Excerpt for Tour Stops Waiting For You by Melissa Kate
Audrey
Kelly cruised down the main highway in her little Audi TT heading straight into
Crystal Valley. A familiar maelstrom of emotions crept in. The gnawing in her
chest overpowered only slightly by the urge to turn tail and drive in the
opposite direction. She pushed a button and the window automatically rolled
down with a soft hum, letting in the warm, California air. She breathed in
deeply, inhaling the fresh salty breeze, taking her back to her childhood.
Splashing in the ocean, lying on the warm beach to dry off, ice cream cones and
pizza parties. Days of innocent abandon. It was also the days of bitter
disappointment and regret.
She
squelched those feelings as she turned on to Crystal Valley exit. Good old
small town USA. Audrey felt the tightening in her gut, the familiar noose
around her neck that came with small town living. The stifling claustrophobia
trying to claw its way out. She hadn’t been back in fourteen years, well except
for the few days six years ago... and
even that was a memory tightly locked away.
The day high school graduation had rolled around, she had hightailed it
out of here so fast she was surprised her coat tails hadn’t caught fire. Audrey
had wanted to amount to more than just a clerk in the local store or a
hairdresser at the corner salon. There was more to it than just that, more that
she didn’t want to recall. She had set her sights on a high profile life. She
had wanted to create a name for herself – a legacy to leave behind. And she
did.
Audrey
turned onto the street where she lived as a child. Grandpa Joe’s house. She
smiled up at the familiar building. The two story, cottage- style house eased
the anxiety that had been growing with each mile she drove closer to home. She parked in the gravel driveway
and took in the house that had been her haven for most of her formative years.
The black shutters on the large windows gave the home a real country feel. The
wrap-around porch along the left of the house remained exactly as she recalled,
even with the small swing seat where she and her grandma had spent many
evenings together, regaling each other with made up stories. The garden
surrounding the base of the house was still trenched but did not have even a
fraction of the blooms that her beloved grandma had maintained year round.
Audrey’s chest pinched and she buried the emotion. Just another one to file away, she thought wryly.
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