CHAPTER 1

Fall was Callie Torres' least favorite time of year.

She hated seeing the leaves fall. It felt like everything was dying. And she didn't like it.

As the winds grew stronger, the weather colder, and the winter came closer, she sought refuge with other of Centerville's inhabitants almost every afternoon at Joe's – a small bar in the center of the small town.

With only 3500 inhabitants and 250 miles to the nearest city, everybody knew everybody. It was a close knit community.

"Annie stop by to see you lately?" a guy called Jack asked her from across the bar.

"Yeah. Why?" she answered.

"Well, I've been wondering. She hasn't felt like herself lately. I don't know..."

"Jack, you know I can't tell you what goes on at the clinic"

"I know, doc..."

Callie knew the man as a caring husband and a great father and seeing him look this worried and shy melted her heart a little.

"But," she continued "Annie's fine. She's just going through some...age related changes. Don't worry about it"

The guy's face lit up a little.

"So she's not sick?"

"No"

"Oh thank God!" he then said and yelled "Next round is on me!"

Callie chuckled. She was the town doctor, and sometimes she knew the people there better than they knew themselves.

She loved the close-knit community – all its faults included, and she considered a lot of the people in Centerville family.

She asked for a second beer and started chatting with Joe, the owner of the bar.

A couple of minutes later a woman walked through the door to the bar, and the whole room went quiet like it always did when strangers stopped by.

The woman's clothes and hair were wet from the rain and she looked a bit lost. She took in the room and then walked up to the bar.

"Can I borrow a phone? Mine ran out of battery"

The bartender hesitated for a minute, but then handed the woman his phone.

She took a few steps towards a corner of the room to get a bit of privacy and made a call. The room was still silent, so everybody heard what the call was about; her car. It had broken down, and she was calling for someone to come and pick it up to have it fixed. Callie watched her out of the corner of her eye. In spite of looking like a drowned person, the stranger was beautiful; blonde curls, piercing blue eyes, and...dimples maybe? It was hard to tell because the stranger was far from smiling.

After hanging up, she simply handed the bartender the phone and left the bar.

Once she was gone, everyone resumed their conversations as if she had never been there.

It made Callie smile. She had once been a stranger in the town too. She knew how it felt to be the odd one out, and she thanked God she was no longer an outsider.

Fifteen minutes later, when driving home, Callie spotted the woman who had just been at the bar, walking by the side of the road.

The latina slowed down and rolled down her window.

"Where are you headed?"

"Home" the woman answered without stopping walking or looking at Callie.

"And where is home?"

The woman nodded towards the mountainside in the distance and said "Pine Tree Road".

Callie furrowed her brow. She knew Pine Tree Road and she knew there was only one house on that road. Nella Henderson's house. Nella had died six months earlier and the people of the town had no idea what was going to happen with the property. It hadn't been put up for sale.

"Nella's house?" the latina asked.

Her knowledge of the house made the blonde woman stop walking and look at the latina.

"Yeah. How did you..."

"Small town" Callie answered with a small smile.

"Right" the other woman breathed out.

"Do you...do you want me to drive you? You have car troubles?"

"It's okay. I don't mind walking"

"Seriously? It's a 3 mile hike. The weather is horrible. I can take you. Really, it's no problem"

"I'm fine" the woman repeated.

Callie sensed that it was time to back off.

"Okay. Well, goodnight then"

The woman nodded, and then Callie drove off, wondering who this stranger was.