“I will be.” She brought the edge of the blanket up to her chin. “Their relationship hasn’t been good for a long time, so it’s probably for the best. But it still...”
After a moment he said, “It still hurts?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
“I know what you mean. My folks divorced when I was real little, and my grandparents stepped in the gap right away. They were better parents than my own would have ever been, especially Junior. But somethin’s still empty in my heart. I reckon it’s a little hole, if I had to put a name to it.”
Harper could hear the pain in his voice. “I wish things had been different for you.”
“Hey,” he said softly. “My life has been fine. More thanfine, actually. Like you said, family’s complicated. We ain’t perfect, so we can’t expect everyone else to be.”
“Tell that to Madge.” She sighed. “I didn’t care anything about being valedictorian. But I knew she did.”
“What about your dad? I’m sure he was proud of you that night.”
“I wouldn’t know. He missed my graduation because of work.” A bitter taste filled her mouth. Why were so many high school memories bugging her now? She’d graduated years ago, and she thought she’d put that behind her. Suddenly feeling too hot, she pushed the blanket down to her waist. “I don’t want to talk about them anymore.”
“All right,” he said, his tone amiable. “Then let me show you somethin’. Look up there.”
“I have been looking.”
“No, I mean right there.”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out what he was pointing to. “What is it?”
“It’s the Dog Star. Or Sirius, as the scientists call it.” He pointed straight up. “It’s the brightest one in the sky.”
“There’s lots of bright ones up there.”
“It’s right...” He took her hand and aimed both of them at the star. “There.”
“Oh, I see it now.” But she wasn’t paying attention to Sirius. His hand felt warm and strong.Like he is.
He started to let go of her hand, but she stopped him. “Thanks, Rusty,” she said, squeezing his fingers.
“For what?”
“For listening to me. And understanding what I’m going through. And making me take time off work. All of it.” Shebrought their hands down together. “This is the best day I’ve had in a long time.”
“Me too.”
Suddenly the porch light came on. They both sat up as Senior stepped onto the patio. “Rusty?” he called out. “You out here?”
“Oh brother,” Rusty said, yanking his hand from hers and scrambling to his feet. “Yep. I’m here.”
“Anyone with you?”
He hesitated. “Just Harper. We’re star gazin’.”
“Right.” Senior chuckled. “‘Star gazin’.’ Is that what you young people call it these days?”
“Knock it off!” Rusty shouted. He looked at Harper. “In case you haven’t noticed, Senior likes to tease. Feel free to tell him to shut up. He’s always jumping to conclusions.”
Harper stilled, shocked that he would yell at his grandfather. He’d also been quick to point out to the barber, Artie, that they weren’t a couple. Hereallydidn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about them. That... stung.
But she’d said the same thing in the barber shop, so why was she being so hypocritical? And why was she so bothered by his insistence that they were only friends? She didn’t have time for a boyfriend or a date even if she wanted one—not that she’d had any success in that department. Her prom date hadn’t been the first guy to try something with her, and by the time she’d met Jack she’d given up on men all together. Still, Jack had been persistent, and she’d decided to give him a chance... and then he dumped her.
But Jack had never made her feel the way Rusty did. Safe. At ease. Accepted as herself.
