Chapter 33: The Truck Bed Picnic

Instead of heading straight home after the excitement of the game, they drove far out past the official town limits to an abandoned apple orchard where gnarled, ancient trees stood like silent sentinels under a brilliant, glittering canopy of stars. James killed the engine and immediately climbed into the truck bed, laying down a thick wool blanket he always kept behind the seat. Lily crawled up right beside him, resting her head comfortably on his broad shoulder as they gazed upward at the vast, glittering expanse of the Milky Way stretching across the Texas sky.