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“Are you doing ok? Your energy is… really, really low.”
Emily’s brows were deeply furrowed as Kate pulled herself onto a stool, slouching over the bar top with a weary sigh.
“I’ve been planting seeds and watering for the last three hours,” she muttered, trying to smooth back the limp strands of hair that had come free from her braid throughout the morning and were now stuck to the sweat on her forehead. “I had to come in to buy a couple more packets from Pierre and thought I’d get a drink before I go back.”
“You need to take a real break,” Emily chastised her, setting a tall glass of ice water in front of her. Kate grabbed it and only refrained from completely chugging it to avoid choking herself. “I know it’s only been a few months, but the farm’s doing ok so far. You can afford to take one day off.”
“Not if I want to actually turn a profit this summer,” Kate argued, her chin propped up against her hand. “I’ve been barely squeaking by so far and I don’t want that to be what the rest of my life here looks like. I need to get this thing off the ground.”
Emily watched her with a quiet, solemn expression that made Kate feel like she was looking straight through her, staring at all her worries and stresses, sending a brief shiver through her like something had just brushed against the back of her neck. She busied herself with drinking her water to avoid making eye contact.
After a moment Emily sighed, crossing her arms in front of her and squaring her shoulders. “Ok, I have the day off tomorrow, and I was planning on going down to the beach in the afternoon. I’m not going to force you to come with,” she leveled Kate with a firm, pointed look, “but I think you’d have a lot of fun if you joined me.”
Kate pulled the inside of her cheek between her back teeth, watching the ice in her drink slowly start to melt.
“I’ll think about it, but no promises,” she finally yielded.
Emily smiled at her, a little smug but trying to hide it, and turned to help Pam on the other end of the bar. “I’ll be there around 2 if you decide to come.”
Kate didn't say anything as Emily walked away, finishing her water in another few thirsty gulps. She left some money on the bar top for a tip, and with one last wave to her friend, stepped back out into the sticky summer heat. She already knew, with a pang of regret, that she would have to turn down Emily's offer, as nice as it was. Even if she wanted a break, she just couldn’t take one yet, at least not until she finished getting her new seeds in the ground and clearing the last of her second field. There was too much left to do.
No matter how tiring it might be, she was fully determined to power through until her work was finished.
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It turned out she wasn’t nearly as determined as she thought she was.
Throughout the rest of the day and into the next, she couldn’t stop thinking about how good it would feel to sit on the beach and relax in the water, if just for some momentary relief from the heat wave that had settled in the valley. Even getting up early in the morning like she usually did on hot days didn’t save her, her clothes already sticking to her body by 10 a.m. By 1:30 that afternoon, she had thrown her hoe down in tired, hot, frustrated defeat, marching into the farmhouse to dig her swimsuit out of the bottom of one of her dresser drawers.
“I’ll go for half an hour and come back,” she assured herself, finding the light blue two-piece buried in her sock drawer. “An hour tops. Just long enough to spend some time with Emily and cool off.”
By the time she had gotten changed and made it to the beach, an old towel thrown over her shoulder, Emily was already sitting on the shore not far from Elliott’s shack. She turned at the sound of footsteps in the sand, breaking into a wide grin once she saw Kate.
“I’m not staying long,” Kate quickly told her, spreading her towel on the sand next to Emily’s. “I just needed to cool off for a little bit.”
“You can stay as long or as short as you want,” Emily replied, though her grin didn’t move an inch. “I’m just happy to see you.”
Kate leaned back on her towel, closing her eyes and trying to will away some of the stress that sat heavy on her shoulders. The heat was still ever present, but they were close enough to the oceanside that she could feel the occasional spray of cool water mist over her legs as the tide came in and out, fighting off some of the oppressive warmth in the air. The sound of the waves moving back and forth over the sand was soothing on its own, and paired with the gulls calling out overhead and the other noises of nature around them, Kate could almost lose herself in the brief moment of calm and forget the farm and the planting and all the rest of the work she wasn’t doing.
Emily started humming next to her, and Kate looked over to see her pulling a few colorful plastic buckets and matching shovels from her tote bag and begin filling one with sand.
“Did you seriously bring stuff to make sandcastles?” Kate laughed, though she really couldn’t bring herself to be too surprised; if anyone other than Jas or Vincent was going to bring pails and shovels to the beach, it would be Emily.
“I was looking for a beach towel and found them in a box with a lot of Haley and I’s old toys,” she answered, using one of the shovels to pack the sand into the pail. “I thought it might be fun—help us reconnect with our inner child.”
Kate watched her friend turn the pail over on the beach, pulling it away to reveal a perfect little tower of sand. She only hesitated for a second, eyeing the second pail sitting between her and Emily, before she sat up and began scooping sand into it as well.
Eventually the two of them had built an impressive sandcastle, complete with towers and tiny walls and even a few colorful shells as decoration. Kate placed a feather she had found, dropped by one of the gulls, on top of the main tower as a flag.
“I guess if farming doesn’t work out, I can make a new career out of sandcastle building,” she joked with a smile, sitting back to admire their work. “I can’t remember the last time I made one of these.”
“I think it’s worthy of some very tiny sand royalty,” Emily proclaimed, prompting giggles from both of them as she stood up, wiping the sand from her legs. “Wanna go for a swim?”
“That sounds amazing,” Kate agreed, standing up to join her. “Your swimsuit looks great, by the way. I don’t think I told you before. When did you finish it?”
“Just last week!” Emily spun in a small circle, showing off the red bikini that she had made by hand. If she hadn’t told Kate about her latest project herself, she never would have guessed the suit wasn’t store-bought with its ruffled touches and delicate sewing. “I’m going to have Sandy send me some more fabric soon so I can make another one before the end of summer.”
“How is Sandy?”
Emily had told Kate before about her friend in Calico Desert, whom she hadn’t had a chance to see regularly since the town’s bus had broken down some years ago. There had been a few sparse visits, and they exchanged letters more often, according to Emily, but Kate could see the disappointed grief that hid beneath her smiles whenever Sandy was brought up, and how immensely she missed someone she considered a very close friend.
Kate could see that sadness now as Emily shrugged at the question. “She’s fine: busy with her store most of the time,” she said, and quickly put on a happier smile, not allowing herself to dwell in her emotions for very long as she gestured to the waiting ocean waves. “Come on, I’m starting to bake out here.”
Kate followed her into the water, sighing in relief as the cool waves lapped at her legs. Her original plan to only stay for an hour was thrown out the window as they waded further out, bobbing along chest-deep in the water, splashing at each other and laughing as they dived in and out of the waves. For Kate, it might have been the most carefree she had allowed herself to be in the few months since she moved to the valley, the water washing away the worry that she’d been carrying over the farm, if only for just a little while.
They were still sitting on the beach by the time the sun started to set, the water reflecting golden light on its surface. Kate laid back on her towel and stared up at the fluffy white clouds above them.
“I think this might have been the best afternoon I’ve had the entire time I’ve lived here,” she marveled aloud.
“I knew you’d have a good time if you could just get away from the farm for a few hours.” Emily laid on her own towel next to her, her blue hair drying in odd directions with the heat. “I love you, but you haven’t been taking care of yourself lately. I’m worried you’re going to overwork yourself.”
“You’re not the only one who thinks so,” Kate admitted, briefly thinking back to what Harvey had told her in the community center only a few days earlier. “I want to slow down more, but I just— sometimes I’m afraid that if I don’t turn out to be as good a farmer as Grandpa, I’m just going to be a burden on the town.” An uncomfortable warmth settled inside her chest as she bared more of her inner anxieties to Emily than she was used to doing, but she pushed through the embarrassment with a heavy sigh. “I don’t want people here to think I’m a failure. And I don’t want to leave or go broke and let Joja take over.”
Emily sat silent for a moment, letting the crashing of the waves fill the air, before she turned to Kate again with intense earnestness. “I knew the moment we saw each other again that you were going to love it in Pelican Town,” she said, and gave Kate a kind, reassuring smile. “You just need to have faith that you’re doing the right thing. And even if it’s not perfect, you’re still just as much a part of this place as all of us are.”
Kate returned the smile with a softer one of her own, and sat up so she could squeeze Emily’s hand between them. “I hope you know you’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had,” Kate told her, her smile wobbling just a little. “I missed you so much after we moved to the city. Part of me was afraid you wouldn’t be here anymore when I came back.”
Emily responded by pulling Kate into a tight hug, warm from the sun’s last afternoon rays. “I missed you too,” she whispered. “I’m so glad destiny brought us back together.”
Kate tried to subtly wipe away a few of the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes as they broke apart, and she stood up with a newfound burst of energy. “I bet Alex is still at the ice cream stand. We should make a stop before we both head home.”
“I guess one less-than-healthy treat this week won’t hurt me,” Emily agreed, already moving to join her.
They gathered up their things, shaking the sand out of their towels and packing up the shovels and pails into Emily’s bag. As they started walking back toward town, Kate bumped her shoulder against Emily’s.
“Thanks for a fun afternoon, and for letting me vent a little,” she said. “I’d be happy to return the favor if you’re ever missing Sandy or feeling overwhelmed at the saloon and want to vent too.”
Emily’s smile fell into something a little more subdued, and for once she didn’t immediately correct it. “I think I’d like that. Thanks, Kate.”
Together, with the early evening slowly falling over Pelican Town, they walked arm in arm down the path toward home.