The Path Not Taken (Wayhaught)

Prologue

Waverly really didn't want to go to another party. It wasn't her scene. At all. She'd much rather prefer to curl up on her couch with a copy of The Princess Bride, wrapped in a nice, warm blanket...or five...and sip on a steaming cup of hot chocolate. But, much to her dismay, she was expected to go. She had to go. Champ would not take no for an answer. Not that she would ever pose the question in the first place. He would never understand why someone would willingly forego a wild Purgatory beer fest in favor of a dull, solitary night at home. He was Champ Hardy, after all. The life of the party. And she was his girl. So she really had no choice in the matter. She would go to the party and she would do it while wearing her best "so happy to be here" smile.

***

"Ugh", Nicole sighed as she looked around this place that time seems to have passed by. She just wanted to come to Purgatory, this weird little town with it's even weirder rumors, and meet with the Sheriff.

She was halfway through her police academy training when she noticed an advertisement for a future opening with the Purgatory Sheriff's Department. Everyone told her she was crazy and maybe she was. After all, she was performing at the top of her class both academically and physically. Hell, if she was being honest, she ran circles around 90 percent of the guys in her class. Everyone told her she could land any big city job on any force in the area if that was what she wanted, but she shrugged them off. The truth of the matter was she didn't know what she wanted. Sure, big cities were exciting, but small towns weren't so bad. Sure, everyone knew everyone else's business and the most exciting Friday night activity was making sure the drunks made it home safely without taking out the only street sign in town, but they were charming, too. There was something to be said about knowing your neighbors. Knowing the history of the town and the people in it. Nicole never really imagined herself as a small town cop when she first began pursuing her dream, but then again, she didn't really give her ultimate location much thought at all. It was the career that excited her, not necessarily where she got to put her training to the test. The more she contemplated the charms of smaller cities, the more she convinced herself how nice it sounded. She thought maybe that's what she wanted.

So Nicole took the weekend, her first weekend off since she started the academy, and made the two-hour drive to Purgatory. Besides, in addition to all those small town niceties, this particular small town had something that set it apart from the rest. The lore of Wyatt Earp was just too appealing to Nicole...