I spent the next few days in silent apprehension, uncertain when—or even if—Mikhail might arrive. I grew increasingly jumpy, my heart skipping a beat every time I heard footsteps on the road behind me or coming down my driveway. I decided that I really needed a distraction before I became a nervous wreck, so I accepted Kana's invitation to go riding together.

Friday morning, after I'd finished my chores, I saddled up Lady and rode over to meet Kana at his house. He'd purchased boxed lunches from Yun's for us to take, and I'd packed some bottles of tea and homemade cookies.

I'd kind of expected that he'd be riding his beloved Hayate, so I was surprised to find him waiting for me by his gate mounted on one of the geldings that he was training. Hayate was too old now for such rides, he explained. And besides, he added as he leaned down to pat his mount's neck, the ride would be good for this gelding, since he had a lot of energy and needed the exercise to quiet him. I was worried that Lady wouldn't be able to keep up, but I decided not to worry about it—after all, it's not like it would hurt anyone if he galloped on ahead from time to time instead of keeping his horse slowed to my pony's pace.

We headed up the path to the mountain, reaching the peak around noon. We stopped there, letting the horses rest and graze for a while as we ate our lunch and admired the incredible view. After a good rest, we decided to pack up. I asked if he wanted to continue on to Bluebell with me, or go back to Konohana, and after a little thought, he decided to come with me. He said he'd not been there for quite a while, and he wanted to stop by the pet store to see how Georgia was doing with her horses. So we packed up and headed down the Bluebell side of the mountain.

When we reached the river just outside of town, I spotted Cam strolling along the path and decided to stop and say hi. He looked up at the sound of hoofbeats, and I thought he looked angry for a moment as we rode up. I dismounted, handing my reins to Kana, then walked over to where he stood watching us with a cheery greeting. "Hi, Cam! Long time, no see! How are you today?"

"Fine. You?" he replied, glancing back at Kana, who remained mounted, waiting for me to return.

"I'm doing great, thanks. How's your flower shop doing? Getting ready for fall?" I asked him with a smile.

He looked me in the eyes and said, stiffly, "You know, I'm really not in the mood to talk right now. Sorry. Maybe some other time." With that, he turned and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving me with standing there open-mouthed in astonishment. I had definitely not expected such a frosty response from him. Lately I'd been so wrapped up in the new farm and preparing for festivals, and, well, other things, that I hadn't really taken time to visit Cam like I had promised I would. In fact, when I thought about it, it had been several days since I last stopped by to visit him—no wonder he was upset with me. I wondered who else in Bluebell was mad at me, too.... I set that line of thinking aside and chased after Cam.

When I caught up to him, I grabbed his arm with both hands and said with an apologetic look, "Cam, I'm so sorry I haven't been around much recently. I guess you probably feel like I haven't been a very good friend, huh? But please don't be mad at me. I just can't stand it when you're unhappy."

He looked steadily at me, then his eyes softened, and he sighed and looked away as he said, "All right, Alice, don't worry about it. I was probably just making a fuss over nothing, anyway. I know you've been busy, but... well, it's nice when you make time to come and visit, you know?"

"I'm sorry, Cam. I'll try to get over to visit more often, really I will. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better go. It's getting late, and I wanted to stop in and say hi to everyone. Plus I imagine Kana is probably getting impatient to go visit Georgia."

"Oh, he came with you just to see Georgia then?" Cam asked, brightening up considerably. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you soon, then. Take care," he called as I ran back to my pony, waving to him before riding onwards to Bluebell.

Kana and I parted ways as we entered the town: he rode on over to Grady's to chat with Georgia about horses, while I headed to Jessica's to say hi to her, Cheryl, and Ash. After Cam's reaction to me, I wondered if Ash would be upset, too, but to my relief, he seemed pretty normal. We chatted for a few minutes about our farms, then I headed off to visit the other villagers and check the message board. Last of all, I stopped at Grady's to greet them and to find Kana. As I figured, he was in the pasture, looking over the horses with Georgia as they eagerly talked about their favorite subject. They were so caught up in their conversation that neither of them noticed me until I was practically rubbing shoulders with them.

"Oh! Howdy, Alice! You startled me!" Georgia exclaimed, smiling.

"Hey, Alice, all done checking in?" Kana asked.

"Hi Georgia, how's it going?" I replied. "Yeah, I'm ready to head back as soon as I've had a chance to chat with Georgia, too."

We talked for a little while longer, then I noticed that the shadows were lengthening and told Kana we should get going as we had a long ride ahead of us. He looked around in surprise, unaware of how quickly the time had passed, and agreed. We said goodbye to Georgia, mounted, and started back to Konohana. We reached the river shallows near the town gate just as the last glimmer of sunset faded to blackness, so our only light as we entered the village was the moon, just past full, as it rose above the trees. Neither of us felt any particular need to hurry, so we let our horses slowly pick their way along the path until we passed through the gate.

When we reached my driveway, Kana dismounted and walked up to me, leading his horse by his reins. "Hey, thanks for spending the day with me. I had a blast! That was the best ride I've been on for a long time. We should definitely do it again soon!"

I smiled down at him, and said, "Me, too! It was a lot of fun riding with you. Thanks for inviting me. And it felt really good to have a day off!"

"Glad to hear it!" Kana said. He grinned up at me, then to my surprise, he lifted up my hand and kissed it. He dropped it again quickly and turned away, seeming embarrassed by his impulsive gesture, hurried away towards his house, saying over his shoulder, "I'll see you later. Good night, Alice." I called good night to him, watching as he led his horse around the corner towards his barn, then I continued on home, wondering what exactly had just happened.

The next day, when I checked messages in Bluebell, I saw Eileen had posted a message for me to come talk to her. I hurried over, wondering what was up. She let me in, looking very smug and excited, and sat me down at her table while she hurriedly prepared some tea and piled a few cookies on a plate to set between us. As soon as she sat down across from me, she said that she'd been thinking a lot lately about the tunnel and how to get it rebuilt. She'd inspected it, and at last she'd decided that she could do it—she could rebuild the tunnel connecting the towns!

We started to discuss plans, and she said it appeared the tunnel itself was largely intact—just filled in with rubble from a massive, but probably only a single, collapse somewhere. Most likely near the center, since it seemed to have spread to about the same distance from both ends. She figured she'd do the repairs and reinforcement of the tunnel in stages, to be sure that each section was stable before continuing on. One thing that concerned her was the materials that she'd need for the project—she preferred not to let anyone else in on it, in case it didn't work out as she hoped, but she couldn't afford the time to produce the materials nor the cost of purchasing the materials elsewhere. So I offered to help her out by providing whatever she thought she'd need—mostly stone and lumber, she thought. In fact, I said, I had some lumber and stone set aside for improvements back at my farm. If she wanted to start right away, I'd let her have some of those—I could replenish my supplies later on. She jumped up, excited to begin, and enthusiastically accepted my offer.

While she gathered up her tools, I hurried back to pack the supplies we'd need in my cart, then I drove back to Bluebell as fast as Lady could manage the trail. I met Eileen at the barrier outside the tunnel entrance, and she quickly got to work, clearing rubble and reinforcing the structure. She got a little ways in and decided to let it rest for a while, to give it some time to settle and to see how strong and stable it was before proceeding any deeper. Then we drove the cart back over the mountain to Konohana, and she repeated the process at that end. The tunnel was now clear for maybe as much as a hundred feet at either end, but it was a start.

Also, from that day on, I made sure to get over to Bluebell more often, no matter how late it was or how tired I felt. Cam in particular seemed to appreciate my efforts, and I realized that I really had missed my daily chats with my friends there. So even though there were times I was so tired that I was tempted to skip it, in the end I decided it was well worth the effort.

I also had come to realize that I needed to sort out my feelings for Kana. Since moving to the two towns, I had thought of him as a good friend, but now I began to suspect that he was starting to feel something more than that for me. And I really didn't know how I felt about that. Sure, I found him attractive, but I knew that wasn't enough to sustain a relationship—and I didn't want to jeopardize a great friendship. In the meantime, while I tried to figure things out, I tried to keep things as light and friendly with him as possible.

Part of my problem, to be honest, was that I had realized that my feelings for Cam were deepening into something more than friendship. And I didn't know if he reciprocated, though his recent jealousy gave me some hope.

The fall season got off to a busy start, between planting my seasonal crops, my usual chores, and my dilemmas with Kana and Cam. With so much going on, I completely forgot my worry regarding the itinerant musician.

Forgot, that is, until a few days later when Ina came knocking on my door early one morning, calling that she needed to talk to me. I was just waking up when she arrived and hadn't yet dressed, but since it was just Ina, I threw on my short summer kimono over my white cotton chemise and called to her to come on in as I put the kettle on to make tea. I heard the door opening behind me as I filled the kettle, then I turned and saw not just Ina, but a tall, slender man with eyes like ice and hair the color of tow. And as the shock ran through me like electricity, I thought to myself that I would know those eyes anywhere, anywhen. Even if a hundred years had passed and I had forgotten everything else that I had ever known, I would never—could never—forget him.

Ina looked embarrassed, but fortunately she seemed to mistake my staring at her companion for discomfort due to my state of undress, not shock. "Oh, Alice, I am so sorry. I should have warned you I had someone with me. This is Mikhail, the violinist I mentioned to you the other day. He'll be staying in one of the guest rooms in the town hall for the time being. I'm sure you two will get along quite well!"

"Yes," Mikhail said in his soft, melodious, and oh-so-familiar voice. "I'm sure we will."

I was still dumbstruck, so I only nodded faintly as I stared. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to run. I have quite a lot to do, preparing for the Music Festival. I'll be seeing you, Alice, and again, I'm sorry for the intrusion. Enjoy your walk, Mikhail, and I'll see you later." And off she bustled, busy as always.

"Alice," Mikhail said, looking into my eyes. "It's been a very long time, hasn't it? Or perhaps you don't remember?"

I finally found my voice, hurt by the suggestion that I could possibly have forgotten him. "Of course I remember. How could I ever forget?"

He looked at me, his ice-blue eyes sending shivers down my spine as he replied, "Well, one never knows. You never even said goodbye, you know." I didn't have an answer to that, not one I could give to him at that time. I felt my cheeks grow hot as I lowered my gaze to the floor and said nothing.

After a pause, I said softly, "And Master Emil... how is he? Did he come here with you?" Mikhail didn't answer, and I looked up. I was surprised when I saw tears in his eyes as he looked defiantly at me.

"Emil is dead, Alice. He passed away years ago, not long after... after you and I parted ways. He always seemed... sad... heartbroken, even... after we left on our travels. All I have left of him now is memories, his lessons, and his violin. Which is more than I had of you."

"Mikhail... I...." I started, hesitantly.

"No, it's okay," he interrupted, holding up a hand to interrupt me. "Yes, you broke my heart, that is true. But that was long ago. Time heals wounds, you know. I haven't thought of you in years, to be honest. It wasn't until I made inquiries about coming to stay here and heard about the newly arrived farmer named Alice Tremayne that I began to think back... and I wondered if this farmer could be the same Alice I once knew. You've grown up since I last saw you, of course. You were a very pretty girl, as I am sure you know quite well, and now you're a very attractive young woman. That doubtlessly makes it all the easier for you to continue breaking hearts, as you seemed to enjoy doing."

His words stung, as I was sure he intended from the cold look in his eyes, but still I couldn't bring myself to speak up. The shock was too fresh, and I could feel old wounds reopening. I wasn't sure yet if I was glad to see him, but regardless, I knew I needed him to leave, to give me to think, to remember, and to sort things out anew. I turned my back to him, gripping the edge of my table to steady myself as I said, "Please excuse me, Mikhail. I need to get started on my day. I... I'd like to talk with you sometime. But not right now."

I could feel him watching me, that icy gaze boring through my back and into my heart. Then, after a long pause, he replied, "As you wish. I'll leave you to your pressing duties. Doubtlessly I will see you around this little village, sooner or later."

I heard him leave, firmly closing the door behind him, then I sat down at the table, laid my head on my arms, and wept. It wasn't until I'd cried myself out that I raised my head and saw there on the table a sprig of rosemary with a single white tulip. I knew Mikhail must have left them there, though I wasn't sure how or when. I also knew what they meant, as we had once often used the language of flowers to communicate in secrecy, long ago. The rosemary meant he had never really forgotten me, no matter what he said; the white tulip meant that he still loved me, but also that he viewed it as an unrequited love. If only he knew what had really happened all those years ago... but I wasn't sure when or even if I could ever tell him.

I brushed the soft petals of the tulip against my cheek, sighing as I said, "If only could find the words to tell him what happened.... If only I knew what to say...."

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a low voice replied, "Why don't you start by simply telling me the truth?"

I jumped up and whirled around, my heart pounding, and gasped to see Mikhail still there, leaning against the front door, an his expression enigmatic and his eyes unreadable. "You... I.... What do you think you're doing?" I stammered, feeling the blood drain from my face. The room began to whirl around me, and my legs became unsteady. Then I heard Mikhail's voice calling my name as from a great distance as everything faded to black.