Chapter 2

The following morning Evee awoke relatively late, she had slept in. Though, she soon discovered the reason why she roused. Someone was knocking on the door. Evee sprang from her bed and was soon presentable. Upon opening her front door, she discovered that Rutger was outside looking cheerful. After a long and informative chat with Rutger about taking care of animals and growing crops, Evee realized that it would be a rare moment indeed that she would get some time to herself in this village. It almost seemed as though Rutger were following her…

Despite the morning's events, Evee followed Rutgers instructions and did her best at taking care of her animals. After taking care of the chores, Evee decided she should try to become more acquainted with the town and surrounding mountain area so she set out to wander the village and become familiar with her new home.

As she walked by Jessica's animal store she caught a glimpse of Ash in the pasture with the animals. Evee stopped and watched him for a while. He was so good with them, it seemed as though he was able to communicate with his animals despite the fact that they couldn't talk. Evee wished she could do that with her cow and chicken. That morning's encounter was anything but pleasant. Despite her efforts to be friendly with her new animals it was clear that they didn't trust her yet and to be frank, it seemed that they were actually a bit afraid of her. But Evee didn't have time for such thoughts so she pushed them to the back of her mind. It was at this point that she realized she was still stopped on the road by Jessica's animal store. She had been lost in her own thoughts and she realized that she had been staring at Ash this whole time and now he was looking at her too. Ash had been in the middle of the pasture with the animals, but now he was moving closer to the fence, closer to her.

Evee suddenly became very red in the face as it dawned on her what he must be thinking. She wished she could run away and bury her face, but, not wanting to seem any odder than what was already clear to Ash, she approached the fence to chat with the handsome young rancher.

"Hey Evee! Whatcha doin'?"

"Umm, nothing much, I was heading into town to explore a little and get acquainted with the village when I saw you with the animals…"

Ash's expression darkened and his brow furrowed at this response.

"Yea… I noticed you had stopped on the road…."

At this comment Evee blushed a very deep scarlet and looked away, trying to think of something to say,

"Uh, yea, it's just that I don't think my animals like me much so I thought I might be able to learn something from watching you…"

Evee looked up into Ash's soft, moss green eyes as she said this, hoping that it would be a good enough excuse for her odd behavior. It was. Ash's expression smoothed, and he grinned.

"Geez Evee! If you needed help with your animals, all you had to do was ask!"

Ash brought her into the pasture and introduced her to all of his animals. He taught her how to approach them and that she should try and talk to them to calm them down. He even taught her how to properly brush and take care of animals.

"Here, let's go over to Bella here and I'll teach you how to brush her. "

As Evee and Ash approached, the cow looked warily at Evee, but upon noticing that Ash was with her, she no longer minded and continued on eating the grass.

"Okay, now here's a brush, hold it like this and starting from the top of her back, brush in a downward motion, like that."

Ash demonstrated the motion on Bella and she mooed happily.

"Now you try!"

Ash handed Evee the brush and she attempted to do what Ash had just done, but the cow somehow sensed her unease and move away from her. Evee turned around and looked at Ash hoping for some guidance.

"Don't worry, here, let's try again."

They moved toward Bella together. However, this time as Evee held the brush, Ash slipped his hand over hers. Though his glove still separated their skin Evee could feel his hard calluses through the fabric as they rested on top of her small hand. She could feel the strength in his fingers and her heart raced, but his touch was gentle as he guided her hand and the brush over the animal's body. Bella mooed appreciably. Evee had blushed deeply in response to Ash's touch and though her heart was still racing, she managed to meet his gaze as she thanked him for his help. His soft green eyes were full of kindness and a grin stretched across his face.

"No problem, Evee. If you ever need help with anything, feel free to ask!"

With that, Evee left the pasture and once again began her walk into town. As she neared the town square, she noticed that the sun was now high in the sky. 'Midday', she thought to herself, she was running late, she might not be able to check out the mountain today after all. It was at this point that she heard a scream.

"Eeee! There you are Evee! I've was just at your farm looking for you!"

It was Howard. Evee rather liked Howard, yesterday when they had met she could almost see the excitement bursting from him. He was very happy to see a new face in the village, but perhaps that was just so that he would have someone else to gossip with.

Howard was now jogging up to Evee, but she suddenly noticed that his face change from an exuberant smile to an expression of ill disguised disgust.

"Oh dear… don't you have a shower at your cottage? You look a bit of a mess…"

At this remark, Evees face fell. Her humble cottage did not have a shower of any kind and it seemed that while she was learning how to brush animals with Ash she had gotten rather filthy.

"No Howard… my cottage doesn't have a shower…"

"Oh my! Well then, how were you ever planning on getting clean dear?"

Evee hadn't thought about this, she supposed that she might manage to do it old fashioned style and heat water to be put in a tub or perhaps if she could find a clear stream that was well hidden she might be able to wash in that.

"Well, I hadn't though much on it, but I suppose I could find a tub and put some water in it…"

"Oh no no no. That just simply will not do. You can use the shower at my house until you get one installed in your cottage. Just because we are in the middle of nowhere doesn't mean we should have to live like uncivilized mountain people."

Evee considered the offer and decided that she would rather not have to heat water for a bath.

"That's really nice of you Howard, thanks. When I earn more money I can pay you for the hot water…"

"Oh Evee, don't worry about that. In this village we all take care of each other. We're all family here."

Evee smiled appreciably.

"Oh right! I almost forgot the reason why I came to see you this morning! Since it's going to be your first day working on the farm I figured you should start your day off right and have some breakfast at my café!"

Howard put his arm around Evee and was soon leading her into his café. Evee sat down at the table and Howard brought over some eggs and juice. The food was delicious, but her meal was interrupted when a young man came out of the café's back room. It was clear that he had just woke up, his clothes were slightly disheveled the light brown hair beneath his hat was messy.

"Oh! There you are Cam! Good morning!"

"Howard, who is this? She's sitting in my spot."

Evees face immediately reddened.

"Cam, her name is Evee and your breakfast is ready, just sit somewhere else."

"No. I'm going to open my shop."

The young man's teeth were clenched as he said this and he stormed out of the café, but not before glaring at Evee.

Evee, now feeling thoroughly awkward, tried to pay for her meal and leave the café, but Howard stopped her.

"Don't worry about him, he's just cranky and not good around new people."

"Yea…thanks again Howard"

Evee left the café feeling pretty down on herself, now there were 2 villagers who clearly did not like her. It was as these dark thought were circling in her head that she was overcome by the most wonderful aroma. She turned to see where the smell was coming from when she noticed the small flower stand next to the café. Evee had noticed that there was space on her farm to grow some crops, but wouldn't flowers be better? They smelled so lovely… It wasn't until she was right at the front counter that she noticed who was in charge of the shop, the rude young man from the café. Evee was going to walk away since she didn't want to upset him again, but too late, he had spotted her.

"Oh, um, hi. I…er… smelled the flowers and came over. Sorry about earlier…"

"You again? What do you want this time?"

"Well, um"

Evees face reddened, she wasn't good with confrontations.

"I wanted to buy some seeds…."

"How many?"

"Um, 5 I guess…"

"Here"

The young man shoved the seeds at her.

"You owe me 700G"

Evee hadn't earned much money yet, but she had enough to pay what she owed. Evee handed over the gold and thanked him, but he just turned away from her, making it clear that their conversation was over.

Thoroughly depressed, Evee headed back to her farm to plant her new seeds. Evee prepared the soil for her seeds. The work calmed her and made her feel better. Evee planted her seeds and noted the name on the package. Marguerite flowers, huh? She had never heard of them. She hoped they would be smell like the ones at the young man's shop. Evee's mind wandered, so what if he didn't like her, there were other villagers that she got along with. Besides, she didn't want to be friends with someone that could be so mean and unfeeling. She was new to this town, the least he could have done was acknowledge her existence and introduce himself.

Evee was still thinking about this as she left her farm and headed into the mountains. The cool mountain air soon made her forget about the mean young man, instead, she relaxed and foraged for plants and flowers that she could sell.

Evee was glad that she left the city. The clear blue sky and refreshing mountain air made her feel free and happy that she had found a village full of so many kind and welcoming people. Evee was heading down the mountain as the sun was setting, the scene made her feel at peace. She returned home after shipping her foraged items and put her animals away.

When she entered her cottage that night it did not feel as though she was in a strange place, it felt like she was home. Evee climbed into bed and thought about the day's events. In the future she was not going to let such trivial things get to her. She slept good that night, with dreams of a brighter tomorrow.