Page 68 of One Last Run

Danica glanced sidelong at Pete, not feeling the cold at all. For some reason, the sight of Pete made her want to burst into tears.

"You guys go in. We'll be right behind you in a moment," Pete said, her eyes flicking to Danica's mouth. No, to Danica's quivering chin. She looked as though she may burst into tears at any moment.

Danica heard Izzy and Maggie crisp steps through the snow on the deck to walk back inside.

"You okay?" Pete asked.

“You betcha," Danica said with forced vigor. If she looked at Pete's perfect face for much longer, she was going to really start sobbing. She tilted her head skyward, looking up at the stars. "Look, your dog is right above us." She pointed up to Canis Major, Sirius' bright sparkle ever-obvious.

Pete snorted in amusement. "You know why I always loved Canis Major?"

"It's easy to find?" Danica asked.

"Because I always wanted a dog," Pete said. "To me, kids in stable homes had dogs. Dogs were loyal in a way that I wanted. Families on TV had dogs, which meant they had chosen to care for something for a lifetime. I always thought that if I was adopted, my family would have a dog."

Danica's heart clenched, and tears stung her eyes. "Did any of your foster families have dogs?"

Pete shook her head. "Nope. The longest I ever stayed with one was three years — that was where I met Lillian. But they had a bunch of foster kids, so adding a dog into the mix probably wouldn’t have been a good idea. So, Canis Major was my dog.

The stars were familiar, the same wherever I went. I'd imagine flying through them late at night, all alone but not lonely."

"Why didn't you get a dog when you graduated college?" Danica asked, wiping tears at her cheeks. She stared up at Canis Major, picturing a young Pete looking up at the same constellation to bring herself some comfort. Her heart ached for Pete in those moments.

Pete shrugged, leaning on the deck railing. "I traveled too much. It wouldn't have been fair."

"And now?" Danica asked.

Pete turned, her cheeks flushed in the cold. "I don't know what the future holds. I know what I want the future to hold,but… that’s something we should talk about when you haven’t eaten, like, two hundred milligrams of edibles.”

A long silence stretched between them, interrupted only by the muffled sounds of the other people in Mountain Village. Danica didn't know how to respond to that — didn't know if she should respond to that. Her head felt floaty, like it might untie from her neck at any moment. She reached to hold the edges of her beanie to keep her head attached. "I'm way too high for this conversation," she said finally, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Pete grinned. "I know. Let's go back inside."

"But I want to look at the stars," Danica whined, and Pete laughed quietly behind her, ushering her back inside as she traversed the slippery terrain of the patio.

Maggie and Izzy sat on the couch watching something on TV, but Danica took one look and decided she'd rather go lie down just in case her head decided to detach again. Pete walked her into her room, setting a fresh glass of water on her nightstand.

"Do you still have that app?" Danica asked.

"What app?" Pete asked, pulling her pajamas out of a drawer. She gestured for Danica to raise her arms, and Danica did, letting Pete undress her.

"The one you made. The night sky flying simulator?" Danica asked.

Pete looked a little bashful at the suggestion. "I do. Why?"

"I want to play it," Danica said, raising her arms again as Pete pulled her pajama shirt over her head. "I think I am exactly the right amount of high for that right now."

Pete grinned. "Okay. I'll go grab my computer in a minute. But stand up first."

With her hands on Pete's shoulders for balance, Danica let Pete remove her snow-wet sweatpants, replacing them with pajama pants. Pete had undressed her countless times, but thegentle way she dressed Danica in her pajamas now felt so tender and intimate that Danica wanted to burst into tears again.

Pete got her settled in bed, then left and returned with her laptop. "This is the only updated version I have," she explained, opening the laptop and hitting a few buttons before turning it toward Danica.

Danica's eyes widened, looking at the elaborate Start menu, tiny pinpricks of starlight swirling around the screen. Maybe it was the great design, maybe it was the great edibles, but the sheer artistry of the app was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. Pete settled beside her and gave her pointers for starting, and then Danica was maneuvering her way through the stars. Though the game took liberties with time and space, it was fun as hell. She sailed around Canis Major, then down into Lepus, the constellation she'd always said was her favorite.

"I lied," Danica said calmly as she circled the Lepus Nebula, lilac and tangerine colors swirling around the screen like a giant eye.

Pete tensed beside her. "What about?"

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