Chapter 1
Alyssa
Not the worst fresh start in the world. I drove with the windows down to let in the cold early-spring air, speakers blaring Taylor Swift’s new album, and I sang out loud in the way I was never supposed to as the roads led into the mountains that were coming to life in blossoms of color.
I couldn’t be here forever. I knew that. But I knew I needed this—whateverthiswas—for the time being. Everything had fallen apart around me, and when Daniela had told me to drop it all and come stay with her, I’d gone without overthinking it. For the first time in my life. Wound up with my things in the back of my old Toyota Camry, and I drove until Boston was far in the rear-view mirror, and things would be different now. They had to be.
The song changed, I turned the wheel to take a corner, and my life flashed before my eyes as I almost turned straight into a collision. I sucked in a sharp breath as I slammed on the brakes and veered away from the looming shape—a fallen tree blocking the road—and I braced as I hit rough gravel, back wheels skidding on slick pavement and sending me almost in a tailspin. The car came to a stop sideways in the road, just short of the tree trunk—it looked like it had just fallen recently, branchessagging, the wood creaking, and the road guardrails still held up under the weight, groaning in protest. The wind rustled in the branches, close enough outside my window I could have reached out and touched it, and I clutched the wheel white-knuckled, breathing hard, my pulse pounding in my ears, a cold sensation washing behind my eyes.
Taylor Swift kept singing. She had no sense of timing.
I laughed once, shaky and delirious, and managed to sink back into the seat. Okay. I didn’t die. It was a close one, but I didn’t die this time. Score for me. I was doing great.
“You doing all right?” a voice said from the window right next to me, and I screamed and swung on pure adrenaline reaction, slapping a woman in the face. My stomach dropped when I realized what had just happened—she was dressed up in a heavy flannel with her hair tied back and gloves on, probably a worker here about the tree, and I’d fully just backhanded her in the face. She held a hand over her cheek, wincing.
“Oh, Jesus,” I said, my voice shaking badly. “I amsosorry. I didn’t mean to—I had no idea there was someone there—are you okay?”
“Guess you can’t be doing too badly, if you’ve got that much energy in you,” she said, massaging her cheek before she pulled her hand away. My stomach turned at the sight of a small cut there along her cheekbone—Jesus,I was wearing a ring on that hand.
“Oh, god, you’re bleeding,” I said. “I am so sorry.”
“No big deal.” She leaned against the car, giving me a dry smile. “You just narrowly managed to slip past me putting up the signage for this… glad you’ve got quick reflexes.”
“I almost died,” I heaved. I didn’t know why I said it. Taylor Swift singing about a dick as big as a tree wasnotwhat I needed right now.
“You’d have lived. Your car, not so much. The tree’s only supported on the guardrail,” she said, pointing to it. I felt like laughing, delirious on the whole thing, and I wasn’t taking in what she was saying. “It would have transferred the impact force and moved, crumpled your car, and probably sent the tree on its way down the mountain, hitting someone else’s car another road down.”
“That’s notbetter.”
She laughed. “You’ll have to go around until we get this cleared up. But you can take your time. The road’s closed now, so nobody’s coming up behind you. Where you headed?”
I heaved out a shaking breath. “I can’t go around, I’m going here.”
She squinted. “Sorry?”
“I’m goinghere.”
“I cannot hear you over Taylor.”
“Jesus, I forgot that was even playing.” I turned off the music, and in the silence, I could hear myself thinking again. Slowly, my brain started sputtering back into gear. “I’m going to Paxton Ridge.”
“Seriously? Figures…” She stood up, looking around her, checking her phone, before she slid it into her pocket and turned to me with a shrug. “Well, my car’s on the other side. I could give you a lift?”
I let out a long, slow breath. “I’ve got all my stuff in this car… like,allmy stuff. I’ve been moving.”
“Well, better not waste time then. C’mon. I’ll give you a hand.”
I stared at her for a second before I slumped back in my seat, unbuckling my seatbelt. “Are you serious? I just backhanded you across the face so hard you’re bleeding, and now you’re offering to drive me?”
“I’m too kind for my own good, I know. Now, are you coming or not? I’m stronger than I look, but I can’t move this tree.”
I let out a long breath before I turned off the car and opened the door, stepping out. I didn’t realize how shaky I still was—my legs held up like wet noodles when I stood up, and I stumbled, the woman moving to catch me, her hands on my arms steadying me, and I felt a flush of awareness at the closeness. It was the wrong thought for the moment, but she smelledsogood, like pine and cedar and sweet cinnamon spice, and I felt my chest tighten.
“Doing okay?” she said, her voice slightly softer now. I nodded, taking long, deep breaths to clear my head.
“I’m okay,” I said, standing up, catching myself, and I managed to step back away from her, standing up normally. Not faceplanting directly into the pavement, at least not today. Point for me. “Thanks… I’m so sorry about this.”
She shrugged, hands in her pockets. She was a gorgeous woman, looking rugged in her field jacket and heavy boots, a strong jawline and warm, peachy-hued skin, brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, loose strands having broken free from her time out here. She had strong shoulders and piercing brown eyes that were more of a deep olive shade, a kind of dark hazel that felt like they looked straight through me, and I shuddered under her attention. “Just glad things didn’t go worse,” she said. “Where exactly are you going, anyway?”
