Fifteen Minutes: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

whole thing, the audition, the process . . . the tour. It could take a year.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “Maybe then we’ll know what’s next.”
    “The tour, Reese? Really? I haven’t even made it past the first round.”
    “Maybe the timing is part of God’s plan.” Her words didn’t come all at once. She took hold of his hand. “It sort of seems that way.”
    He tried to keep control of his frustration. “What?”
    “Don’t get mad.” Her smile softened things for a few seconds. “Just . . . you know, sometimes being apart is good. So we can be sure who we are. Before . . .”
    He ran his fingers through her windblown hair. “Before I marry you.” He brought his face closer to hers. “That’s what you mean, right?”
    “Yes.” Her voice was barely a whisper. Her smile touched his soul. “Maybe that.”
    “Baby . . .” He wanted her so badly. “I’d marry you today if I could. You know that.” He stepped back and searched her eyes. “I have to audition. It could mean . . . saving this farm. It could change life for my family.”
    “I know.” Her smile touched his soul. “If I move to London it could change things for those kids.”
    “Look.” He kept his voice steady and worked to control his warring emotions. “I need you. Whether I make it or not. Please . . . don’t move to London.”
    His words seemed to hit their mark. A few seconds passed and she took his hands. “I haven’t said yes. It’s just an option.”
    “Crazy girl.” He put his hands around her waist and drew her close. “London’s not your dream. And New York’s not mine.”
    “No?” Gradually the shine returned to her eyes.
    “No.” He could breathe again. They had found their way back to normal. He eased his hands from hers and gently framed her face. Then he kissed her the way he’d wanted to since she arrived. “This is your dream, remember?” His voice fell a notch.
    “You?” She giggled, brushing her cheek against his. “Zack Dylan? You’re my dream?”
    “Not me.” He kissed her again and when he pulled back, he felt the humor leave his expression. “Us.” He searched her eyes, making sure his place in her heart remained. Untouched. Like before he’d made his decision to audition for Fifteen Minutes . “We’re the dream. Okay?”
    “Is that right?” The corners of her lips lifted and she rested her head on his chest, the two of them swaying in the warm summer morning air.
    “Yes, baby. That’s right. This is the dream.” The words he’dsaid to his grandfather came back and he repeated them. “I want to marry you, Reese. I’ll audition and then I’ll come home. Please don’t go. Not for a year, anyway.”
    “It is a long time.” She smiled up at him as they started walking. “Hey, Toby’s doing better. He’s talking in sentences.”
    His pride for her work welled up inside him. “I love that boy.”
    “He loves you.”
    Zack listened, loving her heart, the way she cared for her students. They checked the one small stable that hadn’t been destroyed in the storm and walked back to her car. The show didn’t come up until he took her in his arms again.
    “Zack, I’ve known you since you were eighteen.” She allowed some space between the two of them. For a long while she said nothing, only looked out at the land, at the horses. Finally she drew a deep breath and stared at the sky. “You said singing at church was enough. You were never going to try out.”
    “We need the money. You know that. Singing’s the only other thing I can do and—”
    “Let me finish.” She put her hand on his shoulder, a fresh depth in her eyes. “Please, Zack.”
    “Sorry.” He shifted, waiting.
    She paused as if having this part of the conversation with her own conscience. “You were going to be a songwriter. You’d spend your life here and continue with your family’s farm.” Her words came slowly again, like the passing white clouds. “That’s the Zack I fell in love