Hello readers! Here is chapter 4. I hope you have been enjoying so far! :D Please feel free to review I LOVE to hear from you guys and to read your feedback! It is very helpful and I really appreciate. More to come soon! xoxoxo -J

As Jack left the clinic he thought to himself that maybe shopping at the supermarket wouldn't be such a great idea after all… considering the events that had just transpired. It was still cloudy out and Jack could smell rain in the air. He loved that smell…it brought back memories he didn't even know he had.

Relatively speaking, he hadn't met many people in the town yet, so he decided to explore a little. He walked down the neat, brick road without noticing much of his surroundings. He was busy thinking about this and that and in the process seemed to have forgotten the reason he was walking in the first place.

It began to drizzle and, conveniently, Jack found himself in front of the perfect resting spot. Inn the sign read. Jack opened the door. Inside was an almost empty restaurant except for a red-haired, middle-aged man standing behind the bar counter. He looked surly and somewhat intimidating.

"Welcome" he spoke.

"Oh, hi! I'm Jack…I just moved here to restore the farm that belonged to my grandfather."

"Oh, yes. I remember you…I doubt you remember me, but you would always stop by for a snack when you visited at as a child. I'm sorry to hear about your grandfather. He was a good man. I'm Doug by the way. Nice to see you again."

"Thanks, Doug. It's nice to meet someone who remembers me…come to think of it, if I remember correctly…your apple pie was amazing!"

"Haha, well thank you. It's been a long time since I've seen someone new come to this town. Are you settled in yet?" Doug asked.

"Well…not really honestly. I haven't gotten too much done around the farm either. I guess I am dragging my feet a little bit. Let's hope I get to stay…apparently I need to get this farm back to the way it was in 3 years or else…" Jack looked down at his feet nervously.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. You have your grandfather's blood in you and you seem like a strong young man who is up for the task. I can just feel it…I suppose you haven't met my daughter Ann yet have you? Maybe she could help you get acquainted. It's always good to have a friend, especially when you're new somewhere."

Doug seemed excited about Jack coming to town, which made him feel slightly more confident… and the fact that Doug wanted to introduce him to his daughter wasn't such a bad thing either.

"Ann! Come here! There's a visitor!" Doug called out.

In almost an instant out sprung an energetic, redhead sporting a long braid and overalls from the kitchen door.

"Hello! I'm Ann! Who are you?"

It took Jack a minute to process the situation. Her energy was contagious and rivaled his own.

"Hi! I'm Jack…I just moved here…I'm restoring my grandfather's farm!" He responded.

"Oh, nice! You know, I would love to see your farm sometime. Maybe you could show me a thing or two? I've always wanted to harvest crops or even help care for animals, but I've never really had the chance! Ah, this is perfect. PERFECT!"

Jack smiled. He secretly hoped that Ann would forget that wish until he knew enough about farming to impress her…on the other hand he wouldn't mind her stopping by.

"Oh yea, definitely! That would be awesome. I feel like not too many people would want to get down and dirty on the farm with me!" Maybe Jack could have worded that better…but no one seemed to notice.

"Ok, well please let me know when I could stop by! In fact, maybe you could come back to the Inn sometime and try some new recipes I've been working on!" She shot Jack a secret wink.

"Haha, will do Ann!" Jack grinned.

"Alright, gotta get back to cooking. I'll see you soon! Bye!"

Jack was relieved to finally have met someone seemingly drama-free. After his encounters with Elli, the doctor, Jeff, and Karen, Jack didn't find Mineral Town to be as magical as he remembered it. But, things were looking up.

"Wow…the older she gets the more she reminds me of her mother…" Doug said quietly.

"Oh, really? Where is she?" Jack asked without thinking.

"She died…when Ann was really young. Ann never really knew her and now…well it's pretty clear if you know what I mean. Let's just say she's not exactly the frilly, dress up type. My biggest fear is that she will end up alone." Doug sighed.

He appeared guardedly comfortable when talking to Jack, which was a rare occurrence.

"Oh… I'm… really sorry to hear about that. But, I highly doubt that Ann will end up alone! She seems like a great girl and she must have lots of friends!" Jack said trying to cheer Doug up.

"Between you and me…she sort of has a hard time meeting people. I would really appreciate it if you would try and be her friend. She could really use some human contact…well, other than me and the customers who come in at night." Doug looked optimistic.

"Consider it done!"

Doug smiled.

"Alright Jack, well it was great catching up with you, but I have got to get back to work. Here, take some apple pie with you on the house."

"Wow, really? Thanks so much!" Jack felt an incredible nostalgia as the scent of apple pie filled the room.

"Of course. Please, come visit us anytime! And Jack…welcome back."

Jack smiled at those words as he opened the door.

"Thank you."

Those two simple words meant so much as he said them out loud: for the new friendships, for the confidence, and for the memories.