Gemma grins and squeezes Clara’s hand. “It’s alright—now we have all the time in the world to catch up!” Gemma answers, laughing. “Bring your young man up anytime you like, or just stop in on us for a cup of tea. You’re more than welcome.”
“Here she goes again,” Frankie mutters. “If you keep inviting people up here, I’m filing for divorce.”
“As if you could,” Gemma replies, teasing him. “Where would you live, and who would make your favorite ginger nut biscuits for you?”
“Got me again,” Frankie hangs his head woefully. “I’m trapped. Trapped, I tell you! The woman is keeping me a prisoner here.”
“Didn’t you just say you didn’t want to leave?” Clara asks, giggling.
“He’s getting old,” Gemma whispers, making a circling motion beside her temple. “Feeble. It’s very sad, really.”
“That’s it, woman!” Frankie announces, going over to Gemma and wrapping his hands around her waist before dipping her. “You’re going to be subjected to the horrendous torture of kisses and dancing under starlight until you learn your place!”
“Oh, no,” Gemma murmurs, relaxing in his arms. “How shall I cope?”
Frankie bends down and kisses her gently, and the two of them snuggle together as they begin to sway back and forth.
“We’ve been dismissed,” I say to Clara. “They’ve dropped out of reality now, and there’s no telling when they’ll come back.”
We leave Frankie and Gemma giggling and dancing in the garden and head inside. As much as I enjoy watching their antics, it’s left me feeling hollow.
Now I know that’s exactly what I want… with Clara. I don’t just want to be friends with her—I want her heart.
When we enter the main room, there is a table laid out with cakes, biscuits, soft drinks and coffee. Nico hurries over excitedly and loads up a plate.
“That’s an awful lot of sugar, young man,” Clara says.
“Since when are you worried about sugar?” Nico replies.
“Never. I want you to save me some.”
We all get some sweet treats and go and sit down under the main window. The view of the stars is unparalleled, with glittering trails swirling from one end of the sky to the other.
I watch Clara eat her cake, breaking off small pieces with her fingers and popping them into her mouth. The idea of tasting her lips when they’re smeared in cinnamon and honey makes heat rise in me, and I have to look away.
“Do you know the stars, Dad?” Nico asks.
“No, Nico, I don’t. There’s a leaflet here, and a poster for you to take home, as well. Let’s see which ones you can pick out, then we’ll go and look through the big telescope.”
“Cool! I’ve never looked through a telescope before. One of the kids at my old school had one, but he never showed it to me.”
“Well, this one’s a bit different. You’ll be able to see everything with it. Gemma and Frankie are very serious about their study of the sky.”
While Nico and I finish our cake, I go through the leaflet with him, pointing out the stars we can see with the naked eye. When I look over at Clara, she’s watching us with a soft expression. I smile at her, and when she smiles back, I feel something deep connect between us.
We both love Nico, and she knows that. She’s happy for me to be in his life, and maybe, if I can prove to her I’m a good father, she’ll think about letting me back into her heart.
When our cake and soda are all finished, I take Clara and Nico into the next room, where the giant telescope is aimed at the sky. Nico shouts with enthusiasm and jumps into the big chair under it, fiddling with the controls.
“Hang on there, kiddo,” I say, laughing. “You won’t get anywhere if you just spin around randomly. Here, Gemma and Frankie have left some coordinates for us to look at.”
I show Nico how to move the telescope, and he starts looking up at the celestial clusters the others recommended to us. His bouncy excitement soon gives way to wide-eyed wonder as he gets a close-up look at stars, planets, comets and constellations.
“Nico is loving this,” Clara says. “Thank you, Galen.”
“I hope his mom is loving it, too?” I ask, gently taking her hand. She nods and smiles, but tactfully takes her hand back.
While Nico explores the sky, I take Clara over to a smaller one in the corner of the room. I adjust it carefully, then ask her to take a look.
