The Girl He Left Behind. Patricia Kay

as the bus pulls away from the station, heading east toward his future, the boy gives one last, long look at the town where he’s spent all eighteen years of his life so far.

      Then he turns resolutely away. No more looking at the past. From now on, he will only look forward.

       Chapter One

      Twelve years later...

      Eve Kelly stared at the headline.

      Adam Crenshaw and Version II Launching Fall Tour in Austin

      She could hardly believe her eyes.

      Adam.

      Adam was finally coming home. He would be performing in Austin. Which was less than an hour away. Eve swallowed while the enormity of what she’d just read in the online version of the Austin American-Statesman sank in.

      Twelve years. It had been twelve years since the day Adam had ridden out of her life. Twelve years to wonder if she’d done the right thing or if her long-ago decision had been the worst one she’d ever made.

      She sighed heavily. Read the accompanying story quickly. There wasn’t a whole lot of information, just the fact that Adam Crenshaw and his band would be opening their North American tour in Austin at the Frank Erwin Center the first week of September, and that tickets would go on sale next month. The reporter also mentioned that this would be the first time Adam’s band had performed in Texas even though he had grown up in Crandall Lake. There was a photo of the band with Adam front and center, but it had been taken from a distance, and his head was bent over his guitar, so she couldn’t see his face.

      “Time to head out, Eve. You gonna come to Ernie’s, have a drink with us?”

      Eve started. She hadn’t heard Penny Wallace, one of her coworkers, approach. She glanced up and smiled. “Thanks, but I can’t. I have to stop at the supermarket, then pick up the twins and take them over to Bill’s.”

      “They spending the week with him?”

      Eve nodded. “Yeah.”

      “Okay. See you on Monday.”

      After Penny walked off, Eve shut down her computer and gathered her things. Her head was still full of the startling news about Adam, but she couldn’t sit here and think about it, nor could she call her cousin Olivia to tell her the news. Not if she wanted to get the twins to her ex’s by six thirty, as promised.

      Fifteen minutes later, she strode into her favorite supermarket and headed straight into the produce department. She was having Olivia for dinner the following night and needed fresh salad stuff. She also wanted to be sure to send some fruit with the twins tonight. Maybe she couldn’t compete with Missy, their stepmother, as far as baking cakes and pies from scratch, but she could make sure the twins had plenty of fresh fruit while they were there.

      The market was crowded, but Eve knew exactly what she needed and where to find it, so within twenty minutes she was standing in the checkout line. She’d chosen the shortest line, but there were still two people ahead of her. Friday nights were always so busy. People stopped in after work rather than have to make a separate trip later or the following day. Idly, she glanced at the magazine rack to her left while she waited. And did a double take as she saw the newest issue of People magazine.

      The cover screamed Sexiest Man Alive! Adam Crenshaw!

      And there was a head shot of Adam, smiling out at her, taking up the entire cover, and looking even handsomer than normal. She swallowed painfully as she took in his shining, longish brown hair and unusual gray eyes. His face bore a fashionable stubble, and the dimple in his left cheek was prominently displayed by his sexy, crooked smile. For years, ever since Adam had become successful, people had compared his good looks to another country idol, Keith Urban, but Eve thought Adam was even better looking. She knew Nicole Kidman would probably disagree with her. But then, both of them had to be prejudiced.

      Eve grabbed the top copy of the magazine and furtively put it into her shopping cart. She knew she was asking for heartache, but she couldn’t resist reading about Adam’s life. Reading about all the things she could have had and had rejected.

      The two of you would probably have split up by now.

      Eve closed her eyes, but the words in her head wouldn’t go away. It was stupid to speculate on what might have been if she’d made a different choice all those years ago, and yet she couldn’t seem to stop herself. Thankfully, before she’d had time to continue with her morose thoughts, it was her turn to check out, and she no longer had time to think about anything other than the task at hand—watching carefully to make sure she wasn’t overcharged for anything.

      But when the checker scanned the magazine, she grinned, and with a twang that announced she’d probably grown up in East Texas said, “He sure is a hottie, isn’t he? And to think he grew up right here in Crandall Lake!”

      “Mmm,” Eve said.

      “So do you know him?” the checker persisted.

      Eve frowned. “Me? Uh, no.” The last thing she wanted to do was discuss Adam Crenshaw.

      “Oh. I thought maybe you were about his age.”

      Eve shrugged, hoping she’d discouraged the girl.

      “I sure would love to see him. He’s comin’ to Austin, him and his band. Did you know that?”

      Eve forced a smile. “No, I didn’t.” Please just finish checking me out and stop talking!

      Finally the girl ran out of steam and a few minutes later, Eve was out of the store and loading her groceries into her car. Resolutely, she pushed every last thought of Adam out of her mind. Time enough to think about him again after the twins were gone tonight. Until then, she would simply be Eve Kelly, mother of Natalie and Nathan, and nothing more.

      * * *

      Adam Crenshaw swore softly. He’d been working on a new song for days and was having problems with the bridge. Nothing he tried sounded right. “Dammit,” he said again, frowning and setting his guitar down with a tired sigh. He rubbed his forehead. A headache had been hovering for hours, and he was afraid it was finally going to come. He’d better take some Advil and head it off. His headaches were notorious and could lay him low for days once one took hold.

      After gulping down the Advil and pouring himself a glass of iced tea, he picked up his phone and texted his brother.

      That contract ready yet?

      It only took a moment for Austin’s reply.

      Yep. Sending in a few mins.

      Adam smiled. The money he’d spent on his brother’s education hadn’t been wasted. Austin was a crackerjack lawyer and took care of every financial and legal aspect of Adam’s career. Adam trusted him more than anyone else in the world.

      Turning back to his guitar, he strummed the last few chords before the bridge, hoping for inspiration. And, as happened sometimes, an idea struck, but before he’d had time to get it down on paper, his office door opened and his publicist, Bethany D’Angelo, walked in.

      He looked up in annoyance. “Don’t you ever knock?” He didn’t try to hide his irritation.

      She raised her eyebrows. “Aren’t we in a bad mood today?” Parking her backside on the corner of his desk, she crossed her legs and grinned at him. “Did we get up on the wrong side of the bed, sweetums?”

      He gritted his teeth, hating the way she talked in the third person and called him various pet names. She was thirty-one years old, for God’s sake, and just because he’d stupidly become sexually involved with her a few months back didn’t give her the right to act as if she owned him. This wasn’t the first time he’d had the almost uncontrollable urge to fire her on the spot. But he stopped himself in time, and “I have a headache” was all he said.

      “Oh,