Chapter 1
The Accident
Alys heaved a great sigh, staring off into space as she wiped the shop counter for the tenth time. The events of that day played back to her yet again. It was a day she would always remember…
It was early morning, and the snow had finally stopped. The overnight hours had brought one of the biggest snowstorms Hope Falls had seen in a long time, with almost three feet of snow accumulating.
She rolled over and saw the empty half of the bed. Her husband Drew, the owner of a small landscaping company that also did snow removal during the winter months, was on call for snow plowing. His shop was on the outskirts of town, so he’d left very early to meet the other crew member on call and divide up the plowing jobs for the morning.
Alys heard a buzzing and rolled over to check the time; it was only four in the morning. My alarm shouldn’t be going off for another hour, she thought, confused. She groaned as she heard the buzzing again. She realized the buzzing noise was her phone ringing, and quickly picked it up.
“Hello?” Alys answered, voice rough from sleep.
“Oh, hey Aly, sorry for waking you. Has Drew left yet or did he sleep in again?” Steven’s voice came through.
“Hey, Steven. Drew left a while ago, he hasn’t arrived yet?” Alys asked, an uneasy feeling coming over her, breaking through her grogginess.
“Shit, okay. I’ll drive towards your house and see if maybe he got stuck. You know he’s too stubborn to call for backup.” Steven said with forced cheerfulness before ending the call.
An hour later, Alys was getting ready to leave to open her coffee shop downtown when she heard a knock on her door. Her heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach; no one would be just stopping by at this time of the morning. Her muscles tensed as she slowly made her way to the front door.
Opening the door slowly, she recognized the two men standing on her porch. It was two of the local police officers who always stopped by her shop at the end of their night shift for coffee and muffins.
“No… no… no… no…” Alys’s heart stopped. She dropped to her knees as the two officers took off their hats and knelt beside her.
“We are so sorry, Aly. We are here to deliver some bad news. It’s Drew. He was killed this morning in a car accident.” Officer Cody stated as calmly as he could, he watched Alys sit there in shock, eyes unfocused and shaking her head. He let the news sink in for several minutes before asking, “do you have any questions?”
“How?” Alys slowly looked up at Cody as her eyes welled with tears.
“He hit some black ice and his truck spun out of control, sending him crashing into a tree. The tree hit the driver’s side…he died on impact.” Cody paused. “Aly, is there someone we can call to come over and be here with you?” He asked, watching with concern as she buried her face in her hands and started to sob.
Once she started crying, she couldn’t stop. Her world came crashing down around her. Drew was her rock, the one who kept her grounded. She didn’t know how she was going to go on without him. The pain in her chest felt like her heart was shattering into a million pieces. It became hard to breathe as immense pressure began building up inside, her sobs increasing in intensity. What was she going to do? Why did he leave her? How could this be happening?
Cody watched as Alys broke down in front of him and turned to his partner Mike. “Can you get the desk sergeant to call Aly’s mom and have her come over?”
“Sure thing.” He said as he stepped into the living room to call in the request on his radio.
“Aly? Aly, are you with me?” Cody asked softly. “We’re calling your mom over, how about we get you on the couch so she can make it in the front door?”
Alys nodded through her tears and Cody gently guided her up from the floor and into the living room. He got her seated on the sofa, grabbed one of the many blankets draped over the furniture and wrapped it around her shoulders. He sat down in the chair beside her. Mike nodded in confirmation that Alys’s mom would be informed and over shortly. Until then, all they could do is sit beside her and watch her break down.
About fifteen minutes had passed when the front door flung open as Ms. Clary Russel, Alys’s mom, rushed in.
“Oh, Alys!” She exclaimed when she saw Alys on the couch. She swept in and enveloped Alys in a hug. Alys started sobbing even harder in her mother’s arms.
“Why mom? Why did it have to be him? Why did he leave me?” She asked, choking on her words as tears streamed down her face.
“Oh Hunny, he didn’t do it on purpose. You know he would never have left you. Accidents happen, but he wouldn’t want you to break down. Be strong for Drew.” Clary stroked Alys’s hair from her face. Although both women had tears rolling down their cheeks, Clary’s words seemed to help calm Alys a bit. She knew her mom was right. Drew would have done everything to come home if he could have and he would want Alys to stand strong for him.
Cody cleared his throat and both women jumped, startled, forgetting that there were other people in the house. “Sorry to startle you, ma’am,” Cody said, “but I will leave you with my card here and if you have any further questions please feel free to call me.”
He handed his card to Clary who gave him a small smile and a nod, then he turned to Alys, “If there is anything I can do for you Aly, please call.” He gave her a gentle smile and a light squeeze on her shoulder before nodding to Mike and they both left the house.
****
It had only been a couple of months since that day. Alys was at work, lost in her own mind thinking about those events. She was starting to think about it less and less, but in those quiet moments, something would always make her remember. Today she was baking his favourite muffins. Shaking her head to clear it, she heard the bell of the door opening as Mike and Cody walked in.
“Hey, my two favourite first customers.” Alys smiled up at them as they approached the counter. She already had their order ready; two large coffees and two morning glory muffins.
“Awww, we are your favourites?” Mike asked, “would you give your favourite of the two favourites your recipe for his wife yet?” He tried again for the thousandth time.
“Sorry Mike, tell Leah if I give her my recipe I’ll lose one of my favourite customers, that’s just not good business.” Alys winked at him as Cody pulled out his card to pay.
“What makes you think you’re her favourite of us anyways?” Cody joked, “I am obviously her favourite. Right, Aly?” He gave her his big brown puppy dog eyes and a sweet smile.
“You are both, equally, my favourite first-of-the-day customers.” She replied smiling at both of them. Her green eyes twinkled with laughter as the two groaned at her.
“How diplomatic of you. Well, we got to go, we’ll see you later Alys.” Mike said as he picked up the tray with their order.
“I’ll be right there, Mike.” Cody said to him and turned back to Alys running his hand through his short blonde hair while giving her a nervous smile, “Alys, I’ve been meaning to ask you, but the time just never felt right. Would you go to dinner with me one night? Anywhere you like, your choice.” He asked, with a hopeful glint in his eyes.
“Cody, that’s very sweet of you, but I don’t think I’m ready yet.” Alys responded with a sigh.
“It’s been long enough Aly. You have to start living again, you can’t just go through life like a machine, waking up, going to work, and going home.” He gripped the counter tightly then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Well, the offer is there, for when you are ready.”
Alys just nodded, not knowing what to say, and watched him turn around and walk out. She knew he had had a crush on her in high school, but she didn’t think that he still had any feelings for her. He had dated on and off with a few other women, but they never lasted with him. He was a good-looking guy. He had been on the football team in school, which was not exactly her type. She was more of the creative variety and had been part of drama and nature clubs and spent her spare time reading and hanging out with her friends. He would go to all the coolest parties and hang out with the other jocks. Sighing, she set her thoughts on Cody aside and continued with her work.
She had always dreamed of owning her own coffee and bookshop. After high school, she took some business courses online and bought the old used bookshop on the main street. After putting some work into it she was able to convert the building into her dream. She had shelves of new and used books available in and around the front and near the back she had taken out a storeroom to put in the kitchen and the counter for her coffee shop. A few old comfy chairs were placed around, either in pairs or alone, with small coffee tables where people could sit together and chat or sit alone and read a book while they drank their coffee. She also offered some baked goods and a couple of soups and sandwiches on her menu. Alys had always loved to cook. Her shop was named after herself, Alys’s Cafe and Books. It became quite popular with the town and was a hot spot for teens since she offered free Wi-Fi. It was the only place that served a decent latte in Hope Falls.
Looking at the clock, Alys noted that one of her main employees should be arriving soon to help her with the morning rush. As if thinking it summoned her, she heard the bell ring and in walked Hannah. Hannah White was a couple of years younger than Alys and had been working for her for a few years now. She was one of her most trusted employees and was in charge when Alys wasn’t there.
“Good morning, Sunshine!” She sang as she walked through the shop, her blonde hair in its signature high pony swinging as she did a final sashay to the counter. “How are we this morning?”
Alys couldn’t help but smile at her energetic attitude. “Good, but you will never guess who just asked me out on a date,” Alys stated with a look of bewilderment.
“Who?” Squealed Hannah, always the one for gossip.
“Cody Smith,” she let the name hang in the air, waiting for Hannah’s reaction.
“No way!” She exclaimed and walked towards the back to hang up her coat and change into her work shoes, “He’s so dreamy. Tell me everything!” She hollered back at Alys.
“Well, it was a little weird; at first when he asked me, he sounded sweet, but when I told him I didn’t think I was ready, yet he started to get mad and told me I needed to move on from Drew’s death.” Alys told her thinking over his words as she said them and frowned.
“Aw, Aly I know it’s hard hun. All we want is to see you come out of your shell again. You look so lost sometimes.” Hannah came over and put her arm around Alys’s shoulder and leaned her head up against hers. “That being said you have to do what feels right for you.”
The bell rang again as the first few high school students came in to get their caffeine fixes before school started.
“So, it begins!” Hannah said dramatically, breaking the sweet moment and going to the cash register to take the first orders.
The day went by quickly and Hannah headed out an hour early to meet up with some friends. Alys didn’t mind closing up by herself, with only an hour left before closing it was usually pretty slow. She used the time to get some of the closing jobs done early, so she could lock up sooner. She was wiping down the tables and putting away some books people left out when she heard the bell ring again. She looked at her watch and saw there were only a few minutes until she closed.
“Sorry, we only have five minutes left, but I do still have some baked goods and of course we always have coffee.” She smiled up at the customer as he walked into view, and she had to stop and take a breath.
He had to be the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. Drew was handsome, but also homely in his own rough-and-tumble way. This man was tall, probably over six feet, which was a good half foot or so taller than Alys. He was very solidly built with a well-groomed beard. His dark chocolate brown hair was styled in a fade, and his blue piercing eyes gazed at Alys. She could see tattoos peaking up over the collar of his white button-up which barely contained the muscles underneath. She thought if he moved in the wrong, or right, way it would just rip right off him. She blushed as she realized she was giving him a once over. When she met his eyes again, he was smiling as if he knew exactly what she had been doing.
“Hi, are you Alys McKenzie?”
