Rising from the Ashes

I'm a screw-up. Proof? On my first day back in town, I accidentally assaulted an officer, who also happens to be my brother's best friend… and the only man I've ever loved. The thing is, that's only a blip on my record of mistakes. And believe me, the list is so long it could practically be two-one for all my usual screw-ups and the other for all my mistakes involving Hayes. My tendency to make colossal mistakes around him is why I left town in the first place. He was like a jagged piece of glass pushing into all my open wounds. I needed time to heal. Now I'm back, more broken than when I left, and clearly still making bad decisions. The problem with being the screw-up is that someone is always bound to make you face your mistakes. My heart isn't ready for him to be the one who makes me face my demons, though, especially when he refuses to confront his own.

I'm an imposter. Proof? No one in the small town of Benton Falls knows me-at least not really. They only see the side that I show them. The polished and professional side. The side that has it all together. And that's how I wanted it to stay…but unfortunately, all it took was one misplaced cigarette, a mishap with a tree, and the off-limits fire chief saving me from said tree to burn the whole facade to the ground. I've experienced a lot of embarrassing things in my life. Growing up with clothes that were rarely washed and never fit. The time my mom puked all over my prom date because she was drunk. But nothing will ever top the way I reacted after that fire. The desperate girl I tried to outrun reared her head, and now I'm paying the consequences, including working closely with the man who makes me face myself-my real self. The problem with being an imposter is that, sooner or later, someone comes around and sees through it all, and you have to make a choice… comfort or authenticity.

I'm a liar. Proof? This smile fools everyone into thinking I've got it all together-that I'm happy, but in reality, I've been telling that lie since the day she left. The moment Ivy Cunningham ran away carrying our unborn child, I lost the man I once was and any hope in life. Sixteen years later, I'm one of Benton Falls' finest. To everyone in this small town, even my best friend, Hayes, I'm the quintessential cut-up, always ready with a joke. I take the hits, no matter who's throwing them, my brother, Hayes, or some reprobate I arrest in the line of duty. At home, in the dark, I'm marking time waiting for this to all be over. Life has nothing to offer me, but every day, I get up and try to convince myself otherwise. That is, until Ivy turns up on my doorstep. Suddenly, all the lies I've told come crashing down, and I'm left with anger and resentment at the woman who owns my heart.