Page 36 of Salvation

“Now lean on your elbows…”

She drew them up and laughed. “Now I look like a woman trying to pick guys up on the beach. All I need is a bikini.”

He chuckled. “Maybe the Greeks left that part out of the myth. But look.” He pointed up. “Cassiopeia.”

She stretched back out, feeling self-conscious about the way she’d stuck her chest out. But when she refocused on the stars, she saw a woman take shape.

“Whoa. Wait. I see her.”

Now she was the one talking about constellations like they were people she knew.

“See? Easy. Now the bear…” Todd emphasized the last word as if introducing the main event.

“The Dipper.”

“The Bear,” he insisted.

“Where?”

“The end of the dipper is his nose. He’s looking left, toward his mate.”

“He has a mate?”

Todd answered slowly. “Well, maybe he’s looking for her.”

Her heart fluttered a little at the idea. If only she could be a bear.

“The dipper is his nose,” Todd repeated. Typical male — dropping the romantic part like a hot coal. “The cup part of the dipper is his back. Picture him wearing a little saddle blanket or a jacket, like he’s been forced to work for a circus.”

His words dripped scorn, and she looked at him. Man, he really took this bear stuff personally.

“Like that part?” When she pointed, her hand brushed his.

“Yeah. And his tail is over there, but those stars are fainter. Mainly, you have to picture the chest part.”

He motioned toward his body, and yeah, that part was easy to equate to a bear. He was that big, that broad, that solid.

She turned away and puffed a little air toward her face. Suddenly, she felt flush. Maybe she should concentrate on the stars. She found the bear’s nose again, followed the line of stars along its back and—

“Oh! I see it! It’s like a polar bear.”

“Grizzly,” he growled.

She squinted again. “How can you tell?”

“Definitely a grizzly,” he said vaguely.

“Cool. I can see the bear.”

“Like I said. Easy.”

“You make it easy,” she said. A little like falling in love with him. Far, far too easy.

They lay in silence, looking at the stars. She found Taurus and Cassiopeia again, just for practice, then turned back to the bear and contemplated what Todd had said.

“Does he ever find her?” she asked.

“Find who?”

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