Page 47 of Seeking Stars
"Yes," he exclaimed when he saw he'd found the right spot. "Here we are."
Liam parked the car on a hilltop, rising above the tops of the trees surrounding it. She got out of the car and turned on the spot, studying the place. He copied her, knowing what she could see: a few spots of city lights twinkling in the horizon, far in the distance, and darkness around them extending for miles.
"This is amazing," she said. "It's like we're all alone, surrounded by nothing but darkness."
"It's why this is such a great place to look at the stars."
He took the blanket out of the bag, setting it on the ground as she admired the skies.
"Wow. It's amazing."
He couldn't get enough of the wonder in her voice. "C'mere."
He sat with crossed legs on the blanket and invited her to sit next to him. She did, and they regarded the dark vault above them together in awe.
Liam sighed, the comfort of the stars filling him with peace.
"I wish I had brought a telescope," he whispered.
"You have one?" She set up her camera on a short tripod, elevating it to frame them better. She'd mentioned it didn't have night vision per se, but that she hoped to get some good footage with editing magic. As usual, he let himself forget she was recording this.
He got the bottle of Scotch and two tumblers out of the bag. "Yeah, I have a couple."
"So you do this often?"
"I used to. That's how I knew about this place."
They sat at a slight angle; he gave her one of the tumblers with a serving of the golden liquid.
"Thanks," she said as she took the glass.
"Cheers."
They clinked the tumblers together and took a sip.
He lifted his knees and rested his forearms on them. He looked up again and, taking a deep breath, let his eyes roam over the dark skies.
"What's the story?" she asked in a soft voice. The quiet of the place, nothing more than the sound of crickets around them, made anything louder than murmured words unwelcome.
"What do you mean?"
"How come you have telescopes, know about this place, et cetera?"
"Wow." He shook his head while looking at Taurus, Orion, and the Pleiades. "You really didn't look me up online, did you?"
"I told you I hadn't."
"Not even before working together? Maybe back when I was just one of those far-away Hollywood actors?"
"Nope. Not even back then. I followed your social media but didn't really go beyond that."
"No news alerts, then?"
When she didn't reply but opened her eyes wide in an unbelieving look, he grinned.
"No, Liam," she said, "no news alerts."
"No notifications on your entertainment app?"
