I was restless and confused. I’d thought I had a handle on things, but putting them out in words like I’d just done made me realize that I really didn’t know how I felt about it all. Not sure what else to do, I laid back, weaving my hands together behind my head.

“That looks comfy,” said Delaney. “Mind if I join you?”

“Huh?” I asked, not entirely sure what she meant.

Before I could say or do anything else, Delaney got onto her back and slid next to me, her body only a few inches from mine. I was conflicted. Part of me wanted to tell her to give me some space, while another part of me wanted to slip my arm around her neck and pull her close. Maybe even give her a kiss while I was at it.

“Stars are crazy out here,” she said, looking straight up.

She was right about that. Out in the middle of nowhere, no electric lights for miles, the stars were brilliant and infinite, the faint band of the Milky Way visible across the sky.

“Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen the stars like this,” she said. “You know how it is in Dallas—light pollution everywhere.”

“No kidding,” I said, my gaze flicking from one glittering star to another. “Reminds you of just how small you are in the grand scheme of things.”

Silence fell over the two of us for several long moments. Thoughts collected in my mind, and I wasn’t sure what they were all leading toward.

Finally, I spoke.

“What’d you think of this place when you first showed up?” I said.

Delaney snorted.

“Are you kidding?” she said. “I thought it was a total wasteland. I mean, not only the landscape but everything. My job takes me to some pretty far-flung places, but this has got to be the most remote.”

More silence.

“Why?” she asked. “What about you?”

“Same. I think,” I said. “When I heard that my assignment had me heading to the middle of Australia, near my dad’s hometown, I almost didn’t want to take the contract. I thought about how barren this land was, how inhospitable. Just the thought of it was enough to give me a headache. But now that I’ve gotten everything out in the open, I’m starting to wonder if it was my emotional association with the place that was making me feel that way. Because right now, I’m thinking that it’s sort of…beautiful.”

I sat up a bit, letting my eyes drift over the vista. The valley curved ahead, terminating in the distance, the sandy earth a silvery shade of blue in the moonlight. The sky seemed boundless, expanding into the infinite. The silhouettes of bits of brush here and there cast in a ghostly glow. It was like some alien land where the air was fresh and the breeze cool and gentle.

“You’re right,” said Delaney. “Lying here, it’s not hard to forget about, you know, everything else that’s going on. It’s so peaceful, so quiet. It feels like the only people on the planet are you—”

“—and me.”

We turned our heads toward each other, our eyes locking for a long moment. The urge to kiss her cried out in me.

But then the moment passed, and I turned my head away.

A long, slow breath moved in and out of my lungs. I tucked my hands back behind my head and turned my eyes back toward the stars.

“How do you feel?” asked Delaney.

“Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, you just got a lot out. But I can sense something—like you haven’t let everything go—like you’re still holding on to something.”

Was she right? I couldn’t really tell. True, venting had helped, but I felt as though there was some knot in me still tied tight.

At the same time, my eyelids felt heavy. The stresses of the day and the long trek through the desert had finally caught up with me. I don’t think I could’ve gotten up at that moment even if I wanted to. But Delaney’s words rang in my mind like a bell. There was truth to them that I couldn’t shake.

“What do you mean?” I asked, not sure of how else to cut right to the heart of the matter.

“You’re going to have to let go,” she said. “I mean, I know that’s easy for me to say. But I can’t think of how else you’re going to be able to deal with this pain, these lingering emotions. Maybe if things had been different, you’d have had a chance to talk to your dad, for the two of you to work these things out. But he’s gone.”

“The funny thing is,” I said, my eyelids feeling heavier by the moment. “I don’t know what I’d even say to him if he were still here. I don’t know if I’d forgive him.”

“He sure seemed ready to be forgiven,” she said. “He flew to the other side of the planet just for the chance of maybe talking to you.”

Her words cut deep. I’d been so young, so full of anger. Back when I was that young, I had no sense of empathy, no ability to put myself in someone else’s shoes and try to figure out why they might’ve done the things they’d done.

“But how can I ever forgive him? He walked out on my mom and me, all to start a new life with some other woman in another country.”

“You’re right,” said Delaney, her body now even closer to mine. “But maybe it’s not about pretending that everything he did was okay. Maybe it’s about accepting that he’s human and that humans do some screwed-up things sometimes. Don’t we all have moments where we thoughtlessly put our own needs over those of others, just because we’re scared we’re never going to be happy?”

I let her words roll around in my mind for a moment.

“I suppose so,” I said. “But with fathers, you think that they’re unable to make mistakes. Easy to forget that they’re just people like us.”

“Exactly,” said Delaney. “And now that your dad’s gone, all you can do is try to come to terms with the person that he was. I suppose if you want to carry anger in your heart for the rest of your life, then that’s your call, marine.”

She flashed me a winsome smile that I couldn’t help but match. Then, she placed her head on my chest. I knew that I should’ve put some space between the two of us, both physically and emotionally, but the will just wasn’t there. I wanted this closeness.

“Or, you can find a way to leave that weight behind you. I can’t tell you what’s right or wrong, though. That’s for you to decide.”

Another few moments passed.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’re very, very welcome,” she said. “And thanks for the kangaroo meat.”

With that, I smiled and closed my eyes. I was out like a light.