Prologue

José Santiago was six years old when he met the girl he knew he was going to marry. Abigail Knight. Abby. Everyone called him crazy, saying that it was just a childhood crush, but they were the ones who were crazy.

José and Abby were in the same kindergarten class, even though he was a year older than her. Being an October baby, he'd missed the cutoff to start kindergarten the year before. At the time, José had been upset that he had to spend another year at home while other kids from around the neighborhood got to go to school, but he got it now. It was fate. If he had started school a year earlier, he might never had met Abby.

On their first day of kindergarten, José was pulling out his lunch like all the other kids when there was a burst of laughter from another group of tables. Curious like the others, José wandered over to see what had happened.

A little girl with bright red curls was crying and trying to frantically clean up a wet stain on her skirt as her peers pointed and laughed, claiming she'd peed her pants. José's eyes landed on the broken juice box on her desk. He felt a surge of anger rise up. He immediately shouted at the other kids for picking on her and told them to mind their own business.

The girl kept her eyes downcast, clearly still embarrassed, but José moved so his body blocked hers from the others in the classroom. Even at six, he was big for his age. He picked up some more napkins and handed them to her.

Bright green eyes that shined like emeralds finally looked up at him. That was all it took. José fell—hard. It was soul connecting and everlasting. He knew down to the marrow of his bones that this was the girl he was going to marry someday.

"Those other kids aren't worth your tears," he told her.

She accepted the napkins from him with a small, "Thanks."

"What's your name, Red?"

Her cheeks changed color like they were obeying a command from him. "Abby," she told him.

José nodded to the kid sitting next to her. "We're switching seats." The boy scrambled off with his lunch without a look back. "Nice to meet you, Abby. I'm José."

They were inseparable all through grade school. José became her protector and her best friend. She became his…everything.

In eighth grade, stupid Jeremy Williams asked Abby to the homecoming dance. It was the longest minute of his life waiting for Abby's answer and, when she politely declined Jeremy, José thought he could have burst with excitement.

After Jeremy left, Abby turned towards him, her face expectant. And José just froze. He hadn't actually contemplated the need to ask her to the dance himself. In his mind, it was a give-in that, if she wanted to go, he would be the one to take her. He supposed he needed to readjust his thinking.

When he said nothing, Abby just rolled her eyes, closed her locker, and started walking down the hall.

José knew then that he needed to solidify their relationship so no other Jeremy Williams wannabes thought they had a chance with her. "Wait!"

Abby turned, a look of impatience on her face. "Yeah. What's up?"

"The dance."

She waited, but he didn't say anything else. "What about it?"

"We're going together."

Abby raised an amused eyebrow. "Are we?"

"Yes."

"How about no unless you ask me properly?"

José let out a noise of frustration. "Fine. Go with me."

She laughed right in his face. "Try again, buddy."

José was not good at emotions. He knew what he wanted, he knew how he felt, but expressing them was another thing. "You will?—"

"Yeah, no." Abby shook her head. "Here. Repeat after me, big guy: ‘Abby, will you go to the dance with me?'"

He grumbled a little under his breath before he obeyed. "Abby, will you go to the dance with me?"

She put her hand to her heart. "Oh, José! This is so unexpected. I can't believe you're asking me to the dance."

He just glared at her. She knew exactly how uncomfortable he was right then.

Thankfully, she put him out of his misery quickly. "Yes, José, I will go to the dance with you."

Two nights later, José knew he'd suffer through a thousand more awkward romantic conversations if it got Abby in his arms as she was now. At thirteen, he towered over her. Strobe lights sparkled all around them. The skirt of Abby's baby blue dress swayed around her knees as they rocked back and forth. *NSYNC'sThis I Promise You was playing over the speakers of the gymnasium. José paid no attention to the other students, the decorations, or the song. He stared down at Abby's beautiful face, completely mesmerized.

José didn't have any natural rhythm, so slow dances where all he had to do was sway to the beat was the best he could offer her. She seemed happy with that. The song before this, she'd rested her head under his chin and they'd swayed to whatever slow song that had been playing at the time.

Staring down at her now, there was no doubt in his mind that he was in love with Abigail Knight. From her fiery red hair, her freckles, and her sparkling emerald eyes all the way down to her toes. He knew that what he was feeling was more profound than some childhood crush. Abby was his. His best friend. His world. He was going to marry her one day.

José had always struggled in school. Abby tutored him when she could, but studies were not his strong suit. But he knew right then that he had to do better. He needed to do well in school so he could get into college and get a degree that would give him a well-paying job so he could provide for Abby. Give her the life she deserved to have. Break them away from their small town of Mount Grove, Pennsylvania.

"What are you thinking?" Her voice was soft, but he heard it fine over the music.

José shook his head, not wanting to scare her off with his words of devotion. This was, after all, their first date. The first of many, many more if he had his way. Rather than answer her, he tipped his head down. He saw her mouth twitch into a smile just before his lips touched hers.

* * *

Their first threeyears of high school, José Santiago and Abigail Knight were voted the couple most likely ‘to go the distance'. José was aware that both their parents, their teachers and peers, and the town thought that they were sleeping together by the time they were sophomores in high school. José didn't correct them, not because he wanted them to think he wasn't a virgin but because no one would believe him. Abby's family was strictly religious. She'd made a pledge to remain a virgin until marriage and he vowed to honor her choice. Since José planned on marrying her as soon as they graduated high school, he didn't feel the need to pressure her into having sex as many other of their peers were.

They'd had a few close calls, but one of them came to their senses before the deed was done.

They were near the end of their senior year of high school when it all came crashing down. Abby's parents were moving out of state, and they were taking her with them. José was eighteen but Abby was months shy of being a legal adult. He pleaded with his parents to allow her to stay with them, but they declined. He proposed the two of them running away together, but Abby couldn't disobey her parents like that.

"It's only for a couple of months," she tried to bargain with him. "We'll be together again in college. Once you save up enough for a car, you can come down and visit me on the weekends."

She was moving to Charleston, South Carolina. He'd MapQuest'ed it: it was an eleven-hour drive without stops. They both knew the unlikelihood of her statement even if he did get a car.

Which was how, on April 15, 2009, he watched the woman he loved get in the backseat of her parents' sedan and drive away from him.

He should have never let her leave.

* * *

By the endof the first week after Abby's move, José was fed up. She wasn't answering any of his calls, texts, or emails. He'd even taken a chance one night and had called her mom's phone, but that had gone straight to voicemail.

He didn't care how he was going to do it, but he was getting himself to Charleston, South Carolina. Even if he had to walk the whole way, he was going to South Carolina and figuring out what the hell was going on.

José was planning on searching for the bus schedule when he got home, but fate intervened. He walked into his house to find his mom unconscious on the kitchen floor. A whirlwind of paramedics, an ambulance ride, and doctors pushed Abby to the back of his mind.

His dad and younger brother Carlos arrived at the hospital just as the emergency room doctor said that they were sending his mom's labs up to oncology. Even a C-average student like him knew what that meant.

Cancer.

When the results were confirmed that his mom had breast cancer, it was like he fell numb. His mom had cancer. Fucking cancer. His mom might die.

No matter how much José wanted to hop on a bus and get himself to South Carolina to see Abby, he had to take care of his mom.

Then the situation became worse—and he hadn't even thought that was possible. A week. Seven fucking days. That's how long his dad had stayed after learning his wife, the woman he'd pledged to love in sickness and in health, had cancer. José had come home from school to find his dad packing up his car. When he asked what was going on, his father's answer was, "I didn't sign up for this."

Those were the last words his father ever said to him before he drove out of their lives forever. He left his two teenage sons with their sick mother. The only other contact they had regarding their father was when he sent a lawyer to the hospital with divorce papers. At least the bastard left them the house, but he'd nearly drained all of the accounts.

High school fell by the wayside. Suddenly José was the man of the house. Bills needed to be paid. His world was falling apart. No Abby, no other adult around to help… His mom had cancer. Carlos was only thirteen and he'd been abandoned by one parent at the news the other parent was dying.

A guidance counselor from the high school stopped by his house one afternoon. José was trying to get Carlos to do his homework, but all his little brother wanted to do was to go see their mom.

Mr. Givens was the counselor's name. José had never spoken to the man before, but that man changed the course of José's life forever. It wasn't a secret in a small town like theirs that Miguel Santiago had left or that Louisa Santiago was sick. People from their church were trying to pitch in to help, but some of the busybodies cared more about gossip than lending a hand. At least their pastor visited their mom at the hospital almost daily to pray with her.

Mr. Givens came to the house with a recruiter for the United States Army, who put José in contact with a lawyer from Pittsburgh. The man agreed to take José's case pro bono, which was a huge help because José didn't have the money for a lawyer. In agreeing to serve his country, José would earn a paycheck and have health insurance for his family again. It was the lawyer's job to get his mom and little brother on José's insurance benefits. José didn't understand entirely how it had worked.

All he knew was that he was signing his life away to make a better life for his family.

* * *

Dear Abby,

I'm not sure why your phone was disconnected or why you didn't call with a new number. Just in case you haven't read any of my messages, my mom got sick at the end of April. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctors are hopeful they caught it in time. My dad bailed. Bastard left us the house and mortgage after emptying most of the bank accounts.

I nearly dropped out of high school, needing to get a job to take care of my mom and Carlos. Remember Mr. Givens? He came to my house a couple of weeks ago with a recruiter for the Army. I leave for basic training tomorrow. Some hotshot lawyer in Pitts was able to get it so my mom and my brother are on my health insurance. By leaving, I get full coverage for my mom and a steady paycheck to send home to them.

I'm sorry I had to change our college plans, but I have to do what is right for my family. I'll write you again once I know where I'm going.

Never stopped loving you, Red. Don't give up on us. You'd make one sexy Army wife.

I love you,

José

* * *

Dear José,

Please don't write me again. I've met someone here in Charleston. I'm going to stay here and go to college. I wish you luck but please forget about me. I've moved on.

Abby