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Here in Northern Michigan, there were probably a lot of nice nights to stargaze.

“We’ll go to Sleeping Bear Dunes,” he said. “The sky there is phenomenal because it’s even darker. It’s not far from here. We also have Headlands Dark Sky Park two hours away. It’s a designated dark sky park.”

I was surprised that he was interested in stargazing, but maybe I shouldn’t be. I was quickly discovering that Brock was curious about a lot of things.

He was the kind of person who asked a lot of questions and sucked up knowledge on all kinds of topics.

“I’d love to visit those places,” I said softly.

“When did you start looking up at the sky?” he asked.

“Years ago.” I couldn’t really remember a time when I didn’t spend at least part of my evening looking up at the stars. It had always been an escape for me when I was younger. “I wasn’t allowed to have friends when I was young. The one thing I could do was go outside. I used to look for falling stars when I was little so I could make a wish.”

Brock reached for my hand, clasped it, and threaded our fingers together before he asked huskily, “What did you wish for?”

My heart fluttered with happiness.

Being here with Brock was such a simple thing.

It was probably silly to feel like we were sharing something magical, but it felt a little surreal to be lying here with Brock, staring up at the stars.

For the first time in my life, I didn’t feel alone.

Somehow, it felt…intimate.

That wasn’t an emotion I was used to feeling.

“I used to wish that someone would want to adopt me and take me away from my foster parents. That never happened. I was kind of an odd child. My hair was too red, and I had a face full of freckles. I didn’t really have good communication skills, and I wasn’t engaging. I got passed over by prospective adoptive parents.”

He squeezed my hand. “So your wish never came true,” he observed gently.

“That one didn’t, but others did. I never got a family, but I got out of that life and I became an astrophysicist,” I told him. “A lot of good things happened to me after I got out, Brock.”

“It didn’t come easily for you, Jenna,” he said in a disgruntled voice.

“It didn’t,” I agreed. “But I’m doing exactly what I want to do now, so that makes up for some of the crappy times in my past.”

“Do you ever get upset or angry?” he asked, his tone slightly bemused. “You’re the most optimistic person I’ve ever met.”

“I do,” I informed him. “But only when I have a good reason to be angry. I’d usually rather have a glass-half-full attitude. I hate wasting my energy on anger and regrets. I know I still have issues from my childhood, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life dwelling on something I can’t change.”

“So you weren’t an angry kid like me?” he questioned.

“I was always a dreamer,” I shared. “I think I daydreamed about my future to escape from my reality. I retreated inside my own mind a lot. I think I still do. That’s one of the reasons that I wasn’t a particularly interesting kid. I was probably solemn, but I don’t think I was angry. I just wanted to grow up so my life would change. When did you stop being angry?”

“I’m not sure that I ever really stopped,” he said drily. “You haven’t noticed that I’m still irritable most of the time?”

I shook my head. “You’re not,” I argued. “You’ve spent a lot of time dealing with serious, life-and-death situations. You still do. You’re allowed to be a little grumpy. It doesn’t bother me because I know you’re not an angry guy.”

My heart stuttered as Brock started to run his thumb along the side of my hand.

That light touch was enough to make me feel like a teenager on my first date.

“I think my anger faded gradually,” he said earnestly. “Once I got into the army, everything changed for me. I was part of a team that trusted me to get my head on straight. My team and the people who were depending on me became more important than my anger and frustration about my childhood. I realized nothing was going to bring my parents back. All I could do was move forward and try to make a difference in the future. Basically, I guess I grew up.”

God, he really was an extraordinary man. Brock had left the system and worked to become his best self regardless of the pain he’d suffered in his childhood and adolescence.

I knew how hard it was to overcome a past like that.