Cross My Heart (A Contemporary Romance Novel)

the Mollies. Why can’t you have both? The band, and a family?”
    Molly stared at her. “Are you serious? But the way Mitch was talking...”
    “Yeah, well, we’re going to have to turn Mitch down. But who says we have to fast track?”
    She frowned as she thought about it. Suddenly, the path forward for the Mollies was so clear she could almost see it unfolding in front of her. “We can record whenever we’re ready to, and whenever we’re all free. We can tour once a year, maybe, for a couple of months. During the summer, so James can travel with us if he wants.”
    Molly was looking at her like she was the answer to a prayer. “Do you mean it? You’d be willing to settle for that, when the band could be so much bigger? If we do what you’re talking about, we’ll never be huge.”
    Jenna grinned at her. “Since when have we cared about being huge? I thought the idea was to be good.”
    Molly grabbed her hands and squeezed. “Oh, Jenna. I think everyone would go for this. We all have other lives. Thao has her solo career, and Honey does all that Habitat for Humanity work. And I know Barb’s back with us now, but she loves to travel—on her own, not with the band. But what you’re talking about...this could work, Jenna. This could really work.”
    “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get everyone together and find out.”
    * * *
    They got a resounding yes from every member of the band. Everyone loved the idea of staying together, but on a smaller scale. It was such a perfect solution that Jenna wondered why no one had thought of it before now.
    Maybe, like Jenna and Molly, they’d been so happy to be together again that no one had wanted to rock the boat. But they weren’t eighteen any more—and, as Molly said, they all had full lives. Rich lives, full of wonderful things they shouldn’t have to give up.
    They agreed to go their separate ways for a couple of weeks, as they’d planned originally, but instead of meeting in New York they’d get together in Chicago to figure out exactly what they wanted to do next.
    An hour after they said their goodbyes, Jenna was on I-88 heading west.
    In five hours, she’d be back in Iowa.
    But she had no idea what she was going to do when she got there.
    She wanted to go to Michael. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and beg him to take her back again. But every time she imagined herself doing that, her old panic returned.
    And suddenly she realized that as much as she wanted Michael, there was something else she wanted, too. Something else she needed.
    Her family. She needed her family.
    The first light of dawn broke in the eastern sky, shining in her rear view mirror. Her heart filled with a sudden fierce love for Iowa—for the state she’d always been so eager to escape. The clouds glowed with sudden flame, and all around her she could see the hills and farms and houses that had just been formless shadows in the predawn darkness.
    She’d never seen anything so beautiful.
    Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she drove straight for her parents’ farm.
    “Mom!” she called out even before she made it inside the house. “Mom, are you here?” The kitchen was empty, and she worried that maybe they’d gone out for the day. “Mom! Mom!”
    Her mother appeared at the head of the stairs, a laundry basket on her hip. “My goodness, Jenna! You scared the life out of me. What are you doing home? We weren’t expecting you. I’m thrilled to see you, of course, but—”
    And suddenly Jenna was crying. Her mother dropped the laundry basket and hurried down the stairs, hugging her close and murmuring into her hair the way Jenna had murmured into Claire’s, that day they’d been painting her dining room.
    “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
    “Oh, Mom...”
    “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
    She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’m in love.”
    Once the words were out, some of the terrible tightness left her chest. She took another breath. “I’m in love, and I don’t know what to do.”
    A little while later they were sitting at the kitchen table, and Jenna was warming her hands on a mug of her mother’s coffee.
    “He’s told you how he feels, hasn’t he? Now you just need to do the same.”
    Jenna stared down into her coffee. “Just like that, huh?”
    “Well, why not? What’s standing in your way?”
    She was quiet for a long time. Her mother watched her closely, but didn’t say anything.
    Finally