The Solution for Obliviousness

Hiking up the mountain, Alex made his way toward the spa where he planned to do his usual Winter workout in the old gym room. The equipment was not great, but it was the only suitable place in town to train when the weather made his normal jogs around town risky. If only the gym had a treadmill or something to help him keep up with Zach's running times. He was falling behind again, and the blond kept giving him shit for it when they compared results.

Alex noticed Maru outside her house as he reached the ridge prior to the path that led up to the spa. She was with Abigail and Sam, and it looked like they were heading out somewhere together. He heard Maru's laughter ringing out in the cold air. Alex had not realized how much he missed that sound. She did not care what other people thought, so Maru did not hold back when she laughed. It was loud and sometimes she snorted when something really got her going. It was such a carefree sound that Alex felt a little jealous that he did not laugh like that.

The jock had done his best to keep his distance to avoid making things awkward between him and Maru, but Alex wished he never mentioned his feelings to her at all. That way things could have stayed the way they were until he went pro next year.

But as Alex watched Maru head toward the lake with his neighbors, his feet moved toward them unconsciously. Glasses was the first to see him, which made Alex even more embarrassed that he did not have a plan on what to say before he approached the trio. "Hey, Alex! How've you been?" Maru asked him. Her voice sounded different somehow. Like she was kind of holding back.

It bothered Alex to think that he might have hurt his friend by putting this distance between them without talking to her about it first. No wonder Haley yelled at him about it when they hung out the other day. His best friend had even spilled the beans and told Maru that it was her that he wanted to date. Alex was mad about it initially since Haley really had no business sticking her nose into it like that, but maybe it was better for Maru to know that it was not her fault he was ghosting her.

Still, seeing Maru not want to look at him made Alex feel like a giant dick - and not in a good way. He wondered if she would even consider forgiving him. The brunet had to try. "I've been alright," Alex replied. "Really busy with my training, you know," he shrugged, trying to casually chat up the others regarding their plans for the day. "Are you three going somewhere?"

"We're heading to the mines," Sam responded, wrapping his arm around Abigail. The blond sized him up. "You wanna be our fourth? We could always use more muscle."

Alex wanted to go, but would Maru be okay with that? A wave of relief washed over him when he saw Maru smile at him, as if encouraging him to come with them. Okay, so maybe things are awkward, but she doesn't totally hate me?

"Sure! As long as I don't have to fight any of the monsters." Despite his near-perfect physique, Alex still felt weird about killing things, even if they were weird monsters. While he wanted to get void essence to get answers from the wizard the last time he and Maru went into the mines, extracting the void essence from those shadow creatures left a bad taste in his mouth. Alex was in no rush to try it again, especially because the purple guy had been less than useful.

Abigail seemed surprisingly stoked that Alex was not interested in fighting, though. "Great! You do the mining, and I'll have your back!" she announced, tossing him the instrument he would need. Alex caught it, taking a step back to account for how top-heavy it was and to avoid the tip from hitting his body.

Glasses grinned at him. "Mining is a great work-out, too," she reminded the jock. "It's a different kind of exercise than strength training or aerobics, but I don't think you'll have any problems."

As the four adventurers entered the cave down toward the mines, Alex felt more confident that things might be okay between him and Maru. They were talking just as naturally as they used to, as if nothing had changed since Spirit's Eve. The brunet could not get over how amazing Maru was, but that did not mean he should mope about his friend not wanting to date.

Girlfriend or not, Maru was the coolest, smartest woman he knew, and Alex realized what an idiot he was for thinking anything less. So, what if she wasn't interested in him like that? He and Haley were still friends after he rejected her. It was kind of uncomfortable for a few weeks, but now that they had aired out all their problems, they were best friends again. The same could happen here with Maru, Alex was sure of it.

Maru strapped on a flashlight helmet as Abigail and Sam got their gear ready and handed out supplies. The light was not great in the main cavern, but there were a few torches every few feet along the rock wall. Abigail and Sam had an extra glow ring and let Alex borrow it. "You two are going to collect any useful materials," Sam instructed the others. "Abi and I will make sure the coast is clear and take out any monsters, so you can just focus on the task at hand."

Maru turned to Alex, singling him out since he was not present for the first team huddle the original three had previously. "In addition to the void essence…" his friend pulled out a small notebook from her overalls and flipped it open to show Alex a few sketches of the fire quartz they were looking for today. "If we get one of these, we can get the mine carts working again!"

"Huh, I remember Gramps telling me about using those back in the day," Alex recalled with an amused chuckle. "Can you really get those running again?"

Maru shook her head, "No, the machinery is old and the project itself is a bit too big for me in terms of scale," she admitted. "But supposedly the Junimos will fix them for us if we bring them a fire quartz."

Alex did not get the chance to find out more, something caught Maru's eye, and she wandered toward the far wall to inspect it. "What are you doing, Maru?" Abigail questioned, pointing in the opposite direction with the tip of her sword. "The elevator's this way!"

At first, Maru did not say anything, so Alex went to follow her and check it out for himself. "What's up, Glasses?"

The woman frowned and her face had that look on it that Alex knew meant she was thinking really hard about something. "The wall is different here," Maru observed quietly, running her hands over the bumpy stone. "It looks identical to the boulder stifling the water flowing down the mountain."

Alex had not noticed the other rock Maru was talking about, but he trusted her enough to know she was probably right. "What does that mean?"

"I'm not sure," she confessed, still wearing that thoughtful expression on her face. "I wish we had time to investigate today."

The athlete saw this as a chance to make things up to Maru. "I know Sam and Abigail are counting on us today, but how about we come back tomorrow and take a closer look?"

Alex knew she was down for the idea when she completely forgot that she had a light attached to her head and temporarily blinded him. Maru corrected the mistake as soon as she realized. There was no doubt she was excited by the idea of another adventure just the two of them, but the eager researcher decided against it. "No, Violet's party is tomorrow, and I don't want to risk losing track of time." Maru hoped that they could still work something out, though. "Would Sunday work?"

Wearing his best smirk, Alex accepted. "Sure thing, Glasses," he answered, prodding her gently to rejoin the couple waiting for them near the elevator. It looked like Abigail was going to just leave them behind if they did not pick up that pace. "I can drop by once your shift at the clinic ends on Sunday."

"Make your plans later, people!" Abigail shouted, waving her arms wildly in agitation. Sam did his best to smooth things over.

"No worries, babe," he assured her as the other two finally joined them in the elevator. "Look, it's already down to level 85 and we didn't even make it that far last time."

Abigail looked confused. "But why would it let us go down an extra five levels?" she wondered out loud. "Doesn't the elevator only re-activate once someone has been down that far?"

Maru immediately explained. "That was Alex and me a while back," she added. When Abigail looked surprised, she added, "What? Did you think you were the only ones interested in the mines?" Alex saw her wink at him. For some reason, it made the brunet think they got away with something.

Haley sat at the bar on the side closest to the fireplace so she, Samantha, and Shane could chat while her sister worked. The blonde did not typically go to The Stardrop Saloon, but Emily instantly served the three with a sparkling cranberry punch that she had made fresh that evening. "Enjoy!" the sapphire-haired woman said as she laid the glasses on the well-polished wood of the countertop. Emily then dismissed herself to go help another set of customers who were ready to order their meals.

"She's here!" Samantha whispered, tapping Haley's shoulder in excitement as her eyes locked on Leah.

Haley swatted the younger woman's hand away. "Don't make eye contact!" She tossed her curly hair casually over her shoulder as she rotated her body toward Samantha. "You'll make it super obvious that you're watching her."

Shane's dark, thick eyebrows furrowed, causing his forehead to wrinkle. "What are you two doing?" he inquired, taking a sip of his carbonated drink. The mayor made a face, as if the deep red liquid were sourer than he expected. Haley took a swig of hers and found that she liked the initial sweetness and tart aftertaste of Emily's cranberry punch.

Samantha took the initiative to fill her brother in on the plan. "We've been making Leah jealous by letting her think that Haley and I are dating."

Shane nearly spat out his drink but clapped a hand over his mouth just in time to stop the punch from escaping. Instead, it dribbled down his chin a bit and Emily appeared out of nowhere with a napkin for him.

Haley savored her drink with a smirk on her face as she waited for her brother-in-law to recover from his initial shock. "You're not… actually together, are you?" Shane asked hesitantly. The blonde could tell that he was afraid that either of them would indicate anything other than a resounding "no." She thought it would be fun to tease him a bit.

"Didn't I save your ass the other day when we visited the Governor's Office?" Haley reminded the mayor as she set her glass down on the bar. She crossed her ankles and ran a finger along the lips of the glass to remove the smudge from her lip gloss.

Shane recoiled from the abrupt change in subject. "Well, yeah…" he admitted, scratching at the side of his face anxiously. "I'm honestly impressed you got him to agree to cover most of our losses, even if they need to do an independent investigation."

Haley could not help but flash a smug smile. "The Governor was not about to let himself be implicated at Lewis' expense," the blonde responded as she smoothed the skirt of her dress over her thigh. "It only worked because we didn't give too much detail about why we were there."

The mayor's lips pulled back in a satisfied smirk at the memory of the meeting. "That's true, you did get him talking about Lewis first and he admitted to being disappointed with the election results." Shane chuckled and stirred his own punch with a straw to better mix the ingredients, then tried again. He nodded in silent approval.

Samantha seemed interested in what happened now. "So, you tried to frame the Governor as an accomplice to the tax scam?"

Haley took another sip of her drink and relished the taste. "Not really," the curly-haired woman admitted. "It was mainly to make sure he took some action to address that harm that Lewis did, or indirectly admit that he benefited from the scam."

Shane filled in the rest for his sister. "Haley basically backed him into a corner by getting the Governor to admit how close he and Lewis were, then used some Oscar-worthy acting to guilt the guy when she cried about how Lewis had run off with all the town's money." He leaned against the bar and signaled Gus for a refill of the punch. "You should have seen it, Sammy. I might be legitimately scared to have Haley as an enemy at this rate."

Samantha's dark eyes widened in awe. "You finessed the old guy hard," she stated, setting down her glass and scooting in closer to her sister-in-law. "Teach me your ways, sis!"

Haley was flattered by the siblings' praise and admiration. "It's really nothing," she replied, deflecting their words. "The Governor never made any specific promises, so whatever aid he offers is still up in the air." Shane's political pessimism was rubbing off on her.

"Old people are so lame," Samantha complained, lightly tapping the bar with the tips of her boots as she swung her legs in agitation. The trio lifted their glasses and down their drinks in mutual agreement.

The three chatted for a while longer, mostly Shane and Samantha swapping stories from their childhood. It sounded like they used to be close before Shane's accident. Haley wondered if she and Emily might have been closer if she had just taken the time to understand her sister a little more. She and her older sibling were never super close, but Emily was a constant presence in her life. Shane and his sister were talking so easily as if their estrangement never happened.

It was nice to have Samantha around practically worshiping her at times, but it was just not the same kind of relationship. Could Emily and I be that close someday? Haley wondered longingly.

She must have zoned out, because next thing the blonde knew, Samantha grabbed her by the crook of the elbow and led her toward Leah and Elliott's table. Haley saw the smirk on Shane's face as his kid sister whisked the blond away. "Good luck!" he called after them, though the woman was not sure if the mayor was talking to her or Samantha.

"I have made an egregious error in judgment," Elliott lamented to Leah, shielding his face with the curtain of his silky hair as he hunched over their usual table in the local eatery. The poet could not fathom his beastly behavior toward his precious Miss Penelope a few hours ago. "Or perhaps it would be more fitting to say that there was a distinct lack thereof…"

Leah draped herself artfully on her chair, her posture signaling her utter disregard for his current predicament. His companion flicked her wrist, swirling the deep red wine in her chalice as she crossed her lower limbs. "I don't understand the problem, Eli," the fellow artistic soul countered. "Did Penny complain that you kissed her…?" her slender eyebrow arched critically, "What words did you use, exactly?"

Elliott knew from experience that this was a rhetorical question. Leah was toying with him. Her mouth curved upward with thinly veiled amusement. "Right!" she laughed, her tone taking the scandalous nature of his actions far too lightly. "You 'kissed her like a man with salacious intentions.'"

"Why do you mock me, Leah?" the poet whimpered softly into his drink. "Miss Penelope must be disgusted that I dared to paw at her body like an animal."

"She might have been more offended that you stopped…" Leah muttered under her breath. The fair artist beside him then proceeded to make an objectionable remark about her desire to ravage someone else in a similar manner as she imbibed the last of the spirits in her glass. Presumably the fair Miss Haley, though Elliott chose to ignore the comment rather than condone it with a request for clarification.

Elliott was wallowing in despair and ale when Emily glided gracefully over to their table and deposited a small white envelope on the table in front of him. "It's those measurements you requested," she informed him with a conspiratorial wink.

The gentlemen felt certain Miss Penelope, or any other woman, might second-guess his intentions with such intimate knowledge about his lady's form. Elliott decided he must send the letter to his mother - along with the secondary details now in his possession - as soon as possible. "Excuse me, Leah," the man announced, rising to his feet. "I am afraid I have business to attend." He upturned his glass to finish his ale and left the money for his tab on the table.

Leah stood, ready to object to his departure, when Miss Haley and Miss Samantha came to take his place. His friend slowly sank back down into her chair, glancing at him in alarm. Elliott suppressed a chuckle at Leah's expense. It served her right for teasing him. Now she would be without a wingman to support her efforts.

"Good evening, ladies," Elliott greeted the women with a slight bow. He could not help but admire they were all so different and lovely in their own way. "I regret to leave so soon, but I have an important correspondence to write. I look forward to seeing you all for Miss Violet's soiree tomorrow."

Miss Haley – whose words were often as sharp as her sense of style – beamed at him, though it was Miss Samantha who reassured him. "Don't worry about us. We know how to have a good time!"

Even Elliott could tell that the young lady had ulterior motives, but his instincts told him that it would still be safe to leave Leah in her care so long as they were all in public. Either way, he expected that Leah may have some news to share come tomorrow.

The last Leah heard - which to be fair was at the Flower Dance over half a year ago - Haley was curious about experimenting with another woman. At the time, the artist was hurt that her neighbor assumed it was acceptable to toy with her emotions to "find herself." Leah had made an indirect confession regarding her attraction to Haley, but the ginger had more self-respect than to allow herself to be used like that. Lesbians have feelings, too, dammit!

Despite that personal victory in terms of Leah's own self-respect, it was a little weird that Haley chose Shane's little sister to be her partner in sexual discovery. Then again, Samantha was not old enough to drink yet, which told Leah that the younger woman was in college. Girls that age were more likely to have little, meaningless flings like that. And yet, despite knowing that on an intellectual level, the entire situation still bothered her.

It was not that Leah thought she could persuade Haley to swing for her team, but now that her friend was in a relationship, part of her regretted not taking the chance when it was presented. Would Haley have come to the bar with her tonight? Then again, the blonde's relationship with Samantha only began a few days ago. Even if they were just experimenting, Winter girlfriends were not uncommon even among heterosexuals.

Leah frowned. Why do I feel so cheated? I did the right thing! she growled to herself. It occurred to the artist that she was probably experiencing a depressing culmination of her failed art show, Kel's sudden appearance, and the chilly weather which made her desire for another warm body to snuggle up to at night. The woman stroked her braid in agitation as the other two women across the table chatted so casually, giggling, and sitting close to one another.

I miss it, Leah realized sadly. I miss the intimacy of a committed relationship and it sucks. Even people who failed to achieve their career goals were perfectly fulfilled in other aspects of their lives. She had no intention of crawling back to Kel, but now that Haley was with someone else, the artist could not even pretend that there were any romantic options in town.

Leah's grey eyes darted between the two women across from her. They were both staring at her. One of them must have said something and she was too caught up in her own head to respond. "Sorry," the redhead apologized, reluctantly correcting her posture. "I zoned out for a bit. What did you say?"

Haley's mouth fell open in disbelief. "You are unbelievable!" she scoffed, hopping up out of her chair and slapping her hand down on the tabletop with a thud. The curvy woman turned to her girlfriend. "I need another drink!" Haley announced impatiently.

Samantha called out an order after her before directing her attention to Leah. "What are you doing?!" the younger woman demanded in a low hiss. "Don't you think you've hurt Haley enough? Read the room!"

Leah was taken aback by the dark-haired woman's words. I guess I did something to make Haley upset… she figured. Perhaps the photographer had asked for a blessing on her relationship with Samantha. That was bound to be important, and Haley would be right to be upset that Leah was not giving proper respect to be mentally present.

The redhead wished she knew what it was, but Leah figured it might be better to duck out of here, so the damage was kept to a minimum. "I should get going…" Leah announced, shouldering the strap of her satchel, and donning her Winter outerwear.

Samantha's shot up to her full height. "You can't just leave!"

"I promise to tell Haley that it was nothing either of you did the next time I see her," Leah comforted the visitor, slipping on her gloves. She hoped her vague explanation would be enough. "I'm just more tired than usual tonight."

The raven-haired woman did not look convinced, but she could not make Leah stay. The artist waved good-bye to Gus and Emily, then made her escape out the door to start the trek home to her little riverside cottage.

Leah heard someone running toward her as she approached the lamplight that marked the start of the path toward home. She paused. The artist was sure she paid for her meal. Was someone in trouble? Leah lingered in the soft sphere of light and waited until the person following her came into view.

She recognized Haley the instant her gorgeous cascade of golden curls shone in the flickering light. Her face was flushed, and Leah could tell she had rushed outside to chase after her because the blonde was not wearing her hat or coat to shield against the elements. "I can't tell if you're being deliberately dense or if you're really this stupid!" Haley yelled accusingly, her anger explicit from her frustrated tone.

But Leah could not fathom why the comment would be directed toward her. "...What are you talking about?"

Haley's fists balled at her side as her shriek of frustration pierced the air like a knife. "I have been trying to get your attention for multiple seasons, and you still act like I'm invisible!" she countered in a huff. "You already confessed to liking me, so I don't understand why you're playing so hard to get."

Leah literally had to take a step back at Haley's words. "What?" Surely, she had misunderstood something. There was no way the blonde was berating her for not noticing her beauty. Haley was stunning, and Leah had explicitly told her friend as much.

"I literally told you the night of the Flower Dance that I hadn't even considered you an option before, but when you told me you liked me, that changed everything!" Haley's mouth twisted as she held back angry tears. "It was so embarrassing when you shot me down, but I understood why you did it," the younger woman shouted. "You were right, it wasn't fair to you to try and move so quickly, but isn't this too much?" Haley bit her bottom lip to suppress the tears flowing down her cheeks. "You're being a real jerk, Leah!"

Leah could not find the words to articulate a suitable defense. "I…" Her mind went blank and all she could do was repeat herself. "What are you talking about?"

This was apparently the last straw. Haley no longer bothered to reign in her tears of fury. "Can't you see I've been practically throwing myself at you for over a season now?!"

Dumbfounded, Leah's mouth twitched, though her mind was reeling too quickly for her to choose which words to say. "And I'm not the kind of woman who should have to work this hard to get someone else's attention, Leah, I'm an eleven!" Haley took the artist's silence as a reason to resume her rambling. "How could you not notice, you soulless dummy!"

The insult regarding Leah's hair color was a bit of a low blow, but the blonde continued. "I sought you out as my model for the photo contest, I asked you how you knew you were a lesbian, we were in each other's future when we had our fortunes told at the Stardew Valley Fair!" Haley's words were slowly seeping into her brain when her neighbor delivered the final strike: "Literally stripping for you at the Spirit's Eve festival!"

"Th-that was on purpose?!" Leah finally managed, staggering half a step backward. The woman could not believe what she was hearing. "You were trying…"

Haley detected a small breakthrough in Leah's understanding. "Yes, you idiot!" she confirmed with an irritated shout. "I even started hanging out with Samantha all the time so you would get jealous, but you couldn't even do that right!" The woman in blue listed additional grievances, but Leah's mind was stuck on one detail.

"So, you aren't dating Samantha?"

"No!" If Leah had not already been stunned, the frenzied look on Haley's face might have intimidated her. "Of course not, she's family!" the blonde cried in exasperation. "Who the hell does that? What are you, some kind of creep?!"

The insults struck Leah as hard as any fist, but now she had regained a bit of her composure. "I-I thought you were just, you know, curious," the redhead explained. Now it was her turn to insist that Haley was the clueless one. "I did right by the both of us at the Flower Dance!"

"That was then!" Haley countered emphatically. Leah detected a shift in the blonde's body language as she cooled off, taking a few deep breaths of the cold night air. "I did a lot of thinking between then and now," she elaborated in a soft, vulnerable voice. Leah's heart stopped as Haley locked eyes with her. "And I still don't know what label to use, but I know that I'm attracted to you, Leah."

Haley looked shy compared to just moments ago. The transformation gave Leah a bit of emotional whiplash. "Are you still into me, too?" the curly-haired beauty inquired quietly. "Or am I too late?"

Leah's heart pounded against her ribcage as she and Haley gazed unblinkingly at one another. The only indication that they were not frozen in time was the small clouds of condensation from their slow, steady breath in the Winter air. Wordlessly, Leah took a step forward and reached for Haley's hand. "It's not too late…" she whispered. "As long as you really meant what you just said…"

Haley smiled and an anxious laugh allowed the butterflies in Leah's stomach to take to the open air. The redhead raised her hand to rest on the back of Haley's neck and slowly, Leah leaned forward. Impatiently, Haley closed the remaining gap between them and caught Leah's lips with her own. It was so much better than Leah had dared to hope, even in her wildest dreams.

After a while, Leah could feel Haley shivering from the Winter weather. "You don't have your coat!" the ginger scolded her.

"I had to chase after you, I didn't have time to grab my coat!" Haley pouted, clinging close to Leah for warmth. Her bright blue eyes darted toward The Stardrop Saloon and sure enough, Leah made out a few figures huddled in the shadow of the bar. Neighbors in a small town sure are nosy.

"My place is right around the corner…" Haley suggested, surprising Leah with how direct she was willing to be after all the hints. I guess she finally understands I'm no good at reading between the lines, Leah reflected.

She pecked Haley's flushed cheek. "That only works if you have your house key on you."

Without hesitation, the blonde plunged her hand into the cleavage of her dress and revealed a key on a gold chain around her neck. "I came prepared." Leah's face went as red as her hair, but she followed hot on Haley's heels.

"Prepared for what, exactly?"

Now Haley was on the offensive. "If I don't come back into the saloon," she answered with a flirtatious grin, "Samantha's staying at Marnie's tonight." Haley slid the key into the deadbolt of her home's front door and turned the lock. She lingered in the doorway, her attention focused solely on the artist. "Are you coming in or not?"

Leah bobbed her head to indicate her intentions. This must be a dream, she concluded. This was all too good to be true. But if that's the case, then there's no pressure. And if it isn't… If this is all actually happening... That's even better, right?

So, she took the first step and entered Haley's house. Even in the dim light, Leah could tell there was something hanging from the ceiling. "Mistletoe?" Leah questioned, indicating the bundle dangling just beyond the threshold.

"If all else failed, I was going to drag you under some tomorrow at Violet's party," Haley confessed, awaiting Leah under the sprigs of green and white. When their lips met again, it was evident that they both had been waiting for this moment.

Violet unlocked the door to the farmhouse and tugged Sebastian inside to avoid letting out the heat from the fire crackling in the hearth. Shane or Penny must have done that for her, the farmer realized gratefully. She and Sebastian had gone straight from her boyfriend's place in ZuZu City to The Stardrop Saloon that evening so they would not be late for hanging out with their friends.

The pastel-haired woman was grateful for a change in pace and to see her friends again. It was not Sebastian's fault, but the atmosphere at his place had been somewhat heavy since Robin's surprise visit. Violet stayed to support Sebastian in his time of need and luckily her friends were willing to pitch in to take care of the animals on the farm for her for a few days. The former city-dweller felt lucky to have made so many friendships in such a short time. Violet worked for Joja Corp. for years, but none of her work acquaintances became anything more than that. It made the farmer appreciate her grandfather's gift once again.

After they peeled off their Winter gear, and Bruno came to fulfill his need for human affection, Sebastian slumped onto the couch. "I'm exhausted…" he grumbled. It had been an emotionally draining week, and Violet did not blame her partner for not telling Sam and Abigail about the family drama Robin recounted in The Stardrop Saloon. Sebastian wanted to save that when there was more privacy. But, in pretending things were okay for now, it was more difficult to fake it until they made it. At least, at first.

The saying "time heals all wounds" was somewhat true, but Violet also found in her experience that spending time with other people helped, too. As an introvert, the farmer found it difficult to get out of her own head unless there was a persistent distraction. And what better way than to fall right back into a fun tradition like a game of pool at the bar on Friday night?

Considering all that happened this week, it was an off night for both Sebastian and Violet, but they still had a good time. Abigail and Sam achieved a stunning victory when Sam knocked in three balls in quick succession. Normally, it would be a crushing defeat for Violet and Sebastian, but the way Sam lit up made the loss sting less. They even had a small crowd cheering for the blond by the end and their excitement infected the rest of the patrons in the local saloon.

Now that the social aspect of the evening was over, all the couple wanted to do was rest. But Violet would not allow herself, even when Sebastian beckoned her to join him. "No, I need to do some prep work for tomorrow or there literally won't be enough time to cook everything in one oven."

"Have you tried spreading out some of the work?" Sebastian recommended. "At the very least, you can just prepare a dish up to when you would bake it and provide some final instructions…"

Violet looked at her boyfriend in horror. "B-but what if someone burns something? Or their oven runs too hot or too cold? Or someone slips on the ice carrying it all the way here?"

Sebastian sighed heavily into a decorative pillow, acknowledging his defeat. "Give me a bit to summon the energy to get up," he grumbled. "I'll help you out."

The wavy-haired woman beamed as she bent over to plant a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. "You're the best, 'Bastian." Sebastian's lips curved upward slightly as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Violet decided to take that to mean he was past the worst of it and just needed a bit more time to recover.

Violet pulled out her list of dishes she needed to prepare, as well as her schedule for which of the many components needed to be made and in what order. Sebastian rested his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You really planned this down to the minute, didn't you?" he observed with a chuckle.

"I just want everything to be perfect!" Violet could feel the stress already bubbling over into her voice.

Sebastian eased her head back into a kiss and massaged her shoulders to relieve the tension. "It doesn't need to be perfect," he assured her, nuzzling his face into the fabric of her sweater. "You're throwing a feast for all the twenty and thirty-somethings 'just because.'"

Violet moaned softly at the touch and allowed the anxiety to release with each exhalation. But soon Sebastian's hands shifted from platonic and stress-relieving to more flirtatious and amorous. The farmer whipped around to face him. "We don't have time for that!" she scolded him with a tap to his nose. Taking his hand, she led him to the table and set a bowl of yams in front of him. "Start cubing these, please!"

"Fine…" the hoodie-clad man groused with exaggerated disappointment, but Violet noticed his foot slide toward hers until he felt physical contact. The farmer smiled to herself. It was strange how content she felt, sitting beside Sebastian in relative silence, with only the rhythm of the blades as they clacked against the cutting boards. The simple music of domesticity.