Riley (re-written)

Chapter 25: New Beginnings

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Nichole POV

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It has been a week and yet we are still very far from being done with the clean up after that storm. Everyone on the island has been working hard to get as much as possible back to normal, but the damage is devastating. We are fortunate that we are far enough inland. The towns and any place along the outskirts of the island will have to rebuild from the foundations. Our house has minor damage compared to that but its still damage. My brothers and I have been assigned the task of fixing things up at the house and around our property today. It is barely noon and I'm so ready to be done.

I paused what I was doing when my satellite phone started ringing and I quickly answered it when I saw Lucy's name flash across the small screen. Oh how I miss my smart phone. Unfortunately getting cell towers back into working order is not the first thing on the list of repairs to do on the island so, until that changes, this is the way we must communicate.

"Hey Lucy" I say as I sat down to rest my feet.

"Hey you!" her bubbly voice came dancing through the phone.

"I'm heading to the town to bring lunch and supplies to my dad and I'm swinging by to pick you up on my way. Be ready in 10" she said not leaving room for me to object even though we both knew I had no intentions of doing so.

"Great I could use a break. I'll see ya in a bit" I said as I hung up and dropped what I was doing.

I did a small happy dance at the opportunity to get out of clean up work for a little bit and I headed to change out of my working clothes and into something a lot more my style. Soon I heard Lucy honking and I ran out the door to meet her in the car.

As we pulled into what was left of the town we could see all the towns people out in the sun sorting through debris, rubble, and garbage spread by the storm.  They had made great progress from when they started but there was a lot still to be done.

Lucy and I grabbed the food and drinks out of the trunk and headed over to the area where both of our dads where helping clean up.

"Did someone order food?" I asked as we approached and gradually we became surrounded by hungry and thirsty people.

We got a table and set out the food and drinks and stepped back to watch the table become swarmed. I couldn't help but giggle as I looked at my dad who was stuffing a sandwich in his mouth like a chipmunk. He looked over and met my eyes with a huge smile on his face with pieces of bread falling from his mouth as he did so. He just shrugged and winked at me and took another bite. I continued looking around and decided get up from where I sat to walk down the main street and see how the progress was coming along.

I took in the site of the battered town and almost started to cry. This was my town. All the stores and restaurants they were all gone. This is where I grew up, and just like that its all in piles. It reminds you of just how quickly you life can change. I arrived a the spot where my favorite coffee place used to be and once again was hit with the full extent of what the storm had done to this small town. I grabbed a battered cafe chair that I found near by and sat in what used to be my favorite spot.

Suddenly I heard some rustling around in the rubble as someone approached and I turned around to see someone I did not ever expect to see here again any time soon.

Riley.

I sat there stunned and taken by surprise as he continued to walk my way no yet noticing me from where I sat. He looked as though he was thinking hard about something and I couldn't help but notice how cute he was when he was so focused. I finally cleared my throat as he got closer and he jumped. I smiled at him and started to open my mouth to say something when another guy came jogging up beside him.

"Hi" I said awkwardly, trying to figure out in my head who this other guy could be. I've never seen him before but he seemed to know Riley well.

"Hi" the stranger said while Riley stood there looking unsure of what to do or say.

"I'm Nichole" I said directed to the unknown guy as I tried to break the quickly growing silence between the 3 of us.

Immediately both guys faces lit up when I said my name.

"I'm Jason" the guy stepped forward to shake my hand but quickly stopped and pulled his hand back after a look from Riley.

"That's weird" I thought to myself but shook it off.

"Riley it's so good to see you. I wasn't expecting to see you again any time soon after how our date got cut short from the storm" I said with a joking tone in my voice but I meant what I had said.

I really didn't expect it. I though he wouldn't want anything thing to do with me after such a crazy quick end to the coffee date he had taken me on.

"Uh ya I'm here to check on the island and see if you guys needed help cleaning up after the storm." He said but he avoided my gaze and was acting really strange.

"Are you okay?" I asked him worried that it had something to do with me or something I said.

Jason quickly spoke up saying he wanted me to tell him more about myself as he started walking and nudged me to follow along with him. When we were out of hearing range from anyone near by he then stopped me from what I was saying and began explaining to about Riley's accident. He told me about how, during the storm, he had lost his memory, and how they are not sure if he will ever get it all back or not.

Shocked I looked back a Riley who was standing off a bit and looking a little lost as he took in his surroundings. I cant believe something like this would happen, and to him of all people. As an Alpha that must be really hard to come to terms with. I cant even imagine.

I looked at him with pity and then turned to Jason "looks like our relationship is staring from the beginning... again." I said with a small smile.

"Challenge accepted" I said to Jason as I looked back at Riley again and my smile grew. After all, who am I to back down from a new kind of adventure.

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Authors Note

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