SHE DIVES INTO THE water and surfaces, wearing swimming goggles and nose plugs, then does the backstroke down the length of the pool, gazing at the clear night sky. She turns her head slightly to one side—sees Andy at the edge of the water. Staring at her.
She quickly hides her body beneath the surface, looks up at him.
He asks her if she knows what that luminous band across the sky is. She shakes her head.
"It's the Milky Way," he says. "It's where we live. There's less light pollution out here, that's all. So we can see it."
Beth calms down and looks at the starry sky. "Anybody out there, you think?"
He nods absently. "Not us."
She stares up at him through the goggles and he stares back. '"Not Us?"' she asks.
He shrugs his shoulders and looks back to the sky, then wanders off. Bet
