Chapter 1
“You can’t stay cooped up here forever, you know,” Bryce said. “You’re eventually going to have to come out of hiding and rejoin the rest of the world.”
“Like hell,” Luke said at once. “I’m not interested in the world, and it’s not interested in me. The end.”
Bryce gave him a level look. He was a tall guy, in his twenties like Luke, with dark brown hair and even darker eyes.
Unlike Luke, who had a wardrobe that could be described as functional at best–Bryce often referred to it as “good ole boy chic” in gentle mockery–Bryce never met an outfit he couldn’t make the most out of, including today, when he was rocking a tight black button-up, an even tighter pair of dark blue jeans, and expensive-looking pointy black shoes.
If he were more Luke’s type he was sure the two of them would have hooked up ages ago but, as it was, he was glad their friendship had always been platonic. No matter what happened, and no matter Luke’s personal and professional struggles, he knew he could always count on Bryce to have his back.
“Besides,” he went on, even knowing he was never going to be able to convince Bryce he was content in staying right where he was, “I have everything I need here in the cabin. I’ve got a creek where I can go fishin’, I’ve got the horses, I’ve got the dog, and I get my groceries delivered twice a month.
I have satellite and internet so I know what’s going on in the world. Why would I ever want to leave?”
Bryce just shook his handsome head. “Luke Carter. Are you really going to sit there and tell me you’re happy here? Don’t you think it’s time to let the past go and start something new? I mean, you live half an hour, at most, from town. There’s no reason you need to stay up here.
“Besides, didn’t your therapist advise you to start spending more time with people not named Bryce or Katrina?”
He paused to give Luke a chance to say something, but Luke knew his game too well by now. Bryce had more he wanted to say.
Besides, while it was true Luke’s therapist had told him–several times, actually–that while it was okay to seek some seclusion, it was also important to get out and be social and cement his interpersonal bonds–Luke wasn’t quite ready to take such a step yet.
He hadn’t been lying when he told Bryce he was happy out here where he had all the things he wanted and needed.
And besides, he got enough interpersonal contact thanks to regular visits from Bryce and Katrina, the latter of whom shared the position of best friend with the former.
He also visited his family, but things with them were always a bit touch-and-go, so he didn't see them as much as he might’ve liked.
True to form, when Luke didn’t say anything for several minutes, Bryce charged right ahead.
“If I’m being honest, coming up here is also a huge pain in the ass.
I like visiting you and all, but the ruts in the road are too much.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve almost bottomed out my car.
So yeah. It’d be a lot easier if you’d just come out of your shell for a bit and rejoin civilization. ”
“You should buy a truck then,” Luke said, unable to resist the urge to be a smartass. “What kind of West Virginian are you, anyway?”
“One who doesn’t need to drive a big ol’ truck to prove something about their manhood,” Bryce said with a sniff.
Luke just laughed. This back-and-forth was exactly why he loved his friendship with Bryce so much. The two of them could bust each other’s balls and give each other all the hell in the world, and yet at the end of the day they’d still be the same best friends they’d always been.
I’d be lost without him, he thought.
“I think you might also want to consider the fact you’re not proving anything to anyone by not having one,” he said.
“The roads on Fish Creek are a gamble at the best of times. And, well, with all the rains we’ve had and all the work the coal mine and the gas company have been doing, it ain’t exactly the best of times. ”
Even Bryce had to admit he was right, so he nodded.
“Yeah, you’re probably right, but it’s also not healthy for you to not see people like…ever. I think you know this; you’re just not willing to admit it.” He got the sly look on his face Luke knew all too well. “And I think you miss music, even if you won’t admit that, either.”
Luke huffed and, before Bryce could say anything else, he got up and walked to the sliding-glass doors leading outside.
He paused there, just gazing out onto his backyard and the woods beyond.
Bryce had a point. He had started feeling the itch to sing again.
He eyed his guitar where it sat propped in the corner, and his fingers twitched as they remembered the feel of the strings, the tightness as he pressed against them, the way the sound of the instrument would mesh with his voice when he sang…
No, I’m just not ready yet, he thought. And maybe I never will be.
Duke, his five-year-old German Shepherd, nosed his hand and whined a bit, thinking it was time to go out.
“Oh, alright,” Luke said, sliding one of the doors open so Duke could go galloping outside. He might not be a puppy anymore, but he’d never lost the gangly gallop he’d always had. Seeing him take such obvious joy in the outdoors always made Luke smile.
“You can look out those doors all you want, but I’m not going away,” Bryce said. “At least not until you admit I’m right.”
Luke was just opening his mouth to say something when the phone on the wall began to ring.
It was such an unexpected sound–he couldn’t even remember the last time someone had called him on his land line–that for a minute he couldn’t think what to do.
Not until Bryce asked him if he was going to answer the phone did he actually pick it up.
“Hello?” he asked, the word coming out as more of a question than he’d intended.
“Is this Luke Carter?” a woman asked. He thought he recognized the voice, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Yes, it is,” Luke said, cautious now. “Can I ask who’s calling?”
He wasn’t trying to be rude, but he still got the occasional call from a reporter looking for a story about the local disgraced country singer, so he’d learned to be very cautious.
“Oh, I’m so glad,” she said. “You may not remember me. I’m Brenda Carlyle. I used to teach music at the Northern Appalachia Center for the Arts while you were there.”
As soon as she said her name all the pieces started to click together, and Luke was immediately taken back to when he was a teenager and NACA was his favorite place to be. And then there came the memories of what else had happened there, of the youthful romance he still struggled to escape.
“Oh!” he said, pushing the bad memories down. “Of course I remember you. It’s been a long time! How are you?” p
“Well,” she said, dragging the word out with some reluctance, “the truth is I could be a lot better. The Center isn’t doing very well at the moment. In fact, it’s pretty close to complete insolvency. It’s actually why I’m calling you.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, his instincts on high alert. Something in the tone of her voice suggested she was about to ask him for something, and Luke wasn’t sure he was going to like it.
“See, it’s like this,” she said, and the pace of her voice picked up.
She quickly explained how the Center was in desperate trouble, how she’d managed to put off the board’s desire to close it altogether, and how she was hoping Luke would be willing to do a benefit concert with his old pal Mikey Smiles.
The way she phrased the question and the tone in her voice made clear she knew just how much she was asking of him, and he had to admire her.
Then again, Brenda was never the type of person to shy away from an unpleasant task.
She was far more likely to just charge in and hope for the best.
Luke fought down the urge to decline her request outright.
NACA had been key to his development as an artist. When WWVA–the local Wheeling station that had once given young musicians the chance to hone their skills–had started fading in the 2000s, the Center had picked up the slack.
They were the little arts center that could, and Luke wouldn’t have become the success he had if it hadn’t been for the people he’d met and the training he’d received there.
Could he really turn his back on them when they needed him?
I can if they want me to work with Mikey Smiles, he thought sourly.
Mikey was the man who’d broken his heart when they were teens, and Luke was able–after a long time spent in therapy–to admit he still wasn’t over it.
Mikey had been the first man he’d loved, the first man he’d kissed, and the first man who became the center of his world.
He’d even dared to think the two of them might be able to build a future together.
Then Mikey had abruptly ended things, and then he went away to California, hit it big, and that was that.
The two of them hadn’t spoken much since then, but Luke had held onto the heartbreak and the grudge, much to the consternation of his therapist.
If there was one thing a country boy from West Virginia was good at, it was holding onto a grudge.
At the same time, Luke’s heart had stayed true to Mikey, despite the heartache. And now, after all these years, he was being given an opportunity to reconnect with his past. Did he dare take it? Was he willing to take the risk of getting his heart broken again?
“Is Mikey on board with this?” he asked instead.
Brenda’s hesitation suggested that no, Mikey wasn’t on board. Not yet, anyway.
“Well, here’s the thing,” Brenda said finally. “We thought we’d reach out to you first. You’re closer.”
And you’re the one whose career needs the boost, was the subtext. She had a point, and maybe, just maybe, a concert might be a way to kill two birds with one stone.
“I see,” he said at last. “Do you think he’s gonna go for it?”
Again, hesitation.