“Sorry, John Green fans, but McDaniel’s been making us cry . . . for  decades, ” says Bustle.com. Now, in her latest novel, as three high school seniors are in the midst of planning their futures, they must face present-day circumstances that force them to grasp what it means to truly become an adult.   Lani Kennedy has dreamed of becoming a nurse since her cousin Arie died of leukemia. Nothing will stop her from getting into the local nursing program.   Dawson Berke hasn’t dealt with his mom’s death, and he’s angry at his dad for forcing them to move right before his senior year.   Sloan Quentin knows that her band is her ticket to fame and fortune. When she discovers that her boyfriend—the band’s lead guitarist—is cheating on her, she finds comfort—and revenge—in someone else’s arms.     As the lives of Lani, Dawson, and Sloan become entangled in unexpected ways, reality hits harder than anyone could have imagined, and life-altering decisions are faced.   “For fans of romance tinged with tragedy . . . this latest offering will resonate.” — SLJ "Pleasure reading for fans of romance twinged with tragedy. Filled with emotional highs and lows, this latest offering will resonate with fans."-- SLJ LURLENE McDANIEL began writing inspirational novels about teenagers facing life-altering situations when her son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. “I want kids to know that while people don’t get to choose what life gives to them, they do get to choose how they respond,” she has said. Her novels are hard-hitting and realistic, but also leave readers with inspiration and hope. Her bestselling books have received acclaim from readers, teachers, parents, and reviewers; they include The Year of Luminous Love and its companion, The Year of Chasing Dreams; Don’t Die, My Love; Till Death Do Us Part; Telling Christina Goodbye; True Love: Three Novels; and many more. CHAPTER 1     When Alana Kennedy was thirteen, her beautiful cousin, Arie Winslow, tragically died from the leukemia that had stalked her most of her life. Arie was twenty-one, too young to die, but there was nothing her doctors could do to save her. Relatives rallied around Arie, promising to be at her side every minute of her last days to bring whatever comfort they could. Alana--Lani to all--and her mother, Jane, a teacher at Windemere Elementary, were on the schedule twice a week. Lani’s sister, Melody, was away at Vanderbilt Law School but kept in constant touch and came home to visit whenever time permitted.   At first Lani balked, not wanting to become part of a vigil on what she called Arie’s “death watch.” What thirteen-year-old kid would?   “It’s what we can do to help,” Jane told her. “It’s a way to express our love. Please just trust me, honey. You’ll be sorry if you check out of coming with me.”   So no matter how much it hurt to watch Arie waste away, Lani went. Through the last weeks of her cousin’s life, Lani read to her, combed tangles out of her hair, soothed her dry, cracked lips with ice chips and moisturizing salves, and spoon-fed her bites of ice cream that numbed painful mouth sores. Lani was at Arie’s bedside on the spring night when Arie’s beautiful spirit drifted away, with her loved ones touching and whispering goodbyes.   But knowing the inevitable and witnessing it were two un-related things for Lani, and she had been inconsolable. She fell into such a depression that her parents grew worried, and when the school year ended, her dad bought her a horse, something she’d wanted since she was a little kid. The palomino, named Oro del Sol, was stabled at Bellmeade, Ciana Beauchamp Mercer’s farm outside town. Lani rode Oro, groomed him, hugged his golden neck, and wept for the loss of one as lovely as Arie. The horse never seemed to mind her tears, standing patiently until her crying spell was over. And slowly, over those summer days between eighth and ninth grade, Lani felt her heart healing and her sense of loss lessening. And through the experience of helping and losing Arie, Lani found something she had never expected.   She found purpose. She decided that she would become a nurse. Jane had hugged Lani, saying, “Something good often comes out of something bad.” Her parents, always supportive, oozed with enthusiasm, just as they had when, at four, Lani had told them she wanted to become a mermaid. Lani thought that discovering she wanted to become a nurse was a poor trade-off for Arie’s dying, but she kept it to herself.   She began her senior year three years later in a steamy August heat wave with a mix of new and former students, many displaced from area schools trashed during a tornado. And although the storm had leveled sections of the town and surrounding farmland, Windemere’s old brick school building had escaped the vicious winds unscathed. Go figure.   That August another kind of heat hit Lani smack in her heart, when Dawson Berke transferred in as a senior. He was tall and lean, with a shock of straight dark