Nina:

For twenty minutes, I drive on autopilot, blinking tears from my eyes so that I can see the road. Scott and Zane have called my phone repeatedly, but I can’t talk to them, not yet.

How can I let them turn down a three-record deal? I can’t do that. They might be okay with their decision today, but down the line, they’re going to watch some other band make it big, and they’re going to think—that could have been us.

If Zane and Scott look at me with resentment in their eyes, I don’t think I could stand it. I’m not strong enough.

They must have known that I would react this way. That’s why they didn’t tell me about the deal—they must have known that I’d want them to take it. That just makes me angrier. Had they told me about it, maybe we could have figured out what to do together. Instead, they made a decision for me, and I’m furious about their high-handedness.

Umm Nina? My conscience prods me uncomfortably. Isn’t that a case of the pot calling the kettle black? Weren’t you going to do the same thing to Zane and Scott before Maggie yelled some sense into your head?

The situation isn’t the same, I try to reason, but I know I’m making excuses. I thought Scott and Zane should focus on the band, so I was going to win the game and ask them to leave New Summit, without giving our relationship a chance.

Scott and Zane are doing the same thing. They think they should focus on me, so they’re turning down a record deal instead of giving their band a chance.

But I don’t want a relationship like that.

You promised them you wouldn’t forget rule two, Nina.

Twenty months ago, I ran away from them. I don’t want to run again; I want to fight. If I fail after trying, so be it, but I want to look back and say—I did everything I could.

And so I do something I’ve never done before. I hit the brakes, and the car slides to a stop, and I crank the steering wheel, make a U-turn on the deserted country road, and head back to new Summit.

This time, I’m going to face my fears.

I’m ten minutes away from home when I see Scott’s car barreling toward me. He’s driving thirty miles over the speed limit, racing away in the opposite direction. I lean on my horn to get their attention, and the car screeches to a halt, before backing up.

It’s a good thing there’s no one in sight. If Joe Laramie were here, Scott would be getting one hell of a speeding ticket.

Scott pulls off into the shoulder, and the two of them get out. We stare at each other across the country road. “Nina?” Scott says hesitantly.

“Chris lied,” Zane blurts out.

“What?”

“There’s no record deal,” Zane says. “That was just Chris trying to drive a wedge between us.”

I know Chris likes to play fast and loose with the truth, but surely he couldn’t have thought that a lie of this magnitude would stay undiscovered. Then again, he would have counted on me running away.

“He’s right, though.” I stay where I am, leaning against my car, on my side of the road. “I can’t ask you to give up your band for me. I can’t be that selfish.”

“Did Chris say that? That you’re the reason we’re dissolving the band?” Zane shakes his head, a small smile playing about on his lips. “Nina, I love you, but if you think that we’re sacrificing our band and our careers for you, you have it totally wrong.”

I gape at him, my mouth open. I’m not sure which part of that extraordinary sentence to focus on. Zane telling me he loves me, or the part about them not making the sacrifice for me.

Zane continues talking. “Nina, do you know why we’re in New Summit?”

“To sell your dad’s subdivision.”

“But do you know why I’m here instead of my dad? Because after putting up with a lifetime of being married to a compulsive workaholic, my mom had enough. She left my father.”

I can’t say I’m shocked by the news. I don’t think David Marshall has ever taken a vacation in his life, and Barbara Marshall is the most patient woman in the world.

“And my dad,” Zane continues, “finally came to his senses and realized what’s important.” He gives me a steady look. “I don’t want to go more than thirty years to discover what truly matters to me, Nina. When you knocked on the door, yelled at us and told us to leave town, I knew what I’d lost.”

He takes a step into the empty road. “I’m not taking a step back from the band because of you, Nina,” he says steadily. “I’m doing this for me. You make me happy, and I want to hold on to you. Call me selfish, but I want to love you for the rest of my life.”

Without conscious thought, I inch forward.

“For months after you left, Nina,” Scott says, “I lost the ability to make music. We had an album to produce, and I had no songs, no lyrics. I was empty.” He takes a deep breath. “When the three of us were together, Nina, I felt whole.” He takes a step into the road as well. “I don’t care if I never write another song again, Nina. Evolving Whistle is just a band. But losing you, Nina, will shatter me.”

He takes another step forward. They’re both standing in the way of oncoming traffic, and I want to yell at them and tell them to stop being idiots, but my tongue is frozen. My feet, however, know what to do. They mirror Scott and Zane, and I step into the road as well, meeting them in the middle.

“We were all unhappy,” Scott says softly. “But Chris kept us so busy we didn’t have time to realize that. No matter what happens between the three of us, I’m not going back to that life again. That isn’t the happy ending I want.”

I take a deep breath and jump off the deep end, no safety net in sight. They’ll catch me.

“The happy ending I want,” I whisper, “has both of you in it.” I swallow the lump in my throat. “We live in New Summit, and I run the Merry Cockatoo, and every night, I come home to the two of you. Because I love you.”

“I like that happy ending,” Zane says. “One modification. On the nights you’re working late, when you leave the bar and go outside, we’ll be there, because I worry about you driving home late at night.”

I blink my eyes rapidly. Stupid tears.

“Once I buy your building,” Scott adds, “I’ll pop into the Merry Cockatoo at lunch from time to time, thrilled because I just booked an amazing band. And we’ll call Zane, and the three of us will open a really good bottle of beer to celebrate.”

The feeling of lightness in my chest expands, and my heart feels like it might burst. “That’s a good story.”

Scott and Zane put their arms around me, and I hold tight to both of them. “It’s not a story, Nina,” Zane says. “It’s our future if we reach out and grab onto it.”

Snowflakes flutter down from the sky. It’s freezing. We’re standing in the middle of the road, the visibility is absolutely terrible, and at any moment, a car could ram into the three of us.

But in their arms, I’ve never felt warmer or safer in my life.

“Tonight,” I whisper, “is the final night of the game.”

“No, Nina,” Scott corrects me. “It’s the first night of the rest of our lives.”

I grin at the two of them. “I like the way you think,” I tell Scott. “Let’s go home and make it memorable.”