Lost and Found [Harvest Moon: A New Beginning]

Break

Rio stared at Vaughn, slack-jawed. Neil recoiled as if struck, then growled, "What did you say?"

Closing his eyes, Vaughn replied in a slow, soft voice. "When I was thirteen, I met the prettiest girl I'd ever seen—hair like sunshine, eyes like the wide blue sky, and a laugh that was the Goddess's own music. She was just shy of thirteen at the time, and she took a fancy to me almost as fast as I did to her. We were just kids playing around all that summer. Her family had just moved to our little town, and I was the first friend she made there.

"Well, it may have just been puppy love, but it was still love at first sight for both of us. School started up at the end of summer, and all the boys sat up and took notice of her. But she was my girl, and I made sure they all knew it, too. Things got serious with us pretty quick, and one night shortly after school was out for the summer, about a year after we first met, we both snuck out of our homes to meet somewhere private, and... well, things got a little carried away and we went a lot farther than we should've. Still, even though it was wrong, it just brought us closer together.

"But then, soon afterwards, she found out she was pregnant. As I said, we were just kids—only fourteen. Much too young. I thought her dad was gonna kill me, he was so pissed off. I remember his face turning purple, his eyes bulging... he couldn't even speak. He threw me out of the house—physically, that is, just picked me up and heaved me out the door and onto the grass—and said I was never to see or speak to his daughter again, and that he'd shoot me if he ever caught me hanging around her.

"My folks were furious, too, especially my dad. He kicked me out, said I was worthless, no-good scum, that no son of his would go and knock up a young girl like that. So there I was, fourteen years old and completely on my own—no more family, no more girlfriend, nothing but some clothes and a backpack and a little cash my mother snuck me as I left. I haven't seen or spoken to her or my parents since then. I happened on animal dealer that needed some help, and since I had a knack with animals, he hired me. And that's what I've been doin' ever since."

In the stunned silence that ensued, Rio heard someone ask, using her voice, "What... what was your girlfriend's name?"

"Wendy. Wendy Swanbeck."

**************

Rio stared up her driveway as the dust cloud from the truck and large trailer dispersed, settling on the grass and bushes that lined her drive. She felt tears on her cheeks—hot tears of anger mingled with tears of pain and grief.

The drive back to the village had been incredibly awkward, to put it lightly. After Vaughn had dropped his bombshell, Neil had just gotten up and walked away, dazed and deeply shaken. She had started to follow him, but he'd snapped at her to leave him alone—said he needed some time alone to think. So she just stood and watched as he trudged up the hill and disappeared over the crest of the ridge. Then she slowly walked back towards the shed, ignoring Vaughn, who hadn't moved from his spot in the shade.

She headed on down the slope towards the trees at the lower edge of the pasture. She found a shady spot there and sat with her back against a tree, curled into a little ball of misery—angry, frustrated, and still in shock—and mulled over Vaughn's revelation. Tears trickled down her cheek as she considered that the man she thought she loved, and with whom she'd finally made love only an hour or so ago, might be her ex-boyfriend's son. Violet, then, would be Neil's half-sister... and if they ever were to marry, he'd be her stepfather—birth stepfather, anyway, if that was even a thing—as well as her half-brother. The thought made her head hurt, and she felt as though she was suffocating. She curled up even more tightly, tucking her knees beneath her chin and hugging them hard as her tears splattered on the blades of grass.