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the four of them. And their youngest member had fit right in from the start.
    His chest ached as his gaze fastened on Brad. He’d really liked the kid. Loved him like a little brother. Maybe because Trevor had been a lot like him at the same age. Except for two things: Brad’s faith and Brad’s patience. Trevor didn’t have much of either. And when it came to the career he had always wanted, he hadn’t been willing to wait for his chance at stardom. He’d abandoned college and headed for Nashville at the age of nineteen, certain that it wouldn’t take him any time at all to make it in the music business. Like about ten thousand other kids with a little talent and a lot of hope.
    Trevor gave his head a slow shake and turned from the shelf where he’d set the photographs. No point running those memories through his mind again. Not even the good ones. Because if he kept it up, eventually he would find himself remembering painful moments too. His thoughts wouldchurn as he considered ways he might have changed his present by doing or saying things differently in the past.
    With determination, he completed his unpacking. Then, stomach growling, he took a package of hamburger out of the refrigerator and made his dinner.

Brad
    2005
    B RAD WAS THIRTEEN WHEN HE BOUGHT WHAT THE music store called a starter five-piece drum set. Nothing fancy. Just the basics. But as far as he was concerned, the toms and the snare and the rest were worth every penny he’d paid for them. He’d done extra chores around the ranch for his dad and had worked for a couple of neighbors to save up for the set of drums. Now, at last, they were his. And his dad had agreed to pay for drum lessons as long as Brad agreed to be in the junior high school band. Sure. Why not? It would just mean he could play more, even while at school.
    When he and his dad got home from the music store in Boise, Brad moved his bed closer to the window and put the drums in the corner.
    â€œMakes me glad I’m leaving for college in a few weeks,” Penny said from the doorway.
    He tossed a scowl in his sister’s direction, but she responded with a grin.
    â€œDad may be deaf by the time I get my degree. Maybe sooner than that.” She stepped into the bedroom to give the drum set a better look. “Couldn’t you have bought an acoustic guitar instead?”
    Taking his seat on the stool, he answered, “Don’t want to play the acoustic guitar.” He took the pair of drumsticks in his hands. “Didn’t you ever know there was something you just had to do? I’m supposed to play drums. I feel it in here.” He touched his chest with a drumstick before tapping out a simple rhythm on the drums.
    Penny reached to ruffle his hair with one hand. “Okay, buddy.”
    He wished she would stop doing that. Made him feel like a little kid, and he wasn’t. Not anymore. He was already taller than her, and his voice was low enough that sometimes, when he answered the phone, the caller thought he was his dad.
    â€œWhen do you start your lessons?” She took a step back, then another.
    â€œNext week.”
    â€œGood. That means you don’t have to practice now. Let’s go for a ride along the river. We won’t have many more opportunities before I leave.”
    I’m gonna miss you, Pen .
    Something flickered in her eyes as she watched him, as if she’d read his thoughts. Truth was she often knew what he was thinking, almost before he knew it himself. Were allolder sisters like that? He didn’t think so. His friends even said he was lucky his sister was leaving for college. He didn’t feel all that lucky. Penny had always been there for him, even before their mom died. Sure, she’d teased him plenty, and sometimes he thought her a royal pain in the backside. But mostly he loved her and knew she felt the same about him.
    He set down the drumsticks as he rose from the stool.