Day Twenty-Six: Backyard
"Do you see the three stars there that form a triangle?" Seth, says, pointing up at the night sky.
"I... No I– Wait, yes. Yes, I see it."
"Those three are part of Cassiopeia." A thrill rushes through me and I can't help but laugh.
I lean against the railing of the cottage's back porch, smiling. "I've never been able to spot a constellation before." I glance over at him. Awash in moonlight, Seth looks like something out of a storybook: a forest spirit who's taken on human form to woo a mortal woman, but who'll shortly return to his native shape– perhaps a silver-winged hawk or a fleet-footed wolf– and disappear into the woods. "How do you know so much? Was it your dad?"
He nods. "When my mother was still alive, we used to go camping. He loved to talk about the stars. He saw the lunar landing when it was first broadcast and hated it."
"What? Why?"
"He said it took all the mystery out of it."
I'm surprised because it seems such a romantic way of seeing things and I never imagined Seth's father as being anything but practical, much like Seth himself. But then Seth can be so wonderfully impractical about certain things that I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
"I wish we could stay longer. It's so beautiful."
"It was a good idea to come up here," he says and puts his arm around my shoulders.
I lean my head against him. "In less than a month we'll be married..."
He chuckles. "And I'll officially be your trophy husband."
My fingers dart under his jacket and reach for that spot along his ribs where he's ticklish. He jumps and snags my hand. I was thrilled to discover that even Seth has a weakness.
Grinning, I lean into him and hug him. His arms wind themselves around me and I'm warm even in the nippy spring air.