Page 15 of White Horizons

“Clay, I understand your hesitancy, I do, but who cares? This is who you are, and you are amazing. No one is perfect. You don’t stutter when you sing, and if you do get on that stage and do, what do you think is going to happen? No one is going to laugh at you. In fact, I bet it will be the opposite. You’ll inspire others.”

“Maybe,” I murmur, unconvinced. I’ve just never been the type of person who wants to platform about something. I know it sounds insane to say, but crowds do make me nervous. On the stage with a whole group of people is one thing, but the thought of being up there by myself . . . I’d rather run down the street naked.

Changing the subject, I ask, “What should I bring on Thursday?”

My mother loves Thanksgiving. Every year she goes all out with every type of Thanksgiving food you can think of, from sweet potato casserole and homemade rolls to pumpkin dip with snickerdoodle cookies.

“Wine. Lots of it. Avery is bringing a pie, and you know Mom.”

I smile at the thought of my mother. She truly is a wonderful woman. “I can do wine. How’s the house-hunting coming along?” I ask, taking a sip of my coffee.

Since Ash and I have mostly moved to Horizons Valley, Juliet has decided to leave Nashville and follow. As time has gone on, Bryce’s father’s interest in him has slowly declined, and when she approached him about the move, he was fine with it, which made us all equally angry and sad for Bryce at the same time. She’ll have us and my parents, so her support system here is greater than there.

She glances at Bryce, and I do the same. His head is down, and he’s fully immersed in whatever game he added to my phone the last time we were together. This kid is so smart. He started a folder of games just for him.

“Not bad actually. I found a few that fit in my price range, and I like the overall feel of the neighborhood.”

My brows pull down. She won’t make eye contact with me. Instead she sips her coffee and watches Bryce.

I lean forward, placing my elbow on the table. “What does that mean? We’ve talked about where you should be looking, and you know I told you I would buy it for you.”

“I know,” she fires back. “But I want it to be mine, and what I can afford is not on the lake and not here in town.”

“What you can afford? Juliet, it will be yours. It’ll be in your name to do with as you please. Let me do this for you. For Bryce.”

She knows how much money I have, and it’s more than I can spend in one lifetime. I’d love to do this for them. What’s the point in having all this money if I can’t share it with the ones I love? I’ll have to call our parents and see if they can push her a little bit. It’s ridiculous that this is even a conversation.

“Well, let me keep looking and then we’ll talk about it,” she says to pacify me.

I stare at her until she rolls her eyes.

“Fair enough.” I take another sip of the coffee and glance toward the pastry counter. My stomach growls.

“Tell me more about the writing. You said you’ve written a lot?”

Nice subject change.

I chuckle. “Well, it seems I’ve had a lot to say this year.”

That’s the thing about songwriting: like any art, inspiration is needed to make the words flow, and boy have they. Yes, these songs are me and my emotional journey over the last year, but I’ve made them mainstream too, and I think a lot of people will be able to relate. Throw in a few sappy love songs from Ash and we have an instant album.

Something that looks a lot like pity slips onto her face, and my insides twist. No one wants to be pitied, so instead of listening to whatever she wants to say next, I stand.

“I’m going to grab a muffin, want one?”

9

EMMA

It’s been a year.

A year since that day last December when Justin walked back into my life and Clay unexpectedly left it.

A year.

Some years just float by, but this one, it didn’t. It crawled, painfully slowly.

Looking out the window, I stare down at the city sidewalk outside my condo and watch as people hurry to get from one place to the next. It’s cold here today, dark and damp, and although there have been flurries falling all day, none of them are sticking to the ground yet. My mind wanders to the mountains and how beautiful I bet they look today.