The sun lifted its red-orange head over the edge of the sea, spilling warm light across the water where a thin layer of mist floated. The whole ocean looked calm, soft, unreal.

It rose slowly. In just two short minutes, that orange-red surface turned into shattered gold, glittering with ripples. It was breathtaking.

“So beautiful!”

I’d watched a sunrise before with Maverick, back when we were still in school, on the track field. It had been ...