THE STARS ARE BEAUTIFUL - WATTYS AWARD NEW ADULT WINNER 2019

Callum | 29

IT WAS LATE WHEN I arrived in New York. My parents' house was dark, but when I stepped inside, my father was still awake. He had an old radio taken apart on the kitchen table and a lamp missing a shade guiding his attempt to put it back together.

I smiled at him. "Why the hell are you messing with that thing, Pop?"

He glanced at me as he tinkered. "A good puzzle keeps the mind sharp. Sit. I'll make you coffee as soon as I figure out where this piece goes."

"I can't." Because I was about to burst at the seams. "I only came to buy the Chevy off you."

He put down the screwdriver and stared at me. "I'm not selling the Chevy."

"I'm picking up Everly Anne. Today is her twenty-first birthday."

He scooted away from the table and stood. "I'll get you the title."

I laughed. "That was way easier than I imagined. I almost feel as though I'm taking advantage of you, Pop. I should have come earlier, while you were still lucid."

"I'm lucid," he declared, staring me straight in the eye. "Have been for almost a year."

"Is that true?"

"Yes." He nodded. "And your Everly Anne is why. So I'll get you the title. Excuse me."

On the way out the door, he handed me the keys and the title and said, "Take care of her. A lot of history in that classic."

I turned and gave him a solid hug. "And more to be made, Pop."He patted my back and let me go.

***

Did you ever steal something so minor, it shouldn't really matter that you took it without asking, but still, you felt completely guilty about it? When I knocked on Everly's front door, I wanted to feel liberated. I wanted to see her swing that goddamn front door open and smile victoriously. But when it happened, it wasn't like that at all. Brighton greeted me—and by greeted, I mean he opened the door and stared daggers at me until Everly slid past him, and then he watched from the stoop as I loaded her things into the Chevy. I felt like that damn thief as I looked up at him, except I was stealing something big.

I shut the passenger door for her and then walked around the Chevy to meet him at the bottom of the steps. His eyes were only on her, where she sat in the car.

"I'll take care of her," I promised. "I should thank you for always doing that, Dr. Brighton."

His eyes flicked to me, dark as heated coals. "Don't give me your damn pleasantries now."

He turned on his heel and slammed the door behind him, cutting off all lights to the house, leaving me in the dark.

Before I turned over the ignition, I looked at her. It was like a dream.

I took her hand into mine. "Good birthday, Everly Anne?"

Finally she looked at me, and as if she had suddenly remembered my words, she smiled, bringing life into her eyes and giving her all to me, so I could see her shine bright.

"Good birthday, Callum Andrew."

"It's about to get much better," I promised.

She smiled again, but this time there was fire behind her eyes as she looked at me. "I can't believe you came back for me."

"I never left," I replied, brushing her cheek with my fingers.

She pushed forward and wrapped her arms firmly around my neck, burying her face into my shoulder.