At her grandmother’s door, Steven rings the bell. After a minute, Nova appears with her hair braided, wearing a tank top with Funshine Bear on it that she printed herself and sweatpants hanging loose. She’s eating fruit jelly, and there’s a smear of grape across her lip. She’s radiant as always.
When her eyes drop to the box in my arms, the puppy stirs inside, and everything clicks. Her jaw drops. Her eyes widen, then shine, filling with tears.
“Wait...” she whispers. And then the box wiggles again.
Her whole face lights up. She snatches the box from my arms, pulls the dachshund out, and the puppy immediately covers her face in kisses. Nova gasps out a laugh that melts every part of me.
“Hey... Fleur,” she breathes, as if naming her on instinct. “Hey, little Fleur.”
Her grandmother, Sky, appears in the doorway, smiling softly as she watches Nova sink to the floor with the puppy squirming in her lap. Fleur wriggles free and runs circles around her, making Nova laugh harder.
This woman loves her granddaughter unconditionally. From what Nova told me, she was the one who chose her name because, when she was young, she was passionate about astronomy.
Nova glances between Steven and me, eyes glistening. Steven steps forward to hug her, but she doesn’t go to him.
She runs at me, throws herself into my arms, and knocks us both to the floor.
For a second, I don’t even breathe. She’s clinging to me, her arms wound tight around my neck, with her face buried against me. Fleur bounds onto her back, tail wagging.
I wrap my arms around her waist instinctively, holding her as if I’ll never let go and I don’t dare look at Steven.
“I’m so in love with you, Vincent Cooper,” she whispers against my neck. And just like that, I’m touching the sky with my fingertips—and at the same time, sinking straight into the abyss.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Vincent Cooper
PRESENT (2023)
"When you start to play off the top of your head,
that's when the truth is really known about people."
Steve Howe
I’m working on a tune that’s been stuck in my head for weeks while Steven cleans the bakery counter. Closing time passed hours ago, and the place’s dead quiet. I glance at my best friend, but he won’t meet my eyes. He keeps wiping the counter, rearranging trays, moving like everything’s fine.
It’s been three weeks since Nova showed up on my doorstep with her kitten. Two weeks since we kissed. Two weeks since she whispered those words to me.
I don’t think she remembers saying them—she was half-asleep—butI doremember. I can’t think of anything else. Just her. And every time I’m with Steven, guilt gnaws at me like acid.
But he doesn’t bring it up, and I don’t have the courage to. I don’t want to ruin us. We’ve never fought in all these years, and I don’t want the first time to be now.
The bell above the bakery door chimes, breaking the silence. Maggie, Sam, Will, Max, Aurora, and Nova spill in together.
Sam’s got his arm around Maggie, and for once she looks calm about it. Finally. Will’s glued to his phone. Max and Aurora walk in hand-in-hand.
And Nova... She clutches her phone like it’s the most precious thing in the world and bounces toward me with a grin that could split the dark.
I arch a brow, confused. Usually when Steven’s around, she keeps her distance from me. So why now is she running straight for me?
I slide off the table I’m sitting on, but before I can even ask, she launches herself at me.
“You’ve gone viral! You’re famous!” she squeals, grabbing my hands and spinning me in dizzy circles.
I let her drag me into her orbit, still lost. “What?”
She doesn’t stop. She leaps up, wrapping her legs around my waist, and I catch her instinctively, hands under her thighs to keep her from falling.
