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PROLOGUE
AMANDA
Ilooked up at the stars overhead, twinkling merrily in the vast night sky, and tried to pretend like my heart wasn’t breaking.
All around me were the sounds of laughter and merrymaking. Elle and Sophie, my closest friends from my school, were teasing Sophie’s big brother, Julian, who was taking it all in stride. My mom was hovering over my dad’s shoulder as they got the barbecue going while Mrs. Compton got the table ready. To the side, my grandparents were sitting side by side, looking up at the stars with smiles on their faces, their hands linked together.
And Oliver…he was helping his mother with the food, while stealing bites at the same time. It earned him a couple of warning glares but he just grinned back at his mom as she smiled helplessly back at him.
All around us was the fragrant smoke from the grill.
I tucked my blonde hair behind my ear and smoothed the front of my floral watercolor dress.
I had pulled my hair back with a pair of barrettes and let the soft waves cascade down my shoulders. Thinking about the summer night, maybe I should have pulled it up into a loose ponytail but I always thought it was prettier this way.
And I wanted to be pretty tonight.
At least he will remember me on my best before he leaves.
“Amanda, darling!”
I turned to my Grandpa Frederick and hastily blinked back the tears that were threatening to form at the corners of my eyes. He was smiling cheerfully at me, his signature red bowtie a cheerful splash of color. It was the perfect match to Grandma Margaret’s favorite red shawl draped around her shoulders.
For as long as I could remember, my grandparents liked to match their outfits like a couple of teenagers. I always found it cute and hilarious at the same time.
“Yes, Grandpa?” I said, hastening over to him.
He beamed up at me as I knelt down in front of him and Grandma Margaret. “Such a good child,” he smiled at me, patting my head like he always did since I was a small girl. “Your grandma and I were just talking about how nice it is that Oliver has great plans for the future. Not many young men these days are responsible enough to think that far.”
“Oh, pishposh!” Grandma Margaret chuckled. “You couldn’t decide yourself what you wanted to be!” She turned to me and in a conspiratorial tone added, “His mother, your Great-Grandma Alice, was in despair. She even asked me to refuse to marry him until he had a plan for our future!”
I laughed with them, choking back the sadness that threatened to overwhelm me. We were gathered here tonight for Oliver’s farewell party. Tomorrow, he would go to London, where he had been accepted in a prestigious university for his premed and then, he would proceed to study medicine.
Studying medicine would take years and even after that, he would have to undergo training as a doctor. He had always wanted to become a doctor to help a lot of people. He may be goofy at times but there was a side to him that was always so giving and selfless.
Because his father died from a heart disease, he wanted to become a cardiologist. I thought that suited him very well.
Everything about Oliver fascinated me. He was pretty smart and yet funny and a goofball at times. He liked to joke around but he had pretty good grades.
When we started dating, I was over the moon. I had had a crush on him for the longest time and I couldn’t believe he liked me, too.
Our families lived in the same neighborhood and my parents were friends with Oliver’s mom. I grew up playing with his sister, Elle, and went to the same school they did.
It was almost expected that we would somehow end up dating each other.
I never thought we would say goodbye one day.
But this is for the best, I reminded myself, clenching my hands into fists at my side. Medicine is not for the faint of heart and it was really amazing that Oliver got into one of the best medical universities in London. Studying and training were bound to be brutal there.
Not to mention it was a whole other continent away.
London! That is like on the other side of the world…
“Amanda is not bad herself,” Grandma Margaret smiled at me. “She will become a great teacher one day and that’s just as important as doctors, you know. You can’t have doctors if you don’t have teachers.”
I smiled back at her. “Thanks, Grandma.”
“We all have our dreams, darling girl,” she said. “They might not always be as grand or glamorous as others. What matters most is that they areyours.”
