I Found My Heart In West Virginia

By Chelsea Falin

Cheyenne makes the huge decision to move with her four young children to the mountains of West Virginia. Despite coming from a small town in west-central Florida, she had been living in upstate New York with her ex-husband... had been, those were the key words. After finding out her ex-husband was having an affair with a childless eighteen year old girl, Shy calls it quits. West Virginia had long ago found a special place in her heart. The mountains are beautiful, the people are friendly, and you can find a piece of the old life hidden out in the hollers. Shy hopes she will find a new life for her and her children. She wants freedom, and a simpler way of life. What she doesn't expect to find is a rough-around-the-edges backwoods boy with plenty of troubles of his own to entrap her heart so quickly after the end of her marriage... or ever, come to think of it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chelsea Falin
• Release date: Oct 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201335106

Book preview

In Loving Memory Of Our Mothers:

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.

―Abraham Lincoln

Opal Victoria Shelton-Falin

June 1st, 1966- March 27th, 2009

Karen Elizabeth Basile-Hammond

May 14th, 1961- September 15th, 2008

Chapter One

I felt hopeless and insecure. It was as though nothing could pull me out of the fog that seemed to currently exist around me, not even the beautiful faces of my children nor the gorgeous scenery we drove past. I kept questioning the motives of everyone around me where once I'd been so open and trusting. Finding out your so-called beloved husband spent the last two years of your marriage cheating on you will do that to a woman, I suppose. Of course, when all his secrets were exposed, my ex-husband didn't deny anything. He seemed proud he'd found himself an eighteen year old girl with no children to take care of. It wasn't as though I was old. I was only 24, after all. I hadn't thought I had reached an age as of yet that I needed to be traded in for a younger model, but my 27 year old ex-husband thought otherwise. This was blatantly obvious by his prolonged cheating on me, and the fact was driven home when I looked back at the way he had treated me during those later years of our marriage. I could only wonder how I had been so blind for so long.

Now, here I was, driving away in the middle of the night to a house I'd purchased with my part of the divorce settlement. I got half of everything and then some, since it was obviously his fault and none my own. I was proud to have been a prime example of the perfect house wife. I cooked, cleaned, took care of the children, ran all of the errands, and did nearly everything my husband asked of me. Of course, it wasn't as though we had a lot, so I wasn't walking away from my painful situation with a ton of cash or possessions.

We owned the home, and it had been lovely. It sold quickly on the market for $40,000 cash. I got to keep the truck I was driving, half of the bank account and half of the savings. I got to keep all of the furniture that had been bought in our six years of marriage, which I sold, having no desire to bring stagnant remnants of my failed marriage with me into my new life. I had no idea what I was doing, but I figured that whatever it was, I had to be doing something right. I ended up with $30,000 when all was said and done. He ended up with $20,000 and an eighteen year old whore.

We were about halfway to our destination when we came across a car sitting on the side of the road with its caution lights flashing. A man and woman stood outside the vehicle, expressions of hopelessness plastered on their faces as they examined the obviously popped tire on the driver's side. I would have stopped immediately if I didn't have my children in the car, but you can never be too careful. In the modern world, it can be very hard to know who you are able to trust, and strangers on the side of a nearly deserted highway are always more than just a small uncertainty. So, I continued driving past.

It was as I passed the idle vehicle, however, that I noticed a young child in the back seat with tears rolling down her face, obviously frightened at her families unfortunate circumstances. She looked so very much like my own little Emma. That did it. As a mother, I couldn't keep myself from turning around and pulling to the side of the road. Where children were concerned, I would take a chance. Who knew how much longer it might be before someone else happened by? How certain could I be they would even stop? No, I could not leave this family on the side of the highway in the middle of the night. It was against everything I stood for.

After parking on the grass, well off the highway itself, I got out of my truck. Walking over to where they stood, I asked the couple if they needed help. They said they had a spare, but they lacked a car jack and tools. Thankfully, I always keep such items in my truck in case of emergencies. I loaned the necessary items to the man, who swiftly replaced the tire with his spare. They thanked me profusely, and as I was putting the equipment back in the truck, I noticed that their license plate read Florida. A twinge of homesickness washed over me. As usually happened when my home state was brought to the forefront of my mind, I was sent back in time, my thoughts spiraling towards the past...

When my ex-husband, David, and I had gotten married, I was living in an itty bitty small town in Florida called Dade City. David was from the same general area, but made his home in the nearest city, Tampa. Although the two places were less than an hour apart from one another, they were truly worlds away. Dade City was mostly rural, with a downtown area sprinkled with fancier homes, population 6,000 or so. Tampa was all urban, with tall buildings reaching up to touch the sky. The population in Tampa was 346,000 or so, and being from such a small town, I could never understand how so many people could live so close together.  Cities, in general, have always made me feel tiny, insignificant, and claustrophobic. I much preferred the wide open spaces of rural life.

A year after our marriage, we moved to North Carolina for his job in an important firm. Our stay in North Carolina was short lived. I couldn't help but be sad when we moved, having enjoyed North Carolina. At least the people were the friendly, southern born-and-bred people I was used to. I knew in my heart it could never last because David always had bigger plans, and he would do anything to make those dreams come true. He could never just 'settle,' even if it would have been the best thing for our family. His selfish traits began at this point, midway through our marriage. It was during a fight I realized just how selfish he could truly be.

But David, why can't we just stay here? I like it, and you make plenty of money as it is.

My dreams don't include living in some hick town with you and the kids, Cheyenne. What you think is plenty of money and what I think is plenty of money are two entirely different things. I don't make nearly enough, and if you had a brain in that thick skull of yours, you would realize that, David berated me.

But the children have made friends already. I've made friends. I thought that you had too... Why do we have to keep moving?

David laughed and shook his head, sneering. The kids have made friends? They're freaking babies! They won't even know that we've moved! They don't know anything! You don't know anything either, as a matter of fact. We're moving, and that's final, so quit your nagging! I'm sick of it!

So it was that just two years after arriving in North Carolina, we made the even bigger move to upstate New York, which I hated with a burning passion. I couldn't help it. I just wasn't the same type of person as those I ran into. I felt very much like a stranger in a strange world, and that alienation only served to further depress me. I was often depressed during my years of marriage.

You'd think I would now decide to move back home to Florida, being free and able to do so. But no, I didn't want all  the pity I was sure to receive when I came back a 24 year old divorcee with four children. Yes, that's right- four children. Things got around quickly in a small town, and I was sure  half of them already knew what had befallen me, though I had not been home in years. By the time I was home a week, the whole town would know. I would receive looks of pity, and supposedly kind words seasoned with the 'bless your heart' supposed to catch me off guard. It wasn't that people were intentionally cruel, it was simply the way life in a small town went.

I couldn't help but sigh. Was I doing what was right for them? Moving to West Virginia, yet another brand new state to them, just because my favorite cousin called it his home and I had fallen in love with the state during my childhood visits? For me, It didn't matter that there was no work to be found in the state, which was one of the prime reasons people rarely made the move. Working as a freelance article writer, I did all of my work online. I was able to move anywhere I wished just so long as it had an internet connection and still maintain a somewhat suitable living.

I shook my head gently while still focusing my eyes on the road. I was trying to shake all the turbulent thoughts from my head. I decided to focus instead upon my children, my greatest sense of accomplishment and joy.

My eldest daughter sat in the front seat, leaning against the locked door, fast asleep. She was eight years old, and had been conceived not a year into dating my ex-husband. He had been, and still was, the only man I ever actually did anything with. The very first time we went all the way- my very first time doing anything at all-, Elsie was the result. We didn't marry up then, of course. We had to wait until I was of age because my parents wouldn't sign the papers to let me marry him.

My daddy never liked David, and hadn't been afraid to speak his mind on the matter either. Leave that boy out of things. I don't like him, and I think you'd be better off raisin' that baby on your own. Baby'd be better off too. We'll help you, Cheyenne, you know that we will. Yes, I knew my momma and daddy would have helped me but I wanted a family, not just a child. A child and a mother did not make a family, or so I had thought at that young age, having been raised by a strong, two-parent family.

Jesse was my second baby, and my only son. He sat on the left side of my back seat, his six year old mouth hanging open, soft snores escaping from him with each breath. He always snored. I thought it was endearing, but his father thought it was annoying. I remember that David had complained about it on more than one occasion, particularly when I brought Jesse into bed with us as a baby or toddler. I can't sleep with all of that damn snoring! Why don't you two go sleep on the couch or something? Patience, understanding, and compassion were not strong traits in my ex-husband. I just wish I had paid more attention to the fact prior to marrying him. It would have saved me a lot of trouble in the long run, but then again, I wouldn't have my three youngest children. They made it worthwhile.

Josephine, or Jo as most people- including myself- called her, was four years old. She sat on the right side of my back bench seat, snugly secured in her booster. She looked a lot like her daddy, which wasn't really a bad thing. David had  been handsome, if nothing else. Jo was the only one of our four children who truly physically resembled him instead of me.

Emma, my little one, only two years of age, sat in the middle of her two siblings, sleeping soundly with her head resting on her big brother's shoulder, strapped into a booster seat of her own. Her legs and arms were sprawled out, as was usual, and her little chest moved up and down in perfect rhythm. Her mouth was closed, and her face serene as she slept in her awkward position.

I sighed deeply. The road ahead of me was winding, and I saw the sign that said we were finally entering into the state of West Virginia. Seeing the sign made the winding roads seem more normal, as I was fairly sure there was not a single straight road in the entire state. That was what happened when you lived in mountainous terrain.

The clock on my dash read two in the morning, and I was silently beginning to regret my decision to make the trip through a majority of night time hours. The idea had been a good one. We had hit almost no traffic so far, and had the roads mostly to ourselves. I was exhausted, however, and a look at the gas meter told me I needed some fuel. A quick stop for coffee and gas was certainly in order, and perhaps even a little overdue.

I pulled off the parkway, taking an exit with a service sign stating it had two places to get fuel. Directly off the exit ramp was a little gas station, so I turned in and filled up the tank on my Toyota Tundra. Locking the truck up securely first, I ran inside and got my coffee as quick as I could, keeping a cautious eye on the truck through the large window opening towards the gas pumps. The place was deserted, and I was sure my children would be safe, but I hated leaving them even for a second. Coffee gotten, I jumped back in the car. I peeked at each of my kids to ensure they really were fine, and we hit the road again.

By 6 in the morning, I had reached Kanawha County, which was the destination I had been seeking all these long hours and many miles. By 6:30 I was pulling up the long, steep, mountain road that would lead to my new driveway. Truthfully, I had only seen the property in pictures prior to purchasing, but had my cousin, Jace, check it out for me ahead of time. He had agreed that for a total price of $35,000, it was a really good deal. I trusted my cousin's opinion, so I went for it.

Five minutes down the road and up the mountain, I turned into my new driveway. I was the proud owner of five acres, but that thought hadn't really sunken in just yet. I had wanted to own a piece of property since I was a very young girl, although I wasn't quite sure what to do with such sloping terrain. There is almost no flat land in West Virginia, but my house sat on a small piece of it. The house, and perhaps six feet on the back with three feet on every other side, was flat. The rest of the property sloped upwards or downwards. I remember that someone once told me if you saw a flat piece of land in West Virginia, it would have a house on it. During my travels in the state thus far, now and in my childhood, that statement had proven itself true.

I smiled at the house... my house. The sun was just starting to rise, and it peeked over my new home as if smiling on my new future. I thought it a bit ironic that the sun began to rise just as I began to start my brand new life.

My new house was wooden, with a little porch affixed to the front, balanced at the farthest point from the house on short stilts. Inside I knew that I would find three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a large room that would serve as both my living room and dinning room. I knew as much from what Jace had told me, as well as through my discussions with the real estate agent.

The kids were not yet awake, and this far away from any type of true civilization I figured they would be alright for a moment on their own. I left them in the truck while I went to take a quick first glance at our new home.

A quick look around was all I needed to assure myself I'd made the right choice in purchasing this property, and I quietly went back outside. Without hesitation, I opened up the topper on the back of my truck, and began to unload what we had into the proper rooms. The girls would get the biggest bedroom, since there were three of them which would end up having to share. My son would get the second largest, then would come me, and then our guest bedroom. I wasn't worried about needing too much space. I was, after all, a single woman with no intentions on dating and very few personal items to my name.

I only made two small trips back and forth between the truck and house before my kids began to wake up. Sleepy eyed and tousle headed, I led them inside to show them our new home. I paid special attention to showing their new bedrooms, as I knew that would be what they were most excited about. Once more awake, my oldest two helped me out by making small trips with items of their own, while the two youngest sat silently in a corner of the big room. They were still very tired despite sleeping nearly the entire car ride over. Truthfully, it was probably the torrent of confusing emotions which made them so tired and somewhat withdrawn.

It didn't take us long to get everything inside with everyone working together. Contributing heavily to this was the fact that we didn't really have much to begin with. I wanted a fresh start for us. After spending $15,000 on a down payment for the new home- leaving us with easy to manage $500 home payments for the next five years- I had purchased  a few new pieces of furniture. You know, beds for each of us, night stands, a dresser for each room, a couch/loveseat set, and a dinning room table. As far as furniture went, I had brought one dresser, which had been mine as a teenager and would sit in the girl's room, and a tiny TV stand, also mine prior to the marriage, on which would sit our somewhat-ancient television set.

I was unsure what to do once everything had been placed inside the home. Sure, there were boxes to be unpacked and cleaning to be done, but most of it couldn't be done until the new furniture arrived. I looked at my children, sprawled on on the floor.

Are y'all hungry? Four little heads nodded they were. That wasn't surprising because my children were always hungry. They had not lost their healthy appetites during this ordeal, thankfully. I smiled and went into my new kitchen. I reached into the large cooler I had brought and rummaged about. Sighing, I opened the fridge and began placing what items we had stored in the cooler inside the fridge. I left out some eggs, and a bit of deli sliced ham. I went to the two boxes containing our nonperishable food items, and began to put that away also. I left out half a loaf of bread, and put the other foods- mostly canned stuff- away in the pantry.

I realized I had nothing to cook these things in, so I began quickly unpacking the rest of the kitchen boxes. I lucked out. The first box I unpacked contained the toaster, along with the blender and some ice trays. I put the ice trays next to the sink, and quickly hooked up the toaster. The second box had my three frying pans, a casserole dish, two spatulas, and some paper plates. I forced myself  to be happy and began singing an old hymn my mother had sang to me as a child.

In my father's house, are many mansions... As I sang I could hear the sounds of my kids getting up and moving around from their spots on the floor. It was about time too, if anyone asked me. I hollered to them, Just stay in the house for now, alright? I heard mumbled agreements. My kids loved to be outside, but I hadn't checked out the property yet. I didn't know if there was anything that they could get hurt on, and until I had, they wouldn't be going out without my direct supervision.

It didn't take me but ten minutes to have the final eight eggs from the carton scrambled up in the pan and the last slices of ham heated up. Half a loaf of toast was made, and everything was split between the five of us. We didn't have a table yet so we sat on the floor.

Emma perked up as we sat down on the floor, stating animatedly, Momma, it's like a picky-nick!

I laughed, Yes, baby, it is, isn't it?

The older children smiled and perked up a bit also. I couldn't help but smile. The three youngest started excitedly talking about whatever their little hearts desired and then started an impromptu game of tag. Elsie still sat on the floor, a look of sadness still plastered on her beautiful, young face. She was the one most affected by the changes which had recently occurred, as she was able to have more of an understanding about what was truly going on.

As Elsie sat there filled with gloom and lost in her own depressing world, Jesse ran up, tapped her shoulder and ran away yelling, ''Tag! You're it!''

She jumped up with a smile on her face and began chasing her brother and sisters. The children's laughter filled the house, making it almost immediately feel like home. I didn't need my ex-husband, and if he didn't want much to do with the kids, well, he didn't deserve to have such special little people in his life anyways. Our finances would be fine. Besides, I could always take on another job with an article writing company if I had to. I was only working 25 hours a week on average, although it could vary within five hours either way. Smiling, I assured myself- we were going to be fine, just fine.

Chapter Two

Where do you want it, ma'am? The tall, rather handsome man asked as he carried in the second child's bed. This was the bunk bed that would house two of the girls in order to save a bit of floor space.

It goes in the same room as the last one, thanks. I kept the children out of the way as I directed the men. Four of them were making quick work of things.

Four hours after they arrived, everything was where it was supposed to be, and they were even kind enough to put the beds together for me. I thanked them profusely, tipping them an extra $10 apiece. I wanted to give them more, but I simply didn't have the cash on me to do it. They were happy with the tip, however, and were surprisingly friendly as they left. I had observed most people from West Virginia were pretty friendly. My grandparents on my daddy's side had both been born and raised here in this mountainous state, as had their parents and grandparents before them, so on down the line. My daddy had been born here, but moved off to Florida when he was two. When my grandparents moved back, he was 16 and decided to stay. That was where he met my momma, an eighth generation Florida cracker on her momma's side. 

I went right ahead and got to work unpacking everything. My kids, excited at the new furniture, jumped right in and helped. Even little Miss Emma, who could only contribute one small item at a time.

I was in the middle of unpacking my own room when I heard the screen door slam shut. I could still hear my kids playing in one of the bedrooms, so I jumped up, grabbing my Glock off the new nightstand as I went out the door. I pointed the gun directly to the front of me as I turned down the hallway. I came face to face with a tall, good looking man with steely blue eyes and a shock of dark black hair. A tattoo decorated his bared forearm in the shape of a skull and cross bones, while a cross was inked up by his shoulder.

Laughing, the man said, Well Miss Cheyenne, that's quite a welcome you give your guests, now ain't it?

For a full thirty seconds I stood there, dumbfounded as to who this handsome stranger could be. Finally recognition sunk in. Jace! I switched the safety on and ran to give him a hug. He grabbed me and twirled me around once with ease.

So how's my favorite cousin doin'?

I snorted. Ha, like you have to ask that.

His face grew a bit more serious, but I never remembered a time when that mischievous twinkle left his eyes. Even though his face was set in a grim expression, his eyes twinkled as though he were about to cause some kind of trouble. Yeah, I know, that's a damn shame, but I reckon you'll 'preciate the new start.

I shrugged. So far, so good.

I stared at him for a moment. Although he was my favorite cousin, I hadn't seen him in about six years, which would explain why I hadn't instantly recognized my close kin. It was right after Jesse was born he last came to visit, but since then, we had only talked over the phone, albeit often. Two years my senior, Jace was the epitome of a country boy, or a mountain man, you could take your pick. He drove the girls crazy, and did everything for himself. Everyone joked about who they would want on their team when the zombie apocalypse came, but I knew if it happened, Jace would be the guy for the job.

You gonna stare a hole through my skull or are you gonna introduce me to your youngin's?

I shook my head. Oh, right. I yelled down the hallway, Kids, come here!

My four kids came tramping down the hallway. Kids, this is your Uncle Jace, Facing Jace, I placed a hand on each kid's head as I introduced them. Jace, this is Elsie, Jesse, Jo, and Emma.

Smiling, Jace said, Well, I'm mighty glad to meet y'all. The kids just stared at him. It was a real shame, but they didn't really know who he was. That would change soon though. Him, his brother, and his parents were my only real family here, so the kids would hopefully be seeing a lot of them.

You can go play now. I said. They quickly scurried off back to their rooms, obviously thankful they no longer had to be polite and stand stock still.

You've got some beautiful kids, Shy. Jace told me. They seem perty well behaved too. Did a good job there.

"Thanks, but they can turn into little monsters when