Chapter 1
Nothing common in Meadowbrook. That’s what I heard as soon as I arrived with my parents in the quiet town chosen by my father, and that according to my mother would help me. Without friends, and the negative influence and distractions of a big city. And close to where part of my mother’s family lives, I still don’t know what I think about it, because we were never very close.
I heard in the days before the move, that a country town, with other values and some rules, I would go back to being the girl I was before Ash Daniels. Or how they used to whisper when they didn’t want me to hear it, the damn Ash. But I did.
From my upstairs bedroom, through walls and while the firewood burned in the fireplace of the neighboring house, and the child crying for being grounded in the back street. I could smell the package of the pizza in the trash can in the front house and the masculine perfume on the scarf my mother wore, it wasn’t my father’s, I knew. And I still felt the faint first smell of death, when Ash’s eyes became cloudy and he was gone.
“Ayla” I heard my mother’s voice and a slight jolt as she held my arm as if waking me from memories, perhaps the last of what I had left behind “come on, help me with the smaller boxes.”
I agreed quietly, pushing Ash away from my thoughts. I fixed the hood of the coat over my head, and took in my pocket a watermelon gum, after a few hours of travel, believed not to be the most perfect view of the “new girl”but I was under the impression that the guy with the pretty voice who’s talking to my father right now won’t notice. The fact is that I’ve been sleepless the last few days, and all I need is some coffee, and wi-fi.
He is handsome in the sheriff’s uniform, though he looks too young for the office, his hair well cut, a soft dimple on his chin and stormy eyes. Tall, athletic, and with a smell I realized I’d never felt anything like it. It was intense, ash, blood, caramel and something my senses don’t seem to recognize. It was indescribable and hidden, as if something dark and cruel hid right there, from my eyes and my nose, and from my ears because when he reached out to me, holding it for a moment, I could hear that his heart was beating normally.
“Mason Field” he smiles, his white teeth immaculate, and his mouth dangerously twitched in a singing smile, I feel a chill, as when Ash opened his arms, the edge of the terrace of the house where his family lived, it’s like death, standing right in front of me.
“Ayla Greenwood” I said, without smiling, just the warmth of Mason’s hand still tingling in mine as a warning to stay away from him.
“Ayla is going to study at St. Anna High School, we are all very excited about the change,” my mother said, her bright eyes, fixing her blonde hair while leaning her face charmingly, making me wonder if she really wanted to do that ridiculous role.
“The lady will like it there, it’s an excellent school” his voice sounded almost condescending, as if dealing with a child.
“I’m beginning to like it here” my father said “grateful sheriff, for the welcome!”
“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me” he says shaking my father’s hand “in any of the contacts I gave him” he pointed to the left of our “or at home.”
Great! That’s all I need, being the sheriff’s neighbor! When my parents talked about a new lifestyle, I did not imagine that they would take it so seriously, but I know that I must make some effort, in the name of everything that had made them both pass in recent months. Our lives may depend on it, and all I have to do is take a deep breath, and try not to die of boredom.
I take the boxes, and follow behind Rose, who is delighted with the beautiful garden, which seems to have had the grass recently cut, is a two-story house, modern in appearance, more without the exaggerations of immense doors and glass everywhere, I had already seen the site, but I confess that personally pleased me much more.
I try to hear what I can around me, recognize the sounds of where I live has become an obsession in the last year. My therapist used to say that it was some trauma from everything that had happened, in other words, with the right medication, she was optimistic that my hearing would soon cease to be a real problem. This did not happen, now apart from hearing, my sense of smell also seems to have overdeveloped. And it’s scary that I’m listening and smelling Mason Field, like he’s right here!
I take a deep breath, trying to concentrate on my mother’s footsteps upstairs as I climb the stairs. Listen to Rose telling me where my room is and I go in that direction, and I’m surprised, because I like the room as soon as I open the door. Of course, airy, has a beautiful wallpaper and as the efforts of Rose, is already furnished. I pull away the curtain smelling new, just like everything here, and open the window, letting the breeze in, as I hear my mother suggesting that we could order a pizza. What she says next is beyond my comprehension because in the house next door, in the window in front of mine, I see the sheriff, taking off his shirt, and then the white shirt, before answering the phone, and leaving my field of vision. I close the curtain immediately the moment Rose enters my room!
“Ah, here you are!” she says cheerful, and then looks around while I hope she doesn’t come up to the window “her room looks beautiful!”
“Stayed, yes” I say going in her direction “I can’t wait to organize everything!”
“Can we buy some decorative items” she suggests “what do you say we go shopping tomorrow?”
“Of course” I agree, as she waves briefly and answers her cell phone, moving away towards the door, I realize that she takes the professional tone, and I hear her say that Monday will take her documents to the hospital where she will work. Then she turns it off.
“I hope you didn’t make any arrangements with Samarina,” she says, suspicious that I will leave the housekeeping to her while I go out with a friend who lives in a town near here.
I deny it, and say that I will help in the change, but, in fact, I have plans, of course, and Samarina has already arranged our invitations, but I do not intend that this becomes cause for discussion between my mother and me. I promised that I would mature and that I would stay out of trouble, but sometimes there’s no harm in a little fun.
