He leaned back in his chair and tilted his head up toward the sky. The first stars were just becoming visible, faint against the deepening black. He pointed up and slightly south. “You see those three stars in a row?”
River craned her neck back. “Yep.”
“That’s Orion’s belt.”
“Cool!”
“Now follow the line they make toward the horizon. See that bright one? Brighter than the others around it?”
She squinted but I wasn’t entirely sure she knew what she was looking at. “I think so.”
“That’s Sirius. The Dog Star. It’s the brightest star in the whole sky.”
Ocean had abandoned his marshmallow stick entirely and was now standing beside Colt’s chair with his own head tipped back. “Why do they call it the Dog Star?”
“Because it’s part of a constellation called Canis Major,” Colt said. “Canis means dog in Latin.”
I was impressed, but because I knew very little about the constellations, I had no idea if he was just making shit up or if itwas real. Something told me he really knew what he was talking about.
“Is there a cat constellation?” River asked.
“Nope.”
River looked offended on behalf of cats everywhere. “That’s unfair.”
“I agree completely,” Colt said.
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. Again, I wasn’t entirely sure he was telling the truth. I watched him with the kids, the way he gave each of them his full attention. Ocean was practically vibrating with excitement.
“What about the really bright one?” Ocean pointed to the southeast. “That one’s been there every night.”
“That’s actually Jupiter,” Colt said. “Not a star. A planet. Cool, huh? You can see a planet without a telescope.”
Ocean sat down and stared at Colt. He was genuinely impressed. “How do you know all this stuff?”
“I grew up in Texas,” Colt said. “When you grow up in a place where the sky goes in every direction and there are no city lights for miles, you tend to spend a lot of time looking at the stars.”
Dad was watching Colt. I knew that look. He was making up his mind about Colt Anderson.
I looked back at the fire and held my marshmallow over the edge of the flame, turning it slowly. I liked mine golden. I had the patience for it. Becca’s kids did not.
“Tell me about another one,” River said.
He pointed up again. “See the bright star almost directly overhead? That one, there. The lonely one.”
Both kids looked up.
“I see it,” Ocean said.
“That’s Vega. It’s the second brightest star in the northern sky after Sirius. And in about twelve thousand years, it’s going to be the North Star instead of Polaris.”
I could have listened to him all night. He was loving this. Was it enough to make him stay? Or was he destined to go back to the ranch and the life he’d built there?
CHAPTER 30
COLT
Ocean had been fighting sleep for the better part of forty minutes. The kid was giving it his best to hang with the adults, but he was losing the battle. He’d been listing sideways in his chair for the last ten minutes. He’d gone quiet, which was a first. The kid had alotof questions. River had given up the fight entirely and was curled up in her grandfather’s lap, her mouth slightly open, a smear of dried chocolate on her cheek. The sugar crash was real.
