The Accident

Alys heaved a great sigh as the events of that day came back to her. It was a day she will always remember…

It was early morning and the snow had finally stopped. It had been one of the biggest snow storms they had seen in a long time in Hope Falls, with almost 3 feet of snow falling over night and Drew had been on call for snow removal that week. He was the owner of a small landscape company that also did snow removal during the winter months. The main shop with his office and equipment was just on the outskirts of town, so he had to leave very early to meet the other crew member on call and divide up the plowing jobs for the morning so everything would be clear for people heading to work.

Alys heard a buzzing and rolled over to check the time, it was only 4 am. Her alarm shouldn’t be going off for another hour. Groaning she heard the buzzing again and realized the buzzing noise was her phone ringing and she quickly picked 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?” Stevens voice came through the line.

“Hey Steven, Drew left over an hour ago to meet you. He hasn’t arrived yet?” Alys asked, starting to feel more awake as an uneasy feeling came over her.

“Shit, okay I’ll drive towards your house and see if maybe he got stuck. You know he’s too stubborn to call for back up.” Steven said with forced cheerfulness before hanging up.

An hour later, Alys was getting ready to head out 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, 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 nightshift for coffee and muffins on their way home.

“No…no….no…no…”  Alys’s heart stopped and she dropped to her knees as the to officers took off their hats and knelt down 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, as he watched Aly sit there and stare off into space shaking her head. He let the news sink in for several minutes before asking “Do you have any questions?”

“How?” Aly slowly looked up at Cody as her eyes welled up with tears

“He hit black ice and his truck spun out of control sending him crashing drivers side into a tree. He died on impact. Aly is there someone we can call for you to come over and be with you?” Officer Cody asked watching her carefully as she started to sob burying her face in her hands.

Once she started she couldn’t stop sobbing as 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 breath as an immense pressure was building up inside as the sobs increased in intensity. What was she going to do? Why did he leave her? How could this be happening?

Cody watched as Aly broke down in front of him and turned to his partner Mike. “Can you get the desk Sargent 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? We are bringing your mom over, how about we get you on the couch so she can make it in the front door?” Cody asked softly, Alys nodded through her sobs and Cody gently guided her up from the floor and into the living room and seated her on the sofa. He then grabbed one of the many blankets draped over the furniture and wrapped it around her shoulders and sat down in the chair beside her. Mike nodded in confirmation that Alys’s mom would be informed and over shortly. All they could do is sit beside her and watch her break down.

About 15 minutes had passed and the front door flung open and Ms. Clary Russel, Alys’s mom, rushed in.

“Oh Alys!” She exclaimed when she saw Alys on the couch then she swept in and enveloped Alys in a hug. Alys started sobbing even harder in her mothers arms. “Why mom? Why did it have to be him? Why did he leave me?” She asked choking over 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 and 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 was 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 light squeeze on her shoulder before nodding to Mike and they both left the house.

****

It has only been a couple months since that day and 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 came walking 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 your 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 twinkling with laughter as the two groaned at her.

“How diplomatic of you. Well got to go, we will 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. But would you go to dinner with me one night? Anywhere you like, your choice.” He asked her 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 over a year 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 on with her work.

She had always dreamed of owning her own coffee and book shop and after high school she took some business courses online then bought the old book shop on the main street. After putting some work into it she was able to convert the big old used book shop into a coffee and book shop, where she had shelves of used books available in and around the front and near the back she had taken out a store room 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 soups and sandwiches on her menu, Alys loved to cook. Her shop was named after herself Alys’s Cafe, and it became quite popular with the town and was a hot spot for teens since she offered free wifi and the only place that served a decent latte in Hope Falls.

Looking at the clock Alys saw that one of her main employees should be arrivingsoon 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 years younger then 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. But we do want 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 caffein fix before school started.

“So it begins!” Hannah said dramatically, breaking the sweet moment and going to the cash to take the first orders.

The day went by quickly and Hannah headed out an hour early to meet up with some of her friends. Alys didn’t mind closing up by herself, with only an hour left before closing it was usually pretty slow, so she used the time to get some of the closing jobs done early then she could lock up sooner. She was wiping down the tables and putting away books that people left out when she heard the bell ring again, looking at her watch she saw there was only 5 minutes until she closed.

“Sorry, we only have 5 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 in to view and she had to 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. But this man was tall probably over 6 feet which was a good half foot or so taller than Alys, he was very solidly built, with a well groomed beard, his deep 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 and 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 and when she met his eyes again he was smiling as if he knew exactly what she had been doing.

“Hi, are you Alys McKenzie?”