Chapter Forty-One

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Milo

“I cannot believe you’ve been cooking this sauce for eighteen hours,” Starlet said as she stood behind me in the kitchen. She’d wrapped her arms around my waist as I stirred the sauce.

“My mom’s homemade gravy is a slow and steady kind of recipe,” I told her.

It had been a week since we’d reconnected, and we hadn’t spent a second apart. It was the most rewarding week of my life, waking up each morning with her in my arms and falling asleep in the same fashion. We’d be off on our road trip starting tomorrow, but first, Dad and I worked on throwing a farewell Sunday dinner for Starlet and me.

“Taste?” I asked, holding Mom’s wooden spoon up to Starlet’s lips. I hadn’t cooked with it since Mom passed away, and it only felt suitable to use it for Sunday’s family dinner.

She parted her mouth and tasted the sauce. I knew it was perfect when she moaned more than she ever had with me between her legs. “Oh my gosh, that’s everything good in the world.”

I smirked and kissed her lips. “Not bad for my first time, huh?”

“You’re going to have to make this for me every Sunday. I hope you know that, right?”

“I’ll make it for the rest of your life if it keeps you moaning like that,” I joked. “You look beautiful, too. I love your natural curls.”

She patted her hair and grinned. “I’m falling in love with it, too. One day at a time.”

That was how we took everything—one day at a time.

I was still working through my issues with my sight and rebuilding a relationship with my dad. Starlet reentering my life didn’t resolve those issues. But it was more manageable, and it was lighter. I still had to learn how to swim through my grief and trials and tribulations, but somehow, I was beginning to discover my gills as my friends, family, and Star began to swim beside me.

“Can you slice the bread?” I asked. “Everyone should be here in a bit. The pasta’s pretty much done, and we can set the table now.”

“Of course,” she replied, kissing my cheek before she moved on to the following tasks. Dad had a pork shoulder on the grill that he’d been smoking for a few hours and was beginning to slice up.

Within a few minutes, people began to arrive. Starlet’s dad showed up with his employees from Inked. Whitney brought a Jell-O poke cake. Weston’s family came with a salad, and my friends all came with their appetites. They brought a few of their family members, too.

Mom would’ve loved how packed the house was with people again. With laughter, with love, with friendship.

After he’d finished talking with Eric for a few minutes, I stepped outside with Dad, feeling the warm breeze sweeping through the night.

“How are you doing?” I asked.

He crossed his arms and smiled at me. He smiled. Over the past few years, I’d been making a collection of memories of his recent smiles. For a while, I thought he wouldn’t be able to do that again. Now, all I wanted was for my father to find at least one reason to smile daily.

“I’m doing okay. I decided to join the gym,” he told me. “Someone mentioned I should meditate, but I don’t think that’s for me. Then Eric told me his favorite form of meditation was lifting heavy shit, and I figured that was something I could get behind.”

“That’s good, Dad. I’m proud of you.”

He grinned and placed a hand against my shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Son. The person you are…the person you’re becoming…” He sniffled and shook his head slightly. “She would’ve been so damn proud of the man you are today. I’m just trying to take a page from your book, and make her proud, too.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you sure you’ll be okay this summer with me gone? I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Don’t you worry about me. I’m going to be fine. Besides, Weston and Eric already informed me that they aren’t going to take their eyes off me for too long,” he joked. “Did you know I’m going to Chicago to get inked by Eric?”

I arched my eyebrow. “Tattoos, huh?”

He snickered. “Some would call it a fifty-year-old life crisis.”

“Others would call it healing,” I said. “So keep doing that, Dad. Keep healing.”

We stood on the back porch for a little longer as the sun set over our heads. The sky bled with bursts of oranges and maroons, strings of purples intertwined with the blues, and we breathed it in.

“Not so bad, Ana,” Dad murmured.

Not so bad at all.

The meal was a hit. We could send everyone off with leftovers, just like Mom had done. Starlet even made everyone care packages with chocolate chip cookies to take with them. That was a thing she’d learned she loved to do—bake.

While she was still on the mission to find out who she was and what she’d become, I was proud of her for being patient with the process.

After everyone left, we tossed on comfy clothes and cleaned everything up. We packed the RV for the following day. Then we went over our road map one more time. “This is going to be the best trip ever,” Starlet stated as she crawled into bed with me that night.

“I can’t believe we are doing this.”

We fell asleep in one another’s arms. When we woke up, we watched the sun rise over the lake again before going on our adventure to see more sunrises. We sat on the bench Dad made for Mom and stared toward the sky as the colors of the sun painted the landscape right before our eyes.

Starlet rested her head against my shoulder as I wrapped my arm around her waist.

“I love you,” I swore.

“I love you,” she promised.

As the sun rose over us, I couldn’t help but feel our adventure was only beginning.

***

One Month Later

“How is this even real?” I asked Starlet as we finished reaching the top of the Grand Canyon. We’d been on our road trip for thirty-two days and witnessed thirty-two sunrises together, along with our fair share of sunsets. The trip had been packed with beautiful sights and weird stuff, too. Starlet wasn’t the biggest fan of Doll’s Head Trail in Georgia, where muddy, creepy doll heads and body parts were displayed through the dark, patch woodlands. Even though she was helping guide me through the trails, she held my arm tighter in that park. Dinosaur World in Kentucky was another highlight.

At one point, I was sure she was getting annoyed with me for making her stop at every single dinosaur statue on the roadside, but we’d managed to take a million pictures with T-Rex and his friends.

Watching her dance in the streets of the French Quarter of New Orleans was one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. Seeing how free Starlet became when she joined a random marching band traveling down Bourbon Street was the best thing in the world. She might not have known precisely what she would do with her life, but she knew how to be free that summer.

“Did you see me dancing with the drummer?” she asked me, wide-eyed with joy.

I smirked and pulled her to my side, kissing her forehead. “I saw you.” And I did. I saw her. I saw every piece of her with my eyes open and shut. Starlet’s aura was so bright that I couldn’t have missed it if I had tried. I felt her in every piece of me. Something about her just made the dark days that much brighter.

She never once fussed about needing to help me at some of the attractions. She never complained about driving the whole trip. She showed up with a grace I didn’t think I deserved and gave me her love without limits.

I paused as we sat atop the Grand Canyon, staring at the most breathtaking scenery I’d ever seen. The wind brushed against us, and I was almost sure it was Starlet’s mother saying hello. I quickly learned that that was how she liked to communicate—through the wind.

I wished I could’ve known her. I wished I could’ve met the woman who’d brought me the best gift I’d ever had. I didn’t know how to thank the universe for someone like Starlet. All I knew was that my gratitude was overflowing.

“Here, stand up and let me get a photograph of you facing the canyons,” I said as I waved my camera.

Starlet hopped up, turned her back toward me, and stretched her arms wide.

“That’s perfect! Keep standing there. Strike a few poses,” I directed. She did as I said, and I snapped a few more photographs before placing the camera down. “Okay, now turn back to me so I can get a few shots of your face.”

She spun around on her heels and gasped when she met my stare. “Oh my gosh, Milo,” she whispered, her hand flying to her mouth.

There I was, down on one knee, with an engagement ring in my hand. My body was shaking nonstop as I stared at Starlet. Every nerve in me was a wreck as she stayed frozen in place. I parted my mouth to speak, and my voice cracked the second the first word came out. “I love you, Star. I love you in a way that I didn’t even know love existed. Within a few months, you came into my world and turned my upside-down life right side up. You saved me from despair, taught me what unconditional love was, and you are the best person I’ve ever met, and I want to spend the rest of forever loving you fully. I want to be yours for the rest of my life, and I want you to be mine. So…” I nervously chuckled, shaking my head to try to stop the tears from falling down my eyes. “Marry me? Marry me, Star, and let’s chase the sun for the rest of our lives.”

She moved closer and reached toward me, touching my arms. “Yes,” she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Of course, I’ll marry you.” She didn’t even look at the ring as she pulled me to a standing position. Her lips locked with mine. I saw it all as I closed my eyes and kissed the woman of my dreams. I saw my future, I saw my past, and I saw my destiny. I was destined to love Starlet Evans, and she was destined to love me back. We were written in the stars—or, more so, the sunrises.

Life wouldn’t always be perfect, but I knew it would be safe with us together. I realized that was all I needed from life. I didn’t need perfection—I needed safety, which Starlet had been for me. She was the safest place to land, and my only goal was to be hers, too. On the good days, we’d find joy. On the bad days, we’d discover comfort within one another. I was thankful for that and for what Starlet taught me throughout our time together. That no matter what, everything was gonna work out fine.