Page 63 of Only Some Stars Fall

We had planned to have a big dinner at the house with Mr. Croft, but seeing that Silsby has turned into a ghost town, we head to the lodge to keep Elle company. We tell ourselves that fried food and endless sodas will cure the uneasy feeling sittingin our bellies, but I can’t help feeling emotional that my time at this place is so limited.

I’ll miss the smell that invades my senses every time I walk in: a mix of musk, wood polish, and leather. I’ll miss people-watching and interacting with everyone, from the retirees to the young families on vacation. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ll miss the obscene number of taxidermied animal heads that stared me down every time I sat at this bar. Alex slides onto her regular stool, and I place my bag on mine.

“I’ll be right back. I just have a little parting gift for Rhonda,” I say, pulling a bottle of Jim Beam and a silver flask with the word ‘Boss’ engraved across the front out of my bag. I head back to her office.

I saw Rhonda this morning and could have given the gift to her then and made a show of it, but over the last few months, Rhonda and I found an understanding. She is a woman of few words, but her love for this place was never questioned. The Andersons are like family to her, and I love her for that. She is not one to show emotion openly, and I can’t think of much she would hate more than a big, gushy goodbye.

I smile to myself, imagining her smirk tomorrow morning when she finds my little parting gift on her desk. I add a small note that says simply:Thank you.I make sure to write in tiny handwriting at the bottom of the card,P.S. Your strawberry shortcake might be the best thing I have ever tasted, start selling that stuff.I take one last look around the cluttered office, full of pictures from over the years, knickknacks, and discarded equipment and supplies, all in need of a dusting. This whole place feels like comfort, and my heart already feels nostalgic for it all despite not having left yet. I close the door softly and reluctantly and walk back out to the bar.

“They are going to be okay. If there are any men who know these woods, it’s them. As for Hux, well, hopefully, this littleouting will be a wake-up call for him.” Elle’s forearms are stretched across the bar as she holds one of Alex’s hands. When they see me coming, Elle straightens up, flashing me a smile and changing her somber tone to playful sass.

“I can’t believe the two of you are leaving me.” Elle juts out her bottom lip at us as I hoist myself up on my stool. “What can I bribe you ladies with to make you both come back next summer?”

“By next summer, all I know is I better be some rich asshole’s personal assistant, or my parents are going to start questioning what they are paying for.” Alex takes a bite of her sandwich, her mouth full of food. “And I’m sure Everly here will be running some boutique marketing firm by then.” She winks at me, clearly trying to brighten my mood.

“Yeah, right.” I roll my eyes at her, and then they instinctively wander over to that screen door, willing him to walk through it.

“Hey, you never know. There is always the chance California falls into the ocean, and then you will have no choice but to come back to me.” Elle throws a piece of popcorn at Alex, who catches it in her mouth, a party trick they have been working to perfect all summer.

The three of us chat for a while at the quiet bar. Elle is planning to take a road trip to Vermont in the next few weeks to visit the girl she’s spent most of the summer hanging out with. Elle’s whole face lights up when she tells us about her, and I feel a stab of jealousy pierce my heart. I feel the desperation for Hux start to creep in, and swallowing becomes hard, so I don’t add much to the conversation and focus on pushing the food around on my plate.

I’m about to ask Alex if she’s ready to head back to the house, suddenly feeling the overwhelming need to curl up in bed when the sound of distant sirens blows through the screendoor. Alex and Elle are in a fit of laughing tears over something Alex has said, and I’m not sure they even notice the commotion.

“Shh! Do you guys hear that?” Normally, I wouldn’t even pick up on the faint sound—sirens are a permanent fixture in the city, like the sound of crickets here. Since being in Silsby, I realize I haven’t heard a siren even once in the last three months. The noise, even far away, is so jarring it makes me stand up and head for the windows at the front of the lodge.

“Hear what?” Alex says as she wipes tears away and tries to curb her giggles. She walks up behind me as I push my face up to the window and cup my eyes, trying to see out past the rain.

At first, all I can see is raindrops sliding down the glass, but then it’s there, blue and red hitting the water and turning the raindrops into a blur of color, making it hard to tell what direction they are coming from or where they are going. My heart leaps into my throat.

I open the front door to the lodge and walk out onto the covered porch with Alex and Elle behind me.

“It’s them! I just got the word!” Hux’s mom comes hurrying down the porch with a jacket haphazardly thrown on, the hood over her head, trying to shield herself from the unrelenting rain. She left the coat unzipped, defeating most of its purpose.

She grabs my hand. “They are okay, honey. Everybody is okay.” Hux’s mom is the definition of a tough Maine woman, but I can see the streaks and tears of relief that have cascaded down her cheeks.

I’m about to ask her if they told her anything else when they called when two warden trucks and a caravan of civilian vehicles come barreling down the dirt road and quickly fill the parking lot of Anderson’s.

Hux’s mother quickly descends the stairs, meeting the first truck where it sits running, windshield wipers draggingacross its glass at a rapid pace. My heart feels like it’s stopped. I stand frozen, waiting for the doors to open.

Finally, the passenger side opens, and Mr. Anderson comes around the front of the vehicle, his figure flashing in front of the lights as he embraces his wife in a fierce hug while kissing the top of her head. A moment later, the back door opens, and I see that tall, lean, muscular body I have been desperately waiting for slide out of the seat. He smiles at his mom but then looks up to the porch, our eyes meeting as the rain soaks his unkempt hair. His emotion is raw and visible, and without thinking, I start toward him.

I stop short when the other back door swings open. Briefly, I assume it’s another warden, but then I see him. I see a face I have never met before but looks so strikingly similar to the man I love. Similar to the couple standing in front of me.

Hux’s mom lets out an audible combined gasp and scream. I see her legs begin to shake, and Mr. Anderson quickly wraps his arm around her waist, holding her up.

“Holy fuck, it’s Storm,” Elle whispers from behind me.

Storm Anderson is alive. His face is blank as he glances up at the porch, maybe at us, or maybe at the home he hasn’t seen in two years before hesitantly going toward his mother.

The air feels tense and devoid of oxygen as we all stand in the pouring rain, watching this reunion unfold.

Finally, Storm’s arms open, and his mother launches herself into his soaking body. Her cries become an unleashed mixture of pain and relief.

I’m also overloaded with emotion. I don’t even know what I’m feeling at this point. Grief for the reunion with my mother I will never get, happiness for this broken family, or an overwhelming sadness at the uncertainty of where I stand with Hux. How do I fit into this place that will forever be branded intomy skin?

It’s all too much, as I sink to my knees.

I feel his hands first, that current of electricity amplified by the water that engulfs us from every direction. Hux scoops me up, holding my body close to his, our heartbeats colliding beneath our shirts.

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