“What troubles me”—the old man drew a shaky breath, and for the first time a flicker of fear showed in the lines on his forehead—“is your motive, son. What do you hope to gain?” He waved his hand around. “Yes, you want to pay off the farm. Rescue your tired father. I admire that, Zack, I do.” He let the moment breathe. “When I was your age I worked two jobs. Three, even. You could do that, son. Why the show?”

“I need an answer.” Zack didn’t blink, didn’t waver. He breathed deep, the certainty of a lifetime filling his heart. “God gave me my voice, Grandpa. I have to at least try.”

“You sing at church.” Sincerity softened his eyes. “With the teens. They love you.”

“Yes.” Zack stared out at the far reaches of the field, at the Arabians standing alert now in a tight herd. “It’s just . . .” He turned to the old man. “What if I could shine brighter for God on a bigger stage? In front of the whole world?” A growing passion filled his tone. “Country music, Grandpa. That’s as big as it gets. People will see my faith and they’ll want Jesus. They will.”

His grandfather stayed quiet, his eyes never leaving Zack’s. “God doesn’t measure big the way people measure big. Jesus had just twelve followers.” He blinked a few times. “Fame is a demanding mistress.”

Zack hesitated out of respect. Most people he knew were excited for him, wishing him well. But his family hadn’t gotten behind him. He swallowed his frustration. “I’m twenty-three. I’ve waited a long time to try this.”

“Just remember the Derby days.” His grandpa’s eyes narrowed, more serious. “Some people never find their way back home.”

Zack had heard the story often. One of his great-grandfather’s friends had owned Kentucky Derby winners also. Only the guy had gotten caught up in a party crowd from New Jersey and lost his life to a heroin addiction. It was the only brush with fame Zack’s grandpa knew about and it hadn’t ended well. Which explained his warning. But that didn’t apply to Zack. He patted his grandpa’s hand. “You’re assuming I’ll make it.” A slow, nervous laugh slipped through his lips. “A hundred thousand people will try out for the show.” He paused. “I could be home by Monday. If so, I’ll get another job. I promise.”

His grandpa studied Zack and a certain knowing filled his expression. “You really believe that?”

Zack thought about the hours he’d prayed, the conversations he’d had with Reese and his parents. The people who had heard the EP he made last year and told him he should get a manager or move to Nashville. He was the next Keith Urban, everyone said so. Year after year he had resisted the desire to audition. Now he could almost hear the clock ticking, almost feel his chances slipping away. Here when his family was facing financial ruin, it was as if God Himself were telling him to go for it.

His grandpa was waiting. “You believe you’ll be home by Monday.”

Zack didn’t think he’d win. But he had a chance. He had to believe that. He shook his head. “No, sir. I guess I don’t really believe that.”

“Me either.” The man angled his head slightly. He took his time with the next part. “You’re the best country singer I ever heard.”

Zack felt the compliment to the depths of his heart. “Thank you.” He took another drink of coffee and felt himself relax. His grandpa wasn’t here to talk him out of leaving. “What you said . . . it means a lot.”

“It’s true.” Concern darkened his eyes. “That’s why we’re talking. The family needs you here, son. You make it on that stage and . . .” He looked out across the farm. The Arabians were running again, the sun warming the bluegrass. “You could lose all this.”

Reese’s car appeared on the horizon. Zack weighed his words. “I have to try. It might be the answer for all of us. God’s plan.”

Together they watched her pull in to the long winding drive and head slowly for the house. “Remember this, son.” Grandpa stared at Zack, like he was willing him to understand. “If it gets crazy, come home. While you still can.”

“Yes, sir.” Zack put his hand over Grandpa’s. “Thank you.” His family was worried over nothing. No matter what happened, Zack wasn’t going to change. He had his faith, the promise that God was with him. Jesus was his helper; what could man do to him? That was right out of the Bible, after all.

The old man watched Reese climb out of the car. “She loves you.”

“I love her.” Zack caught her look from across the way, her dark brown hair swished around her pretty face. “I’m going to marry her. As soon as we get the farm on its feet.”

“She’ll always be special to me. You know that.”

“Yes.” Zack and Reese’s journey was intertwined in a love story that came with the most beautiful history, as if all their lives had led to the single moment in time when their eyes first met. Zack wouldn’t do anything to hurt what he and Reese shared.

His grandpa looked concerned. “How does she feel about this?”

“She believes in me.” Zack looked at his grandpa, deep into his eyes. “Same as you.” He moved to the spot beside the old man and crouched low as he put his arm around his grandpa’s thin shoulders. “It’ll be okay. You know me.”

“I’ll pray.” In a move that told Zack the depths of his concerns, his grandpa rested his head against Zack’s. Reese walked up the porch steps slowly, her eyes on the two of them. Zack remained where he was, his arm still around his grandpa. “I’ll be fine.” He gave the man his black cane and helped him up. They walked together back to the house.

His grandpa stopped at Reese and took both her hands in his. “I prayed for you today.”

“I count on that.” She smiled at him, her eyes shining.

The two of them hugged and Zack’s grandpa looked from Reese to Zack. His eyes said what his words did not as he nodded, turned, and headed back in the house. When the door shut behind him, Zack turned and faced Reese, looked deep into her pale blue eyes. If for some reason he became crazy successful on Fifteen Minutes, that would be fine. God’s will. Because nothing—absolutely nothing—would ever get in the way of what he had here. The farm, his family. And the girl standing in front of him.

The one he loved with all his life.

ZACK TOOK THE spot next to her, the two of them leaning on the porch rail. Her eyes shone with a trust he didn’t take for granted. But something was different. As if already she were protecting herself from the imagined storms ahead.

“Let’s walk.” He held out his hand. “When do you go to work?”

“I have an hour.” They walked down the steps toward a path that wound through the estate to the barns and beyond. “How’s AJ?”

“Sick.” Zack eased his fingers between hers. The closeness of her, the touch of her skin against his, the familiarity of it—the sensation was always special. Today he felt more aware of her, the gift of her in his life. Of course he did. He was leaving tomorrow. He stopped when they were out of sight from the front windows.

“We miss her at the center.” Reese was an equine therapist. For the last three years AJ had been one of her students.

“She can’t wait to get better. She misses you and the horses.” He stopped and took her other hand, facing her. She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Her beauty worked its way out from her heart, through her eyes. But today her joy didn’t shine as brightly. “Hey . . .” He studied her, reading her. “You’re sad.”

“No.” She worked one of her hands free and ran it over her hair. “Nervous, maybe. Not sad.” She smiled, and their connection felt stronger than ever. “I’m proud of you, Zack.”

“Why are you nervous?” He searched her eyes.

“I don’t know. Everything feels . . . up in the air.” She squinted in the sun. “Unsure, I guess.”

“Baby.” Zack took a step closer, breathing in her perfume, the nearness of her. “Nothing’s going to change. You and my family . . . Give me more credit. Even if something crazy happens and I make it through, nothing will shake me. Nothing ever could.”

“How do you know? You’ve never done anything like this.” She smiled. “And you will make it through. You’re the best.” The sweetness of her tone told him more than her words could. No one believed in him more.

Zack pulled her close, swaying with her beneath the summer sun. When he drew back he found her eyes again. “You said you wanted to talk?”

She slid her hands in the pockets of her dark shorts. “It’s nothing bad.” A hint of nervousness flashed in her expression. “I got a call today. From a woman in London.”

“London?”

“Yes.” She looked to the distant parts of the property and then back to him. “She runs a horse farm. She wants me to help bring equine therapy to her center. Maybe get the program established in the UK. She talked about teaching it to three of their instructors. Which could take a while.”

Zack’s mind raced. “You mean like . . . move there?”

“For a year, maybe. Yes.” She hesitated. “Eight students and their families have already signed up. They can’t find a program without a several-year waiting list.”

“Wow! That’s amazing.” The sun shone higher in the sky, the heat and humidity heavy around them. Reese moving to London? What was happening? This talk was supposed to be about the show, about his audition. He should be assuring her that he’d be home soon and nothing would change. He blinked a few times and tried to clear his head. “How . . . how did they hear about you?”

She started to explain. Something about the woman knowing Reese’s boss here in Kentucky, and how Reese came highly recommended, one of the best therapeutic horse instructors in the South. And how the London stable wanted someone with experience, someone from Kentucky with a history of horse sense. Her sentences ran together and Zack found himself stuck back at the beginning.