The Tale of the Elm Trees

When Charlie Shaw was fifteen years old, he was suddenly and violently uprooted from his home and sent to live with his grandparents in a small suburb of the Deep South, where religion is a way of life, as vital for sustenance as the air we breathe. But for Charlie, the breath of the South quickly became a noxious gas, and he came to hate all things God.

Now, seven years later, Charlie has earned quite the reputation for himself in the small town of Charlottesville. Every woman in town who knows him or knows of him knows to stay away, for Charlie is renowned as quite the charmer, with ruggedly handsome good looks. He will flirt with you and make you feel that you are his world…just long enough for you to warm his bed on a Saturday night.

But, when an unexpected downpour in the fall of Charlie's senior year of college forces him to take refuge in a coffee shop, he meets the beautiful Katie Monroe, and although he quickly learns that she knows very well his reputation among the women of Charlottesville, Katie remains dauntingly unafraid to get close, and it leaves Charlie wanting to know more: What does Katie know about him that makes her unafraid, and why is she so willing to risk her heart by getting close to him?