Page 202

God, I forgot about this too.

Not the handful I can usually pick out above Chicago, fighting against streetlights and buildings. Not even the Wyoming sky, beautiful and endless in its own way.

This is different.

Out here there is nothing between us and the horizon. No city glowing across the water, no buildings blocking the view. Just the black Mediterranean stretching in front of me and a sky scattered with so many stars that for a second it feels like some of them have fallen into the sea.

I tip my head farther back.

When I was little, my dad used to take us to the beach at sunset while he fished. As soon as the stars came out, I used to lie on a beach towel and look for shooting stars with Chiara. We'd make wishes whenever we saw one, then fight because she always tried to make me tell her what I'd wished for.

You can't tell or it won't come true.

I smile at the memory. I can't remember a single thing I wished for back then.

The beach is empty now. No children, no umbrellas, no people yelling to each other. The music from the bars has finally stopped and the little houses along the coast have gone mostly dark.

Just the waves rolling over the stones below and that sky.

I put my hands on the railing and breathe.

For the first time since we landed, there isn't anyone around me telling a story or asking a question or putting food in front of me. And maybe I need this too. A few minutes with just me, Calabria and the sea.

A door opens behind me and I turn.

Jude steps onto the terrace wearing a pair of gray shorts and a dark T-shirt, his hair sticking up in every fucking direction like he's been fighting with his pillow.

My eyes linger. Just for a second.

Okay.

Maybe two.

Apparently Grumpy wakes up looking annoyingly handsome too.

His eyes find mine. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

He closes the door quietly behind him. “Did I wake you?”

“Nope.”

“The sea?”

He looks toward it. “Jet lag.”

I smile. “Me too.”

He walks over and stops beside me, resting his forearms against the railing next to mine. For a while neither of us says anything.

That's one of the things I've learned from Jude. Silence doesn't need fixing.

I like it.

We stand there listening to the waves until I look up again and Jude follows my gaze.

“You get stars like this in Wyoming?”