little while," he muttered, tearing his gaze away from hers to look down at his sandy boots. "If you'd have fallen asleep—"

"The water would've woken me up," she cut him off, standing up. She shook out her shorts and kicked sand off her boots. "Besides, I wasn't asleep. I'm being more careful, Vaughn."

"More careful my ass," he rolled his eyes.

"Hey!" She said, swatting at his arm. He caught her hand in his and laced their fingers together. She loved the feel of his hand holding hers, even if he was wearing his gloves.

The two made their way up into town. Vaughn walked her back to her little farmhouse, giving a glance around the acreage and nodding in approval.

"The crops're looking good," he said quietly. "You're not working too hard, are you?"

Chelsea grinned up at him. "I'm fine, Vaughn. Besides, Julia keeps coming by to help me out, so I wouldn't have a chance to overwork even if I tried."

Vaughn simply nodded.

The silence that filled the air between them was thicker than usual. Chelsea pulled at the hem of her shirt, looking away. "Hey, Vaughn," she started. "I've been thinking…"

His stomach dropped. What had he done? He combed over the last week, trying to comb his memory for any missed calls he had neglected to return or any letters she'd written that he hadn't bothered to mention. He came up blank.

"I think I want to go home," she said. "To Mineral Town."

Vaughn blinked, stunned. "You're leavin'?"

Chelsea averted her gaze, afraid he would take it the wrong way. What if he thought he wasn't enough for her?

He took her momentary silence as confirmation. He didn't know what to say, and before he could think any better of it, he found the words jumping off his lips. "Well, damn, Chelsea. I thought we had something good."

Her eyes shot up at his. "We do!"

"Then why're you tryin' to leave?"

"Just for a few days, Vaughn!"

He blinked again, his face turning rosy. He felt the heat all the way up in his ears. He'd really misunderstood her and made a fool of himself.

She just stared at him, watching his pale skin turn bright red. Then she laughed.

"You didn't seriously think I was trying to leave you leave you, did you?"

He could feel his irritation growing almost as quickly as the relief that had settled in his chest. He quickly grabbed the tip of his hat and jerked it down in farewell, turning and walking away with long strides.

Chelsea had stopped laughing. Oh no, she thought. She'd forgotten how sensitive he could be. She'd have to think of a way to apologize. As she glanced around the darkened farm, she figured it could wait for the morning.

Ooo

"Hayward and Sons?" Gray repeated back at Kai, who was still catching his breath.

Kai nodded, huffing. "Hayward and Sons. That's the name of the company."

Gray could feel his mind working a mile a minute making plans. He'd look into their main branch's location, walk in and—and then what? Just ask for the silver-haired guy?

"There's something else," Kai said, now breathing normally again after jogging all the way to the blacksmith's shop from the beach. "Their routes have changed."

Gray blinked. "So—?"

"So Vaughn won't be back in Forget-Me-Not anymore. At least, not according to Dan."

Gray nodded. There was only one way now.

He'd be off first thing in the morning.