The dock shimmied as they walked down the length of it, and when they reached the boat he released her hand. Grace slid behind the wheel while Wyatt untied the lines. Once they were both aboard she started the boat and found the nav lights.
“Back to the house?” she asked.
“If you’d like. Or we could do a little stargazing out on the lake.”
Overhead the stars shimmered like sequins in the autumn skies. She shot him a little smile as she pulled from the slip. “Stargazing it is.”
A while later they drifted to a stop in the middle of the basin. Grace shut off the lights, and the night went dark around them. There was no room to spread out on the boat, which had only two bench seats, but at least it was comfortably padded.
The temperatures had cooled, so Wyatt grabbed the light blanket he’d brought from the backseat and wrapped it around Grace.
“Thanks. It is getting a little chilly. Fall is on its way.”
They leaned back against the seats, their eyes having adjusted to the darkness. To the west, the sky was still deep blue, but overhead the black canvas showed off pinpricks of twinkling lights.
The boat bobbed gently, the water kissing its sides with quiet ripples. The scent of a campfire drifted past on a breeze.
Grace’s arm rested against Wyatt’s, and their thighs touched. He loved being close to her. He laced his fingers with hers, resting their hands on his leg. “I can teach you the constellations.”
“I already know the constellations.” A grin tinged her voice.
“Okay, smarty-pants.” He pointed to the sky. “What’s that one?”
She leaned closer to follow the direction of his finger. “Give me a break. It’s Sagittarius. Everyone knows that.”
“Okay, that was an easy one. How ’bout that one?”
“The one with the tail? Draco.”
He shifted his finger a tiny bit. “That one?”
“Hercules. My turn to quiz you.” She pointed into the sky. “That one—the one that looks like a graduation cap.”
“Aquila?”
“Very good. And that one?”
He put his arm around her, leaning in closer, not necessarily because he needed to. He drew in a whiff of her flowery shampoo. “Which one?”
“Right there. The one shaped like a Christian fish symbol.”
“That’s not a constellation.”
“Yes, it is. It’s Pavo.”
“You’re making that up.”
She chuckled, glancing at him. “No, I’m not.”
“Somebody did do well in school.”
“I may have been a bit of a perfectionist.”
“What kind of grades are we talking about here?”
“Well, I wasn’t valedictorian or anything.”
“What was your GPA? I know you know it.”
