CHAPTER 1
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THE LAST DAY OF HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL
This day had come way too fast.
Maybe for Holden and Christy, Anna’s uncle and soon to be aunt, this would be one of their best days. But I already knew it would be one of my worst. And Anna’s too. What had I been thinking when I let my dad talk me into moving to the West Coast? The only way to be farther from Anna and still stay in the U.S. was if we were moving to Alaska or Hawaii.
Cali-freakin-fornia.
I shook my head, so angry at myself.
I knew nothing about the place other than what I’d seen on TV or heard from Dad’s brother, Uncle Van. Sure, there was the beach and the year-round, warm weather. But I couldn’t care about any of that. Not when it was missing the most important person.
I looked over at Anna and tightened my hold on her waist.
How was I going to live without her? Her hugs? Her sass? Her kisses? Her laughter?
Dad’s incessant, pestering words filled my head.If you want a future with her, you have to find a way to provide for her. Football is your best shot at doing that.
He wasn’t wrong. Anna was high quality. Way out of my league in every way. If I wanted a chance at a future with her—and I did, more than anything—I had to make something of myself. And that wasn’t going to happen staying in Seddledowne. Going to California meant I had a good shot at a college scholarship, which would lead to the NFL. If I went pro, I’d be worthy of Anna.
I glanced around at Dupree ranch. It was a perfect backdrop for what was about to go down. I tried not to be jealous of Holden, who was the luckiest sucker in the world right then. He was about to go all Beyoncé and put a ring on the left hand of the love of his life. I was way too young for that. But if I hadn’t been, I would’ve shoved him out of the way, sat Anna in the chair Christy was currently occupying, and done a little kneeling of my own.
Ford, another of Anna’s uncles, was playing the guitar and singing a ballad about purple elephants and…I strained to decipher the words…Mountain Dew. Yeah. Bro was definitely zooted.
Big purple elephuuunts
Drinkin’ Mountin’ Deeeew
Trunk full of soduuh
What eeeelse they gonna do?
Stompin' through the jungle
All fizzy an’ green
Weirdest safari
That I've ever seen
Ford’s only saving grace was that Holden was too far away to hear the lyrics. But we heard them loud and clear. I think Christy’s parents, who were visiting from out of town, could hear them too. The look on her mom’s horrified face said so, anyway.
Anna snorted next to me.
I let out a low chuckle. “Pretty sure that is not what Holden wanted when he asked him to write a song for the occasion.”
She giggled. “Definitely not.”
I looked at my watch. 3:32 p.m. One hour and twenty-eight more minutes until I had to say goodbye. My palms tingled and my throat threatened to close up. I swallowed and flexed my fingers trying to shake it off.
The warm May breeze fluttered the rose petals at Christy’s feet.
I heard Anna sniff next to me and I knew she was thinking about the goodbye that had been looming over us all day.
“I love you,” I whispered as I leaned my nose against her hair. I had to hide those three words from her Uncle Silas. He was basically her dad now that her mom, his twin sister, Sophie, had passed away. He said we were too young to say that to each other. But I knew what I felt and I wouldn’t hold back today.
