The Stars Will Shine (35 page)

We down the rest of our meals, both still starved from the long hours today spent hiking in the Superstition Mountains. The sun was scorching, so it was a good thing we started early in the morning; however, Aiden kept insisting on taking side trails that were most definitely not official trails, and I kept having to remind him about the number of people that have gotten lost, remain missing, or have died in those mountains by foolishly doing that. We had a bit of a scare when, at one point, we realized we were running low on water and our original trail was nowhere in sight. It took us twenty minutes to find our way back to the path—only with the help of a string of peculiarly shaped Saguaro cacti we swore we saw on our way awry. I could have hugged each and every one of those cacti that led us back to safety; only, it wasn’t a feasible reaction, for obvious reasons. After that brush with death, we managed to make it back to the mostly deserted parking lot two hours later, and subsequently, in our gratitude for the second chance at life we were granted, made out for thirty minutes in my car, mouths cottony with thirst, while the air-conditioning blasted our overheated bodies.

“College is going to suck without you,” I say as I watch Aiden gulp down the rest of his water, clearly still dehydrated. After finally realizing I don’t in fact want to move far away from my dad, I accepted an offer to attend Arizona State University. I don’t want to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but I’m actually ready for it…excited even.

“Nah,” he says. “It’ll be a good experience. And I think you’ll really enjoy it.”

“I’d enjoy being your groupie more,” I tease, running my foot from his ankle to his knee. “Riding the tour bus with you….Riding
you
in the tour bus…” Aiden nearly chokes on his last bite of steak.

“I hate to break it to you, darling,” he says, coughing some, “but the beds are bunks and they’re all right next to each other. And—I’m not sure whether you know this or not—but as our lead guitarist, there’s an
extremely
high probability that your cousin will also be bunking on our bus.” He leans forward, finally recovering his composure with a waggish smile. “Now, in all honesty, I really don’t mind if you don’t—”

I laugh in surrender as I toss my napkin onto the table, my stomach full to bursting.

Whitney comes back over, and in her hand she carries a platter with two drinks.

“Oh, we didn’t order champagne,” Aiden starts, but Whitney smiles as she sets the glasses in front of us. Tiny bubbles rise in the pale yellowish liquid.

“Sparkling cider,” she corrects, flashing us a knowing smile. “They’re from that young man over—” she begins to point at a table, but it appears its occupants recently left—“oh, there he is! At the door. Just leaving now!”

She moves out of the way as I lean to the side to get a look.

And my heart stops in my chest.

“Simon?” I utter, not believing it. There’s no way he can hear me from this distance, but I’m sure my face clearly conveys my shock at seeing him here. The last I saw of him, he was driving away in his red Corvette, leaving me behind with a fuming father who thought I’d flashed the guy my tits in the Salt River Canyon. He smiles at me and tips his head in parting acknowledgment. Behind him, I briefly glimpse the other three guys I never thought I’d see again—what were their names—Matt, Flint, and Vince?—playfully shoving each other. Simon lets the door fall closed, and I lose them through the dark glass.

Whitney begins to take her leave. “Oh”—she stops and turns to me again, her finger raised—“he said for me to tell you that your debt is paid off.”

When Whitney is gone, Aiden asks, “What was that about?” His smile is crooked with curiosity when he looks at me.

I smile down at my hands, still in a state of disbelief.

Simon, man. That was so long ago. And he was so sure (and so right, I guess) he’d get his payment one day.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

I let my gaze settle softly on Aiden’s face. I feel a buoyancy in my chest when I look at him, feel my eyes brightening, sense his light and his love enveloping me. With his fingers, he plays with the tips of mine. And I know Simon is right—I’m really smiling. It’s a genuine smile when I look at Aiden and inwardly acknowledge everything I now have—Aiden’s love; my renewed relationship with my father; my dignity; the friendships I formed this past year with Trevyn, who never held my horrible outburst against me and says there’s always a place for me at Miles of Vinyls if ever I return to NorCal…Amber, who has even asked me to be a bridesmaid in hers and Trevyn’s wedding…Dylan, who is now quite possibly one of Aiden’s and my biggest supporters…and their bandmates, all guys that live life how they want to live it…

It’s the Delilah smile he wanted to see all along. I needed that one summer, and the people in it, to help me turn things around.

I tilt my head to the side a little as I appraise him.

“But in short, I guess it’s further proof that I’m finally, truly happy,” I say.

Aiden’s face slowly breaks into a grin, the sincerity twinkling in his eyes. He lifts his glass and invites me to do the same.

“Now, that’s something I’ll cheer to,” he says as he clinks his flute to mine and brings it to his smiling lips.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to everyone who supported my dream of becoming an author. I really couldn’t have done it without your support, so thank you for believing in me wholeheartedly. Here’s to many more books to come! :)