She nodded, tears streaming down her face. She had no choice. She had to go.
“I love you. And I always will, OK? You just remember that, OK?” She nodded again and reached up to give him a hug.
“I love you too.” She whispered into his ear before pulling away from him and walking out the door with out looking back.
She had been the love of his life since he could remember, and now she was deserting him to go to an art school in Washington State. She was going to live out her dreams of becoming a famous artist, but what was he going to do? He was stuck in Kentucky with nothing but dashed hopes of living happily ever after with her.
As he watched her retreat from his home he thought of all the time they had spent together. All the walks they had taken, the kisses they had shared and the laughter that was always around them.
It was all gone now. She was moving on with her life, moving forward with out him. He was lost. He didn’t have the one thing that he had always believed in the most. He didn’t have her.
His father walked in the room and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Where’s Beth going? She just got here.”
“Away.” It was all he could manage.
“When is she coming back? Is she gonna be here for dinner? I can go tell your mother that she needs to-“
“No Dad. She’s going away. She’s not coming back. She’s going to Washington, to the art school she was telling us about a few months ago.”
“She was accepted? That’s terrific!” He didn’t understand his son’s expression. Sure it would mean that they would have to work at their relationship harder, but that had never stopped them before. “What’s wrong, son?”
“She’s not coming back. Ever. She is starting a new life there and doesn’t want to have any ties with anyone here to hold her back.”
“So what you are saying is that –“
“What I’m saying is that she left me. There is no us anymore. We are finished.”
He didn’t know what to say. Nothing he could think of would help at that point. He thought back to when Beth had told them all about her applying to the Seattle Art Institute and the excitement with which she spoke about her dream. He also remembered the smile of pride that he son had worn. That was gone now and devastation was the only thing that was registering on the young man’s face.
He then remembered what else they had talked about that night that Beth had told them of her dream. They had talked about what he could do while she was in Seattle.
“Son, I think that it’s time that we talked about something. I know that you love music and I have heard you play the piano. You have a gift and that gift is going to be wasted if you sit here in Kentucky all of your life. You need to find a way to show everyone what you’ve got inside of you.”
He looked up at his father. What was he trying to say?
“Son, I’ve heard things about Orlando, Florida. They’ve got everything down there that has to do with the music industry and I think that you should go down there and spend some time. It’s not going to be easy to find work, but you will be able to do it. I have faith in you and your ability.
“She is following her dream, and we have talked about you fulfilling your own while she is away. Now you have the opportunity to go and do just that, and it wont be to keep your mind off of the fact that she isn’t with you, it will be for you.”
“You’re saying that I should pack up and go down to Orlando without any plans and try to make it in the music business?”
“More or less, Kevin, yes, that is what I am saying...”
He felt a tugging at his heart as he slowly nodded his head. It felt right, and it was something that he had always wanted to do.
It would take him a long time to get over Beth. He would always love her. But it was time for him to move on.
He looked at the doorway where she had walked out of his life only moments before. ‘I love you. And it’s going to take me a long time to heal the wound in my heart. But I’m going to move on. It’s a shame though... we could have been great together... If you hadn’t torn us apart.'
