Choosing one’s self over love is like choosing salad over cake. It might be healthy for me, but good luck convincing my senses of that. After four months of todays, I still long for no tomorrow.
And for the first time in my life, I long for gray. Gray sky. Gray fog. Gray gravel. I’ll take it all. No longer the color of reality but the color of hope and determination and adoration found in his timeless gray eyes.
So much has changed. I’ve gotten to know Boone and Wren. I stayed with her on the weekends, and he came to every track meet that his schedule at the mine would allow. Sometimes I have to remind myself that they’re not my parents. Only to remember…they actually are.
Destiny scared herself clean with her near overdose. Grayson gave her a chance, too, training her to take over Miss Patterson’s role with UCAN. She helps Grandpa with Hot Brown and the soup kitchen. He would be lost without her. A lot of people would. She is the change I could never be in our community.
Astonishingly enough, any free time that I used to spend with Ace is now spent with Raelynn. We leave tomorrow. She got into the technical college. I got that scholarship. I swear Appalachia laughed: even at college I will run so I don’t get left behind.
From the hood of the Shelby at our spot, tonight I say goodbye to Appalachia. She isn’t such a bad mother. She only had more to show me, that’s all.
Her mountains, cresting as they fade into a distant sundown, become one with a cotton candy sky. Knowing that I no longer have to wonder what is beyond those mountains, she shows off. Enticing, I must admit that if it came down to looks, I would stay in Appalachia’s lap forever. There can’t be a city skyline more majestic.
“What’s the first thing you’re gonna do, when you get there?” I can hear Ace like it was yesterday.
My heart beneath the black heart necklace skips a beat before it gallops. There he is.
I can’t touch him, but that doesn’t stop me from feeling him. Inside and outside, in my soul and in the wind, in the ordinary everyday things that remind me of him. On that stage and in the strings of the Ibanez in his hands, in the songs he writes and sings. Knowing he is out there chasing his dream makes my dream seem all the more within reach.
It’s amazing what love can do even when it’s halfway around the world.
My warmest thanks to readers for ten years of unimaginable support. Who would have thought that a New Year’s resolution in 2010 would ultimately lead to the publication of my first novel. I am grateful for each new book’s generous reception as I continue to evolve as a writer. Your encouragement is both exhilarating and humbling.
To friends and family, you make every endeavor worthwhile. Your unwavering reinforcement, laughter, and kinship stoke my soul. A special thanks to Caitlyn, Connie, Donna, Melinda, Morgan, Savannah, Tammy, and Xiana for diligently reading and commenting on my working manuscript.
Devoted father and beautiful man, Wade, you continue to sweep me off my feet in life, in wedded bliss, and in your selfless understanding of sharing time with words on a screen. Wild and wonderful children, Mila and Maxim, blessed is your will and your way in gifting to this work-from-home mama the quintessential work-life balance. I have known nothing sweeter than this journey with the three of you.
Finally, my deepest gratitude to Cynthia Gage for your friendship, mentoring, and tireless editing. Your expertise and vision—delivered with care, honesty, and a healthy dose of humor—always make my stories better. You truly want the best for me, and any others fortunate enough to hold your company. For that I thank you, love you dearly, and am honored to have your impression throughout these pages.
Brooklyn James is an author/singer-songwriter who savors any opportunity to blend books with music. Her first novel, The Boots My Mother Gave Me, was the result of a New Year’s resolution in coming to terms with an abusive childhood. Boots features its own original music soundtrack, making for a unique Audible experience. Out of Boots grew a platform where it was Brooklyn’s honor to serve as a guest speaker with a focus on awareness and prevention of domestic violence and suicide.
Her latest speaking engagements centered around accessibility, rights, and choice in birth, as well as writing workshops on how to put pen to paper composing one’s own birth story with the release of her birth memoir, Born in the Bed You Were Made: One Family’s Journey from Cesarean to Home Birth. Further invited by groups and organizations to examine the experiences put forth in Boots and Born, the comparison sheds light on childbearing and child-rearing with respect to prevention of interpersonal and intergenerational violence, abuse, and trauma.
Just Shelby gifted both the challenge and the thrill of this author’s primary exploration into the Young Adult genre. She cherishes feedback from reader reviews, if you should be so inclined.
Brooklyn holds an M.A. in Communication, a B.S. in both Nursing and Animal Science, and lives in Texas Hill Country with her husband and two children.
www.brooklyn-james.com
@brooklynjamesauthor
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