Travis

The chickens cluck behind me as I close the coop. In the stables, Duchess neighs in contentment after her supper. In the barn, Rosie lets out a moo as she gets ready for bed.

It’s another day at the farm.

Another day without Grace.

I gaze up at the orange sky covered in windswept clouds.

I wonder how Grace is. Has she recovered her lost memories? If so, is she happy now? Does she still remember me? Can she ever forgive me for leaving her behind?

At the memory of the expression on her face as I left her, of her sobs bouncing off the steel walls, pain grips my chest.

She probably hates me now, but that’s fine. That means she can go on loving Michael as she did before. He’s who she belongs with. I was just an accident.

I tell myself that as I walk towards the front porch.

Toby lifts his head and looks at me sadly.

“Don’t give me that look,” I tell him. “She’s right where she belongs—in the city with the man she’s supposed to marry.”

Toby drops his head and lets out a snort.

I pause on the steps. “What? Are you getting mad at me because I gave her up?”

He looks away.

I sigh. “I guess you have a right to be mad. You were the one who found her, after all, and you didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye.”

I sit on the steps and he crawls over to me and places his head on my lap.

I pet him. “You miss Grace, huh?”

Of course he does. She was a part of the farm, a member of the household. She was my wife.

And now, she’s my brother’s.

She’s happy, and I should be happy for her. For them.

Toby lets out another sigh and so do I.

Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t forget Grace, much less be happy for her now that she’s with another man, even if it is my brother. Every morning that I wake up, I reach for her and frown to find the bed half empty. Every night, I wish I could sleep with her in my arms. I eat alone and wish it was her food I was eating. I feed the horses and see the foal so strong and healthy and wish Grace were around to see her grow into a beautiful mare.

I pat Toby’s head. “I know, Toby. I miss her, too.”

“I thought you did.”

I turn my head to see Phil approaching the house. Toby lifts his head and looks at him as well.

“Phil? What are you doing here?”

“Hoping to talk some sense into you,” he answers. “If not, I might just punch you in the face.”

My eyebrows furrow. “What do you mean?”

Phil sits beside me on the steps. “I mean, my boy, that you’ve been a fool.”

My eyebrows go up.

“I was hoping you’d realize it on your own, but I’ve waited long enough. And it’s not just me. It’s Nancy and Jerry and Stu. Everyone in Hope Creek has been waiting.”

“For what?”

“Grace, of course.” Phil nudges my shoulder. “You should never have come back without her.”

“But I have.” I fix my eyes on the horizon. “She found out who she was, and I left her right where she belonged.”

“Bullshit!”

I throw Phil a puzzled look.

In all my years of knowing him, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him curse so emphatically before.

“That girl belongs here in Hope Creek just like you,” Phil tells me.

I shake my head. “How do you know?”

“Because fate brought her here.”

I give my head another shake. I’m not exactly a fan of fate right now.

“And because the man she loves is here.”

I pause at that.

“Besides,” Phil goes on. “Nancy keeps on talking about how everyone wants Grace to make nice clothes for them after they saw what Nancy was wearing at her birthday party. You’d think they were wearing rags before.”

I ignore that.

“How do you know that?” I ask again.

“Nancy told me so.”

“No. That other thing you said. How do you know Grace… loves me?”

Phil shakes his head. “Son, I’d be a fool not to know. And just so you remember, I’m actually a genius, not that it takes a genius to see that.” He looks at me. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

“She told me,” I confess.

He punches my arm. “Then why the hell are you asking for my opinion when you know for a fact that she loves you?”

“Ow.” I rub my arm. “For an old man, you sure can punch.”

“So don’t make me punch you in the face,” Phil threatens. “And don’t change the subject. You knew Grace loved you. She said it herself. And still you let her go?”

“She said it before she found out who she really was.”

“Who cares? When you love someone, it doesn’t matter who you are or who the person you love is. Love is love, and unlike the mind, the heart does not change very easily.”

I say nothing.

“You didn’t leave her because she didn’t love you,” Phil expresses his thoughts out loud. “You gave her up.”

I look at him.

Damn. The man really is a genius.

I stand up. “She was supposed to marry my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“Michael, my younger brother. I never thought I’d see him again, but he’s there at City Q with my parents. And Grace was his girlfriend.”

“Good Lord,” Phil mutters.

I glance at him. “Now you know why.”

“Yes, I know why you wanted to leave her behind,” Phil admits. “But I still don’t understand why you did.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I thought you were a genius.”

“Travis, you left her because you realized your brother loved her first,” he says. “You left her because you didn’t want to hurt your brother or have him hate you.”

“I think he already does.”

“Exactly. So why did you still leave Grace behind?”

“Because it was the right thing to do,” I answer. “Grace was never meant to come to Hope Creek and meet me.”

“Horseshit!” Phil stands up. “Tell me, Travis. When you left Grace in the city, did you ask her if she wanted to be left behind? Did you let her decide, or did you just leave her?”

I don’t answer.

“Did you ask her how she felt?”

Still, I don’t answer.

To my surprise, Phil grabs the front of my shirt. “You didn’t ask, did you?”

“She didn’t have her memories back yet, so she wasn’t in any condition to decide.”

To my even greater surprise, Phil punches me in the jaw.

I rub it and look at him with wide eyes.

I can’t believe he really punched me.

“You deserved that. You asked for it, you lily-livered wimp.”

I look at him with creased eyebrows. “Phil?”

“I bet you didn’t ask because you were afraid she’d choose you and then you’d have to whisk her away from your brother right in front of his eyes. You were afraid she’d tell you wholeheartedly that she loved you and then you’d have to love her the same way and not your half-assed way.”

“Yes!” I raise my voice. “I was afraid. I was afraid she’d choose me and then regret it. I didn’t want her to choose me because I was the only one she remembered, because I was the one she was with recently. I want her to choose me knowing that she has a choice.”

“Then why did you leave before she could make that choice, hmm?”

I sit down and run my hands through my hair. “I don’t know. I was scared and confused and… I don’t know.”

Phil sits beside me and pats my knee. “We all make bad decisions when we’re overwhelmed with emotion. And then, when the emotions clear, we regret them.”

I say nothing.

“The good thing is that for you, regret is not the only option. You can still change your decision. You can still go back to the city and bring Grace back to Hope Creek.”

“I can’t.” I shake my head. “She’s probably married to my brother by now.”

“So you’re just giving up. That’s it?”

I don’t answer.

Phil squeezes my knee. “Son, you’re a soldier, aren’t you? You’re a fighter. So fight!”

“This isn’t a battle I know I can win.”

“It’s a battle you need to fight,” Phil tells me. “And you won’t know whether or not you can win until you try fighting.”

I sigh.

“Go to Grace and tell her you love her. Ask her how she feels. If she loves your brother, you can let her go and move on, not sulk like you’ve been doing lately.”

I look at him. “I’ve been sulking?”

“If she loves you, bring her home. She’ll be happy. You’ll be happy. Even your brother will be happy, because he won’t have to live with a woman who no longer loves him. It’s that simple.”

Is it?

I shake my head. “I don’t know, Phil.”

“You’re scared. I know. You don’t want to hope, but you’re from Hope Creek. Of course you’re hoping for the best.”

I glance at him. “And preparing for the worst?”

Phil nods. “Do that. Just go after her, Travis. Give yourself another chance, or maybe a real chance this time.”

I let out a deep breath.

Phil is right. I shouldn’t have given up Grace so easily. That was a mistake. It’s a mistake I’m not making again—that is, if I still have time to correct it.

“But how do I get back to the city so quickly?” I ask Phil. “You know I stole a hovercraft from the Lab, which I why I got back here in four days, but that’s now buried in the mud outside. If I go on foot, I’ll—”

“Of course you can’t go on foot,” Phil interrupts. “Time is of the essence.”

I shrug. “Then how do I get to City Q?”

“Are you seriously asking me that? After all these years, do you not have faith in me?”

My eyebrows furrow.

“Come on.” He grabs my arm. “I have just the thing for you.”