Nicholas Sparks - The Last Song

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright 2009 by Nicholas Sparks

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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First eBook Edition: September 2009

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ISBN 978-0-446-55815-0

Contents

The Notebook

Message in a Bottle

A Walk to Remember

The Rescue

A Bend in the Road

Nights in Rodanthe

The Guardian

The Wedding

Three Weeks with My Brother

(with Micah Sparks)

True Believer

At First Sight

Dear John

The Choice

The Lucky One

For Theresa Park and Greg Irikura

My friends

As always, I have to start by thanking Cathy, my wife and my dream. Its been an amazing twenty years and when I wake in the morning, my first thought is how lucky I am for having spent these years with you.

My childrenMiles, Ryan, Landon, Lexie, and Savannahare sources of endless joy in my life. I love you all.

Jamie Raab, my editor at Grand Central Publishers, always deserves my thanks, not only for her brilliant editing, but for the kindness she always shows me. Thank you.

Denise DiNovi, the producer of Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe, and The Lucky One is not only a genius, but one of the friendliest people I know. Thanks for everything.

David Young, the CEO of Hachette Book Group, has earned my respect and gratitude in the years weve been working together. Thanks, David.

Jennifer Romanello and Edna Farley, my publicists, are not only good friends, but wonderful people. Thanks for all.

Harvey-Jane Kowal and Sona Vogel, as usual, deserve my thanks, if only because Im always late with my manuscripts, thus making their jobs a whole lot harder.

Howie Sanders and Keya Khayatian, my agents at UTA, are fantastic. Thanks for everything, guys!

Scott Schwimer, my attorney, is quite simply the best at what he does. Thanks, Scott!

Thanks also go to Marty Bowen (the producer of Dear John ), as well as Lynn Harris and Mark Johnson.

Amanda Cardinale, Abby Koons, Emily Sweet, and Sharon Krassney also deserve my thanks. I appreciate all that you do.

The Cyrus family deserves my thanks not only for welcoming me into their home, but for all theyve done with the film. And a special thanks goes to Miley, who chose Ronnies name. As soon as I heard it, I knew it was perfect!

And finally, thanks to Jason Reed, Jennifer Gipgot, and Adam Shankman for their work on the film version of The Last Song.

R onnie

S taring out the bedroom window, Ronnie wondered whether Pastor Harris was already at the church. She assumed that he was, and as she watched the waves breaking over the beach, she questioned whether he was still able to notice the play of light as it streamed through the stained-glass window above him. Perhaps notthe window had been installed more than a month ago, after all, and he was probably too preoccupied to notice anymore. Still, she hoped that someone new in town had stumbled into the church this morning and experienced the same sense of wonder shed had when shed first seen the light flood the church on that cold day in November. And she hoped the visitor had taken some time to consider where the window had come from and to admire its beauty.

Shed been awake for an hour, but she wasnt ready to face the day. The holidays felt different this year. Yesterday, shed taken her younger brother, Jonah, for a walk down the beach. Here and there were Christmas trees on the decks of the houses they passed. At this time of year, they had the beach pretty much to themselves, but Jonah showed no interest in either the waves or the seagulls that had fascinated him only a few months earlier. Instead, hed wanted to go to the workshop, and shed taken him there, although hed stayed only a few minutes before leaving without saying a single word.

On the bedstand beside her lay a stack of framed photographs from the alcove of the small beach house, along with other items shed collected that morning. In the silence, she studied them until she was interrupted by a knock on the door. Her mom poked her head in.

Do you want breakfast? I found some cereal in the cupboard.

Im not hungry, Mom.

You need to eat, sweetie.

Ronnie continued to stare at the pile of photos, seeing nothing at all. I was wrong, Mom. And I dont know what to do now.

You mean about your dad?

About everything.

Do you want to talk about it?

When Ronnie didnt answer, her mom crossed the room and sat beside her.

Sometimes it helps if you talk. Youve been so quiet these last couple of days.

For an instant, Ronnie felt a crush of memories overwhelm her: the fire and subsequent rebuilding of the church, the stained-glass window, the song shed finally finished. She thought about Blaze and Scott and Marcus. She thought about Will. She was eighteen years old and remembering the summer shed been betrayed, the summer shed been arrested, the summer shed fallen in love. It hadnt been so long ago, yet sometimes she felt that shed been an altogether different person back then.

Ronnie sighed. What about Jonah?

Hes not here. Brian took him to the shoe store. Hes like a puppy. His feet are growing faster than the rest of him.

Ronnie smiled, but her smile faded as quickly as it had come. In the silence that followed, she felt her mom gather her long hair and twist it into a loose ponytail on her back. Her mom had been doing that ever since Ronnie was a little girl. Strangely, she still found it comforting. Not that shed ever admit it, of course.

Ill tell you what, her mom went on. She went to the closet and put the suitcase on the bed. Why dont you talk while you pack?

I wouldnt even know where to start.

How about at the beginning? Jonah mentioned something about turtles?

Ronnie crossed her arms, knowing the story hadnt started there. Not really, she said. Even though I wasnt there when it happened, I think the summer really began with the fire.

What fire?

Ronnie reached for the stack of photographs on the bedstand and gently removed a tattered newspaper article sandwiched between two framed photos. She handed the yellowing newsprint to her mother.

This fire, she said. The one at the church.

Illegal Fireworks Suspected in Church Blaze Pastor Injured Wrightsville Beach, NCA fire destroyed historic First Baptist Church on New Years Eve, and investigators suspect illegal fireworks.Firefighters were summoned by an anonymous caller to the beachfront church just after midnight and found flames and smoke pouring from the back of the structure, said Tim Ryan, chief of the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department. The remains of a bottle rocket, an airborne firework, were found at the source of the blaze.Pastor Charlie Harris was inside the church when the fire started and suffered second-degree burns to his arms and hands. He was transported to New Hanover Regional Medical Center and is currently in the intensive care unit.It was the second church fire in as many months in New Hanover County. In November, Good Hope Covenant Church in Wilmington was completely destroyed. Investigators are still treating it as suspicious, and as a case of potential arson at this point, Ryan noted.Witnesses report that less than twenty minutes before the fire, bottle rockets were seen being launched on the beach behind the church, likely in celebration of the New Year. Bottle rockets are illegal in North Carolina, and are especially dangerous considering the recent drought conditions, cautioned Ryan. This fire shows the reason why. A man is in the hospital and the church is a total loss.Next page