“I want to thank our crew from the tour, the gang at Long Road Records, and everyone on my team. You all work so hard to keep me sane, and I can’t thank you enough. But mostly I want to thank my family for their love and support. Thank you to my sisters, Jill and Maggie, who are with me tonight. Thank you to my mom, Aidan, and Max, to Andi, Eric, Johnny, and Robby, and…” Kate paused to collect herself. “I want to thank my dad, who had the courage to say yes to this grand adventure of mine. Thank you, Daddy. I love you all very much. Thank you.”

Clare and Aidan cheered and cried and hugged each other as Max squealed between them.

Kate had done it, Clare thought. She’d really done it.

In a beachfront bar on St. Kitts, Reid nursed a scotch on the rocks and watched the show on satellite TV. Kate looked so amazing as she accepted her award for best new artist, and his heart swelled with pride. As a nominee for song of the year, Kate performed “I Thought I Knew” shortly after she received her award. Reid wondered if she still thought of him every time she sang his song. He remembered her giving it to him as a Christmas gift on the same magical night they rode Thunder in the snow.

He looked out over the water as the sun set in a big ball of fire on the horizon. Nine months earlier, he’d finally chucked it all for his shack on the beach. Two days after he decided to sell his business, a conglomerate out of Austin, Texas, snapped it up with promises to retain all his employees. He’d had to laugh at how ridiculously easy it had been to shed the business after all the years he’d spent trying to figure a way out. He closed up the house in Tennessee until Ashton wanted it for his own family, took enough clothes to get by on the beach, flew his plane to St. Kitts, and never looked back.

The day before he left Nashville, he’d taken Thunder over to Buddy’s stables with a note for Kate. He sold his other horses, but Thunder was hers now. She was right—the horse liked her best anyway. After he got Thunder settled, he spent a couple of hours mending fences with Martha, and she promised to come visit him in St. Kitts.

Ashton slid on to the barstool next to Reid’s. “Did she win?”

“Best new artist. Song of the year is next.”

“Like there was ever any doubt.”

Reid smiled at his son. They were slowly getting back on track, and this week together was a big step in the right direction.

“What do you say we take one of those deep-sea fishing trips tomorrow?” Ashton asked.

“Sounds good to me.”