He put his hand on the side of my face. “She died instantly in the car crash.” His eyes seemed to focus on the gravestone behind me. They were red from his tears. “Don was trying to kill me, not her. If I had died that night instead…”
“Then I’d still be alone.” My heart ached. I knew how much he loved my mom. I thought I had lost Miles a few nights ago. I knew that feeling of loss. But at least she died in the car crash and never had to be tortured by Don. She got to die happy.
My dad’s eyes focused back on me. “You were never alone, Summer. I was always thinking about you. And your friends are the only reason I’m standing here.”
“What?”
“They thought that your mother and I might still be alive. They told William. You remember William…I guess you’d remember him as Uncle Billy?”
I smiled. “I remember.”
“Don was keeping me in some storage facility in Colorado. William showed up this morning and found me.” He looked up at the falling snow. “It feels so good to breathe fresh air.”
His words broke my heart. “What did Don do to you?” I didn’t want to start crying again, but there was so much pain in my Dad’s face.
“Knowing you were out there without me was worse than anything he did to me.”
“I can’t believe you’re alive. I feel like I’m dreaming.”
He leaned down and hugged me again. “Is that Miles Young?” He released me from his embrace.
I looked behind me to see Miles walking toward us.
“Welcome home, Mr. Brooks.” Miles held out his hand.
My dad shook it. “Thank you for bringing us back together, son. I knew you’d find her even if I couldn’t.”
Miles looked over at me and smiled.
“You helped find him?” I asked.
“Mr. Crawford did all the hard work.”
I knew that wasn’t true. I walked over and hugged him. “Thank you, Miles,” I whispered in his ear. “Thank you for always believing in the impossible.”
Chapter 48
Friday
I tossed and turned in one of the Youngs’ guest beds. I was thankful that they let my father and me use their guest rooms. But I didn’t know how to fall asleep without Miles’ arms around me.
I slid out of bed and walked over to the window. I always found snow calming. Maybe watching it fall would help me sleep. But when I looked outside, I saw that the snow had stopped falling. The night sky was clear. I smiled to myself. Miles wouldn’t be in his room anyway. He’d be in his tree house.
I pulled my winter coat on over my pajama top and shoved my bare feet into my boots. I felt silly slipping out the back door. We weren’t kids anymore. It was possible that Miles was fast asleep in his bed. But I still climbed the rickety ladder up to his tree house. I knocked twice on the boards above my head.
“Secret password,” he said.
I laughed. But it didn’t stop me from trying to remember what the smallest constellation visible in the sky would be right now. “Caelum.”
The floorboard door opened above me and I climbed up. “I can’t believe you remembered,” he said.
“I can’t believe you’re out here. It’s freezing.”
“The sky’s clear. Where else would I be?” He patted the spot beside him. “Come here.”
I curled into his side and looked up at the sky. “I never stopped looking at the stars. It made me feel close to you when you were so far away.”
He kissed the side of my forehead. “Me too.”