PROLOGUE
One foot propped against the white railing, Travis Walker pushed the wooden swing back and forth on the porch of his parents’ home as he stared out at the quiet, tree-lined street. The day couldn’t be any sunnier, with a clear blue sky and only a few clouds, but a heavy darkness hung over the small town of Catfish Creek, Texas.
“It’s really happening.”
Travis turned toward the soft, sweet voice, finding his high school sweetheart, Rae Evans, sitting next to him. She stared at the For Sale sign with the SOLD sticker diagonally across the front. Her long, straight, brown hair curtained her face, but he could see the sadness in her pretty hazel eyes. “Yeah,” he answered her statement, “the realtor came today, and my parents accepted the buyers’ offer.”
Even as he said the words, he begged for them not to be true. From this day on, their lives would be forever changed. When they graduated a couple of weeks ago, a big-time agent from New York showed up with a recording deal. One that would make all of Travis’s dreams come true.
“When do you leave?” Rae barely whispered.
“Tomorrow morning,” he replied, reaching for her hand and taking it in his, wishing, somehow, he could hold onto her forever. “I’ll be staying with my agent while my parents get the house packed up and move into the city.”
“That’s good,” she said with a soft smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “You know, that you have a plan and everything.”
Travis’s heart clenched, and he ran his thumb across the back of her palm, doubting his every move and all the decisions that led him to this moment. His parents always told him not to get too serious with Rae. He was only eighteen years old, as was she. They were too young, too immature, too inexperienced in life to know what they wanted.
His parents were wrong.
He loved Rae with all that he was. Deeply. Madly. Irrevocably.
In the silence that stretched between them, a painful sense of distance seeped into the air. One Travis had never felt before. One that felt so…wrong. One that he wished he could remove with every breath he took.
Obviously, she felt the icy whisper, too since she smiled again, clearly to lighten the mood, and said, “I bet, one day, girls will throw their panties at you.”
The swing slowed, and he pushed against the railing again, sending them swaying. “Most girlfriends wouldn’t want other girls throwing their panties at their boyfriends.”
“Well, I don’t want that, of course…” She hesitated, lips pursing, then added, “But to be honest, I guess I kinda do.”
“And why is that?”
Her eyes sparkled, so full of dreams and life. “Because that would mean you made it. That you became the rock star you always hoped to be. And that everything I hoped and wished for you came true.”
God. His heart twisted with the misery of how life had brought them to this fork in the road, one where they knew they were about to go off in different directions. “You’re not wrong, I guess, even if the logic is a bit warped.” He’d never really had the drive she did, but somehow, she always made him want to do better. For her. She forced him, all too naturally, up to her level. “And what about you? What about your dreams?”
“I’ve got enough AP credits to fast-track through undergrad to veterinary college so I can finish sooner.” She pulled up her legs onto the swing, sitting cross-legged. “I figure there’s no reason not to dive right in.”
“You could live a little,” he said, offering her another choice. “Maybe travel?” Come to New York with me!
She shook her head. “That’s not in my thirty-year plan.”
“What is then?”
“Opening two clinics,” she replied, glancing at the car driving by and giving whoever was inside a wave before adding, “And to do that, I need to get my schooling over as quickly as I can. So I’ll double up on courses and take summer school, too.”
What about me? brushed across his subconscious. But he was leaving her, too because he couldn’t make music in Catfish Creek. Well, he could, but he wouldn’t go anywhere. “It’s a good dream,” he told her. “And I have no doubt you’ll do everything you set out to do.”
“I will.” There wasn’t a hint of insecurity in her voice.
That’s what he loved about Rae. She never wavered in the things she wanted, including him. He’d never met anyone who had such clear purpose in life at such a young age, but he knew it was because of her logical mind. Things never got murky or messy for her. Emotions simply weren’t part of her internal make-up. Maybe, sometimes, he wished she thought more like him.
The tightness in his chest rose again. Their time was dwindling. What would happen to them? Would she forget him when he moved? Would he forget her? Feeling the icy wisp of dread, he took one of her hands in both of his and kissed the back of it, eyes on her.
Whatever she saw in his expression drew her brows together, and she said, “I want you to promise me something, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“That no matter what, you will live out your dreams fully and completely.” Eyes locked onto his, she added, “I never want to be the one who holds you back.”
He drew in a long, deep breath, seeing a new clarity in her he’d never seen before. It made him realize that she knew how hard walking away would be for him, and understood that he had doubts about his choice to leave. “You could come with me,” he offered. “Go to school in New York.”
She paused, shut her eyes, then reopened them, misty-eyed. “My life is here, my family is here, and so are my friends. I don’t ever want to leave Catfish Creek.” She placed her feet back onto the porch’s whitewashed floor and turned to face him. “If we truly love each other, let’s promise to always love each other right—make sure everything we want comes to pass. That we never, ever give up anything of ourselves for the other person. Promise me.”
His throat tightened, chest squeezing at the thought of leaving her. She was his everything. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“But you’re only leaving for a little while,” she retorted, twining her fingers with his. “We can see each other on weekends. Maybe I can fly to see you. Who knows, once you make something of yourself, maybe you can move back here.”
“But…”
“Travis,” she said, sternly giving him the look, leaving no room for argument. “You do your music. I’ll do vet school. If that leads us back to each other, then it’s meant to be. I’m sure the romantic in you loves that idea.”
He snorted and shook his head. “I don’t understand how you can always be so practical.”
She shrugged, giving a lopsided grin. “It’s both a gift and a curse.”
His curse.
On one hand, he agreed with her, they needed to follow their dreams. On the other hand, he hated not choosing love. Deep in his heart, it felt as if he were ripping his soul apart. A part of him would always remain here, with her. “We can’t ever take this back, Rae,” he said. “Once I go, I’m gone.”
“I want you to live your dreams, Travis.” She lifted her chin and squeezed his hand, and he could tell she was already decided. “And I want to live mine, too.”