Page 1 of Together Is Where We Belong

prologue

Carolina

Eighteen Years Old

Have you ever felt like the world around you was closing in?

Like the walls were caving ever so slowly about to swallow you whole?

The small town of Haven Valley, Texas—my hometown—made me feel like I was slowly suffocating.

There were rolling hills as far as the eye could see. There were several farms that lined the backroads I knew like the back of my hand. Roads that Leo and I enjoyed just taking a stroll down on a nice summer day. Most would call the land beautiful—which it was. I, on the other hand, felt like it would eat me alive the longer I remained here.

In the eighteen years of my life, I felt like I never fit in around here. I never felt like my life was supposed to be lived in the confines of these hills.

I was a free spirit.

I wanted to roam.

I wanted to be set free and fly wherever the wind took me.

I didn’t want to end up like my mother.

They say, “there’s no place like home,” or “home is where the heart is,” but to me, home felt like a place I didn’t belong. Home felt like a curse that would inevitably drive me to the brink of losing my sanity.

The only person who held me here was him.

My Leo.

We’d known each other since we were knee high to a grasshopper, as my parents and grandparents would say. Everyone who knew us said Leo and I would end up together, married, and live happily ever after.

Even as those thoughts entered my mind, my throat felt like it would close and the panic set in. I didn’t just want to be a wife and a mom. I wanted more.

I took a deep breath in and calmed my racing heart.

As I walked down the pathway to the confession tree, as Leo’s family, the Courtrights, called it, I knew I was about to make a life-changing decision which was why the panic started to crawl its way back in.

You see, Leo and I ended up together just like everyone predicted. Since we were both sophomores in high school and he noticed me as more than the girl from down the road, we’d been a couple. I’d loved him my whole life, though. Where one of us was, the other was either there or not far behind.

The tree came into view, and my steps faltered just a little because Leo was already there waiting for me.

His truck was parked right beneath the tree branch we sat on every time we were here. The tailgate was down; his legs swung back and forth as he stared off in the distance.

I was thankful that he hadn’t felt me approaching. The second he saw me, he’d jumped down from that truck bed and bound toward me just like he always did.

I needed more time to collect my thoughts. Even though I’d had weeks upon weeks to prepare, now that the time had arrived to break the news to him, I didn’t know if I could. You see, I was a sucker for the look he gave me when he received bad news. I’d immediately go into fix-it mode and make his frown turn upside down. Only this time I wouldn’t be able to. I had to do this for me and my sanity.

The moment I took a deep breath, Leo turned his head in my direction. I could faintly make out the smile that appeared on his handsome face. His smile alone always caused my insides to flutter and my heart to warm. Even though I was about to break his heart, his smile caused my heart to skip a beat.

Just as I predicted, he jumped down and raced in my direction. Seconds later, he was right in front of me. He pulled me in for a bear hug, and picked me up off the ground, spinning us both around.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and burrowed my head into the crook, breathing in his scent. The smell of him brought me instant comfort. The fresh scent of citrus and musk calmed my aching heart and would always remind me of him. A bottle of Acqua di Gio was secretly tucked into my suitcase already because I was a glutton for punishment in the long run, but I knew I’d need comfort on the worst of the worst days ahead.

Leo put me down, and his hands went to my hips to make sure I was steady on my feet before he pulled back. I pulled him closer and willed the tears to be kept at bay just a little longer.

“You okay there, cara?” he asked, concern etched in his voice.

All I could do was shake my head and keep my face burrowed in his shoulder. I knew I couldn’t keep standing there like this, but I needed to hold him close for a few more seconds. For just a few more moments, this amazing, caring, funny, charismatic, handsome young man was mine. Leo acted all big and bad, but deep down, his heart was so full and he loved hard. I felt his love every time he looked at me. It’d break me to see the pain in his eyes I inevitably would cause, but I had to keep telling myself I deserved to follow the path my heart pulled me toward. That was the only way I’d be able to walk away.