Work Text:
Setting - Marnie's Ranch - June 25th Year 1
Emily and Rosie sat at Marnie's dining table while Shane was off at a shift at JojaMart. Marine poured three cups of tea and then sat down. "So Emily, what's on your mind?" Marnie asked.
Emily sighed as she added a bit of Rosie's summer spangle honey to her tea. "I love Shane. I want to give him a bouquet. But..." She trails off.
"But you aren't sure if he'll accept it?" Marnie fills in, adding honey to her own teacup.
"He's doing so much better now since he's seeing a therapist, but...I know he still feels unworthy of me. I can see it in his eyes every time I tell him I love him." Emily explains. "You know him better than anyone else in the Valley. What do you think?"
Marnie hums thoughtfully and sips her tea. It was a green tea blend that Rosie had given her. "Before I answer that, I have a question." She said, looking to Rosie. "What about you and Harvey?" She asks the farmer.
"What? Why do you ask!?" Rosie asks, as if Marnie had accused her of stealing from a cookie jar or something.
"Because I've seen you and Harvey together. I, like everyone else in the Valley, saw the two of you at the Flower Dance. There's a reason Lewis crowned you as the Festival Royalty. You two were positively radiating love and joy, the spirit of the dance itself."
Rosie sipped her tea. "It's complicated."
Marnie chuckled. "Only because you make it so."
Emily and Rosie looked at each other. "I think Emily's a lot more ready to make that leap than I am. But I'll get there...someday." Rosie says quietly, sipping her tea.
"True love is as rare as hen's teeth. I'd know, I'm a rancher." Marnie sighs sadly. "So if you find it, you'd better go after it. I know, I had it once. Then I let it go and ended up settling for something a lot more hollow."
Emily and Rosie looked at each other again. "What do you mean you had it once? Who was it that you let go?" Emily asked, her bright blue eyes shining.
"Well, it doesn't matter now. He's surely moved on from me. He's not seeing anyone that I know of, but he's no longer interested in me. I know that much." Marnie replied evading the question.
"Then just who are you settling for?" Rosie asks, a twinkle in her own blue-grey eyes.
"That's not important either. I'm sure your futures are far more important. This isn't about me, it's about the two of you. Don't make the same mistake I did." Marnie says, hiding her expression behind another sip of tea. She knew she'd brought that little bit of questioning on herself in her trying to convince the girls to seek their own men.
Emily and Rosie looked at each other a third time and both sighed. They knew they weren't going to get out of this by interrogating Marnie.
Rosie sighs. "I....am still too scared." she admits. "I'm scared of Harvey saying no, or saying yes but then leaving me when he realizes that he's too good for me."
Marnie shakes her head. "Maybe you should also be seeing a therapist."
Rosie shrugs. "Maybe."
The two women turn to Emily.
"I'll think about it." Emily says, drinking more tea. "I...I want to do it right. I want to make sure he's really ready."
Marnie smiles at her softly, knowing something the young woman doesn't. "He's ready. I think you'll be surprised at just how ready he is."
The subject changes then to the upcoming Luau and other things happening in the valley. Marnie hopes her words help move the other two to act. She doesn't want them to fall into the same trap she did. She waves goodbye to them as they head out and she washes the mugs, thinking fondly of the one-eyed warrior up on the mountain.