Tuesday, 23rd of Summer

Alma was surprised to see a package in her mailbox when she stepped outside:

"Alma,

I made you a little treat this morning in the saloon. Dig in!

Your friend,

Gus"

She opened up the to-go box and found fresh pancakes inside, complete with one ramekin of butter and one of syrup. Her mouth started watering almost instantly. She looked over the crops and saw that nothing besides the hops were ready to harvest. The farm could wait for her to have a little breakfast, so she sat on the steps and followed his instructions! Bisclavret came and sat at her side, hoping for her to toss him a bite. "Sorry, bud, I - " But she looked at his eyes and sighed. "All right, here." She tossed him a bite, which he practically inhaled. "But no more! Go on now." He barked and scurried off, and she finished her breakfast in peace.

As she finished up the last few bites, she heard something. She stopped chewing to listen more closely. It was her phone ringing from inside the cabin. Who would be calling her? She stuffed the last bite in her mouth and carried her plate inside. She wiped her hands on her overalls before picking up the phone and saying in a pancake-muffled voice, "Hello?"

"Alma?"

She nearly choked on her food and tried to swallow it down. "Gray?"

"Hey!"

"Oh, hi!" she laughed, sitting down in her chair. "How did you - Oh, did Dad give you this number?"

"Who else?" he laughed. "I've got the day off today and wanted to call before Heather wakes up."

"Aw, I miss that girl. She'll be starting a new school year here soon, right?"

"Next week, yeah! And it's a big one: middle school. Can you believe it?"

"Oh man. You got your baseball bat ready to ward off all the boys?"

"More like my pistol, you mean." They both laughed. "It's really good to hear you laugh, Alma. Are you doing okay?"

"I am, Gray, I really am." She thought about telling him about the lack of nightmares, the therapy, Harvey … but she decided maybe not this time. If he asked, though …. "How are things where you are? How's Rebecca?"

"Everything's fine here. Same stuff, really. She's getting ready for her school year too, and I'm still doing my thing at the precinct. Nothing much to report. Dad's doing fine, you know."

"Nothing from Benji, I guess?"

"No, nothing. If anything, he's blocked me more - probably because he's scared I have some extra resources at the station to find him or something. No, if it's going to be anyone, I think you're the first one he'd try to reach out to."

"But … he won't have any way to reach me here. You know he's not gonna ask Dad for my number."

"No, but …. Listen, he'll come around, okay? He's not your concern." There was a brief quiet between them. "But you - I want to hear all about Paradise! Dad told me you were in the newspaper as an up-and-coming entrepreneur or something like that?"

"Ah geez," she moaned. "Dad's always gonna be Dad. It's not that big of a deal. It's a small town area, you know, there's not a lot to report. But Gray, it's …. It's a magical place. I mean, it's a workload, for sure, but … yeah, I really do love it here."

"I'm so glad to hear that. Does anyone there know who Grandpa was?"

"Yeah, a few people actually! The mayor and an older woman knew him as young people, and then the woman's husband got to know him when they were newlyweds."

"Wow. Have you gotten any cool stories about him?"

"A few, yeah. That woman babysat Dad and Uncle PJ! And as you'd expect, everybody loved Grandma and Grandpa."

"Well, of course," he laughed.

"Listen," Alma said, "I told Dad that I'd love to have you all visit, but I just don't have the space right now. Did you know this old cabin had just one room?!"

"You're kidding."

"No! I just recently renovated and got a kitchen and separate bedroom!"

"Well, yeah, Rebecca isn't the camping type, so I'd love to visit, but I'd rather have a happy wife who can sleep on a bed inside if that's okay."

"Right, as soon as I have space for you all, I will let you know, okay?"

"I know you will, Alma. No rush. I'm sure you've got a lot going on." She heard some voices in the background, and Grayson said, "It's your Aunt Alma on her new farm! Wanna say hi?"

There was some rustling and then a small voice on the phone: "Hi, Aunt Alma."

"Hi, Heather!" Alma melted in her seat. "Aw, I miss you so much, nugget! Your daddy tells me you're starting middle school soon!"

She giggled. "Yeah …."

"Listen, don't tell your dad, but there's a wizard here in town, so if you need a love potion, I might be able to hook you up!"

She giggled again. "Okay, Aunt Alma, if you say so. Do you have any animals on your farm yet?"

"I do! I've got chickens, cows, a duck, and a dog! And I'm getting more all the time! One day you can come help me out, okay? I know you'd be a good helper here."

"That sounds fun." Alma could hear she was away from the phone when she asked, "When can we go visit her farm, Daddy?" Alma laughed and heard his voice muffled in the background. "Oh okay," she groaned. Her voice was close again when she said, "I miss you, Aunt Alma."

"I miss you too, sweetheart. You be good, okay? You call me anytime! Your daddy has my number now, okay?"

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye, sweet girl." Alma was surprised to feel tears coming to her eyes. She tried to keep them down while Grayson got back on the line.

"Well, I'd better let you go. The natives are growing restless around here."

"All right. Thank you so much for calling. Send Rebecca my love."

"I will. Take care. Oh and hey, if you need anything, I know some guys at ZCPD."

Alma chuckled. "All right, noted. Always the big brother."

"You know it. Okay, love you."

"Love you too, Gray. Bye."

"Bye." The phone clicked, and Alma suddenly felt very alone. It felt so quiet in the cabin now. She put the phone back on the hook and let the tears flow. She saw the empty to-go box in front of her on the table and wiped her face before throwing that away. She took a deep breath and went back outside to do her work. She made her rounds, watering and harvesting crops, taking care of the animals, gathering eggs and milk, picking mushrooms, and doing a walkthrough of the farm before heading into town.

When she walked into Pierre's, Alma remembered today was Tuesday. The ladies started filing into the back room as she was selling goods at the counter. "Think you'll join them today?" Pierre asked her.

"Yeah, I said last week that I'd try to! I think I can!"

"Well, go have fun then!" he said with a smirk. Alma saluted him and made her way to the back door.

When she walked into the big room, she saw all the women chatting with each other in the middle of the room. "Alma! You made it!" Caroline cheered. "We're just about to get started. Do you need anything?"

"Well, I guess that depends on what we're doing. Do I need anything?"

"Not a thing," Caroline said with a smile. "I just put on some music, and you all can follow my moves."

"All you need is a sense of humor," Jodi giggled.

"And a lack of inhibition," Emily added.

Alma looked around and noticed Harvey wasn't there. "No Dr. Harvey this week?" she asked as she put her bag down by the wall.

"No," Robin answered. "He doesn't come every week."

"So everyone be extra careful," Caroline half-joked, "because our medic isn't here!" Everyone chuckled, and she clapped her hands and called out, "Shall we get started? Find a spot on the floor, and we'll start with some stretches!" Everyone spread out, and Alma stood next to Robin near the back of the room. "Just follow me and don't forget to breathe!" Caroline yelled, and everyone followed her moves. They started with stretches and warm-ups to limber up, and then they moved on to some more extreme moves, jumping and running in place and lunging and holding their arms up and kicking high …. After a while, Caroline yelled out, "Okay! Freestyle time!" Alma watched as the women broke up their formation. She looked around, not sure what to do. "Just move, Alma!" Caroline called out. "Have fun and keep sweating!"

Jodi started lifting weights, breathing as she pushed the weights up and down. "Ungh … breathe in … ungh … and breathe out …."

Marnie began jumping rope, and she smiled at Alma through a mist of sweat.

Robin pulled out an aerobics step and began jumping up and down on it. "My arms are strong," she panted, "but my legs need work!"

Emily and Caroline started dancing, and Alma wasn't sure what to do, so she took cues from them and began dancing too. She pumped her arms and jumped side to side, trying to just keep moving to the rhythm. "There you go!" Caroline whooped. "Just don't look at me! I'm all red and sweaty!" she laughed.

"Get it, Alma!" Emily cheered. "Exercising can be fun! Come here!" She reached out her hands, and they spun around together and danced around each other. Alma enjoyed just relaxing and being silly. It felt good to let loose.

Before too long, though, it was time for the cool-down. Caroline switched to some calmer music, and everyone went back in their lines to face her. They did some slower moves and focused on stretching, finishing off with some breathing exercises. "Okay, how is everyone feeling?" she asked as she stepped back to turn off the music. Everyone applauded and cheered, thanking her for the class. They all separated their ways to put things away and cool off, and Caroline approached Alma. "Well, what did you think?"

"Good! Very fun! Thank you so much! I'll definitely come back."

"Yes, you're welcome any time!" She patted Alma's shoulder and moved to go pick up her stereo. Alma picked up her bag from the wall and put it over her shoulders. She said goodbye to the women and then made her way back out to Pierre's.

"Think you'll be sore tomorrow?" he asked on her way out.

"Oh, for sure," she said, pushing the door open. Alma went next door and pulled on the door handle, and then she remembered - right, the clinic closed about an hour ago. She started to walk south to go to the beach, but she heard the door open behind her.

"Alma!" It was Maru. "Is it an emergency?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she answered, walking back to the clinic. "I just wondered if I could see Harvey."

Maru turned and asked behind her, "You okay with visitors?"

Harvey appeared behind her, and he smiled to see Alma there. "Of course. I'll see you Thursday, Maru."

"Bye!" She seemed especially happy to get out of there today, and as if reading Alma's mind, she answered, "I'm going to go set up my telescope for tonight. I plan on spending a lot of time with my telescope this summer."

Alma smiled and waved. "Enjoy!"

They both watched Maru leave, and then she turned and smiled at him. "Come in, please," he said, holding the door open for her. She stepped in, and he closed the door behind her. "So, uh, what's up?" he asked, leaning against the counter.

"Not much," she answered, taking a seat in the waiting room and placing her bag and hat in the seat next to her. "I can't stay for long - I've got to try to fish for tuna on the beach, and my best chances are before seven. But I just wanted to check on you since you weren't able to come to Caroline's class."

"Right, yes, that," he said with a nod. "I had an appointment that went into the afternoon. W-Was it a good one?"

"Well, you can probably tell from smelling me," she laughed. "Oh! So guess who called my number today?"

"I don't know, who?"

"My older brother! I was eating breakfast - some delicious pancakes that Gus made for me, by the way - and I heard the phone ring, and it was him! I haven't gotten to talk to him since I moved here. My dad has written me a few letters, but I haven't heard a thing from my brother. It was so good to hear his voice."

"That must have been a r-really nice way to start your morning."

"It was! We got to catch up and just chat about things, and I even got to talk with my niece! It actually made me cry a bit. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I heard their voices."

"I can understand that," Harvey said.

She paused for a minute, thinking about their conversation over the phone. "I've been a bit concerned about how he might feel about me moving here. I wondered if he saw it as me giving up or something - leaving him to deal with things. But he seemed really happy, and that brought me a lot of peace."

"That's good to know. I'm sure that was a burden off your mind - one of many that, uh … need to be relieved." Alma nodded with a sigh. "How old is your niece?"

"She's twelve. She's starting middle school this fall, and my brother is super protective. He's a police officer, and I know he's going to be keeping a close eye on her and any boys who come within twenty feet of her!" she laughed.

"I can imagine," he chuckled. "Your brother is a police officer, and your father is an architect, right?"

"That's right."

"And d-don't I remember you telling me before that you have a younger brother too?" he asked, squinting as he tried to think back.

Alma always felt a pang when someone asked something like this. "I do, yes."

"So what does he do?"

"I, uh … I don't know, actually. He cut himself off from the family about eight years ago."

"Oh. I-I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's fine; you didn't know. I think he's in Zuzu City somewhere. He was a Music major, so maybe he's doing some work in the music industry. I don't know." Alma sat on her hands and looked down at her feet. "This is my brother who overdosed. He has struggled a lot with substance abuse since college. I hope that maybe he'll come back if he ever gets away from that addiction. But he could - he could be anywhere doing anything right now. He could even be - be … not well, and I probably would never know." Harvey came and sat next to her, not sure what to say. She looked up at him and pushed a smile. "Anyway. We don't need to talk about that now."

"All right. But you know we always can, i-if you want to."

"I know," she said, patting his arm. "Thank you." She took a deep breath. "It was really great to hear from Grayson this morning, though."

"I'm sure he's really happy to hear how you're doing too," Harvey said. "You're, uh … You're doing a great job, Alma. I don't know if you hear that enough."

She smirked, a little embarrassed. "Well, thanks."

"And you know I mean it, right?" he asked, trying to get in front of her glance. "I'm not just saying it. To think of what you've accomplished - the transformation you've made on that land, th-the skills you've learned, the relationships you've built, the way you've taken control of your life - all in a few months! It really is something I know your family must be proud of. But you should be proud of it too."

Alma bobbed her head, not sure if she should agree or not. "I am proud of myself, but … it's growing slowly. Lots of things are." She glanced up at him and gave a little smile. Harvey was struck in that moment by how beautiful she was. Her blue-grey eyes were shining, and her skin looked healthy, even with a bit of dried salt on her brow. The sweat made her hair spiral around her face and neck. But he knew her beauty was more than her appearance; she was compassionate and charming, and she selflessly served everyone and everything around her. To him, that was the mark of someone special. Her lips continued to curl into a bigger smile, until her white teeth showed through her rosy lips. "What is it?" she asked with half a chuckle.

He blinked himself back for a moment and quietly said, "You're beautiful."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Right now?! After working out with those tough ladies for three hours?! Please."

"No, I - I mean it. Even if you're covered in dirt and sweat, or wet from the rain, in your overalls and straw hat, y-you're beautiful. You work hard to help people here, and that care shows." She peered at him and smiled a little again before looking down. He sensed maybe she was a bit uneasy. "I'm - I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't be saying these things. I don't want - I don't want to put any pressure on you and make you feel uncomfortable. It's just - I - I have a hard time controlling how I - "

"It's okay, Harvey, you don't need to apologize," she chuckled. She reached out to touch him again and said quietly, "I like it." Her hand touched his shoulder but slid down his arm, resting in the crook of his elbow. He felt a bit nervous and swallowed the lump in his throat. She looked at her hand and stroked his forearm with her thumb, barely vocalizing, "I just … don't know if I'm ready yet."

He nodded, looking ahead of him. "That's okay. Take your time." He closed his eyes and chuckled nervously. "I - I may not be ready yet either." He took a deep breath in his nose and out his mouth before turning to her. "But when you're ready - if that happens," he said, squeezing her hand with his, "I think I will be too." He looked at her, and she met his glance with a small smile. "When did you, um, need to go catch that … tuna, was it?"

"Yeah," she said, drawing her hand back. "About now, probably." She picked up her hat and stood before putting on her bag. "It was nice to sit still for a bit after that workout. And, man, you weren't kidding. Those ladies are tough!"

"Aren't they?!" he laughed. "Remember, exercise is important, but don't get too exhausted, or you'll end up in my clinic! Make sure and listen to your body."

"Will do." She gave him a salute and pulled her bag on tight. "Do you have paperwork and things you still need to do?"

"Yes, but I don't mind. I'll be done by dinner time, so I can relax with a book or a documentary."

She smiled and headed for the door. "All right, you enjoy." He held the door open for her, and they said their goodbyes. Alma rushed through town, anxious to get to the beach. She tried to hurry, but by the time she got there, it was already nearly six o'clock. She would only have about an hour if she had any hope of catching a tuna. She cast her line and prayed. Something bit pretty quickly, and as she reeled it in, she wasn't sure what it was. It fought back differently than other ocean fish. And when she pulled it out of the water, she squealed. It was a tuna fish, finally! She put it right in her bag and headed straight to the community center.

When she dropped the tuna off in the ocean fish bundle, a present appeared, and she opened it up to find a strange handheld statue, like a small totem pole. It was blue and had markings of waves. She held it up above her head to more closely examine it, and as she did, she could start to see it glow. The next thing she knew, a bright light flashed, and she was back on the beach, standing next to a small matching statue with a blue stone inside. "Oh! Wow!" Did she just … teleport? She shook it off a moment and then started to head back to the farm.

As she was organizing things in her chests again, she noticed that maybe she actually had enough money to consider the next barn upgrade. She knew it was after hours for Robin, but she stepped inside and dialed her shop number. She got the answering machine and listened to information about each of the farm structures. A big barn upgrade was 12,000 gold, 450 wood, and 200 stone. She had the money and the stone, but she didn't have the necessary wood. She looked toward the kitchen. There was still plenty of time before she needed to sleep, so if she could eat a little dinner, she could restore her energy; then maybe she could chop enough to make it for tomorrow! She looked in the fridge, ate a few things, went outside, grabbed her ax, and started chopping. By around ten o'clock, she had the necessary wood. She threw it all in her chest and went inside, ready for sleep.