#modau

Fog clouds ascended from the ground to the high-top mountains hugging the countryside and the snow had stopped falling for the first time since Elias had come to visit Asana’s hometown. He laid asleep next to her with his face buried into the back of her shoulder and his right arm dead from her weight laying on it most of the night. Silence assumed the usually lively house as everyone slept off last night’s fun.

However, Elias drew the short straw as Casper sat on his body. Though asleep, Elias could feel the weight of the feline but it didn’t bother him since the cat had rearranged his positions all night and even had slept over his feet at some point. Casper’s blue eyes were wide awake and his brown smoky ears twitched as he kneaded his paws into Elias’ skin.

“…Casper,” he groaned, pleading for the cat to stop digging his sharp claws of his white tipped paws as he kneaded his skin.

He heard a loud purr as Elias raised out his hand to pet the animal, “…What do you want?” Elias questioned the bright blue eyes around his smoky grey face and petted his fluffy ash fur of the ragdoll breed.

“Meow,” the cat bunted his head into Elias’ hand.

“Are you hungry?” Elias guessed the animal was only being this friendly because he wanted food, “…Alright then, come on. Don’t wake up your owner,” he warned to the cat like it was a child.

Slightly awake from his deep voice and Casper’s meowing, Asana peeped as Elias gently rose up off the lounge where they had slept for the night to be escorted into the kitchen by her cat. Now they had agreed to live together, Asana wondered if it would be okay if they could bring Casper back with them. She loved her pets and missed her beloved pet. Elias petted him and carried him in his arms giving him all the strokes Casper desired, a sight Asana thought was incredibly adorable because Elias spoke to Casper like the cat was a human child.

“Alright, you will have to give me a moment to find your food,” Elias said as he rummaged quietly through the kitchen to find the cat food he had seen Tobias use yesterday. For Elias, it felt weird to be going through her family’s kitchen.

“Meow!” Casper continually rubbed against Elias’ legs with his grey tipped tail pointed into the air, meowing loudly.

“Hush,” he begged the animal to be quiet so not to wake everyone else in the house.

As he rummaged through the cupboards, he found the tin of food he had been searching for, then, the dogs outside resting in their shelters to keep them warm from the snow, began barking. It stunned him but then he remembered they are well trained farm dogs and probably were used to hearing this cupboard door opening and closing, “Don’t they have precise hearing,” he laughed, “I will feed you three as well,” he promised, receiving a yelp from what sounded like the border collie, Meekah. Having met the three dogs during Asana’s tour, he didn’t need to fear the big dogs attacking him.

He gave a scoop of wet food to Casper and some kibble and a saucer of milk for his feast. Like it had been starved, Casper dived his head straight into the bowl and purred loudly in satisfaction. Then, it was onto the dogs. Meekah greeted him first but didn’t jump or pounce as the two German Shepherds, Kibby and Jarrah followed him. Kibby had a black saddle with a tanned coat and Jarrah a redder coat which was how he could tell the difference. Before feeding them, he petted and played with them as their tails wagged affectionately.

“There you go,” Elias’ job was complete after he refilled their water bowls inside the dog shed where they usually slept to keep out of the cold.

Asana pretended to sleep as she heard Elias quietly come back inside, put away the animal food and roamed through the bookshelves in the living room. He saw more novel titles and animal encyclopedias as well as a generational folder marked as family recipes. He went to grab a novel to read but after letting his eyes wander through the shelves found a row of photograph albums. There were some marked as simply ‘family photos’ but the one he was most interested in was marked as ‘Asana’s baby photos’. His mother had shown his baby photos to Asana when they met and he was very interested to see hers.

He gathered the album in his arms with the novel he was interested in and snuggled back underneath the blanket, being careful not to wake her up. Coloured in a powder purple background, blue birds and pink butterflies graced the hard cover of the landscape shaped album with a heart in the middle with Asana’s full name written in cursive gold letters.

“Asana Lee Way,” he read inside his mind and flipped to the first page.

It was not an ordinary album book a person could find in any book store. Her mother was a creative type of person and had created the book by hand as it was bound at the spine by purple and white ribbons. On the front page, there was a list of prolific questions detailing Asana like she was a character ready for a novel.

“Date of birth…5th of March,” he read her mother’s neat handwriting, “Time of birth…eleven past three am,” for some reason, knowing she was born that early made him chuckle.

He continued to read and discovered this was not just a photo album but Asana’s baby book her mother had created so she could remember her little daughter even when she had grown into a beautiful woman. From Asana’s birth to her first year, she had made a note of all the changes and at what age she had begun learning to walk, when she began showing teeth, her first smile to her first bath and the first time she slept an entire night without crying in the middle of it. She had even recorded the difference in her hair and eye colour from when she was born to her first birthday.

Turning the page over, he found her baby photos visually recording the those first twelve months. From those first moments and being held in her brother’s arms to the younger faces of Fred and Edith and her father and mother holding her, those precious memories kept securely within this precious book. Each picture had a caption with her age. As he kept looking through her childhood years, more and more images of her with animals began to appear, along with those bright and round pink eyes and cheerful smile he had come to love, “You are very loved, Asana,” he whispered to her beside him, “I hope you know that.”

Flipping through the many pages of her baby book, he compared Charlotte to his own mother. She had plenty of photos safely tucked away into photo albums as priceless treasures that were her most favourite possessions, but he didn’t know if she kept anything this devoted to him or his brothers. It wasn’t to say his mother loved him and his brothers less than Charlotte loved Tobias and Asana, but it made him realise how warm and close their family ties truly are. He wanted to be a part of that someday as someone they accepted as their son.

Somewhere in the house, he heard a door close and another open and close again, startling him enough to scramble and put the baby book away. It was a treasured item that he’d never be forgiven for if it were to be destroyed or he worried getting yelled at for snooping into family photos without permission. He heard footsteps creak at the stairs and saw Owen’s figure as he touched the bottom of the staircase.

Those greying brown strands of hair were in a mess and he looked as though he was still half-asleep as he let out a yawn and stretched his limbs at the bottom of the steps. His deep set brown eyes looked into the living room where he peered over the sofa to see his daughter still asleep but Elias gone. Putting away the baby book, Elias pretended to browse more of the bookshelf as he felt Owen’s gaze on him.

“Morning,” Owen waved at him.

“Good morning, sir,” Elias returned the greeting with a gentle smile.

Owen still waking up, saw Elias finger tracing the spines of the novels, “That’s right. Asana said you two met at a bookstore,” he yawned, “You like to read?”

Elias nodded, “I do, sir.”

Owen cocked up an eyebrow as Elias referred to him as ‘sir’ again. He wasn’t used to being referred to as formally, but he remembered the amount of times he had referred to Charlotte’s father as ‘sir’ when they first met because he was nervous and wanted the old man’s approval to date his daughter. He let it go, and continued their conversation about books.

“What you into?”

He had to think for a moment, “Mainly ancient philosophy and history but I do enjoy mystical and crime novels too. I don’t mind reading some classical literature classics either. I know Asana reads, did she pick that up from somebody here?”

“Charlotte and I tend to read a lot,” Owen answered him, sleepily, but noticed Asana’s baby book was out of place. His lips curled into a smirk, “Coffee?” he offered, hoping the invitation would naturally lead into a one-on-one conversation with his daughter’s fiancée.

Elias paused for a moment before accepting the offer to share a beverage with her father while the house was still asleep and Fred and Edith had not yet awakened to the glorious morning outside, with soft golden rays warmly creeping across the white blankets of snow, or if they had, they didn’t bother to wake up anyone else. Though, he promised to speak to him and this was the opportunistic moment as Owen seemed relaxed after a good night out and a good night’s rest, “Sure,” Elias accepted and followed the older man into the kitchen but not before checking that Asana was snugged inside the blanket. Owen observed, before turning the corner at the staircase, Elias pulling the thick woollen blanket up to her chin to keep her shoulders tucked underneath.

Owen thought it should have bothered him but it didn’t and it frustrated him that his heart had already decided on Elias before he even spoke to him alone. Pulling two mugs from the cabinet, Elias shortly followed as Owen turned on the kettle, “How many sugars you take?”

Nervously, Elias replied, “Um…t-three, please sir.”

“You have a sweet tooth, huh?” Owen chuckled remembering the playful bickering about chocolate stealing that occurred between Elias and Asana last night at the party, “Asana’s one too. When she was little, we never took her down the confectionary aisle because she always wanted something. We say no, she’d pout and cry, refused to budge from her spot until we gave in. Milk?”

“Y-Yes, please sir,” Elias agreed as Casper sauntered over to him as he stood against the counter in the kitchen, listening to the rumbling of the kettle until the switch clicked off with a sound.

Owen poured the milk and stirred in the boiling water until that bitter yet inviting smell of coffee overwhelmed the room. The metal spoon clanged against the porcelain mug as Owen stirred everything together and handed a cup over to Elias, “Thank you,” Elias expressed his gratitude, taking the warm cup with one hand.

An awkward silence overcame the room as Casper rubbed up against Owen. “Do you want food?” Owen asked down into those blue crystal-like eyes of the ragdoll.

“Oh, I already fed him and the dogs,” Elias informed him, “I received quite the claw massage which is why I was awake early. I apologise if I overstepped any welcome, I did not wish to wake anybody up and Asana already gave me instructions yesterday on what they are fed, so I followed her instructions.”

Elias’ rushed apology amused Owen that he chuckled, “Is that so, Casper?” he bent down to pet his head, “You lured Elias into feeding you and now you want seconds. I don’t think so.”

Owen’s bright smile and sparkling eyes when it came to animals bore a striking resemblance to Asana’s expression when she became surrounded by them or even spoke about them that he could see who she truly idolised and who she had learned the most about animals from. She could read any textbook but her father was her favourite source of knowledge when it came to practice becoming a talented veterinarian.  

“Thank you for feeding them,” Owen thanked Elias for doing a chore outside of his responsibilities as a guest in their home, “Do you like animals?”

Elias liked them but didn’t love them on the same level as Owen or Asana, though he had a soft spot for dogs because of the Doberman he raised with Klaus when they were kids. Though, being with Asana, he found a greater appreciation for them, “I do. Especially, dogs.”

“Why dogs?”

“My brother and I raised a Doberman when we were younger,” he reflected back sadly on those happier childhood moments, “…There were some fun times then. I am also fond of horses since I sometimes ride and play polo.”

Owen resumed his usual standing position and sipped his coffee as he watched Elias do the same, “You don’t have much experience around other animals, like the chickens yesterday. Mom tells me you were quite afraid of them,” he said.

It was true, Elias never had much experience around other types of animals and had never stepped foot onto a farm before he came here with Asana, “Dogs, cats, horses and birds, like pigeons and seagulls, I am quite used to but I have never held a chicken or touched a cow before yesterday when Asana showed me around. This is my first time on a proper farm. I have been to ranches but not to a proper farm in the country,” his voice pitched with excitement.

Owen saw his violet eyes pop and his voice become more cheerful as he spoke about the farm. With lips ready to lather up another sip of warm coffee, Owen’s voice reverberated through the porcelain cup as he spoke, “Are you liking it out here?”

He wasn’t going to lie, “I love it out here. Not just because of the farm but the peacefulness of the wilderness and the kindness of the people in town. Everyone here…are there for each other and there’s none of those crunching and shrilling noises of the city here. It is refreshing, actually,” he enthused and took another sip of his coffee.

“Does that mean you're not going to keep my daughter locked away in the city?” Owen muttered his next question, looking into his cup of brown liquid.

Elias tilted his head in confusion at him, “Of course not, sir,” Elias promised him, “Mr Way, this is always going to be her first home. If I may say, I looked through the photo albums on the bookshelf in the living room, and I can tell by the way the baby books and photos are organised to the way you all live off each other and influence each other that this a close-knit family. I want to be a part of that as Asana's husband rather than steal her away from here.”

Something in his voice told Owen he was being sincere with his promise, “...Tell me,” hesitantly, Owen recalled his wife's advice about asking him about his family since a reason why he judged Elias was because of his father, “Are you close with your family?” Owen asked, swallowing another gulp of his coffee as it cooled down in his hands.

Elias searched for the right words to use since his family were close but not quite like Asana's family. They celebrated the holidays and private occasions, like birthdays and anniversaries, together, even helping each other keep up their public profile, despite not caring about what others thought of them, and they came together every Sunday for brunch as their lives became busier.

“I suppose we are...in our own way,” Elias guessed that was the way his family stayed connected but there were plenty of times growing up that he wished they were closer, the image of his father popped into his mind and the countless events he missed because of his job or because he was swooning his clients, “...My family are busy with their lives so it is hard to tell sometimes if we are or not.”

Owen caught the flicker of sadness in his eyes and the painful expression he wore for a brief second, “Not like us, is what you mean?” he wondered.

“Don't get me wrong, I love my family,” Elias showed him a small smile, “We celebrate private occasions and the holidays together, and not to mention we attend public functions to keep up our public profile and even spend Sunday brunch together. If I was, say, in any kind of trouble, they would come to my aid, including my father.”

Owen then recalled the news surrounding his family a few years ago, involving Elias and his girlfriend's sex tape and her alleged extortion of his family, it was an ugly conundrum Owen didn't want Asana to get caught in the middle of if something similar ever occurred again. He did remember his father suing her for defamation as she publically lived off the fame her fabrications troubled Elias and his family, “Like how your father sued that girlfriend of yours for defamation?” he drank from his coffee again, “It was big celebrity news a few years ago now. It's situations like those where I don't want Asana getting caught in the middle of. She's a sweet and simple girl, she wouldn't handle that relentless pounding from the media.”

“I had a similar conversation with Charlotte yesterday about this,” Elias swallowed a sip of coffee and looked Owen directly in the eye, “Sir, I promise. Asana is safe with me and I will do whatever I must to protect her happiness. What happened between my ex-girlfriend and I…it was a mistake, she was a mistake and I should have been wiser than to believe girls like her are pure and honest,” he spoke about his ex-girlfriend with disgust that his violet eyes had a sharpness about them which surprised Owen.

“What did she do?” he asked.

Elias sighed as he told him the truth about his last relationship, “My ex-girlfriend and I met through our parents, and I loved her because she was beautiful and I thought she was a nice person. However, I was very wrong and should have known better those nice smiles and personalities only hide something bitter and ugly underneath. Like Joel and Asana, we dated throughout high school and she was the first girl I ever loved physically. After about a year and a half, her true colours showed she was a manipulative, deceiving and cheating person. Without my permission, her and her football star boyfriend, she had dated during our relationship, began to threaten to publish video and photographic material of us in bed together if I did not pay for her material life. I said no, so she followed through on her threats, and decided to air a video during a fundraiser my mother and sister-in-law organised to assist victims of sexual assault and abuse. She made money and gained fame for exploiting me and my family and as a result, my mother and sister’s philanthropist projects lost support and money for their causes. With the media hounding me and my family, my father’s career suffered from the humiliation and our family’s reputation was damaged. Eventually, my father stepped in a sued her for defamation seeking damages and breach of privacy. I found it extremely hard to trust relationships again and never dated anyone until I met Asana,” he explained.

“In other words, you were heartbroken?”

Elias shrugged, “I was but…I’m glad that it ended otherwise I might still be with that disaster of a human being and would have never met Asana. Or, I might have, I don’t know. All I know is I’m happy she is at my side. Also, she’s a terrible liar and she’s not the type of girl to do such a cruel thing to another person. She’s too warm and kind to even think it.”

“She’s a good person with a heart of gold,” Owen agreed with Elias and wanted to know what his family thought of her, “What does your family think of her? Do they live in the city too?”

Elias nodded, “Yes, my brother works at the university we attend to for study. My sister-in-law has pretty much adopted Asana as her little sister and my parents adore her. When we go home, she’s invited to the Goldstein Estate for our Sunday brunches.”

“What about your father?” Owen worried that Walter wouldn’t like her and the story Elias had just told him sounded more like a lawyer saving his face rather than helping his son from a cruel situation, “You seem alright, but I can’t say the same about your father and worry he might use Asana.”

“...You don’t need to worry about him,” Elias assured him, “My father might be a complicated man but he does love his family and those who come to enter it. He’s a hard and strict person but I know he would do anything for us.”

“You really think so?” Owen questioned it, “Charlotte said that you and your father aren’t close?”

Sadly, Elias admitted they weren’t as close as he’d like to be, “No…no, we’re not.”

Owen gave him time to speak if he wanted to talk about it and finally seeing the sadness Charlotte must have noticed consume his violet eyes. Elias took a deep breath and spoke, “Rather than my father being a role model to me, I relied more on my older brother, Klaus. My father was always working that he never had much time for us. Then, whenever he and I spoke, we usually just fought or we had nothing to talk about because we…never knew anything about each other. We are slowly rebuilding our relationship now, but…where Asana idolises you, I want to become closer to mine, that’s why I want to follow him into law.”

“So, you have something in common with your old man?” Owen asked, a little sympathetic for Elias’ situation.

Nodding, Elias sadly admitted, “My father has paid more attention to me now than he ever had previously. Though, I assure you, sir, I know I intend on following my father into law, I am not going to be sucked into that world of pretentiousness and greed and I will not allow anything to happen to Asana.”

Those harsh words Elias spoke about his world did not escape the careful ears of Owen as he engaged himself in learning more about him. Without even asking, he could see the eyes of a boy who has been tormented in the world he grew up in and found peace with Asana, her warmth and gentleness melting whatever hard walls he had built around him.

“…I’m sad to hear that you don’t have a close relationship with your father,” Owen sincerely expressed his sympathy for Elias, not fully comprehending how a father could be distant from his children since he was close to his or how a son coped without the nurture of his father.

Owen couldn’t bring himself to imagine a life without Tobias and Asana. With Charlotte and the kids, he considered this life his entire world and something he simply couldn’t live without. Likewise, Fred had always been a grumpy and strict man but he was hard because he never wanted to show any weakness in the face of his children. Edith, being the only exception to that rule. Therefore, he glanced up at Elias the moment he had turned his head the other way. Something inside of Owen wanted to reach out to him, to soothe whatever pain he endured through the loneliness of not being able to bond closely with his father.

Elias had to be clear with Owen, “I do love my father and I know he loves me. If someone ever attempted to hurt us, he'd protect us. I don't like the world I grew up in but there's nothing I can do about having been born into that world.”

He made quite a convincing case for himself without trying to lie or cover up and truth in his feelings and opinions but his hands were visibly trembling. Owen stood silently taking in his trembling figure as he tucked his hands into his pockets to conceal his nerves and trying to put up his confidence.

Hesitantly, Owen began to speak, now with more understanding of Elias as a person, “...I...was told by my father last night that you had intentions of speaking to me alone but standing before me you’re a trembling mess.”

“Well...,” Elias nervously answered, “...Y-You aren't just any stranger, sir. You are Asana's father and after the argument yesterday, I don't want my presence to interfere with that relationship but I'm not going to let Asana go either.”

“I see,” Owen was surprised to hear he was only being considerate of their relationship.

Elias continued to speak, “Asana is very fond of you, sir. She idolises you, whenever she tells me about animals most conversations start with ‘My Dad',” he laughed and then looked Owen directly in his surprised brown eyes, “...I want to marry your daughter, but not before I receive your blessing and acceptance. I understand you don't like me, part is because of the world I am from but I sense a large part is you feel as though I'm stealing her away.”

“…I may have had my opinions about you,” Owen admitted and then sighed before putting away his stubbornness to speak truthfully, “…Asana is my only daughter and we’ve always been close. She’s also my youngest child and the last one to leave the nest. I suppose, I’m not emotionally ready to accept that my daughter has grown into a beautiful and independent woman, capable of making her own decisions. Now, she brings home a young man from a wealthy family with intentions to marry him.”

Elias chuckled, “I understand, sir,” he smiled and made it clear to him, she would never forget her roots, “I may be her fiancée but you are her father. You are an important and irreplaceable person as is your wife and son, even your parents and brother. By being here, I can tell how loved and treasured Asana is and I would never dream of her forgetting her roots. You hold a place in her heart that I could never own. So please, don’t be worried about losing her.”

With a deep inhale of breath followed by a low exhale, Owen searched around the room in deep thought. His mind becoming persuaded that Elias was a good person and his heart already approving of him marrying Asana. As they drank their coffee, somewhere a door softly opening and another door opening and then closing again.

“Must be Charlotte,” Owen guessed the soft footsteps and the direction of the noise came from upstairs as his wife woke up to start the day, “Tobias is usually louder. But, I don’t see him being up for ages.”

“I really enjoy his photographs,” Elias commented, “My sister-in-law is obsessed with his creations too.”

“Is that so?” Owen felt proud to hear his son had fans, “He does incredible work out in the field. It worries Charlotte and I when we don’t hear from him for a while, but he travels to some of the remotest parts of the earth. We always worry that someday he’s going to go missing and never return home but he loves what he does so we never say anything. We just make sure he knows how much we love him before he leaves. Are you close to your mother?”

“Yes, I am,” Elias nodded and finished off the last mouthful of his coffee.

“What is she like?”

He swallowed the now lukewarm beverage and replied, “She’s nice and warm, though scary when you rub her up the wrong way. Mother used to work in public relations and now runs her own philanthropy enterprise to raise money or make awareness for various causes. She loves Asana, I would not be surprised if she already has a photo album ready for our wedding.”

“She’s a photo collector to, is she?”

Elias chuckled and looked around at all the photographs he could see on display in the hall, “Yeah, I guess my mother and your wife have something in common. Photograph hording,” he laughed and Owen appreciated the joke too, “One day, I hope I can be a part of these photos just as I hope she becomes part of our photos too.”

“You really love her, huh?”

“I do, I really do love your daughter,” Elias declared strongly with direct eye contact.

Owen threw back his last mouthful of coffee now and could hear the creaking of the steps on the staircase. He didn’t say anything out of curiosity to see if his guess was correct and Charlotte was up. There was a brief silence followed by small whispers coming from the living room.

Charlotte was awake but she spotted Asana admiring her pink sapphire ring in the morning light as she pretended to be sleeping so she could listen to Elias and Owen talking in the silent kitchen, their conversation audible through the thin walls and the echoing hall, “Give me a closer look,” she whispered, startling Asana for a moment but then joining her on the couch, “…Are you eavesdropping on them?”

Asana nodded, “I want a coffee but didn’t want to disturb them.”

“Your father wanted to speak to him alone,” Charlotte informed her.

“Yeah, Elias wanted to speak to Dad too,” Asana couldn’t stop that natural curl of her lips as Elias followed through on his promise to speak to her, “…I know Dad is struggling to accept that I’ve grown up but I would never forget where I came from. Elias and I will come visit and you can come visit us. It’s not goodbye.”

Charlotte kissed the top of her head, “I know, sweetie. It’s a parent-thing,” she explained, “It’s not that your father doesn’t like Elias…he’s just scared that you’re not going to need him anymore and scared that our time as parents is…done.”

“What?” Asana stared at her directly, “Mom, I’m always going to need you and Dad. You two and Tobias, Nan and Grandad and Lucas, you all are important to me. I miss you when I’m in the city.”

“I know, I know,” Charlotte knew, feeling the metal of Asana’s engagement ring on her fingertips, “He’s your father. It’s hard to understand now but once you have children of your own you will understand just how hard it is to let go. Anyway, give me a look at your ring. I haven’t had a good look at it yet.”

Asana raised her left hand and showed her mother the precious jewel, despite knowing the engagement wasn’t real but she was elated this morning since they agreed last night to move in together. Elias’ apartment was now both their homes.

A stream of sunlight flooded the living room from a window to their right, allowing the rose gold band to shine and peach sapphire to sparkle, “Wow, this looks expensive,” Charlotte chuckled, “Is that a real sapphire?”

“I don’t know,” Asana shrugged and laughed, “Knowing him though, it probably was. He said he could never buy me anything cheap, especially if it’s as important as an engagement ring.”

“Oh, how did he propose?” Charlotte wondered.

Thankfully, they had discussed the details of their engagement before they decided to scheme their parents on being engaged. Elias had told his mother, since she loved animals had taken his horse from the ranch on a romantic sunset ride along the beach where he proposed to her.

“Elias’ family own horses on a ranch outside of the city,” she felt terrible about lying to her mother about being engaged but the story was based off a date they went on earlier in the year, “There’s a path that goes over a mountain to a secluded bay along the beach. I thought it was just a date but it was very romantic. Sunset over the waves and he gave me a rose with a ring inside of it and then asked me to marry him.”

Charlotte awed, “That sounds so wonderful.”

“I didn’t even hesitate when I said yes, that’s how much I love him.”

“I can tell,” Charlotte smiled, “The ring really suits you.”

“I know, I love it,” Asana laughed, her cheeks turning pink, “Even if he proposed to me with a cheap ring or onion ring, even no ring, I would’ve said yes.”

Asana’s story stirred Charlotte’s own memories of how Owen had proposed to her, “You know, I had never seen your father so nervous but when he was about to propose to me he was trembling and sweating.”

“Really?” Asana couldn’t picture her strong and stubborn father reduced to an anxious wreck, “I can’t picture that.”

Charlotte laughed at her reaction and the way her head tilted trying to picture it, “He took me up the mountains where we camped for the night. Underneath the stars and around the fire which reflected on our faces and in our eyes, all I could feel was this nervous energy rolling off him in waves. I had no idea it was on the night a meteor shower peeked. Then, he got down on one knee and proposed. I still wear my engagement ring, hasn’t moved since he proposed to me all those years ago.”

“You got married with your engagement ring on?” Asana laughed, though could picture her mother being too stubborn to take off something that meant so much to her as it marked the beginning of their happy marriage, “Elias and I were saying we hope to have a happy marriage the same you and Dad have.”

Throwing her arm around her daughter, Charlotte hugged her close, “You will. Elias loves you.”

“I know he does,” she cheerfully said, knowing she would have a happy life if she stayed with him, “He will take good care of me in the city, Mom. He already does now.”

Charlotte hugged her tighter and kissed the top of her head, “I’m sure he will and I’m going to trust him with my only and most precious daughter,” she kissed her again and pretended to sob, “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Mom, I’m not that far away and we can always talk on the phone and stay connected on social media,”  Asana hugged her in return, “I can give you Elias’ number too if you like if you need to contact me.”

Charlotte had tears in her eyes as the last of her children was set to leave the house, “I would appreciate having his number,” she wanted to have any means of communication with her daughter open, counter to Tobias who she could barely reach, “…And your address, please.”

“Oh, Elias and I live in the same apartment block so the address is the same.”

“Is that how you have been getting your mail?” Charlotte exasperated, “Asana, you must tell people when your address has changed. What if someone moved into your old apartment and accidentally collected your mail because you were too lazy to change the address. Now, what room number is he?”

“Twenty-two.”

Charlotte made a quick note of it on a nearby notepad with a huge grin on her face. Despite her upfront questions on the first night at dinner, she was glad her mother had finally come around and blessed their relationship and trusted Elias to care for her.

“Thanks for accepting him Mom,” Asana suddenly hugged her mother tightly and they both laughed.

Charlotte caught her in her arms, “Oh sweetie, you’re a little too big to jump in my arms now,” she joked but held her. Seeing beyond her shoulders, Charlotte’s pink eyes skimmed the bookshelf and noticed her baby book was out of place, “Did you go through your baby book?”

“Casper the alarm cat woke Elias up,” she had been watching him while she pretended to be sleeping, “He fed the animals and I guess he couldn’t get back to sleep so he searched the bookshelf and read through my baby book. It was embarrassing really.”

“I was going to show him anyway.”

“Mom!” Asana protested, but they soon burst out laughing.

“Come on, let’s get that coffee. I will make you a mocha with marshmallows.”

It was an offer she couldn’t refuse, “Okay.”

Just as Asana could hear Elias speaking to her father, the men in the kitchen could hear the girls in the living room talking and laughing. Elias smiled fondly, “See, sir. I don’t want to marry your daughter until I have gained your acceptance because I don’t want to create a rift between a daughter and her parents. It would hurt Asana and I know it would hurt your wife and you.”

“You’re a good kid Elias,” Owen began to cave in but he lost count on how many times Elias had called him ‘sir’, the formal title he wasn’t used to it, “Also, stop calling me ‘sir’, would you? Owen is fine, or Mr Way if you’re that uncomfortable calling me by my first name.”

Elias wondered if the permission to call him by his first name was the first step towards acceptance by her father. Biting the bullet, Elias looked up to him and asked nervously, “…Now, that you know more about me…,” has he was about to ask Owen, Charlotte and Asana entered the kitchen.

“Refills?” she asked them.

Elias accepted her offer as did Owen, “Thank you, Mrs Way,” he then turned to Asana and smiled happily, his eyes and expression lighting up, “Good morning. I did not realise you were awake.”

“Good morning to you too,” she greeted him with the same lightness and cheeriness he had, “…I heard you talking to Dad so I didn’t want to bother you,” she said it nervously, now knowing Elias knew she overheard them.

Water in the kettle rumbled loudly as it did not take long for the water to heat up again. Charlotte moving around the kitchen relaxed and happily making four cups of coffee, two refills for Owen and Elias and an espresso and mocha for herself and Asana. She made eye contact with Owen, smiling because she knew he had finally accepted Elias and urged him to give them his blessing on their marriage.

“Elias, were you about to say something before?” Owen asked.

Elias shook his head, “Oh, it’s not important.”

“Are you sure?” he raised an eyebrow at him but realised his cheeks were tinged with pink because he learnt that Asana had overheard them speaking while she was awake in the kitchen.

Suddenly, a loud gunshot rang across the paddocks, “Get off my property!” followed by Fred’s angry shout made more fearsome by the ringing of gunfire. Another loud bang sounded, “You get out of here ya scum!” he yelled.

“Frederick!” Edith ran out from the cottage and begged him to stop firing his gun, “Stop, please,” then turned to the city man, “You best leave or else!”

Running to the window, the four gazed out at Fred shooting his rifle into the sky as a middle-height man in a suit began yelling at him in return. Elias ran into the living room where he had left his cell-phone in his jacket pocket and came back to the window setting his phone on record to film the encounter.

“How dare you threaten me with a gun?” he pointed his finger and walked up to Fred’s lanky figure, mocking him and filming the incident, “You will not shoot me because you know you can’t. Mark my words, this farm is mine and I will sell it to an international market and make sure you get nothing!”

With a flicker of anger, the man known as Bradley Aston stared fiercely into the horrified eyes of Edith as he towered over her to appear intimidating. Owen abandoned his cup as did Charlotte and Asana with Elias taking a detailed note of this man’s figure. He cut a clean city look with his sharp navy suit and tie and his sandy brown hair neatly slicked back to help him appear professional. He seemed familiar to Elias but he couldn’t remember where he had seen him before.

Right as Owen came out to defuse the situation, Bradley turned his strict and intimidating gaze onto Fred. His scarred hands held onto his rifle and he wore an unmoving expression to impress how unafraid he was, “I face the Japanese in the pacific boy, your glare will need some more work before you scare me,” he hissed.

Bradley smirked, challengingly, “I know you won’t shot me, Fred.” In the next instance, Bradley used all his strength to knock Fred’s thin and elderly body back into the snow. With that simple nudge, Fred went tumbling down.

“Grandad!” Asana went to her knees to try and catch his fall, “Are you okay?”

Owen stood in front of his father protectively, “Leave, now!” he growled.

A rush of anger ignited in Elias as he watched Fred tumble into the snow after being pushed by the man he had eagerly waited to see. Standing on the ledge of the back door, unseen by Bradley Aston, he remembered where he had seen him.

Court.

He had the same face and hair but a different name but his true identity was Marcus Harrington Junior. Elias remembered him because his father had successfully defended a client he had tried to unlawfully evict off their lands. As a result, an investigation was launched and his Uncle, a top prosecutor had him convicted of fraud, which included embezzlement and tax evasion to fabricated identities, assault and the unlawful evictions of previous land owners he had attempted to persuade in selling up to cash into foreign investors. He was a ruthless and lowly human who had robbed farmers of their homes, promising wealth but leaving them broke. Some farmers spiralled into depression with five cases leading to suicide. He was convicted of their deaths too and sued by the families in civil trials, in which his father and brother both assisted grieving families in getting justice.

“When I come back that contract better be signed or I will burn those greenhouses!” Harrington, falsely identifying himself as Bradley Aston, threatened Fred. He then got into his car and flicked up snow with his tyres, leaving the property.

Elias ceased recording the incident and phoned his father. After three rings, he heard his father’s voice on the other hand of the phone, “Father, it’s Elias.”

“Elias, I thought you were enjoying Thanksgiving with Asana’s family,” his tone expressed his surprise at hearing his son’s voice.

“I am,” he assured him everything was fine but needed a favour, “I need to ask a favour of you if you don’t mind,” he hoped his father would help him and could hear his father typing in the background as they spoke.

“What favour would that be?” Walter asked, unemotionally and with his eloquent speech.

“Do you remember a man trialled a few years ago for fraud, assault, aiding suicide and unlawful evictions of farmers from their properties. His name was Marcus Harrington Junior?” Elias jogged his memory of the highly publicised case.

Walter didn’t need a memory jog to remember that man, “I do. What about him?”

“Well, he’s at it again,” Elias informed him, “Only this time he’s after a few farms in Reitz and Asana’s grandparents and Uncle are among those being threatened and harassed.”

Walter thought for a moment but wanted to know about what Elias wanted to do, “What do you want me to do, son?” he asked, his fingers ceasing typing on the computer as he addressed this urgent issue.

“I need whatever information you can give me on that man,” Elias was going to put the man in his place and use whatever power he could gather to make him squirm, “More than anything, I want to scare him enough that he will never want to step foot in this town again.”

Over the phone, Walter helped Elias hatch his plan as Owen scared the suited man from the property. Elias would wait for next time to really get under the man’s skin and show him what the Goldstein power could do. Though, Owen was slightly disappointed that Asana hyped Elias up and he had the chance now to get rid of him.

“Useless!” Owen growled, “I thought he had information.”

Asana explained to her father, “Elias does. He’s just waiting for the right moment.”

“That was the right moment!” his rage was directed at Bradley rather than Elias.

“No, it wasn’t,” Asana assured him Elias had a plan, “Dad, please trust him. He’s like a hunter, he assessed the prey and now he’s setting the trap for the next encounter. I know how he does things and he never leaves anything half-finished.”

Owen helped his father back into his cottage with the old man’s arm possibly sprained from his fall into the snow, “…We’ll see,” Owen mumbled as he carted his father away into the warm house.

“Mom, Nan, I promise you Elias has something up his sleeve,” Asana pleaded to them and ran back to the house to find Elias and speak to him and found him pacing around with his phone on his ear as he made his way back into the kitchen. A smile coming back to her face.

“Okay,” Elias nodded as he smoothed the details of the plan over with his father, “Understood, Father. Thank you,” he noticed her and after saying their goodbyes, hung up the phone.

“What do you have planned?” she asked him and explained, “Dad’s not happy that you had your chance to tell Aston off and blew it.”

“I haven’t blown it,” Elias promised her, “Men like him will come back. They are like leeches who stick to flesh to drain the blood until it is dried. When he does, my trap is all set. As soon as I saw what he did to your grandfather I wanted to bound out of here and give him a piece or two, which was the original plan, but now…”

Asana loved it when he had the fire in his eyes, “…He’s going to wish he never stepped foot in Reitz?”

“He’s going to wish he never bullied my fiancée’s family,” Elias corrected her, “I stand by what I said last night. Any threat or act of aggression towards your family is a threat and aggression directed at you. Which, then, makes me angry because your family don’t deserve to be treated so disrespectfully.”

As Asana leaned up to kiss him, Tobias entered the room.

“What’s going on?” he interrupted right before Asana’s lips touched Elias’, “What’s with the gunshots?”

“Aston was here,” Asana informed him, “He knocked Grandad over and I think he might have a sprained wrist.”

“Did Elias give him a what for?”

Asana couldn’t wait to see what Elias was going to do, “Not yet. He’s just setting his trap for his prey to return. Right?”

“That’s one way to put it,” Elias smirked, “Do you have a computer with an internet connection? Father has sent me some documents on that man I wish to look through.”

“Documents?” Asana widened her eyes with surprise, “You mean, he’s been in trouble with the law before?”

Elias nodded, “I will get rid of him.”

Tobias turned on the kettle to brew himself a cup of coffee, “Give him hell Elias. I won’t need the computer until after lunch anyway,” Tobias said as he spooned sugar and coffee into his mug, “I’m going to see Grandad once I make this.”

“Okay,” Asana left her brother and escorted Elias to the computer in the study room.

“Sorry if I made them mad at me,” Elias apologised to her as he sat down at the computer chair and grabbed her hand to pull her closer to him, “I truly did not mean to upset your father.”

Standing between his legs, her hands rested on his shoulders as his arms embraced around her waist. Leaning down, Asana gently kissed him and felt his cheeks turn red, “He’s not angry at you,” she promised him, “I guess he’s just desperate now to get rid of Aston. Especially, now that he has assaulted Grandad.”

“They feel helpless?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “They feel like they’re trapped into a corner because they don’t have the power or money to do anything if Aston decides to steal their land from under them. They’re afraid they’re going to lose our home.”

“They have me,” Elias promised in his heart her family were not going to suffer, “Does your grandfather or Uncle still have the contract Aston gave to them, as well as Bill and Judith?”

“Grandad still has his,” Asana answered, “I can ring Lucas, Bill and Judith to see if they still have theirs?” she offered.

Elias figured he could use her help to gather enough evidence, “Alright, do you want to call them and ask if I may have them to look through and potentially use as evidence against him?”

“Evidence?”

“Also, I need statements from anybody who has been harassed, threatened or assaulted by him,” Elias added and looked up at her with a smile, “Care to be my beautiful assistant?”

Asana couldn’t say no, especially if Elias’ plan meant helping her family and community, “Of course, I will be,” she kissed him and pulled up a chair beside him but Elias grabbed her, “What?”

“S-Sit here…,” he brought her legs up to fall across his and held her warmly in his arms to have her sit across his lap.

“C-Can you work like this?” she wondered as he began logging into his email using one hand to type on the keyboard, “I’m in the way.”

“You are never in the way,” he promised her that he was comfortable, his words honest, “If I hold you, I am reminded why I am doing this. Not only is it good motivation but makes me more determined to help weed out Aston from harassing your family and the community. Also, on an unrelated topic, do you remember what we spoke about last night?”

“Please don’t tell me you regret asking me to move in with you?” she worried he was going to take back his proposal.

Panicked, he rushed to assure her that was not the case, “No, no, of course not. I want to live with you and my feelings have not changed since last night. I was worried that you might have had doubts. I mean, I asked in the heat of the moment but I know it’s the right move to make. I just wanted to make sure you still want to…live with me.”

“Of course, I do,” she relaxed in his arms and stared up into his eyes, using a hand to turn his face to look at her, “…I’ve been smiling about since I woke up,” then she thought about this fake engagement they were parading, “You know, I’m a terrible liar but for some reason it has been…natural or normal…to say we’re engaged and that we live together.”

“I know what you mean,” Elias agreed, the rouse was too easy for them, “…If I did propose to you for real, would you say yes?”

“Of course, I love you,” Asana giggled, “If I proposed to you, would you say yes too.”

Elias tilted his head with confusion because he couldn’t understand why she would propose to him, but had often heard of the woman asking the man to marry her. He was old-fashioned and found the traditional ways of marriage proposals romantic. Bumping his forehead against hers and kissing her lips, he smiled and said, “No.”

“No?”

“Because, I want to propose to you first,” he smiled but he wanted to ask her to marry him, “…You know, I know I promised that we would wait until we graduate before I proposed but we could just have a long engagement and marry after we graduate.”

It was a nice thought, but she worried their different career paths would impact heavily on the type of marriage they would have. Though, she would compromise if it meant being able to stay with Elias. “I want to stay with you,” she declared, “I want to be yours and I want you to be mine forever. I’m just…afraid…of how our careers would impact our lives once we do graduate.”

“We can work around it,” Elias promised her, “I will follow you.”

She was happy to hear that, “I will follow you too, Elias. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” they shared a kiss which lasted for several minutes.

Elias was the first to pull away from her and bumped his forehead against hers. He had to regather his breath but the urges they had built up last night and the night before last. Asana giggled.

“Are you okay?”

“…I want to touch you so badly it hurts,” he admitted.

“I do too,” she whispered, cuddling her face into his chest.

He sighed and needed to focus on the task of getting rid of Bradley Aston, “We should do this though,” he refocused her attention back to the evidence they needed to gather, “Do you remember what you need to do?”

“Ring Uncle Lucas, Judith and Bill for the contracts they were given and collect statements from anyone who has been threatened, harassed or assaulted by Bradley Aston,” she recited her task to him.

He smiled at her, glad she remembered what she had to do, “Smart and b-b-beautiful,” he shyly complimented her.

She giggled at his shy cheeks and his compliment, “Made only beautiful because of the handsome man who’s beside me,” she complimented him now and his cheeks changed into a deeper shade of red.

“L-L-Let’s just do this,” he urged them to start and access his email account.

In his inbox, his father had already filed all the evidence he needed into one file that he could download. The speed at which Walter had sent the documents astonished Elias but he knew how organised his father could be and probably had the documents on a flash drive as well as a back-up paper copy in his filing cabinets in his home office and in his city office.

While he read through the files, he kept Asana in the comfort of his lap while she began phoning around. First, she called her Uncle’s direct cell number and he answered almost immediately, “Hello, Lucas Way speaking.”

“Hey Uncle,” Asana cheerfully greeted him, “How’s your head this morning?”

He chuckled, “Asana, good morning. My head has a tiny headache but nothing too pounding. Did you call because you were worried about your old Uncle?”

She giggled at him, “I have seen you worse than last night in the past, Uncle. Remember when you put on Aunt Olivia’s purple dress and tried to fight a tree?”

“No one ever lets me live it down and Erica still has the footage on her phone, even uploaded it to that damn internet you kids are into these days,” he dreaded that memory even being dug up but he had drunk way too much that night to celebrate the wedding anniversary of a couple in town, “Anyway, how’s everyone this morning?”

Apart from Bradley ruining their peaceful morning, everyone was happy and Elias and Owen had slightly bonded over a cup of coffee. Of course, she was happy that Elias had asked her to move in with him but this morning’s dark cloud was all she could think about and her poor grandfather now nursing a sprained wrist because he was assaulted, “Well, that depends. Do you want to hear the good things or the terrible things?”

“Terrible things?” Lucas repeated her words, “Don’t tell me your father kicked Elias out or something?” he joked.

“No, no, he wouldn’t do that,” Asana giggled at his joke, “Everything was fine until Aston showed up here.”

“Did he? Elias give him hell like he promised?”

“Not yet,” Asana explained, “Like any hunter, he’s seen the prey and now he’s setting up the trap for the next encounter. He has something planned and I’m helping him gather evidence. I don’t know what he’s planning but I don’t think he’s letting Aston walk away scot-free.”

Lucas hummed, “Uh-huh, I see,” and chuckled, “Can’t wait to watch this unfold. Times like these make me thankful that you nabbed a Goldstein,” he joked again.

“Where are you now? Are you home?” she asked.

“I’m doing the payroll and some paperwork in the office,” he replied.

“Great,” Asana enthused, “Do you mind if I came over and grabbed that contract Aston gave you and some statements from any staff, if they are willing, about Aston’s actions towards them. Also, if you have any footage from your cameras to help us that would be wonderful.”

Lucas wondered what Elias had up his sleeve but if his niece trusted him, he could too, “Sure, bring Elias up here too. I can give him the grand tour of the vineyard,” he invited Elias to the vineyard, “Just let me do this payroll though. Come up at about eleven-thirty, I should have all this paperwork done.”

“Okay, see you then Uncle,” Asana agreed to go to him at the time he set, “I have to call Bill and Judith, so I have to go now. See you soon Uncle.”

“Is he grabbing their contracts too?” Lucas wondered.

“Yeah, I think he wants to read through them and catch onto anything that’s illegal,” Asana guessed and Elias nodded to her assumption, “He’s nodding, so I guess that’s a yes.”

“Alright, I better let you two get on with it,” despite being on the phone, Lucas smiled, “See you both soon,” he farewelled her on the other end of the line, marking the time they agreed to meet in his mind.

“Bye,” Asana farewelled him too and they both hung up at the same time.

Next, she rang Bill and Judith and agreed to meet her in the afternoon to hand over the contracts as well as any other strip of evidence they had to convict him. Meanwhile, in the city, Walter was on the phone to a man who owed him a massive favour and organised for Aston to be removed from the region at a moment’s notice.

Asana decided to grab the contract her grandfather had left in the dining room but had seen her mother stash away in a kitchen draw where they kept papers of all kinds in an unorganised mess, “I’ll get you Grandad’s contract.”

“Thanks,” Elias let her rise first and after reading through the files his father had sent him, needed to speak to Fred, “I’m going to speak to your grandfather. Are you coming?”

Asana left the contract she collected by the computer as he rose to his feet. “How are you going to stop him? I’m curious,” she asked as he went to leave the computer room.

“First, I am going over to see your grandfather while my video is uploading from my phone,” he said and could see the video was only a quarter of the way from being uploaded, “Coming with me?”

“Sure,” she followed him out of the house and trudged with him through the snow.

Across the path, the houses were on a slight hill overlooking the large paddocks of their estate. Bumps of snow covered the path between the colonial two-storey home to the small blue cottage sheltered underneath a large tree and surrounded by a white picket fence. Asana forgot how deep the snow could get around the back gate of the cottage and she ended up falling over.

Collecting a face full of snow, Elias laughed at her, “A-Are you okay?”

“Don’t laugh,” she pouted while flicking white snow out of her mouth with her tongue, “So cold and gross!” she made cute noises as she flicked the snow from her mouth.

Elias still laughing at her and receiving a cold snow ball right in the face, “Hey!” it landed on his forehead and faded into his golden bed of hair, “Oh, that’s it,” he playfully gathered a snow ball up in his hands.

“Oh, no. No, Elias,” she laughed and ran behind the trunk of the tree and arming herself with a ball of snow too. Her giggles didn’t conceal her location for long.

“Your giggling is giving you away,” Elias chuckled as he approached the tree she was hiding behind.

Her arm poked out from behind the skeleton tree as it leaves had been stripped in fall, only snow had been collected along the thick branches. He came around the other side of her but she ran around the tree, but he tricked her in thinking he had followed her and she bumped right into him.

She attempted to run from him and threw her snowball at him where it hit his shoulder with a gentle thud on his thick cotton jacket. But, her efforts were in vain because his long legs easily caught up to her and he grabbed her from behind, picked her up and dumped her into a pile of soft snow that had gathered over a bump in the ground. With a squeal and laughter, she landed softly on her back, her brown hair now dusted with small balls of crunched ice. They were both in a fit of laughter as they played, momentarily straying from their task.

Charlotte could see them playing from the window of the cottage but Owen was still mad that he did nothing about Aston like he had promised. Tobias then whispered into his father’s ear, “He was on the phone before talking to someone. Asana said he’s just set the trap for the next time Aston comes.”

“Why didn’t he do anything now?” Owen wanted to know, “Now, he’s playing with Asana in the snow like they’re four-year olds,” he madly said, “To think I almost gave him my blessing this morning.”

Edith tapped her son on the shoulder, “We don’t know what he has planned. Why don’t we ask him?”

“Yeah, right,” Owen rolled his eyes, “So he can promise us he’ll do something but won’t.”

Fred nursed his sprained hand in a sling, “How the hell am I supposed to farm now?”

“I can help you Dad,” Owen promised.

“What about when you need to do your rounds?” Fred questioned him, “It won’t work.”

“Oh, it’s only a sprain,” Edith shrugged off their dramatic overreactions, “It will heal in a matter of days. As for Elias, he’s been wonderful to us and maybe he knows something more than we do about this guy. However, it’s not fair to him if you’re going to take your anger for Aston out on Elias just because he’s also from the city.”

Charlotte encouraged Owen, “Your mother’s right. Asana has faith in him, we should too.”

With Elias and Asana finishing playing in the snow, they opened the door to the cottage and all eyes turned on Elias as they sat gathered in the living room. On the advice of Edith and Charlotte, he kept his mouth closed but glared at Elias. Asana bounded over to her grandfather, “Are you okay, Grandad?”

“I’m okay, it’s going to take more than that to keep your old man down,” he promised her he was fine otherwise she would just worry, “But, what happened to you keeping your promise about standing up to him?” he snapped at Elias.

“I promise I am going to do something about him,” Elias thought it was best to explain what he was going to do now that he had their attention, “That man, I was at first just going to give him a piece of my mind to make him leave for good. However, knowing what I do know, if I let him go he’s going to just move onto the next town and lure more victims.”

“Victims?” Owen’s eyes widened, “You mean he’s done this before?”

Elias nodded, “He’s a convicted fraud. However, after I heard he destroyed Lucas’ vines and threatened and assaulted Fred, I have decided an enjoyable conversation with him is not going to cut it. He has intentionally hurt Asana’s community and family and he is not going to walk away freely. Please, don’t think I have broken any promise to you about dealing with him this time. I am organising my game plan and putting it into motion for the next time he comes here.”

Edith worried Elias wasn’t going to move in time, “…Do you have time?” she looked sad and afraid as she asked him, wanting to trust he could do something, “This farm has been our life and it’s Fred’s family’s legacy. Reitz, needs our farm. This region needs our farm. We’re powerless against Aston but he could rob us of our land,” she teared up.

“Nan…,” Tobias hugged her since he was closer to her, “That’s not going to happen.”

Asana echoed her brother, “He’s right, Nan. We aren’t going to lose our home and Elias isn’t going to let that happen.”

Seeing her aging brown eyes, the wrinkles around them tightening, as she tried her hardest not to cry, Elias understood why they were afraid but he wasn’t going to allow a fraud to strip Asana and her family of their property or anyone else being threatened and bullied into signing this illegal contract he presented Harrington presented to them. Even he had come to love the peacefulness of the family farm and the warmness of the community, though he wondered just how long Harrington had been menacing her family and the community.

“Listen to your grandchildren, Mrs Way,” Elias’ fierce violet eyes stared her directly in the eye and he met the worried eyes of her father and grandfather too, “I don’t know how long this man has been a menace but I refuse to leave until he has disappeared and you never have to worry about him again. Any threat made to Asana’s family, be it her blood relatives or to the family township, is a threat made against Asana. As her fiancée and husband-to-be, I have promised to protect her and what is important to her. This man crossed a very big line and with me here, you are not powerless.”

He spoke with confidence and conviction that restored Edith’s faith in his ability to eliminate this problem and the stress it weighed on their shoulders. Charlotte too, was convinced Elias could do something about and said, “We’re on your side Elias. If there’s anything we can do to help you?” she asked him.

“You better do something about him next time,” Owen warned him.

“He will, Dad,” Asana spoke highly of Elias, “He never makes empty promises.”

Fred nursed his sprained wrist and had no choice but to trust whatever the famous Goldstein power could do to help save his farm. It almost felt like he was god-sent considering the troubling time he had come to the property to present himself as a suitable partner for his granddaughter. He had no choice but to trust his words and hope he could make Aston disappear. Fred had not vocally accepted Elias into his family but sensed he was not like other city people who only thought about themselves, he cared for his granddaughter like she was a precious gem.

“…What are you going to do?” Fred asked, “You have told us you have something planned but you haven’t told us what it is you intend to do.”

“That’s part of the entertainment,” Elias teased and then seriously replied, “He is going to go back to a place where criminals like him belong. What I do need, however, is visual evidence of your sprained wrist.”

“Your collecting evidence?” Tobias concluded.

“I am,” Elias nodded in reply, “I already have the contract he gave to you and other information my father is collecting from my brother. I had him research Bradley Aston’s movements and discovered his entire corporation does not legally exist. Right now, there are federal agents stripping his hotel room where he is staying in Wiley and his so-called “offices” from other communities he has been previously to coming here to Reitz.”

Owen was surprised he managed to do so much in such little time, “…How did you manage to do all of this in such a short amount of time?” he asked the question the others were going to ask.

“That’s impressive,” Charlotte commented.

“That’s kind of terrifying,” Tobias added with a chuckle.

Edith’s tears seemed to have dried up now that Elias had admitted there was something being done but felt guilty for dragging him into their situation, especially since it’s Thanksgiving. Though, she was grateful for his help, “If there’s anything we need to be thankful for this year, it’s Elias loving our little Asana. Thank you, Elias. This means so much you’re doing this for us.”

He had to agree with her. Had he not been with Asana, he wouldn’t even be aware of the injustice Harrington was trying to pull over her family or the townspeople, “You are good people who don’t deserve to go through this,” Elias honestly said, “Had I not been with Asana, I would not know this was happening either but I am very happy that I am here and I can help you.”

Charlotte could see Owen calming down now that Elias had admitted to slowly reeling in the menace that is Bradley Aston, even before he had promised he would do something about his nuisance presence. He would never admit to having overreacted and instead said, “…We’ll see if it works,” he disguised his smirk behind a cup of coffee he had brewed in the cottage.

Asana proudly smiled, “There’s that Goldstein power,” she joked and walked over to his side and showed him her phone. While they were talking and Elias was convincing them that he was keeping to his word, she had been taking photographs of her grandfather’s sprained wrist, “I took some photos of his wrist. The swelling and it covered up. Are these good?” she showed him.

“Perfect,” Elias could clearly see where she had highlighted the swelling in the pictures, “Can you upload photos from your phone?”

“I can email them to you?”

“Could you?” Elias asked, naturally putting an arm around her as she began to forward them to him in an email, “Do you remember my email address?”

“Isn’t it just Elias dot Goldstein?”

“Elias, dot, capital G, another dot and Goldstein.”

She began giggling, “I just realised something.”

Cheeks blushing and her eyes glowing, she stared up at him with her body close to his where she stood in the small space to show him the photos. Distracted momentarily by her beauty for a split second, he came back to his senses and stared at her confusedly, “What? Something funny.”

“Well, it’s just your initials, if you include your second name, spells egg,” she giggled.

He had no response other than, “Be afraid when we cross the snowy path again,” threatening another dump in the snow for her joke while his threat only made her giggle harder, “You really have no fear.”

“Nope,” she said, a popping sound following her response, “I have an older brother. He once buried me in the snow.”

“You have one older brother, try two,” he challenged as he watched her send the images to his email account and he would download them into a file when they returned to the computer.

“Did they bury you in the snow?”

“Worse,” Elias trembled at the memory, “They buried me in the snow and left me there for hours, pretending they didn’t know where I was. Mom was furious at them because I ended up getting a nasty flu. Dad made them look after me until I was better but their idea of soup was snow soup, which is just boiled water.”

Asana could picture it, “…I could see them doing that. Especially, Klaus. He scares me most of the time. Did you know I spilled his tea on him once?”

“He told me,” Elias laughed, “That was before we met and you put him in a bad mood that day because of it.”

Asana pouted, “That’s not my fault! He should’ve watched where he was going too.”

She remembered the day she had walked into Klaus as she went to a café to study. Tobias had just been published in a magazine and she was on her phone downloading and saving his images for her collection of his pictures that she kept. Klaus had brewed his own tea into a traveller mug and had visited the café for his favourite muffin while reading a book he was going to use in his lectures. With both heads down, they bumped into each other has he was leaving and she was entering the café.

“You are thinking about it, aren’t you?” Elias could see her spacing out, “Then you confused me with him making our first meeting extremely awkward.”

“Don’t remind me!” she turned red, “Not only did Klaus not assume any responsibility for that incident, he gave me quite the lecture on top of that. I thought he was just rude and mean then I saw you and you both look alike. I was grumpy all day too because of him so…”

“You unleashed your anger onto me,” Elias remembered, at the time, being yelled at by a strange girl, “I was very confused but I had seen him earlier that day and he told me what happened. He got mad at me for saying it was partly his fault too.”

“You said that to him?” she seemed surprised.

“Then I left because he glared at me.”

Suddenly, they both started laughing not realising they had drifted off into their own world again while her family were still together under the cottage roof following the incident with Aston.

Charlotte and Owen noted the gentle way Elias’ hand rested on Asana’s waist and the way her body leaned in close to him like they were close to cuddling as she stood just in front of him and they entered their own conversation, unaware that they had become oblivious to the outside world around them. Both faces glowing as they reminisced on the recent past and worked together to deal with Aston.

“She’s grown stronger,” Edith commented quietly.

“Yeah, she has,” Charlotte agreed with her observation, “That’s his influence.”

“I’d say so,” Edith could see how they both influenced each other, “They are perfect together too. Looking at them now, you wouldn’t even know he’s from a wealthy family and she’s a plain and simple girl from the country.”

“Opposites do attract,” Charlotte smiled at them but it was about time to start their day and put this morning’s inconvenience behind them, “Well, I’m going into town to clean up after the festival and get some supplies for the family feast tomorrow. Don’t forget to ask Lucas to bring the wine, dear.”

“I won’t,” Owen promised her and turned to his father, “I best get a start too. I have to go out to the Fawnwood property to check a flock of chickens but I will be back to help you out on the farm Dad.”

Tobias had some photographs to complete and send them off before deadline but had a moment to spare to help his grandmother feed the animals, “I better feed the dogs and I can come help you out Nan.”

Elias caught onto Tobias’ announcement about what he was going to do, “Oh, um, I already fed the dogs and cat this morning,” he nervously informed him and explained frantically, “I had an alarm clock in the form of a very hungry cat with sharp claws digging into my skin.”

“Relax,” Tobias chuckled at him, “Thank you, though. Casper usually doesn’t allow strangers to feed him either. I guess the cat loves you now too.”

“Even the dogs love him,” Asana added.

“Well, Nan. Looks like I can help you right now.”

“I need to go up to the cows and give them some grass,” she had been feeding the chooks when that horrible man turned up and they became frightened by the gunshots Fred had fired into the air.

Fred managed to get to his feet and could at least go check the levels of his crops in the greenhouses. He had been worried that Aston had welcomed himself down to the sheds because that’s where he had frightened him from as he tried to access the greenhouses by using the number pad security feature to keep out thieves. “I need to check my crops. I can at least spray them and check the levels.”

“Don’t over work yourself,” Edith warned him, knowing how stubborn he could be and where Owen had inherited the same trait, “I’m sure Tobias can give you a hand.”

“Sure can,” he didn’t mind if he missed deadline, not when his grandparents could use an extra set of hands to assist with farming duties, “I’ll come down after I help Nan feed the cows.”

“I’ll be fine but if you want to come down, be my guest.”