Roses and Sonatas [Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns]

Chapter 44

Early the next morning, Kana stopped by for me. He'd offered to drive Rob to the station, and I'd asked to come along to get just a little more time with him before he left. Both of them were thrilled by my news, of course, and Rob said he thought Cam was all right—meaning he approved of him. I promised to call our parents that evening to give them the news, and asked him to be sure they'd be around to get the call since I'd have to use the phone at town hall.

After Kana and I got back, I hurried through my chores and errands so I could meet Cam at the café. When we told Howard and Laney, they were positively over the moon. Laney jumped on me, giving me a huge hug as she squealed with excitement, and Howard immediately started coming up with all kinds of wild, extravagant plans for our wedding. Cam and I looked at each other in mock dismay as he enthusiastically rattled off one crazy idea after another.

Laney intercepted our look, however, and immediately reined her father in. "Hold on just a minute, Dad!" she exclaimed, affectionately patting him on his shoulder. "I think Alice might like to plan her own wedding herself!" She turned to us with a smile, saying, "Dad and I would be delighted to take care of the food and the cake, of course—if you would like, that is. Just let us know what you want!"

I hugged them both, grateful not just for their offer but also for their joy in our engagement. I knew they considered Cam to be family, and when we announced our engagement, they happily opened their arms wide to include me in their little family circle.

Afterwards, we returned to my house. I made some tea for us, and we settled down to make some plans—not just for our wedding, but also for our life together afterwards.

"I've almost finished restoring this farm as much as I intend to," I said as I set a plate of food at each of our places and sat down, "at least for the time being. But I'm not quite there. I might be able to finish before the winter snows begin, but if not, then I'll try to have it completed by the end of the year, depending on the weather. Will you mind living here in Konohana in the meantime? I know it means having to travel farther to and from your shop, but hopefully it will be for just a little while. Then we can move to Bluebell to stay."

"Well, of course, I've never lived here before... I'd never even been here to visit until you moved here. I have to say, though, that it's much nicer than I'd always envisioned growing up. I still like Bluebell the best, but Konohana's not so bad."

"And when would you want to have the wedding? I want to invite both villages, as I've grown close to many of my neighbors here, too."

"How about in a month?"

"Hmm, that's not much time for all the preparations," I said, looking up at him with a slight frown as I pondered his suggestion.

"I know, but we don't have to have an elaborate wedding, do we? And... well, maybe I'm just being selfish, but... I've waiting so long for you already, I don't want to wait a minute longer than necessary."

I smiled and reached for his hand. "No, we don't. I'd rather not, anyway. A big fancy event would just seem so out of place here. I'd much rather something more simple. Kind of like that party we had when the tunnel reopened, only with a wedding ceremony first."

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Cam exclaimed with a laugh.

"See? We're already acting like an old married couple," I teased. "Although... I'm worried about the weather. It rains a lot this time of the year, and I'd hate to be rained out of my own wedding."

"What if we held it in the town hall?"

"Hmmm... that's not a bad idea. We could have the ceremony in one hall, and the reception in the other. That would not only include both villages, but also make setting up a lot easier. Maybe have the ceremony here in Konohana and the reception in Bluebell, since the Bluebell town hall is close to Howard's?"