Finding Love in the Valley

Part Sixteen

"Don't look at me like that! I said some pretty mean things, please don't make me repeat it."

Pulling out the last of the weeds around my chicken coop, I wipe the sweat from my forehead and glance up at my audience. The hens are looking at me intently, some of them with their heads cocked to the side. It's probably just my imagination, but it honestly seems like they're hanging onto my every word. One of them approaches me from behind the fence and clucks, though I can't tell if she's judging me or being supportive.

Wow. Not only am I talking to my chickens, but I'm imagining that they're responding to me. I might actually be going crazy.

It's been almost a week since our fight, and Haley and I haven't spoken since. I've talked to Emily and Leah at the Saloon a couple of times, but other than that, I've basically just stayed on the farm. Of course I want to see her, I miss her so much. I doubt she misses me, though. Why would she? Even if she really cared about me before, she probably doesn't want anything to do with me now, after I told her off that night at Emily's.

In the moment, I just felt so hurt and embarrassed. My heart was broken, and I guess that's why I lashed out at her. I wanted her to feel the same way I felt. Grandpa always told me that wounded animals are dangerous. I suppose humans are no different. Of course, regret started sinking in about two minutes after I left her house, but I was too stubborn to go back and apologize.

I thought that it would get easier after the first couple of days, but it hasn't yet. I also thought I would start to miss her less, but it's the opposite. Each new day is harder than the last. Today is especially cursed because most of the town is gone. They all went out on Willy's boat to Ginger Island. With the way I'm feeling today, I didn't want to go, so I just stayed home. I've been so focused on trying to keep my brain busy, I unintentionally finished all my farm chores early. I'm starting to regret skipping the trip. At least it would've helped to take my mind off of her...

After a total of 3.5 minutes of debating, I decide to go to the beach to try to clear my head. It's been a really nice day so far - warm, breezy, and a little cloudy. I don't mind the clouds, or even a little rain. It's a nice break from the heat. The sun in the summer can be overbearing, especially when you're outdoors a lot. I make my way off the farm towards town and the wind starts to pick up, with some darker clouds making their way towards the valley. By the time I reach the bridge that leads to the beach, it begins to rain. As I look out over the ocean, I can see a wall of rain that looks like it's heading right for the shoreline.

I hear a clap of thunder and see a bright flash of lightning in the distance.

Shit.

A thunderstorm is enough to motivate me to go back home. I don't mind rain, but lightning is a different story. As I turn around to retreat back to the bridge, a flash of blonde hair catches my attention at the opposite end of the beach. Peering through the rain, I see now there's someone pacing around frantically, and looking down at the ground.

"Haley?" I call out to her and begin to make my way towards her. "What are you doing out here in the rain?" As I get closer, I see she's crying. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay! My bracelet is gone! I know I had it on when I got here. Now it's gone, and I can't find it anywhere. I started looking for it as soon as I noticed it was missing, but then this freak storm came out of nowhere."

As if on cue, the thunder booms again and the rain starts coming down even harder.

"DAMN IT!" Haley screams in frustration and kicks at the ground, causing sand to fly up and stick to our wet clothes.

"Haley, try to calm down. I'm sure it was a nice bracelet, but you can always get a new one. Let me walk you home."

"No, I can't, Jessie!" she sobs. "I'll never find another one. Even if I found one that looked exactly like it, it still wouldn't be the same. That bracelet was passed down to me by my grandmother."