Page 84 of Must Love Bees
“Okay.” She smiled and ran up the stairs.
Once she’d reached the top of the stairs, Charlie ran his fingers through his hair. “I have to do this, don’t I?”
“You don’t have to. But she’s asking them to come here, so you could keep an eye on them. And you’ve met Kerrielynn. I can vouch for the others.” She smiled when he looked her way.
“Can you really see me with a house full of teenage girls?” The face he made was priceless.
Astrid burst into laughter.
“It’s not funny.” He sighed but then he smiled his beautiful smile.
“Your expression was.” She kept laughing. “If you’re that worried, you can call in backup.”
His brows rose. “And that would be?”
She pointed at herself. “Or Tansy.”
“Astrid,” Nova called down. “Where are you?”
“I’m coming.” She headed to the stairs. “On my way.” She looked back, but Charlie was nowhere to be seen.
After bath time, Astrid lay between the girls on Nova’s big bed, reading. “That’s beautiful. Like a firework in outer space.” Astrid pointed at the picture on the page, the big book propped against her knees.
“That’s a comet.” Nova traced the long tail of the picture. “Halley was named after Halley’s Comet.”
“It only appears in our sky every seventy-six years and you can see it in the sky for six months. Did you know that?” Halley adjusted her pillow. “Mom saw it when she was little and that’s why she became an astronomer.”
“Mom loved stars.” Nova held Scorpio up. “Wanna look out her telescope?”
“It’s late, Nova.” Charlie came into the room, wearing a T-shirt and athletic shorts. He sat in the rocking chair and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Maybe next time.”
“Yay!” Nova made Scorpio do a little dance. “Next time!”
Astrid was trying not to ogle this version of Charlie. Sporty Charlie was equally as handsome as beekeeper-suit-wearing Charlie or business attire Charlie.
“Did you hear that, Astrid? Next time.” Nova scooted closer to her, her head against Astrid’s shoulder.
“I did.” She hoped there would be a next time. “Where were we?” She turned the page. “The black hole is a point in space where the gravity pulls so much, even light can’t escape.”
“Like a big vacuum.” Nova made an impressively loud whooshing sound.
Halley laughed. “I bet it sounds just like that.”
“There’s no sound in space.” Charlie sat forward, his elbows on his knees.
“We know,” Halley and Nova said in unison.
“Right.” Charlie smiled, smothering a yawn. “What was I thinking?”
“It was a joke, Charlie.” Nova shrugged, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Halley started laughing then. “Good one, Nova.”
Nova lit up. “I know.”
Astrid smiled. “You’re both funny. And so smart. I didn’t know anything about Halley’s Comet or black holes or that one million earths could fit inside the sun.” She set the book aside.
“Mom taught us.” Halley rolled onto her side to face Astrid. “She loved space. She said, when she was little, she wanted to be an astronaut more than anything. She would talk about it for hours.”
