"They made you swim all the way?"
"Our parents were good at making sure we learned our lesson when we did stupid stuff."
Damon continued to tell her stories of his youth that repeatedly made Grace laugh. The atmosphere between them settled back into the comfortable and enjoyable banter she enjoyed so much.
Her heart remained heavy as the day wore on though. Not only did her mom not want anything to eat when they checked on her, after a trip to the bathroom, she insisted on returning to her bed.
They spent the evening at his mom’s house where his brothers and their families had gathered for a farewell dinner. It was almost dark by the time they said goodbye and left to put their kids to bed.
When the house grew quiet, Damon took her to the backyard where he built a fire. For over an hour, she sat snuggled in his arms, watching the dancing flames. They talked a little and shared a few lengthy kisses. The rest of the time, they simply sat in silence. Content to be together and dreading saying goodbye.
Finally, Grace checked her watch. "It's almost nine. I should go home and check on my mom. I feel bad that I've been gone all day."
"Let me put out the fire, then I'll take you home." Damon didn't sound any more excited to see the day end than she was. "I'd like to stay with you until I have to leave for the airport, if that’s okay." When she nodded, he went on. "I'm going to take time to say goodbye to my mom now then."
Grace nodded and waited. When Damon finally released his mom, Charity swept her into a tight hug.
"Don't be a stranger. You are welcome here any time. And when you need someone to sit with your mom, call me or Faith, you hear?"
"Thank you." Grace blinked back tears as she nodded.
The ride to her house was quiet. Her mom roused long enough to drink some water and a few swallows of a nutrition drink, then she gave Damon a hug and a kiss on the cheek before shuffling back to her bed.
"What time do you need to leave for the airport?" Grace sat on the couch beside Damon and curled into his side.
"No later than one-thirty." His arm tightened around her. After several long moments of silence, he let out a little growl. "I hate that our final hours together feel like one of us is waiting to go before a firing squad."
"Me too. I feel like I'm on the verge of bursting into tears any second." Just mentioning tears brought them to her eyes. She blinked them away, not wanting to make this somber night even worse.
"Come on." He tugged her off the couch and pulled her toward the back door. "One of the nice things about living in the country is that the stars are so much brighter than in the city."
Within minutes, they were laying on the grass in the backyard, staring up at the sky.
"Wow, it's beautiful."
Together they found the big and little dipper and the north star. Then with the help of an app on Damon's phone, they identified several other constellations. When they lapsed into silence that grew heavy with his imminent departure, Damon rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand.
"Talk to me. Let's make plans. Tell me some more things you want to put on your bucket list. Have you thought anymore about whether you want to become a Doctor of Radiology?"
"I'm still undecided on that since it will be a huge expense and time commitment." She pulled her phone from her pocket. "But I've decided I'm going to add a new item each week. Even if it’s something I did that week that I add after the fact." She typed into her phone. "Your mom offered to teach me how to crochet, so I'm adding that."
Damon pulled out his own phone and started typing.
"What are you adding to your list?"
"Figure outHow to be less clueless." The smile he gave her made her heart do funny things. "Do you think there's a book I can read that would help?"
She gave him a teasing grin. "I hate to break it to you, but I think you're beyond help."
He laughed. "Probably."
"Is that what you do on Friday and Saturday nights since you stopped partying? Stay home and read?"
"I do read a lot, but on the weekends, I often play basketball at the gym or football and Frisbee on the quad. There's always something going on. When it's cold out, we have ping pong and pool tournaments."
"I'm going to addLearn to swing danceto my list. Watching your cousins dance at the wedding looked fun."
"I'll teach you." Damon pushed to his feet and pulled her up. "Come on."
