Chapter Text
Moving was always an incredibly nerve wracking experience. After 18 years of unsteady living, Brianna Bauer was hoping this would be the last time she would need to go through this process, but after the fight with her father, Daryl, she felt uncertainty looming over her. The man driving the horse drawn carriage had stopped commenting on the situation a couple hours into the journey, much to the young woman’s delight. Not that she didn’t like conversation, but she simply had too much on her mind at that moment. She was moving to a new place, for a new career, to meet a family member that she couldn’t even remember. To say that she was anxious would have been an understatement, but there was also something liberating about it as well.
Bri’s mother, Marlena, was far more supportive about this decision that her daughter was making. She had gone through the trouble of putting together some new clothes, a small amount of money that had been saved up, and some basic essentials like bedding, cookware, and toiletries to help Bri get started. Her sister, Lynn, however, was more than a little annoyed with how much attention Bri was getting over this revelation.
“Seriously? A farmer? Why would you want to do that?” Lynn had asked when Bri revealed her desires.
“I have known that this is something I wanted to do for years,” Bri had replied, turning to Marlena and Daryl. “I really think I could do it.”
Of course, that was when Daryl made his opinion known, that Bri could not be a farmer, and that she didn’t know what she was talking about. Before she had actually said the profession, he seemed pleased at the idea of her leaving the nest.
Bri sighed at the thought of the fight. Thinking about it made her light headed, and she could feel her heart beating rapidly as she grew upset. Trying to calm herself, she reached behind her head and pulled her long braided dark brown locks around her shoulder, and leaned back. The sun wasn’t even high in the sky yet, and the morning air was cooling to her skin. The spring sky was gorgeous, and as she watched the clouds, she felt herself growing tired.
Dad did say the trip would take a few hours, so a nap wouldn’t be too bad.
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“Ah, Miss?”
“Hmm?” Bri bolted upwards, startled by the driver calling her.
“Mighty sorry to wake you, Miss, but we’ve a bit of a problem.”
“Oh?” Bri rubbed her eyes, and looked around to see what the issue was. “What’s going on?”
“Ah, well, one of the horses has started limping, y’see. We might be stuck here for about an hour.”
Bri nodded and pushed herself off of the cart, and stretched. She wasn’t sure how long she had been sleeping, but she was sore. They both walked around and, indeed, the left horse was holding his front right leg up, and trying not to let it touch the ground. The driver held the horse’s leg and looked under the hoof to find a huge rock lodged in the shoe. He asked Bri to hand him the pick, and with extreme care, managed to dislodge the foreign object. The horse whinnied in discomfort, but at least seemed to bear to have his hoof on the ground once more.
“I don’t want to push him,” the driver explained. “This old man has been all over the country, y’see. And this good ol’ boy has been by my side for years. They got memories, Miss. I’d never mistreat these fine creatures.”
Bri simply nodded, unsure of what she should say. She didn’t mind the stop at all, and agreed that it was in everybody’s best interests to keep the animals in good health. The driver continued to ramble on about some of his travels, and Bri found that it was best to simply stay quiet and nod her head every now and again.
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When they finally reached southern Westown, an overwight man wearing overalls and a straw brimmed hat was waiting at the carriage stop for her, with an enormous smile on his face. Bri could see the resemblance between this man and Daryl, and she surmised that this must be Frank. She had met him before, but she was a baby back then, and couldn’t remember that meeting at all.
“There she is!” Frank bellowed, gathering her up in a huge hug, squeezing her tight. “Brianna! Yer all grown up!”
Bri was completely taken aback by this greeting, as she wasn’t much of a hugger, but she tried to be polite and smile.
“Hey, Uncle Frank,” she said when he had released her.
“I know, I know, ye probably don’t even remember me,” he chuckled, grabbing her bags off the cart as Bri tipped the driver and followed the large man to his farmhouse.
“Uh, well, y’know…” she responded, “Dad has a few pictures of you two.”
“Ha! Marlena probably kept them around! That woman is so good fer Daryl! I dunno what he’d’ve done without her! Come in! Come in!”
Bri was greeted by an adorable dog named Lucky upon entering Frank’s home, and she knelt down to pet him. Frank let her know that her farm wasn’t quite ready for her yet, but that while the final touches were in progress, he’d be teaching her all that she needed to know. Unbeknownst to her, one of the things she needed to know was that in Westown, there was a common greeting between the townsfolk: hugging. Apparently, Frank had sensed her apprehension at the hug she had received and he apologized for not remembering that people didn’t greet that way where she was from.
“Now, I’m sure ye’ve had a long day. I’ve already gone ahead and made dinner fer us. Best to hit the hay early, cuz ye gotta wake up early on the farm!”
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After Frank taught Bri some of the basics of farming, she couldn’t wait to get started. On her first day, she met with the town elder, Megan, who suggested she check out the north part of town where all the shops were. Bri was enamored with the beautiful desert setting, and the quaint charm of the town itself.
One thing Bri loved about her life in the city, was visiting her friend who worked at a zoo. While her friend had a flare for the exotic wildlife, Bri had always preferred livestock. This did not, however, mean that she didn’t like wild creatures. To live in this more rural area meant that one would require some (at least) basic tolerance of wildlife. While visiting the north end of Westown, she was shocked by the sight of an incredible bald eagle landing right in front of a building. Bri had never seen anything like this before, and was enthralled.
“Am I dreaming?” she asked herself, outloud.
“No, ma’am,” a young man's voice answered in a southern drawal. “That right there is a genuine bald eage.”
Bri directed her attention to the source of the voice, to find one incredibly handsome man. He had crystal blue eyes and amazing curly straw colored hair. From his outfit, she surmised that this must be Westown’s postmaster.
“O-oh,” she said, admittedly distracted by the good looks of the man in front of her. “Sorry, I probably look so rude. My name’s Bri.”
"Howdy, Bri,” he smiled at her. “Frank's been talking about ya ever since hearing 'bout ya moving out here. Nothing against Frank, but who'd a thought his niece would be such a cutie!"
Bri blushed and took a step away from him, and he chuckled.
“My names Wayne,” he said. “ Welcome to Westown!”
Wayne gave her a little speech about the town, and as he spoke, they seemed to gather an audience. Bri wasn’t sure where they came from, but a few women, of varying ages, had descended upon Wayne, telling him how handsome he was and how much they loved him. Wayne was a perfect gentleman to each and every one of them, but Bri couldn’t help but realize that he was actually rejecting their advances, while being quite smooth and polite in the way he was doing it. It took a few minutes, but eventually the women went about their days and left the two alone once more.
"Sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” he told her, a light blush upon his cheeks. “That happens, sometimes.”
Although she started to get the idea that he might be a bit of a ladies’ man, Bri began to feel a lot more comfortable around Wayne and she thought he might be a great person to spend time with, he seemed nice enough. Though, she had to admit that he lost some of his flourish after watching him interact with his, um, admirers.
"So, has anyone given you the grand tour yet?" Wayne asked.
"No, not yet, I was just going to wander...but if you're offering," Bri replied.
In response, Wayne held out his elbow in a gentlemanly fashion.
"Well, m'lady, might I show you what Westown has to offer?"
Bri actually giggled at this, and took his arm.
"Why, thank you sir!"
The town was actually quite large, but didn't appear to have very many residents. Wayne showed her the post office, explaining that they were closed on Saturdays and Sundays, but otherwise if she ever needed to mail something, they were open 9:00 to 16:00.
She met Ethan, a man about her age of 18, who also worked at the post office at the front desk. He handled incoming shipments, while Wayne took care of delivering them.
Continuing on, they stopped at the Garden Grill, the local restaurant owned by an older gentleman named Marco, who had left the business to his son, Brad and daughter in law, Carrie. Brad seemed nice enough, but also as though he was trying way too hard to leave a good impression, where Wayne's entire personality seemed genuine, Brad appeared a little awkward, but not unpleasant. Carrie, on the other hand, was as sweet as could be. While Brad was the chef, his wife handled the front of house, and that bubbly personality made her a perfect fit for it. She did mention wanting Bri to try out her latest experimental dish, while Brad made wild hand motions behind her that signified "don't do it", while Wayne just looked on with a smile, though she could sense that he seemed to be silently agreeing with the chef.
Next was the florist shop, run by Lisette, another kind lady who was also 18, with light blond hair in a cute two pony tail style. Lisette sympathized with Bri, mentioning that Frank had explained the conditions of moving here, and Lisette had similar troubles convincing her family that she could run the shop on her own. While talking with Lisette, a young girl, maybe 7 or 8 with auburn hair came into the shop. Her name was Noel, and she was picking up a bouquet for her mother. Noel was excited at meeting Bri, and practically dragged her to the general store to meet her mother Miranda, a stout, kindly woman in her 40s. It was pretty obvious they were mother and daughter.
Bri was hitting it off with all of the villagers, but as the tour was coming to a close, they went by one more building.
"Well, dang it," Wayne said when they approached and found a note on the door.
"What is it?" Bri asked.
"Oh, just someone I wanted you to meet. But it seems he's out of town for a few days. That's alright though, I'll introduce the two of you when he comes back."
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After about a week at Frank’s, Bri was finally able to head out to her farm. They had to walk out to the Crossroads, a beautiful green area that had 4 large paths, though two of them were blocked. All Frank had said was that the blocked paths led to other towns, and that she would hopefully be able to see them in the near future.
The farm was a decent sized area of land, that already had a barn and a coop set up for her, along with some great areas to start growing some crops. The house, however, was pretty rundown. It was, with all honesty, a shack. But, Bri did understand that renovations were very expensive.
After meeting up with Wayne and Lisette in North Westown for dinner, the former walked Bri all the way out to her farm and gave a low whistle at the sight of the house.
"That can't be safe, Bri!" he exclaimed.
She gave the house a look, and her heart sank. It was true, the house was more like a rotten woodshed. It was going to take a long time before she could renovate it, and she wasn't even certain that she COULD renovate it.
"Yeah, but I can't complain. If I really have to, I guess I could sleep in the barn. There aren't any animals in it yet."
"I wouldn't dream of it! You could stay with me until you can start renovating. Or Lisette or Carrie could give you a place to stay til you get settled."
"Honestly, it's okay. Thank you, Wayne."
"Well... If you insist. May I at least invite you to breakfast in the morning? I make a mean omelette. Plus, you could pick up some seeds from the general store after, since it's nearby."
Bri considered this. The shack didn't have a kitchen, so cooking was off the table, going to breakfast sounded like a pretty good idea.
"I think I'll take you up on that, thanks!"
After exchanging a goodbye, Bri went into the shack and turned on the little lamp by the door and sighed. She was completely drained, and for a moment, slumped up against the door, before faking in a deep breath, and standing up straight. Tomorrow, her new journey would truly begin, and she felt ready to take on the first, of what she was certain would be many, trial.