by Nancy Star
frown. She wasn’t sure her mother knew she’d done that
either, but now that Henry pointed it out, she quickly
put several of the little pieces in her mouth. She offered the last piece of the frown to Henry and he ate it.
“Henry dear,” she said after he swallowed. “Would you
mind terribly if I didn’t come to your camp party today?
They need me at the memory center. They’re having a
party too. And they’re short-staffed. If you mind terribly, I’ll come of course. ”
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Henry looked at his mother for help. Even if he could
speak, her mother’s question was full of potholes. Should
he mind if she couldn’t come? What did it mean to mind
terribly? He looked sad. He looked like he wanted his
grandmother to be at his camp celebration.
“Please come,” Lane said. “Henry’s been working on
a surprise for us. You don’t want to miss that, do you?”
Sylvie thought about and said, “No. I don’t. You win.”
“Yay,” Lane said. “I win.”
h h
h h
Family and guests were invited to come at eleven. At
a quarter to, Lane and Sylvie started down the path to
the Rec.
Her mother seemed nearly electric, humming as she
walked, arms skittering about as if she were having an
extended and agitated conversation with herself in her
head. A year ago, a month ago, a week ago, Lane might
have ignored this. But she had grown so weary of ignor-
ing things. She stopped walking. “I can see you’re upset.”
Her mother looked startled. “Not at all.”
Lane ignored the denial. “It’s understandable. If I had
my way? There would never be another eclipse of the
sun. There would never be any more eclipses of any kind.
But I don’t get to choose what happens in the galaxy and
neither do you. All we get to choose is what we do in our
family. And I don’t think we’ve been choosing very well.”
“Don’t do this now. Not today.”
“I agree. Not today. Today is supposed to be a happy
day for Henry. It’s his big end-of-camp celebration. Let’s try and enjoy it, for him. And tomorrow, we can talk.”
Her mother’s eyes held a question. “About everything.”
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Sylvie started walking.
“Just pretend,” Lane called to the back of her mother’s
head. “Pretend to enjoy Henry’s surprise. Pretend for once it’s a regular day.” The back of her mother’s head nodded
briskly. Of course her mother could do that. She was an
excellent pretender.
h h
h h
As Lane expected, Sylvie had no problem pretend-
ing it was a regular day. During the short play about
the hunt for the Gemini constellation, she leaned over
and told Lane she thought the children had done an
excellent job of learning their lines. During the song
and piano recital, she ignored the lyrics about the sun
and the moon and complimented the melody. As they
walked past the paper-plate mobiles, she appeared oblivi-
ous that the plates were in simulated orbit and instead
admired the thick brushstrokes that decorated them. As
for the pinhole boxes on display, she kept her distance
from those.
Henry seemed very proud, as if he’d had something to
do with every part of it. And maybe he had. It was only
when he took Lane’s hand to lead her and his grandmother
to the back room where his mural was waiting, that she
felt his grip tighten and his mood shift.
“You okay, buddy?” she asked him.
He nodded and stopped. Lane turned toward the
mural and read the title displayed above it, on the wall:
The Oh Henry Galaxy.
She recognized some elements right away: the Earth,
the Sun, the planets. It took her a moment to recognize the constellations. Henry had invented them all. So creative,
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she thought and the next thought surprised her; it was
exactly what his father would have done.
Henry took her hand and led her to the legend that
was posted on the wall, next to the mural. She could feel
him studying her face as she read it aloud.
• Constellation Number 1: Aaron the Hunter
• Constellation Number 2: Aaron the Eagle
• Constellation Number 3: Aaron Major
• Constellation Number 4: Aaron Minor
• Constellation Number 5: Hank Aaron the Big Dipper
• Constellation Number 6: Nathan the Winged Horse
Henry was still watching her when she felt a hand
on her back. A firm hand, thin fingers, gentle pressure.
Her mother’s hand gently pushing her. Prompting her.
Lane understood.
“Oh Henry,” she said. “This is spectacular.”
“Take a picture,” Sylvie urged her. “You should send
it to a magazine. You should send it to the Guild. They
should do a story about Henry and his galaxy. Such an
imagination.”
Henry beamed and let out a long breath; it made
Lane’s eyes fill to realize he’d been worried about her
reaction to his mural.
h h
h h
As for the actual eclipse itself, Dylan announced to the
visitors partway through the celebration that the view on
the Island was going to be a C-minus at best.
“More like a D,” he admitted a few minutes later. And
then finally, “It’s an F. But don’t feel bad. I have a great 397
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solution.” He proceeded to invite everyone to join him
in a viewing party via video chat, with his dad. “He’s in
Nashville. He’s been racing all over the place trying to
find the best spot to view the path of totality. It’s going to be epic.”
Sylvie, Lane and Henry opted to make origami cranes
instead. Lane was helping her mother fix the folds in her
paper when she heard Dylan grumbling about how the
spotty cell service in the Rec was totally ruining his day.
The crowd around him dispersed.
Some people moved to listen to a talk about eclips-
es and the sea, by a mom who was a scientist. Some
went to participate in an eclipse poetry slam, run by a
dad who was poet. Lane, Sylvie and Henry continued
to work on their cranes. They had just finished when
Nathan arrived.
“No way in the universe I was going to miss this,” he
told Henry. He followed them to the back room, to see
Henry’s mural. “Wow. That is the most amazing painting
I’ve seen in my life. And I’ve lived a long time and seen
a lot of paintings.”
When Henry walked him over to the legend on the
wall and pointed to the Nathan constellation, Nathan
bowed and in his best Good-Guy Knight of the Round
Table voice announced, “I am honored and forever in your service, my talented liege.”
Henry smiled and in a very quiet, clear voice said,
“Thank you.”
Lane grabbed him in a tight hug and immediately
excused herself to hurry out of the room before Henry
could see that she was weeping.
h h
h h
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They were walking home, Lane and Nathan ahead, Henry
and Sylvie lagging behind, when Nathan asked Lane if
they could have dinner.
“Of course,” Lane said. “We were talking about getting
lobster.” She noticed his reaction. “You meant just me?”
Embarrassed, Nathan nodded. “Is it a terrible idea?
I thought maybe Sylvie or Amanda could watch Henry.
Forget it. You’re right. It’s the worst idea I’ve ever had.
I take it back.”
“It’s not the worst idea,” she told him. “It’s just, I’m
not sure my mom is up to watching Henry. Not today.
And it would probably make her feel awkward having
a babysitter around. And the lobsters were to celebrate
Henry’s mural.” She didn’t notice that while she was run-
ning through her list of reasons to decline, Henry and
Sylvie had caught up and were listening too.
“Why don’t you pick us up some lobsters and then
go out?” Sylvie suggested. “Henry and I can have our-
selves a lobster dinner party on the deck. What do you
say, Henry?”
Henry gave her two thumbs up. He turned to his
mom and waited. It was her call.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Nathan!” The greeter at the restaurant gave Nathan a
hug. “So great to have you back.”
“Great to be back.” As soon as they were seated and
alone, at the last available table on the porch, Nathan
apologized. “Sorry I didn’t introduce you. I have no idea
who that was. I have no idea how he could remember me
after all these years. It’s like we’re two different species.”
“Maybe he’s just a fan,” Lane said.
“I don’t think so. I don’t have a lot of fans.”
“Why do you say that?” Her question surprised him.
She understood why. While they had never discussed it,
there seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them
that the less shared the better. But it wasn’t working for her anymore.
“If it were just me,” she told Nathan now, “if it was
just us, trying to figure out whether or not we’re going to be friends, or something else…” She saw his face brighten.
He hadn’t expected this. “It would be different. But it’s not just us.” She looked out at the pond where storm clouds
were gathering. “It’s you and me and Henry.”
“He’s mad I showed you the pictures. I’m not surprised.
I figured that was—”
She cut him off. “It’s not about that.”
“Okay.” Nathan looked confused. He waited.
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“Henry adores you. And for good reason. You’re so
patient with him and encouraging. But when I hear you
say things like you don’t have a lot of fans, a warning
bell goes off.”
“Have we decided?” The server took their orders
and then opened the café umbrella that stood beside
their table. “Precautionary,” she told them. “Storm isn’t
supposed to hit until after midnight. But you know how
predictions are.”
Lane looked out at the bifurcated sky. Above was a
high canopy of clouds, below was the setting sun. Gulls
swooped out of the light and then disappeared into dark-
ness. Across the lagoon, the houses were bathed in a
golden glow.
“Just so you know,” the server said, “if you have to
make a run for it, no problem. I’m the fastest to-go bag-
ger on the Island.” She moved on to put up the umbrella
at the next table.
“Henry deserves better,” Nathan said. “You’re right.
He deserves the best, which he’s got, with you. I’m not
in that league. I shouldn’t have imposed on your night.”
“You’re doing it again.” Lane stared at the pond and
tried to sort out her feelings. The Nathan she knew was
kind and sweet. But she’d met people who were wary
of him. And he seemed wary of himself. “Why?” She
hadn’t meant to say it out loud. “What don’t I know
about you?”
“Hmm.” Nathan thought about it. “There’s a list. You
want it all?” She nodded. “Okay. First off, I’m not going
to lie. Henry reminds me of Leo. When I’m with him,
it’s like I’m time traveling back to when Leo was a kid.
Except with Henry, I get to do things different. I get to
be better than I was the first time round.”
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“I’m sure you’re a great dad.”
“No. Okay was as good as I got. Now I’m not much
of a dad at all. So there’s that.”
“See? You’re doing it again. You drop a hint. You
change the subject.” As soon as she said it she realized,
he wasn’t the only one. Her mother did it. Her sister did
it. She did it.
But Nathan didn’t know about any of that. “Sorry,” he
said. “Habit.” He rubbed his forehead. “Here’s what you
don’t know. I fail everyone I love. I failed my ex-wife. I failed my son. I can’t recognize the faces of my friends,
not to mention the guy who showed us to our table. I’ve
lost count of all the people who’ve lost patience with me.
Your old neighbors, Rory, Karin—that bunch. They all
think I’m the rudest person in the world. Except for Dana.
She never got insulted. I don’t know why.”
“Because Dana could talk to a statue.” Lane smiled.
Nathan struck a pose. The Thinker. Lane got serious.
“What happened with your son?”
“Nothing you haven’t heard before. Collateral dam-
age from the marriage. I was absent. I had a big job. I
was a banker. Which is not an excuse. It’s just I was out
of town more than I was home. But even when I was
home, I wasn’t there. The only place I was ever present
was right here. On this island. For two measly weeks in
August. Leo’s friend Artie would come with us too. The
three of us—me, Leo and Artie—we had some great ad-
ventures. Artie didn’t have a dad and he drove his mom
crazy playing video games all day long so she loved it
when he came with us. I got him out of the house and
into the water. Swimming. Fishing. Clamming. He had
the last laugh, Artie did.”
“How so?”
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“Right out of college he started a gaming company.
He’s my boss. The one who hired me to play his evil
voices.” He smiled. “Life can be strange.” Lane nodded.
“Leo and Artie’s favorite thing? We’d go to Cuttyhunk. I’d charter a boat. Bring sleeping bags. We’d sleep under the
pitch-black sky. Just us and a million stars. We had great times here. For two weeks. Two out of fifty-two. Back
home, I’d take off again. Always on the move. Going, go-
ing, gone. It was inevitable. I had no right to be surprised when Ruth gave me the ultimatum: join the family or
leave. I told h
er it didn’t work like that. I didn’t have a job where I got to choose where I went or for how long. She
said, Get a new job. I didn’t know how to be the person she wanted me to be. Second time she gave me an ultimatum,
stay or go, I left.” He met Lane’s eyes. “Moved into the
house where you ended up with Henry. Decided—this
was completely delusional—it was for the best. That I
wasn’t meant to be a full-time dad. That I would be the
best part-time dad there ever was.” He laughed. “You
probably never heard anything as dumb as that.”
“I’ve heard everything,” she reminded him.
He nodded. “Then you won’t be surprised to hear that
Leo didn’t agree with my assessment. He wanted nothing
to do with a part-time dad. Ruth called and told me. She
said, Leo doesn’t want to see you anymore. I tried to get him to change his mind. I quit my job. Got a new job, fewer
hours, no travel. Called Ruth. Told her I changed. She
said‚ Sorry. Too late. Neither of them wanted anything to do with me. Ruth remarried, not long after that. Leo
calls her husband Dad.”
The server put down a plate in front of Lane. “Swordfish
for you.” She put the other plate in front of Nathan. “And the lamb. Enjoy.”
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“Here’s the thing,” Nathan said, when the server was
gone. “Artie—the kid I used to take fishing, the kid who’s now my boss—he told me Leo asked about me the other
day. Out of nowhere. Asked how I was doing. I asked
him to give Leo a message, to tell him I would meet him
anywhere, call him anytime, do anything it takes to make
things right. Artie sent him a text.” Nathan shook his
head. “No response. Crickets.” He shrugged. “My son
is not interested in forgiving me. Maybe some things are
beyond forgiveness. What do you think?”
“Are you asking me or are you asking Roxie?”
Nathan looked surprised. “Same thing, no?”
Now it was Lane’s turn to be surprised. “Most people
say I’m nothing like Roxie.”
He shrugged. “You seem the same to me.” He looked
out at the gathering clouds. “Before I met you, I thought I had come to terms with my life being what it is. Treading
water. Trying to do no harm. Doing a dot of good a day.”
“Three good things,” Lane said, remembering what
he told her.
Nathan nodded and then laughed. “Put that way,
it sounds kind of selfish. Doing good things so I’ll feel
better. See? I don’t deserve forgiveness. Henry deserves