I had gotten to the park so early the sun was barely opening its big yellow eye. After I'd dropped Ella off at her house, I drove around the sleepy town several times, looking at the fountain as it glowed white in the moonlight. I drove past the peaceful little cemetery that looked almost picturesque enough for a postcard, at least with the crumbling gray town as a backdrop. And mostly, as I drove along the narrow streets and past the quiet shops, I thought about Ella. She had never been in the equation. She was an unknown, unexpected quantity that had changed everything. I'd expected to drive through Butterfield and get a good look at the place and the people. No more than that. I just needed to see it, the town that had spent a lot of time in my thoughts and had provided me with enough anger to fill a lifetime. The town looked nothing like I'd expected. I was sure I would meet up with a place filled with sharp, crisp businesses run by self-important, willful people, but I had been so wrong. It seemed in my desire to peg the people of Butterfield as ignorant and harsh, I had, myself, become ignorant and harsh. Then Ella came into the picture. She added a face to the story, she added that layer of emotion to the story that had changed my perspective on everything. Ella changed everything.

Birds were just starting to leave their nighttime perches, providing plenty of entertainment for Boone as he hopped around like a big shot chasing them off. I put my guitar down on the top step of the pavilion to answer my phone.

"Hey, Mom, everything all right?"

"Yes, Fynn, I'm sorry to call you so early but I thought you'd want to know that we had to put Milly down last night. One minute she was standing in the pasture with the other horses, and the next she was writhing in pain on the ground. The doctor says he thinks it was some kind of internal bleeding."

"Shit, how is Grandpa doing?" Grandpa had had Milly since she was a foal, a good thirty years. She was one of those horses you could always count on. She taught me how to ride, and I'd put a lot of miles on her.

"He's pretty shaken because it was so sudden. It doesn't help that he has a slight cold. I fixed him up some of my tonic, so he should be fine in a day or two."

"By tonic, do you mean that disgusting swill you mix up with vinegar and horseradish?"

"Hey, that kept you from many trips to the doctor."

"No, I didn't go to the doctor because I avoided getting sick just so I wouldn't have to drink that stuff."

"See, then it worked."

"Tell Grandpa I'm thinking about him and I'll miss Milly as much as him." The sprinklers popped up behind me. Richard and his brother had managed to not only get them all working, but they'd installed a new timer. It seemed they'd done everything right. It only remained to be seen whether or not the grass would return.

"Where are you at, Fynn? I hear sprinklers or something."

Boone came trotting up looking more than a little upset about the sudden downpour. He stood on the bottom step and shook off the water. "Boone and I are sitting in a park."

"Where at?"

I paused and considered lying, but Mom was great at detecting those. "I'm still in Butterfield."

She blew out a puff of air to show her disappointment. "Oh, Fynn, why are you still there? You aren't causing any trouble, are you?"

"Mom, I'm not sixteen anymore. Actually, I'm helping them clean up their park."

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"I don't know. But believe it or not, it's helping." I avoided bringing up Ella because it would have meant a thirty minute question and answer session that I wasn't in the mood for. "Take care, Mom, and I'll call you later to see how Grandpa is doing."

"O.K., sweetie. I'll talk to you soon."

I pushed the phone back into my pocket and stared straight up at the wrought iron dome over my head. I had cleared out the weeds, but some of the wood needed replacing and the iron needed sanding and a protective coat of paint. I needed to wait for the hardware store to open.

As I picked up my guitar, the person I'd been waiting for turned the corner on her cute, little bicycle. The sight of her reminded me of a song. I began strumming, hoping she'd stop by the park before disappearing into the store.

My plan worked. The guitar strings beckoned her across the street and toward the pavilion. She climbed off the bike and pushed down the kickstand. She was wearing shorts and a tight red tank shirt. She had tied her silky, dark hair up with a red bandana to match her shirt. Her smooth, sun-kissed shoulders made me wish we were back in my bed so I could kiss every inch of her.

Her smile was more coy than usual, which I could only assume was a result of our night in the motel room.

I finished with a loud strum on the strings and put my guitar aside.

"What song was that? I don't recognize it."

"That song is called, 'Good Morning Starshine'."

She laughed assuming I was kidding.

"No really." I hopped up and took hold of her hands and kissed her. "Do you mean to tell me you have never seen the musical Hair? You poor, neglected kid."

She leaned instantly into my arms, and I realized that I was getting used to it, to having her press herself into my arms without thought or hesitation. Her blue eyes sparkled in the early morning sun, and I thought back to the night before when those same jewel eyes were glazed with the heat of passion. She stirred every inch of me with those eyes.

"I'm having a hard time picturing you sitting through a musical."

"I never saw it on stage, a little before my time. In fact, the movie was made somewhere just between the dawn of time and my parents' dating years." Holding Ella somehow always brought out pieces of light from the past. I found myself wanting to tell her everything I'd ever felt and experienced, holding back only the darker stuff, the shit that would complicate this thing we'd started.

We sat on the steps and stared out at the quiet town, still more asleep than awake. I couldn't hold back a smile as Ella took hold of my hand and held it tightly in her lap.

"My dad was a badass. He was a fearless pilot. He wasn't scared of anything. I still remember sitting next to him on the couch one night when he was miserable with a toothache. He'd finally had enough so he just reached in and yanked the sucker out." A short laugh punctuated my words. "He could eat a jalapeno pepper like it was a marshmallow. That's the kind of guy he was. But he had a collection of movies, mostly musicals, that showed his other side. The side that always heard the music, no matter what the situation, no matter how shitty things got, he heard the music. Hair was the one movie I didn't mind sitting down with him to watch. I pretty much memorized it." I looked over at her. "Are you disappointed that I stole the nickname from a song?"

"Not after hearing the amazing story that goes along with it." Ella lifted my hand to her mouth and kissed my knuckles, red and raw from work. "Hearing you call me Starshine already touches me at my very core. Now it means even more."

I pulled my hand from hers and dropped my arm around her shoulder. "Not in the mood to work today. I got a call from my mom that my grandpa's old horse died last night."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Fynn."

I trailed my fingers along her arm. "She was an old horse, and she had a good life, but I'm sure it's going to be hard on my grandfather. Milly was always there when you looked out the window of the farmhouse. Just like a big, gray lawn ornament, swishing her tail in the breeze and shaking the gnats away from her ears."

"Fynn?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you teach me to ride a horse some day?"

"I sure can. Shit, let's go right now. We can just pack up and head back to the farm."

She looked at me, trying to assess just how much I was kidding.

"Really, just say the word, and we can have you in the saddle in a few hours."

"You realize how tempting that is for a girl who grew up surrounded by horse posters and plastic toy ponies, right? And I'll bet you are a sight to see sitting up on a horse. Particularly because you are a sight to see just sitting in the center of this dreary park." She looked back over her shoulder. "I see they got the sprinklers going." Her smile sparked my direction. "You did that. You started something here in this park, and it's stretching out through the whole town."

"Yeah, I guess it kind of is."

Ella hopped up. "I've got to open the store. I'm off at twelve. I could come help if you think I can be more of a help than a pain in the butt."

"You are never a pain. A distraction? Totally. But never a pain." I stood up and pulled her close, deciding I wasn't quite ready to part with her lips yet. "Hey, are you up for a trip to the beach?"

Her smile lit up. "Yes. When?"

I reached up and ran my finger along her bottom lip. "What the hell is it about this smile that makes me know everything in the world will be right?" The words were meant for me, but they spilled out before I could stop them.

She placed her hand against my face, a touch that I could feel through my whole body. "Just a guy and his dog," she said quietly. Like my words they seemed to be meant only for her but they rolled out.

"How about we head to the coast after work?"

"I would love that."