Page 23 of With Stars in Her Eyes
And I was going to be sleeping next to her—all night.
Alone…
Unless you counted the snoring septuagenarian in the office.
Or the piglet.
The old windowpanes shook against the barrage of snow and ice. Baxter’s head retreated toward Courtney’s chest, making the outside of Courtney’s coat shudder and shake.
“Did the reading really help?”
Courtney nodded.
“What did you end up deciding to read him?”
Courtney fumbled in her coat pockets and pulled out a small paperback. The illustration and fonts were dated. “It was on the shelf near me when I was setting up the cushions. One of Sam’s favorites, but I hadn’t read it before.”
“A Wrinkle in Time?” I flipped through the pages. “Lord, that’s a very apt first line for tonight. ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’”
Courtney stroked the trembling area of the coat. “I thought so too.”
“Well, I guess it’s time then.” I leaned against a small chair near the floor lined with quilts and cushions.
“Time for?” Courtney yawned.
“Time for you to go to sleep since I’m pretty sure you opened the shop today too, and now look exhaustedandare dealing with a migraine. I’ll read.” I moved the lantern closer.
“I know that reading to an animal probably seems a little bit absurd.”
“We’re camping out in a bookstore during a blizzard with a piglet. Reading to one isn’t any more absurd than this entire scenario.”
“I guess you’re right.” Purplish smudges shadowed beneath both her eyes as if she wasn’t sleeping well in general. Maybe it was the migraines. She shifted to position her head more comfortably on the cushion, and her eyes fluttered closed. She adjusted her coat zipper to let out Baxter’s trembling head a little more and then propped herself as if to make sure she wouldn’t roll over on him.
It was nearly impossible to tear my eyes away from Courtney’s face for several long seconds until I remembered I was supposed to be reading. I found the best light to see the page and began the story.
After several chapters, I thought Courtney had fallen asleep, but when I paused in my reading, she stirred.
“I think Baxter is asleep. Well done.” Courtney’s yawn was even bigger this time, but she muffled the sound with the back of her hand. “Are you going to sleep?”
“Soon. You go to sleep though.”
“O”—a third yawn—“kay. Sounds good.” The last two words slurred together. Her medications must be working because the lines of tension on her forehead had smoothed. “You can keep reading though. If you want, I mean.”
“I will.”
I had no idea how long I ended up reading or when I fell asleep. The furnace spluttering on when the power came back roused me. After several minutes of staring up at the ceiling of glow-in-the-dark stars, I felt Courtney move beside me.
The pig was still fast asleep. He was no longer inside Courtney’s coat but wrapped in a thick quilt between us. Courtney’s eyes were slightly open again.
“You okay?” Courtney said.
“Just staring up at the stars.”
Courtney shifted again, also rolling onto her back to look up. “Beautiful night to be sleeping under the stars.”
“Sure is.” I grinned. “Whoever put those up knew what they were doing.” I had spent so much of my life thinking about stars. When I glanced back at Courtney, her eyes were closed again, but she was smiling. She smiled broadly until her breathing became slow and rhythmic. I stared at her face in the lantern light until I fell asleep again.
CHAPTER 7Courtney
