Page 93
He stared pointedly at my feet. “You’re not going to injure me this time, are you?”
“Who, me?” I batted my eyes at him as I dialed my mom.
She picked up immediately. “Baby! How are you?”
“I’m good, Mom. How about you?”
“Well, we went to Mass this morning, lit a candle, and after we get off the phone with you, we’re going to Pike’s Peak.” My parents always went to Josh’s favorite hiking trail on his birthday and on the anniversary of his death. He’d always loved looking off the edge of the mountain, imagining he was an eagle taking flight.
“I wish I could be there too,” I said. Levi’s face had gone slack, and he was rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes glassy. I took his hand in mine and squeezed. “I have a surprise for you though.”
“You don’t say,” said my dad. “Wouldn’t happen to be Levi, would it?”
“How did you know?” I hadn’t said anything about Levi to my parents, afraid that if I did, I’d jinx it all.
“Ashleigh called in a favor today,” Dad explained. “Wanted to get on base at Aviano where I happen to know Levi is stationed.”
“You knew he was here and didn’t tell me?” I was aghast and now understood why Levi had been so miffed at Callie keeping me a secret.
“Let’s just say that a few months ago we lit a candle for you two as well. We prayed you’d find your way back to each other,” my mom said, her voice trembling.
This time Levi squeezed my hand, and my throat tightened. “Listen, can we do a video call? We have something to show you.”
I hung up and Levi opened his laptop. He took a deep breath, his eyes still moist. “God, this is way more intense than I thought it would be.”
“You’re doing a great job.” I threaded my fingers through his as the screen filled with my parents’ beaming faces.
“There he is!” My mom clasped her hands to her chest and my dad leaned into the screen to get a better look. They looked good, my mom had her red hair in an artfully messy bun. Painting was her retirement hobby, as evidenced by her paint-splattered overalls that she wore over an old concert T-shirt. Dad wore an Air Force Academy polo and a baseball cap over his now-gray hair, and I was struck by how much Josh looked like him.
“It’s good to see you, son!” my usually stoic dad croaked out.
“You too, Mike.” Levi nodded, trying to hold it all in. And then it was like the flood broke. “I’ve missed you both so much. And I’m so sorry . . .”
We were all crying then, freely, and it felt so healing.
“Don’t be sorry, sweetheart!” my mom finally managed through her tears. “You needed time. We always knew you’d come back to us. We save all your cards. Don’t we, Mike?”
“That’s right. We’ve just been waiting for the one where you announce you’ve joined the space program. That still your goal?”
I looked at Levi, not wanting to force his hand, but willing the words out.
“Yeah, it is. And I’m going to do it for both of us. Me and Josh.”
We chatted through laughter and tears, remembering funny things about space camp and some of my disasters that Levi had bailed me out of, and then Levi broke the news about my discovery on Lyra.
My parents were overjoyed, Dad raising a fist in the air. “That’s my girl! We always knew you were on to something.”
“So, about that surprise.” I elbowed Levi. “We never told you, but many summers ago, we were preparing a special dance for you.”
“For your anniversary,” Levi added.
“But we never got to do it, because well . . .” I glanced at him, not wanting to mention Ashleigh and the way she’d bulldozed through our plans that summer.
“Things got in the way,” Levi finished.
“We’re going to do it for you now.” Levi set the laptop on his counter and pulled up Fred Astaire on his phone.
“Imagine I’m wearing a flowy dress with feathers on my skirt.” I laughed at the image that we made. Me in an oversized T-shirt and sweats, hair in damp waves, Levi in a matching outfit. It didn’t matter though how we looked, for at that moment we were Fred and Ginger dancing cheek to cheek.
