I got the inspiration for this story by sipping late night tea while reading Eclipse and listening to Sugarland on iTunes. I only own Trista and her family. I wish I owned Jacob Black!
I drove my old Mercury down a familiar road from my childhood. The branches of the trees on either side of the road were outstretched, like arms wide open.
Eight years ago, on this very road, I had been strapped securely in the backseat, trying to crane my head and look back at what had been the only home I had known. We had settled into a quaint suburb in Texas that wasn't too far from the main city. Everything was unnatural. So straight, so clean. Not at all communed with nature like how I had grown up. Box-like houses cramped into rows, highways carved into the landscape. Trees were few and far between. Saplings were planted in each yard, held up weakly by ropes tied at the tops of spikes. A weak imitation of nature.
It had started to drizzle when I reached the familiar red house that I had spent so much time in other than my own. A garage of sorts had been erected in the backyard out of some sort of scrap metal and plastic. I cut off the engine and got out of the car. I stood with the door open and took a puff of breath. It had been so long…
I swung the car door shut firmly. It had to start somewhere. Suddenly, the front door to the house swung open. The form of a man in a wheelchair was at the threshold.
"May I help you, miss?" the familiar deep rumbling voice said with concern. The rain came down harder.
"Billy?" I asked tentatively. There was a pause in which I could literally sense his mood lifting.
"Trista!" he said in astonished recognition. "Quick, get inside! You're getting wet!" He wheeled back to let me through and shut the door behind me. My eyes drifted over the room. Nothing had changed much in the room except that there was a television now situated in front of the tiny sofa. The collection of pictures on the walls was a time line showing a baby Jacob on the left and then progressing to a teenage Jacob on the right. My eyes sought out a photo near the beginning and smiled. In it, my dad, my brother Devon, Billy, Jacob, and I were swimming off of First Beach, with me and Jacob sporting water wings and Billy in an inner tube. I turned and met Billy's eyes. He was studying me carefully with a concerned look.
"I assume you've heard…" I started, and then broke off. Thankfully he nodded. With a sad smile, he reached out for a hug and I obliged. He patted my shoulder soothingly and took all my willpower not to bury my face in his neck and bawl my eyes out. We broke apart and he held me by my shoulders at arm's length.
"Have you been alright? Why did you drive the whole way alone?" asked Billy, fussing over me.
"It's okay. My mom gave me her credit card and I had enough for gas and motel rooms. Devon didn't want to leave Mom by herself…so they sent me to take care of things," I explained. My heart throbbed painfully at the last sentence. Billy nodded, his eyes filled with sadness. I straightened up now that Billy had let go of me and sat on the edge of the small sofa.
"Your father was one of the greatest friends I've ever had," said Billy softly. His brow furrowed with concern. "Will you need a place to stay while you're here?"
"Oh, no, I can stay in that hotel--" The sound of a door opening down the hall and footsteps approaching distracted me. Jacob Black appeared in the doorway to the living room, shirtless, stretching, and yawning widely with his eyes shut. I tried to recall my previous train of thought and continue my sentence, but it had suddenly died on the wind. Jacob's head was marginally close to brushing the low ceiling. The shoulder-length black hair that he had sported at eight years old had been shorn into a buzz cut. His exposed upper half was built like an athlete's.
After a moment, he seemed to notice the eyes on him. He looked up curiously and locked gazes with me. That was when everything changed.
TBC