Page 107 of A Summer of Stars

He nodded, approving. “Hard work is what life is all about. It builds good character and a strong heart. Maybe you’ll rub off on my son,” he said.

A muscle in my jaw twitched. “I don’t mean to overstep, but your son is one of the most hardworking people I know.”

He laughed. “I don’t imagine that it’s very difficult to be good at something that involvespretending.”

I inhaled. “Mr. Alvarez, have you ever seen one of your son’s movies?”

“Excuse me?”

“Have you seen anything your son has acted in?”

“No, but—”

“Then you have no right to speak about him like that. Even if he was a horrendous actor, you’d still have no right to speak about him like that because he’s yourson. And I apologize, I do, because this is your home and you’ve been kind enough to let me stay for the night. But your son rips himself apart over his career becauseyoudon’t believe what he does is good enough. He won’t watch himself act because he thinks that makes him arrogant, something you’ve ledhim to believe.” His face twisted more and more with annoyance, prepared to argue.

“You’re correct,” he said. “You have no right to talk to me like that under my roof.”

My blood boiled. Inconsiderate, traditional, stubborn man. I should have stepped away. Apologized. Eaten my words. But Kieran didn’t deserve this.

I exhaled. “The last conversation my mother and I had before she died was an argument over the fact that I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to enter pro tennis once I graduated high school, and she disagreed. She said that I needed something to fall back on because careers like professional sports weren’t kind to women.” I paused, looking at the ocean. She’d love this beach. She’d find more than enough seashells to decorate the kitchen island with. I could picture her running her fingers through the sand, trying to find the smoothest ones.Wouldn’t this just look beautiful on a necklace?she’d say.

“There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t regret that our last conversation was an argument. I spent years wondering if she would be happy that I went to college but pursued tennis anyway. Don’t let your son live his entire life wondering if his family is proud of him, because this family is his entire life.”

I left him to ponder my words, stepping off the back deck and onto the sand.

Sand in my shoes, sweat in my sports bra, and stress slithering up my calf muscles were unpleasant, all the time. But it tripled in unpleasantness when I was trying to be quiet. My legs shook as the stairs groaned under my shoes.

“Be quiet,” I angrily whispered at the stairs. I just needed to get into the shower before anyone could smell me.

“Abuela, you’re not listening to me.”

My weight sank into the stairs, jolting at the sound of Kieran’s voice. I whipped my gaze around, finding a door cracked open at the end of the hall, across from the bathroom. Not ideal.

Quietly, I took the next step and the next, making it to the top of the stairs. With long, slow movements toward the bathroom door, their voices became clearer.

“Alejandro, this is important to her, you must go to Madrid.”

I stilled.

“You haven’t received the results of your blood work or X-rays yet—”

“Dios mío, you’ve let your father get into your head with that phone call. I’m fine!”

“But—”

“Do you tell the stars about her?”

“Oh, God, not this again,” he groaned.

“Do you?”

“Abuela—”

“I was asking to be polite, but since you’re going to be stubborn, then I’ll tell you: I already know the answer. It was obvious enough from all the pictures online. Then last night you wouldn’t take your eyes off her. You watched her move as if she sculpted the moon herself. You look like a puppy.”

A pause. All I could hear was the pounding of my heartbeat. I questioned for a moment if it was drowning out their voices.

“You keep this big heart of yours so locked up, and for what? To protect it from something you’d regret missing out on at my age? I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I know how much thatlast girl hurt you… how difficult it is to trust others now… But I’ve noticed the way Luna sees you—in those pictures and in person. There are stars in her eyesfor you. You twoknoweach other.”