like a punch to the

irm. He looked at me with a compassion that felt

delivered under fluorescent lights. I was from a small coal-mining town in Kentucky, a place w

He made it out. He was in Nashville now, a rising country music manager, all slick sui

t have the proof, or maybe I didn't want it. I was dependent on him for everything, my parents

out the leukemia. He would see it as a burden, another chain holding h

erral form in my hand, the p

ng against the Kentucky winter. I thought about Liam, about the boy he used to be. The one who carved our initials i

placed by a man who s

in. Then, I walked to the fireplace, struck a match, and watched the paper turn to black

ed to hear his voice, to pretend f

ting the town in a deceptive peace. I called Liam, my

answered, his voice

aid, my voice small

annoyance. "You're being

versary is next week. New Yea

A showcase for a new artist." He was lying. I co

e in the background, soft and mu

hat one, devastating question. Liam fumbled with the

ne. The silence in the house was absolute, broken only by the sound of my own ragged breat

ut the nine years. The slow, painful erosion of our love. It hadn't been a sudden br

came back to grab some files for an awards show in Nashville. He walke

mirk on his face. "You look li

opened my mouth to tell him, to finally say

face lighting up as he answered. "Scarlett, hey, baby

. The new starlet on his la

s expression already distant. "Look, if you

m the office, kissed the air somew

ogne hung in the air, a ghost of his presence. Outside, the snow had turned to a harsh, freezing rain, beating ag