Beyond the Lonely Oak (Star Crossed series book 1) (completed) #Wattys2018

Chapter One: Coming Home

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The manuscript smelt of cinnamon and old parchment. Its smell was her,  Ava thought, taking a good strong whiff and setting it back down on the seat. It had arrived in the mail a few weeks prior to her Grams' death and Ava had wondered ceaselessly about the new book.

    She had been sitting in downtown Paso Robles for ten minutes trying to convince herself to get out of the car. It was all so surreal, from the meeting she was about to attend, right down to the last piece of her Grams that was sitting like a burning gift of regret on the seat to her side. She had sworn after the car accident she would never come back here. Two weeks earlier she had whispered confirmations of the three year-old vow as she opened the package her Grams had sent and saw the little note that read "It's time for you to understand—" flutter to the floor. She hadn't wanted to know. Didn't need a reason to return. But now she was here, and despite everything, she had no choice but to face her fears head on.

    She caught a quick glance at herself in the review mirror. Nothing to be done about her messy honey brown hair or blood shot green eyes. She had left the moment she received the news, packed one suitcase, put the manuscript in her large purse and hit the road from Dallas to California like there was a demon on her tail. For years, the woman had been asking her to come home, and now Grams was gone.

    Pulling on the handle of her 1967 Mustang, she stepped out of the car. They had deemed her BMW totaled after the accident, and after a year of refusing to get behind the wheel of any car she decided that if she was going to drive again, it would be in an old steel giant. That had been her life for the past few years— constantly staying on the safe side and not taking any real risks.

    The doctors had no consistent theory as to why Ava couldn't recall memories from age nine to the day of the accident. They blamed a head injury, although there was no real evidence to suggest that as the cause. However, being doctors, they needed a scientific explanation for her condition and the amnesia theory seemed to be the best fit. It didn't explain the hysteria— the way she had gone nearly crazy the initial days following the accident. Or how devastated and lonely she had felt once the doctor's medication began to wear off and she was plunged face first into reality. No matter how many friends or family visited, something or rather someone, always seemed to be missing.

    There would be nothing safe about today, she thought, looking around. Taking in the people around her, a couple holding hands, a mother pushing a stroller, life flourished here and it felt odd knowing she had once been briefly a part of that history.

    Following the sign that read "Greenstone Brewery," Ava came to a very old brick building with white wooden steps leading to the entrance. She walked up to the blonde long-haired hostess who was too busy flirting with the bartender to notice Ava.

    "Go ahead and seat yourself," she said, before turning back to her conversation.

    Ava scanned the nearly empty room for the man she had been planning to meet. It had been years since she had seen Tristan and in the chaotic days following the accident, she had a hard time cataloging each unfamiliar face that had come to visit her. But Tristan had stood out amongst the others.
    Unlike almost everyone else, he had zero expectations that she'd have some momentous memory break through. Instead he had introduced himself like a new face should and proceeded to create a friendship with the stranger sitting before him. It was for this reason they had kept in touch even after her move to Dallas and that she was meeting him now, though on a less joyous note.
        She found the room to be very empty except for a man with long sand colored hair and a blue ball cap in the corner. He was looking down at his food and Ava couldn't make out the lines of his face. She turned to go outside and almost ran right into the man she was waiting for.