This story will both a departure and return to the characters that I have been in my other Caryl stories. The basic premise to the Caryl story is that they are both damaged and that binds them together. I am writing a story in which Carol was reared by a loving grandmother. That Carol is not going to fall for an Ed Peletier but he sadly enough will be part of this story.

Expect to meet some old friends in this story. It is an Alternate Universe so expect some changes. So let the story begin.

A Romance Novel

Carol McAllister finished logging all the important details of her patient and looked up to check the time. She was exhausted which seemed to be the new normal for her. Seven straight days of twelve hour shifts in the ER were enough and she was ready to go home and take a shower and sleep for twelve hours. She had two more hours to go and she hoped that for once things calmed down. Working at Charlotte General Hospital had given her lots of experience in handling all sorts of medical emergencies.

She checked on her patient who was being admitted with pneumonia and then stayed with him until the orderlies took him upstairs. Carol patted him on the shoulder and he waved goodbye to her rather gallantly. She smiled and waved back.

Carol saw that her favorite ER doc was watching her. Dr. Christina Alston was an island of calm in the sea of chaos that a big city emergency room could be. Carol walked over and asked her friend, "Is there anything wrong?"

Christie smiled and shook her head, "No, I was just appreciating how comforting you are with elderly patients." Carol had an air of competence about her and patients seemed to respond well to her. "Have you decided which medical school you want to go to yet?"

Carol shook her head, "I am looking at schools in North Carolina. Andrea loves Chapel Hill, and I think I might like to go there, but I don't know if I can get in. Maybe I'll go to one of those Caribbean schools and enjoy the beach life. Go to class, work on my tan, and drink Pina coladas at sunset."

Christie asked casually, "Still having that problem with the guy who won't take no for an answer?" She watched Carol's expressive face change from smiling to absolute stillness.

"I haven't had any card or phone calls since I changed my phone number. I haven't seen him on the street since last week. Grandma is driving me crazy. She wants him shot at sunrise and I can't convince her that sending me a card is not a capital offense. Andrea and I are going home tomorrow for a long weekend."

Christie liked Andrea. She could be bold and brash but she and Carol always had each other's backs. Best friends since their freshman year in college and destined to always be besties. She was glad that Carol had someone living with her with as much street smarts as Andrea. Sweet Carol had a stalker and that was never a good thing. Christie changed the subject to one more pleasant.

"So you're taking off to the mountains tomorrow morning? You need a break, Carol. You're working a lot of hours. Tell your grandmother hello for me and tell her I am looking forward to visiting the mountain next month". Nancy McAllister had been in Charlotte on some business matter and she had stopped by the ER to take Carol to dinner after her shift. Christie had tagged along at their insistence and had a wonderful evening. Nancy had invited her to the mountain then and Christie had promised to come ride up with Carol when they both took a week off in early June. Christie was looking forward to leaving the city behind and hanging out with Carol and Nancy. She wanted to ride horses and just chill for a while.

Carol was happy to see the next two hours fly by and as she signed out she was met by her favorite security guard. Charley Thompson was a happy go lucky guy but he was a comforting presence when she went out into the staff parking lot to get in her car to go home. Charley had given her a well-lit spot to park her car and there was always a security guard on the lot during the shift changes at night. Charlotte was a big city and it had big city crime. He walked her out to her car and waited with her until she got the car started. He walked around the car checking out the tires and he finally nodded.

Carol drove her Jeep Cherokee back to her townhouse apartment and was glad to see that Andrea's mustang was there. Andrea liked to party and she liked to hit the clubs on Friday night but they were driving to the mountain tomorrow morning and so she must have folded her tents and come home early.

Carol locked the Cherokee and hurried to the townhouse. She wasn't surprised that Andrea was still up. She was a night owl. Andrea was watching television but clicked it off when Carol came in. "Everything ok?

Carol sighed, "Don't be such a mother hen. I haven't seen hide nor hair of Ed Peletier since last week. He probably had found somebody else to stalk by now. Have you heard anything from your friend Rick?" She put her purse down and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sat down in the living room and kicked off her shoes.

"Rick isn't my friend. He lives in the same building as one of the paralegal at work. We all had drinks after work one night and I told him about your problem. He just got a job with Charlotte PD and he wants to us to take a self-defense class offered by the police department. What do you think?"

Carol thought that Andrea sounded awfully defensive when she insisted that Rick wasn't her friend. That probably meant that Andrea liked him but was playing it cool. "I think it is a good idea. You need it to keep the wolves at bay and I need it because I am tired of feeling helpless. I am going to bed." Carol double-checked the locks on the front and back of the house and Andrea watched her with worried eyes. Carol needed to get the hell out of Charlotte and away from Ed. He wouldn't dare get near her on McAllister Mountain. All McAllisters had weapons and were not afraid to use them.

Andrea yawned, "I am going up too. I know you will be up with the damn chickens if we had chickens to get home as soon as you can. I'll be the one sleeping all the way there. Are any of your good looking cousins going to be there this weekend?"

Carol laughed, "Maybe you should ask Rick if he wants to go with you? Grandma would probably like to think that we have friends at the police department."

Andrea shook her head, "Bringing someone home to meet Nancy McAllister is serious business. Not to be taken lightly. I would to have him hooked before he gets to meet the family.

Carol was up early the next morning. She made coffee which she loved and which Andrea needed to kick her brain in gear. She still had time to finish packing and take a shower before they left. She tied her curly hair back in ponytail and thought for the millionth time that she was going to have it cut short one of these days.

Carol was carrying a small weekend case down the stairs when she saw that Andrea was on the telephone. It must be someone she liked because she was playing with the telephone cord. Andrea only did that when she was talking to someone she cared about. Carol carried her bag on out to the Cherokee and saw that Andrea already had her things inside. Carol felt that familiar creepy feeling that someone was watching her and wanted to run back into her apartment. Instead she walked slowly back as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Andrea was smiling as she hung up. Carol didn't miss the "I'll call you when I get back. Be careful out there."

"How's Rick?" Carol smirked.

"Go to hell, McAllister. His girlfriend back home called him last night and told him she wanted to date his best friend. He is heartbroken. Her loss is my gain." Andrea tossed her blond hair and her green eyes sparkled. "She must want to twist the knife in a little harder. They had agreed to give each other some space and Rick left Georgia to take a job here. The woman is an idiot but she did this on her own. No help from me. I just intend to reap the benefits of her foolishness."

"Do you want to stay here and hold his hand this weekend? I can find my way to McAllister Mountain all by myself".

"No, I want Rick to have a long and lonely weekend in a big city away from everyone he knows. Then when I come back he'll be really glad to see me".

"You'll make a good lawyer. Always three steps ahead of everyone else." Carol checked the lock on the door as they left.

"Rick checked out the self-defense classes for us. One of the instructors is his new partner, Michonne Carrington. New class starts next week. Go get your cell phone and make sure it's charged.

Carol started the vehicle, "I have it in my purse and it is charged too. So Rick has a female partner? She must be tough to be part of Charlotte PD."

"I hope she is forty and in a serious relationship with a woman on her softball team. Now let us fly the green earth toward the mountains."

"Let's go home, Andrea".

TWDTWDTWD

Daryl stood in the loft of the big barn at the Homestead leaning against the door frame waiting for Carol to come home. He had mucked out the stall of the horses. Carol would want to take a ride this evening and had cleaned the saddles. He was the stable boy and she was out of reach beautiful princess in this romance novel. Daryl wasn't going to go up to the house and greet her like Merle was. He was too afraid that his face would give away his love for her. It was better for him to wait here and watch her from afar. She was too good to be sullied by the likes of him.

He waited quietly with only Sammie the barn cat to keep him company. The cat ruled the barn and rats and mice knew it. They had left the premises when Sammie showed up and never darkened the door again. Sammie ignored everyone but him. She would sit in his lap and purr like the house cat that she could never be. Carol could usually coax her out but she wasn't here enough for Sammie to really bond with her.

Daryl had shared his feelings about Carol with the cat but she was unsympathetic. Sammie had no patience for his whining; she was a cat who believed that you acted to get what you wanted. The cat moved to stand beside him waving her tail and watching almost as closely as he did. "Oh, you're making your wants known now. She'll be along after a while with a treat for you, you cold hearted feline."

Just then Carol's Jeep came into view and the young man and the cat watched as the vehicle came to a stop and Carol and Andrea got out. He watched as Nancy McAllister and Merle hugged them. The little dog Tallie leaping and carrying on because Carol was home. Merle must have said something impertinent to Andrea because she laughed and then waited until Nancy had turned away to lead Carol into the house to give Merle the finger. Merle went to the Jeep and grabbed their bags while Carol paused and looked around until she saw him. She waved to him and he waved back casually as if his very heart wasn't pounding at the sight of her.

Daryl sat down on a bale of hay and patted his cat and thought over the events of the last two years. Merle had been in a VA hospital in Georgia recovering from a motorcycle accident when Nancy McAllister had been visiting a relative when she had wandered into the wrong room and met Merle. She had apologized and Merle had said something typically Merle and Nancy had taken a second look and stayed to talk. Somehow she had seen something in Merle that no one else had ever seen and came back later that day and talked to Merle some more.

She continued to talk to Merle every day by phone and when Merle was well enough to leave the hospital they had moved here to the mountain. There was a small cabin on the property and they had lived there ever since. It was the nicest place he had ever lived and he and Merle kept it spotless except for the occasional book left on a table. Merle liked to read and Daryl had found that the long winters here gave him more time to read.

Merle always referred to Nancy McAllister as "My Old Lady" or "My Lady" and he worshipped the ground that she walked on. Nancy and Merle were partners in crime. She was using her sight to make investments in businesses and the occasional wager. Together they were building a false front of legal businesses and an income trail that the government shared in but they were also stashing money in off shore accounts.

Merle had two wardrobes. One kept his mountain clothes and the other was filled with o one of those nice white collar prisons and he had feeling that Merle was never going to be caught.

Nancy McAllister had insisted that he call her "Grandma Nancy" and her sister in law Lydia had insisted on being called "Grandma Lydia" and after two years he was finally comfortable with it. The two grandmothers had signed him up for classes in construction, electrical work, and accounting and he had done well in each of them. He took care of their farms, the horses, and kept the machinery running. Grandma Nancy wanted him to run his own construction business but for now he and Emily McAllister were working on plans for a "green" home. Emily was in love with Brian McKenzie and the two of them were wanting a house that would stand through anything.

Daryl was twenty two and he knew that Carol would be twenty four at the end of this month. She had been finishing nursing school when he came here and now she was thinking about medical school. She was brilliant and ambitious and he was still the boy who couldn't put two sentences together and was content to tend to the horses and dream about building houses.

Daryl left the barn to go to his cabin to shower. Grandma Nancy and Lydia would be cooking for dinner for everyone and he would be expected to be there. He put on a plaid shirt. His arms were filling out in a way that made the shirts a little tight at the arms but Grandma Nancy frowned on cut out shirts at the dinner table. The wind had picked up and it was turning cooler and he decided on a long sleeved t shirt might be better. He laughed at himself for going through his wardrobe to find just the right outfit. He put on his cleanest boots and went to the Homestead to see Carol and Andrea.

Grandma Lydia met him at the door, "Daryl, will you go hunt down Carol. She went for a walk and dinner is nearly ready."

Daryl knew that they had planned their "dinner" to eat early and then later they would eat leftovers after everyone had a nice long horseback ride. He also knew that Carol would probably be up on the ridge looking at the mountains. "I'll find her and bring her home before we all starve waiting for her." He pretended to be annoyed and then on his way secretly delighted to be the one in search of her.

Grandma Lydia stepped out on the porch and watched her boy practically leap up the mountain. "Indeed you will, Daryl, go and find Carol and bring her home."

Daryl was walking up the graveled road that went to the meadow at the top of the mountain when he saw Carol at the family cemetery. She was sitting on a cement bench and he thought for a minute to leave her there with her thoughts but the family was gathering and they were waiting on Carol.

She turned as he opened the black iron gate to the graveyard and she smiled at him and she noticed that he was wearing a blue shirt that clung to his muscles and made his eyes seem even bluer. She sighed to herself; he got more handsome every time she saw him.

"How do you like your cross bow?" Carol had been looking for a Christmas present for Merle and Daryl last December. Merle was easy; she bought him a new motorcycle helmet. She had seen one too many patients brought into the ER that had been wearing the proper headgear. She got a black one that made him look more menacing. Merle did like to look like the bad boy once in a while.

She had wandered through a sporting store in search of something perfect for Daryl. He loved to hunt but she couldn't find anything that seemed to be just right for Daryl until she saw the crossbow on the wall. She knew that he would love it and fight until he mastered it. She bought the crossbow and all the various accouterments that went with it.

Merle had strutted around with his helmet to the laughter of all those present. Merle loved to be the center of attention and the Grandmas always gave him plenty. Daryl had opened his presents as if they might contain spiders; Carol had watched him out of the corners of her eyes. Daryl had thanked her shyly and then put it away. Her grandmother had told her that he worked with the bow all the time.

Daryl smiled shyly at the question and gathered his wits to answer, "I like it very much. Maybe sometime this weekend you'll have time to see me use it. Dinner is ready and you'd best come on now."

They walked together back down the hill. Carol asked about the horses and he promised her that they were ready for a good run. Daryl shortened his stride telling himself that he didn't want Carol to stumble on the gravel road. Carol changed her stride to a stroll and they walked through the spring sunshine as if there was no other place they would rather be.

AN

A young Carol and Daryl in love but not knowing that the other in love with them. What do you think?

Please review.