Page 46 of A Farmer’s Guide To Gamers

“Yes and no,” Kai admitted. “Now it’s all on us, so there’s a new stress. Before we had guidelines and plans to follow. There’s a bit more pressure, too, because we’re harder on ourselves.”

“That makes sense,” she said as she took a seat at the table. I sat down next to her, dishing a portion onto her plate, then mine.

“Actually, we wanted to pick your brain a bit sometime for this game,” I said.

She looked surprised. “Me? I’ve never really played games.”

“We’ll introduce you to some amazing ones,” Kai promised.

“And we don’t need your gamer experience. We need your farm experience,” Dean added on.

“Farming?”

We’d already lost her on this conversation.

“The game we’re making is a farming game. Not just farming, but it’s an important aspect of it,” Aiden said. “We’re mixing farming, small town life, but making it gnomes.”

“Like the Smurfs?” Tillie asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion as she looked at all of us.

“No, no, no,” Kai shook his head, passion lighting up his face as his hands started moving, talking with his hands as he got into the topic. “Think cottagecore garden gnomes with a touch of magic. A bit of whimsy and light-heartedness with some farming.”

“There will be other aspects, too,” Aiden piped up. “But we’re focusing on the farming bit at the moment while we sort out some of the story line stuff with the other characters.”

“So, what farming things do you want to know about?” she asked, after digging into the food that I had plated up for her.

“Well…” Kai started before I interrupted with a long-winded list, even to me, of things that we’d love to double check or have information about.

What seasons are certain plants?

Are there any unique crops that could be fun to include in the game?

What animals would work for gnomes and information about them?

Tillie started laughing as my list kept getting longer until she held up her hands and playfully begged for some respite.

Her bright eyes were shining as she looked from me to the others and then I could almost see a light bulb go off above her head.

“I know exactly how to help you all and you’ll be able to help me at the same time.”

“How?” Aiden asked slowly, uncertainty clear as he physically leaned back a bit from her as a satisfied smile filled her face.

“You’re all going to help me at my farm and learn hands-on about some of these things,” she stated enthusiastically. “That way you all will have firsthand knowledge of some things and in return, I’ll try some of these other farm games out. If that would be helpful?”

“That would be amazing,” Dean volunteered us all without once checking with any of us.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the prospect of farm work, but Kai and Aiden looked downright alarmed at the idea. Trying my best to keep my amusement to myself, I focused on my dinner and shoveled a large forkful of lasagna in my mouth.

“Look,” Aiden hedged. Tillie pressed her lips together to stop a laugh at his pale face and alarmed expression. “I don’t know…”

“I’ll go easy on you. At first, at least,” Tillie promised. “Jack saw my morning routine. It wasn’t bad, was it?”

All eyes were on me now. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was out of my depth then and next time would be no different.

“We’ll manage,” I said instead. “When do we start?”

“My house is big enough for us all to stay,” she said. “Waking up there would be a whole lot easier.”

“I’ve only seen your room and the main room. Are there extra bedrooms or anything?” I asked. Her eyes heated as she remembered our first night there before she cleared her throat and nodded.