Georgia

Chapter 19

Caroline

I find myself thinking back to that night at the bonfire, that same feeling of not knowing what tomorrow will mean for us. We both have relationships to go back to and I haven't decided yet if that's making it easier to be here with him or that much harder.

I care about James. He's not only my boyfriend, he's my best friend but I can't deny the feeling I get when Luke touches me. The way my body just sort of naturally leans towards him when he's next to me. How the way he looks at me makes me feel like we are the only two people around even when there's people everywhere. When I'm with James I feel safe, comfortable, it's familiar. All good things, things that I've grown to look forward to everyday.

With Luke though, it's new and exciting but also familiar just not in the same way as with James. With Luke the familiarity is like I'm supposed to be there, like somehow I was meant to be with him. It's so weird, it's a hard feeling to wrap my head around. It feels wrong to basically compare James and him but it's the only way I can even begin to sort thru all these feelings.

When I've tried to figure out my feelings for Luke I always think about the dream. There's this place my parents and I used to stay at in Oak Harbor right on the water. We'd go there when mom was feeling sick of all her treatments and wanted to 'run away'. One night after my mom died I had a dream that we were there sitting outside on the porch talking and then the next second I was in the water. I'm just below the surface looking up at the sky. I'm not struggling, I'm not trying to bring myself up out of the water, I'm just floating there. My head starts to get cloudy, my eyes unable to focus and my lungs burn from the lack of air but I still don’t try to bring myself up. Then the dream just ends. I've had this dream so many times and it always ends that same way. Except for one summer night in Georgia, that night in my dream I got out of the water.

Listening to Luke tell me about all these bars and clubs is incredible. He can't keep the smile off his face when he talks about which country stars got their start on the stages inside. Being in Nashville isn't just a dream for him, music is part of who he is. When he talks about being a country singer he doesn't talk about the money or the fame it's always the music, writing his own songs, watching a crowd dancing and singing along.

We are walking up to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We sit down on the steps outside. Luke is leaning against the railing looking at the lit up building his brown eyes so bright.

"So how big is my section gonna be when you've got your own exhibit in there?" I ask.

"Your section?" He asks with raised eyebrows.

"Well your songs, the songwriters and all that would be part of the whole thing, right?"

"Usually, yeah. The number ones."

"Ok, well 'Drunk on You' isn't gonna be my only hit as a songwriter, you know. I'm sure I'll have many number one songs to give to you."

He laughs, "So you're a songwriter now? After coming up with one song title?"

"You know Luke, some people are naturally talented and I just happen to be one of those people. I really think you should appreciate how lucky you are that it was you that came to my rescue that day. What if it had been some other semi-goodlooking cowboy riding around on the tractor that day?"

"Semi-goodlooking, huh? Well you know Caroline, I don't think 'lucky' is the word I'd use to describe it...unfortunate, maybe."

"Oh country boy, denial does not look good on you."

He's shaking his head at me, a huge smile across his face, "You are unbelievable you know that?"

"I do know that." I say matter-of-factly.

He's laughing again, oh how I love that laugh. "Whatever it was that put you in front of me that day, I'm glad it did."

"Me too."

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Luke

I keep looking over at Caroline like I'm waiting for her to disappear. She's here though. She's walking next to me listening intently while I nerd out on the history of these famous places here in Nashville. Her blonde hair blowing in the slight breeze, the lights on the buildings up and down the street reflecting in her icy blue eyes. The blushing, her smile, her laugh, all of it exactly how I remember it.

In the back of my mind there's the question about what's going to happen tomorrow. Last time that question had hope behind it, hope that we'd see each other again, hope that we'd maybe somehow be together. This time with both of us being in relationships that question makes me feel a little guilty.

I'm with Katie, I love her, she's been in my life for so long. But how do I look past the way I feel about Caroline? How do I cast all that aside like it's nothing? Her touch makes my heart race. I look into those beautiful blue eyes and I have to be near her, like there's something pulling me towards her. Her voice, I can sit and listen to her talk for hours. I find myself trying to make jokes and be extra goofy cause the sound of her laugh makes me smile. No matter what tomorrow brings, this perfect shy city girl literally fell into my life and I couldn't be more grateful.

We're at the Riverfront Park now, walking down the steps, we sit in the grass close to the water. "It's the Cumberland River. Did you not do any touristy sightseeing this week? Just partying it up at bars, huh?"

Caroline gives me a shove with her shoulder, "How do you know me so well? I've just been boozing and dancing the week away!"

"What happened to that shy city girl that was freaking out about wearing boots and hanging in a treehouse?"

"She's still in here, she just got a little more confidence than she had before."

“And what brought her out, gave her that confidence boost?”

“Well it might've had something to do with boots and treehouse and a very charming and convincing southern country boy.”

“Oh really? Tell me more about this country boy. I’m guessing he's really handsome, like sweep you off your feet kinda good looks, huh? A killer smile, a hot body, unbelievable singing voice. That sound about right? Am I missing anything?”

“Yeah actually you forgot how he's also incredibly modest and not at all full of himself.”

"Well damn this guy sounds like a real catch! What happened to him?"

"Oh you know we had a pretty magical night, the kinda night every shy city girl dreams of. Then it ended and we went our separate ways. I ran into him again though, fairly recently."

"Did you? Hmmm...how'd that go? How's he look? Still drop-dead gorgeous?" I say giving her a wink.

She's not able to keep a straight face anymore, "You know, he looks pretty damn good still and I'd say it's going alright." She gets out between laughs.

I could listen to that laugh all day, every day for the rest of my life.