Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
I shake my head. “This is my last class of the day. I just need some air is all. I’ll see you next week.”
I get to my car and drive home to Vinnie’s house. When I pull into the driveway and exit the Mustang, my heart is beating fast.
I’m having a hard time catching my breath.
I feel like I’m hyperventilating, and I don’t know why. The day went fine, but then I remember…
Yesterday, when I got home from school, what awaited me.
I draw a breath, leave my car, and walk, shoulders back and head upright, to my private entrance in the back.
And my stomach falls.
On my stoop is a heart-shaped package.
I gulp.
Not again.
I slowly bend over and pick the box up, open it.
It’s chocolates. I love chocolate, but I have no idea where this box came from.
Hawk maybe?
After last night?
I take out my phone and text him quickly.
Did you leave me a box of chocolates?
He responds almost immediately.
No I didn’t. Don’t eat any.
I didn’t, I text back.
Good. Do you want me to come over?
No, I refuse to be a damsel in distress. There’s no reason for him to rush over just because a box of chocolates is left on my stoop. I’ll simply throw them out.
No, I text him back. I’m just going to throw them out. Worst-case scenario is it’s just a waste of food.
I hate wasting food, but chocolate isn’t exactly nutritious anyway.
I head to the trash can, and something slides out from the chocolate box.
It’s a small piece of paper. I pick it up, read the writing on it.
The finest selection, handpicked with care. One in particular holds a special surprise. A little decadence, a little danger.
I gulp again as my stomach churns.
Now I wish I had told Hawk to come over.
33
HAWK
I should’ve gone to Daniela.
But she told me not to, and I don’t want to be pushy. The last thing I want to do is pressure her.
But God, I want to protect her.
I don’t think I’ve felt this strong of an urge to protect someone ever. Not even the way I protect Eagle.
Not even the way Ted Tucker protected me.
I roll the earring around in my gloved palm.
“Who was that on the phone?” Falcon asks me.
“You mean who was I texting?” I blink. “Just…an appointment I have.”
I don’t like lying to my brother, but he has enough on his mind.
“What’s that in your hand?”
“Also nothing.”
Seventeen Years Earlier…
“Why do you wear that earring?” I ask Ted.
He shrugs. “Because I like it.”
“My dad says earrings are for girls,” I say.
“No,” Ted says. “Lots of guys wear earrings. Lots of guys wear necklaces and bracelets too.”
I frown. “But why do you wear that particular earring?”
“The star?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m a Texan, for one.” Ted gives me a grin.
“Right. The Lone Star State.”
“Born and bred,” he says.
“Me too. We were all born here. My mom and dad too.”
He wrinkles his forehead. “Your mom wasn’t born in Mexico?”
“No. Her parents were, but they came here before she was born.”
“So you’re all native Texans.”
“Yeah,” I say, “and we love the Lone Star State, but we don’t wear star earrings.”
“Well,” Ted says, “that’s only one of the reasons why I wear a star earring.”
“What’s the other reason?”
Ted fiddles with the star as he unscrews it, takes it out of his earlobe, and holds it out to me.
He places it in my palm.
It’s light.
“Is it real silver?” I ask.
He chuckles. “It’s actually white gold.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“I bought it for myself when I graduated from high school. With some graduation money.”
“So…you were going to tell me the other reason why you like the star.”
“Yeah.” He looks up. “Because it reminds me of the stars in space.”
Stars are professional in space, aren’t they?
That’s what Ted said when I told him Dad said the earring was unprofessional.
Instinctively I look upward too. Of course it’s broad daylight, so I don’t see any stars.
“It’s amazing how we can see so many of them here on the ranch,” Ted says. “When you’re in a big city, the light of the city filters them out.”
I simply nod.
“But they’re always there. Even when you can’t see them. Even when they burn out, the light still reaches the earth for millennia.” He sighs. “Because they’re so far away, it takes their light that long to get here.”
“Yeah, we learned that in science class.”
He smirks at that. “Yeah, but science class can be boring. You need to think about it, about the miracle that it truly is. That the stars continue to shine even after they burn out. It’s a metaphor for so many things.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“Like life, Hawk,” he says. “Don’t ever forget that even after you’re gone, your starlight will shine on the people whose lives you’ve touched.”
His words hit me hard.
I’m young. Just a kid of twelve. I don’t think about death. About legacy.