Mystic Falls

AVA 1

Hey everyone thanks for reading and for those of you who read the original first two chapters I decided to delete those chapters and take a new direction. This book is pure fiction but does have some glimpse of my life in it. 

Also, the chapter will be titled by the characters who will be speaking in the chapter unless I state otherwise. As always thank you for reading. 

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I had dreams and goals for my life but I never thought for one moment that they would all be ripped away from me in one second. I wanted to become a pediatric surgeon, join a missionary group and help those in need in Africa. When I felt the need to return home I then wanted to foster and adopt children who needed a loving home and for someone to love them. Those were my dreams and goals and now they have vanished.

Instead of signing up for college and preparing for my high school graduation I am now sitting on a greyhound bus and heading to Mystic Falls, Texas. Why you might be asking, well I am going to go and live with my grandfather. He works on the Wolf ranch and even has a cabin there. When I called him and told him what had happened he told me his door was open and I took him up on the offer. 

I needed to forget my past and move forward. My best friend Liz and her family had been taking care of me for the past month making sure I was safe and going to school. I was able to complete high school thanks to them but instead of burdening them, I decided to live with my grandfather. They had five children of their own and even though they welcomed me with open arms I didn't want to take away from their children. 

My grandfather and I have talked daily since the first call and he has told me a lot about the ranch. I guess it's a cattle ranch and his old Marine buddy Drew owns it. Drew has four sons Tyler, Caleb, Levi, and Dylan. All four sons range from fourteen to twenty-two years old and our players. I was told to stay away from them and my grandfather told them the same. I just laughed when he told me that. I had never been on a date nor do I wish to go on a date. I am afraid to let anyone in and have them leave me the same way both my parents have left me. I am not good enough for my parents to love me then I am not good enough for anyone to love me. My past might just ruin my future. 

It took a total of two days to get to Mayfair Texas where the bus station was and I could not wait to see my grandfather. I have not seen him since my grandmother passed away nine years ago and he left to help Drew. He and I stayed in contact throughout the last nine years and I missed him a lot. 

When I got off the bus I stretched my legs and walked over to grab my luggage. Once I had my black suitcase I began to walk over to where the vehicles were and as I began to look around I saw a man holding a sign with my name on it. 

The guy holding the sign was not my grandfather because the gentleman was about my age and he was tall. I was about five foot four and he had to be well over a foot taller than me. He had blue jeans on, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, and a white t-shirt on. As I approached him he looked me up and down and then smiled. "Ava?" He said with a deep southern accent. 

My grandfather had an accent but not as deep as his. "Yea that's me. Where is my grandpa?" I asked. 

"Listen to that Northern accent." He said as he reached for my suitcase but I stepped backward and he lifted his hand into the air. "Okay then. I am Caleb and your grandfather sent me here because he had something come up." 

" It's nice to meet you Caleb and sorry about that. Can we get going I would like to see my grandpa." I said as I leaned my head back to look at him. He was very tall compared to me.

He smiled again. "Ya, we should get going. It is about a two-hour drive to the ranch from here. Follow me." He said as he reached for my suitcase again and I took a deep breath and let him take it. I am not sure why I am being overprotective over the suitcase right now but I can't help it. It's all I have left of my old life. I might not have much but it is mine. 

I followed Caleb to his dark blue truck and watched as he put my bag in the back of the truck. He then opened the passenger door and signaled for me to get in. Once I was in he closed the door and then walked over to the drivers' side and got in. 

We drove in silence for twenty minutes before he said anything to me. "You hungry?" 

I was hungry but I had no money and wasn't going to tell him that. "I'm good. Thank you." 

"You sure?" He said as he looked at me and arched an eyebrow. My stomach rumbled at the thought of food. I had been living off snacks for the past two days. 

"Ya, I can wait. I just want to see my grandpa." 

"Okay then." and he looked back at the road. The next thing I knew we were pulling into a diner and I looked over at him. 

"I said I was fine." 

"Well, your stomach says otherwise. I refuse to let a young lady go hungry. Now get out and let us have some lunch. " he said as got out of the truck and when I didn't get out of the truck he walked over to my side and opened the door. "Times ticking away ma'am." I sighed and got out of the truck. 

We walked into the diner and sat down in an empty booth. Caleb removed his hate and he had the most beautiful sandy blond hair I had ever seen. It was not too dark and not too light but the perfect combination. 

As I began to look around women walked over and placed two glasses of water on the table and handed each of us a menu. "Thank you." I looked at her name tag. "Sally " and she smiled at me. 

"Your welcome. Can I get you both something to drink?" 

"I'll take a sweet tea," Caleb said and then he looked at me. 

"What kind of pop do you have?" I asked and the waitress looked at me weirdly. 

"What is pop?" She asked. 

I smiled trying not to laugh. I guess it's true that down south they don't know what pop is. "Soda or coke?" I said.

"Oh okay. We have Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Dr. Pepper" and she kept listing off the different types of soda they had. 

"I'll have a Pepsi with lemon on the side," I said. 

"One sweet tea and a Pepsi with lemon. I'll be right back with those drinks and then I'll take your orders.' She said and then walked away.  

I looked over the menu and decided on a hamburger with fries. I put the menu down and looked at Caleb and he was already looking at me. "Have you decided?" He asked. 

"Ya." 

He smiled at me. "So what did you decide?" 

"Hamburger and fries. My grandpa can pay you back when we get to the ranch.' I said. I was nervous about paying but I was hungry. 

"Don't worry about it, hun. Jim would have my Hyde if he knew I didn't feed you and that's not including my mama." 

I just laughed because the stories I heard from my grandpa about Mrs. Wolf and her sons were so funny. "I take your granddad has talked about us." 

"Yes, he has."

Just then the waitress put our drinks down. "So what will it be?" 

"Ladies first," Caleb said. 

I looked up at Sally. "Can I please have a cheeseburger with extra pickles and a side of fries?" 

"Sure thing and you sir?"

"I'll have your pot roast dinner with a bowl of chicken and rice soup darling."

"No problem." 

I just there and I knew Caleb was watching me. I just didn't know what to say. We sat in silence until Sally brought his soup and he began to eat. 

"So Ava what are your plans now that you are here?" He asked in between bites. 

"I'm not sure. I figured gramps and I could talk about that." 

"Well if we could always use more hands on the hands around the ranch." 

"I don't know a thing about ranch life. I was raised in the city." I said. 

He put his spoon down and smiled at me. "Well sweetheart that is the beauty of life, you can always learn new things. Just think about it." 

He was right. I could always learn. "That is very true." And he went back to eating his food. 

Soon Sally brought both of our meals and when the plate of food was in front of me my stomach started to rumble. 

"You need to eat girl. I heard that over here." Caleb said with a chuckle. 

"I plan to," I said as I put ketchup on my plate and dipped two fries in it and then stuck them in my mouth and moaned. They were so good. Not too greasy or hot and just the right amount of salt. 

When I was done chewing I grabbed two more fries and dipped them in the ketchup but before putting them in my mouth I said "so tell me about the ranch." 

Before he could answer his phone started to ring and he answered it. "Ya." 

"Mmhm" I just kept eating my food while listening to him. 

"He did what," Caleb said with a hint of anger in his voice and I just looked at him. His soft features turned hard. There was a brief pause. "Well, that was the end of the line for him Tyler. He pulled this stunt two weeks ago and I don't care if he has been working for us for five years. He had a job to do and he decided to drink all night." Another pause. "Well you tell daddy he was on the sheets to move the calves from the southern pasture to the northern one this morning " 

I tuned him out and just ate my food and by the time I was done eating he had just finished his call. "Sorry about that." 

"No problem. Everything okay?" 

"Peachy. Your granddad is patiently waiting for me to bring you home " he waved his hand in the air signaling to Sally we were done and she quickly walked over with the check. 

"You two have a wonderful day." She said as she handed Caleb the check. 

"You too ma'am. " 

Caleb paid the bill and we both headed to his truck. Of course, he opened the door for me and even shut it. I had never seen a man do that before and I was unsure about my feelings towards this action but I did say thank you. When he got in we began to drive away from the diner and head towards the ranch.