Hailey: Are you up?
Cole: Yeah. Just got Paisley to bed. She’s out like a light.
She wanted to keep him with her, but she didn’t know what to say.Want to make out?
Hailey: What should we do with the girls tomorrow?
Cole: Wild Wolff Village, for sure. They can skate, get cocoa, a crepe… They’ll love it.
Hailey: But your knee?
Cole: Got to keep moving it. I start skating soon, anyhow.
What else could she say?
Hailey: They didn’t have many toys at their house. I’m wondering if that was their philosophy or if they just couldn’t afford much.
Cole: I’m going with philosophy. Don’t kids get presents from birthday parties?
Hailey: Good point.
Cole: Can’t sleep?
Hailey: Just a lot on my mind.
Cole: Meet me in the hallway.
Joy flared in her chest, and she tried so hard to suppress it. But she couldn’t. As she found her bra and shorts and slid her feet into flip-flops, she was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Or maybe a puppy considering how she bounded over to him when she found him in the hallway.
She threw herself into his arms and hugged him harder than the situation called for. Well, the only situation that called for this kind of embrace came with near-death incidents like car accidents or house fires.
“You should always greet me like this.” His hand cupped the back of her head. “Let’s make it a thing.”
“I’m just so glad to see you.”
“We live together. We see each other every day. And didn’t I just see you forty-five minutes ago?”
She pulled back and smiled up at him. “Apparently, that’s too long.”
He did such a good job of hiding his shadows that she hadn’t noticed them until right then, when sunshine speared through the crevices and chased them away.
Note to self: share your feelings with him more often.
He worked so hard to make others happy, but who did that for him? Other than his dad, he hadn’t mentioned anyone he was close with. So maybe because he gave so much, people were in the habit of wanting something from him instead of just liking him the way she did.
Because he didn’t show himself to anyone other than her.
“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and led her to a panel in the wall. When he pressed it, it opened.
“What in the world?” She followed him inside to find a winding staircase. “It’s so dark. Is there a light switch?”
“You won’t want one.”
The higher they climbed, the more starlight illuminated the darkness.
And then they reached the top.
Oh, my God.In the center of the domed, glass room was an enormous telescope. “Is this…an observatory?” Against the wall sat an oversize couch, two club chairs, and a table. The other wall had a galley kitchen.