HEMI FLEW BACK to Houston early with his brother Manu. A little bit of jet lag dogged him, but he wanted time to get everything set up for Jessie. He knew it for sure now: he needed Jessie in his life.
She completed him. It would sound trite if he said it out loud, but it resonated deep in his soul.
“I’ve never seen you this nervous,” Manu said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something to be perfect before.”
“Kaikaina,” Manu said, using the phrase that meant “younger brother” in Hawaiian. “Life isn’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t exactly what it should be.”
Hemi clapped his brother on the shoulder and scanned the main room of the executive suite he’d rented for the night. Manu had helped him get the room exactly how he wanted it. Spending time apart had just made Hemi more determined to have Jessie in his life and continue his career with the Cronus program.
Now if he could just convince Jessie of that. He had the new rocket specs and the report that JPL had generated on the initial test failure and how they’d corrected it.
He put the report on the coffee table where he’d also placed a traditional wishing bowl, which he’d ordered online. He heard that it was the kind they used in the South Pacific islands where Jessie had grown up.
He had a tiny slip of paper where he’d written his deepest wish and he wanted her to add hers to the bowl.
“What time is she supposed to be here?” Manu asked.
“Seven,” Hemi said, glancing at his watch. Dammit, it was only three in the afternoon. “That’s hours away.”
“Good. You need to relax or you’re going to blow it,” Manu said.
“Telling me to relax isn’t helping,” Hemi said.
Manu chuckled, and Hemi felt a little like he had when they’d been kids and he wanted to punch his brother for making fun of him.
“I know. Remember when I played in my first national championship and I was bouncing around and Dad kept saying ‘be calm’?”
Hemi smiled at the memory. Manu had looked like he was going to put his fist into the wall if their father had offered that advice one more time. Manu had been a linebacker but was retired now and was a coach for special teams—the guys who went on during specific plays. All of the Barrett men were built large and muscly.
“Yeah, I do. So I guess you know to stop saying it to me,” Hemi said.
“Maybe. But what you don’t know is when I walked out of the locker room to get away from Dad’s well-meaning advice I saw Mom. She was standing there with a few of the wives and other mothers and she came over to me...”
Manu walked over to Hemi and took his forearms in his grip. “She told me that the outcome was already written. That my nerves weren’t going to do anything but change my journey, not the outcome. And, little brother, I think you know this.”
Hemi looked into Manu’s eyes. They weren’t the dark brown that he and his other two brothers had; they were a blend of green, brown and blue like their mother’s. Hemi had always thought they were shamans’ eyes.
“I’m afraid to trust what I hope will be the outcome,” Hemi admitted.
“Accept it. Do you love her?”
“I do, Manu. Way more than I ever thought I could love a woman,” Hemi admitted.
“You’ve never loved lightly,” Manu reminded him. “I’d find it hard to believe you would do so now.”
He nodded. His brother was right.
“Come on. Let’s go shoot some pool for a few hours so you can take your mind off her.”
Hemi followed his brother out of the hotel and down the street to a pool hall that he’d visited before with Ace and some of the other astronauts. Manu was recognized as “the enemy” by a few Houston football fans, and he endured some good-natured ribbing about both wins and losses he’d brought to Houston.
They played pool and drank orange soda—Manu’s favorite—and slowly Hemi let the wisdom of his brother and his parents sink into him. He and Jessie had been drawn to each other from the beginning.
It hadn’t been the right time for either of them to find someone to start a relationship with but it had happened anyway.
She’d tried to make him into her lover, and only her lover, but they enjoyed a close connection. He knew that her fears about the space program were warranted. He understood that if she were to start planning another of her expeditions he’d fear for her the same way. But he also felt something that couldn’t be denied.
Something that had been there all along.
Love.
It wasn’t the kind that was just for now or would disappear after the rush of passion cooled—if that ever happened between them, and he doubted it would—he knew he’d still love her.
She wasn’t just the other half of his soul, she was part of him now. The certainty of that enabled him to finally start to relax.
He put his hand into his pocket to touch the ring that he’d brought with him from California. Tonight he would ask Jessie to marry him. Tonight he would show her that together they were stronger than they could ever be apart.
Manu glanced up from signing an autograph and gave him a long look before smiling and winking at him.
“Figured it out, little brother?”
“Damned straight,” Hemi said. They went back to the hotel and Manu left to go to his suite. Hemi showered and changed and as he waited to meet Jessie a little bit of the nervousness crept back in.
* * *
“JESSIE! OVER HERE.”
Jessie scanned the crowd at Houston International Airport and found Rina standing near the exit, waving at her. Everyone was meeting relatives and friends, and the airport was decorated for the holidays.
Jessie stared at the Christmas decorations as she hurried through the throngs of people to Rina’s side. The strawberry blonde wore a pair of jeans and a leather jacket, and had a pair of sunglasses holding her hair back like a headband.
Jessie was glad to see a familiar face after hours on a plane. She pulled her suitcase along behind her as she walked over to Rina.
“Hey. I wasn’t expecting anyone to pick me up,” Jessie said, giving Rina a one-armed hug.
“I figured. But when Molly said you were coming in I decided you might like some company. Was I wrong?” Rina asked.
“No, you weren’t,” Jessie admitted. She was tired of her own company. The days diving and being with her parents had made one thing clear. She wasn’t ready to walk away from Hemi. But figuring out how to live with the fear he’d awakened in her was hard.
She was no closer to the answer now than she had been when she left.
No, that wasn’t true. At least now she knew that her heart wasn’t going to be easily turned from him. Hemi was there now. He was in her heart and she needed to figure out if living with him, with the fear of what could happen, was possible for her.
“I’m glad. So, where to?”
“Do you know I’m meeting Hemi here?” Jessie asked.
“Yes. I thought you might like some girl time. You know, mani-pedis or even just some wine and conversation,” Rina said. “If I’m wrong I’ll leave.”
Jessie shifted her carry-on from one shoulder to the other. “I could use some girl time before I meet Hemi tonight. My parents are great, but they are my parents.”
Rina laughed and reached for Jessie’s suitcase. “Let me get this. Just in case you felt that way, I booked us into a spa for some treatments.”
“Sounds great.” Like an adventure for her new life.
Jessie laughed and talked—but not about Hemi, which underscored how much she’d been thinking and worrying over the last few days. Rina caught her up on all the ranch gossip and even on what was going on with their favorite basketball team, the Mavericks. Then, after all their spa treatments, they went shopping and Jessie bought a new dress for her dinner with Hemi.
She wanted to be the woman he couldn’t take his eyes off again. She wanted him to be so enchanted by her that he would never let her go.
Rina dropped her off at the Hilton just before seven, waving goodbye and wishing her luck. Jessie had never felt so scared in her entire life. The irony wasn’t lost on her. She’d rather face a blizzard on Everest than walk into that hotel and see something in Hemi’s eyes that would tell her it was over.
When she walked into the lobby, she saw the broad shoulders of a man who looked like Hemi. But when she got closer, he turned and she could see that this wasn’t her man—but they shared a resemblance.
“Hello, Jessie. I’m Manu, Hemi’s brother,” he said, holding out his hand to her.
She took it and he lifted it to his mouth, kissing the back of it. “My brother’s description of you was spot-on. You are more gorgeous than all the stars in the sky.”
She smiled at that. There was no lack of charm in the Barrett gene pool. “Where is Hemi?”
“He’s asked me to meet you and escort you to his suite.”
“His suite? I thought we were having dinner,” she said.
“You are. He...he has something special planned for you. Is that okay?” Manu asked. “Or do you need to be in public?”
“No, I don’t. I trust your brother,” she said.
“Good. If you didn’t then you’re not the right woman for him,” Manu said. “This is none of my business, but my brother...”
Her heart melted as she realized that Manu was trying to warn her not to hurt Hemi. That reassured her that what he felt for her was genuine.
“I love him,” she said. “I’m just not sure that is enough to make this work.”
“Fair. As I said, it’s not really any of my business. But he’s my little brother and I don’t want to see him hurt.”
“We’re definitely on the same page there,” she said. Hemi was lucky to have siblings, even though he’d said they were a pain. “Am I overdressed?”
“You’re just right,” Manu said. He led the way to the elevator and used his concierge-level key to access the floor where Hemi’s suite was. He led the way down the hall, keeping up small talk but she wasn’t really listening. Her heart beat so loudly that she almost turned and bolted for the emergency stairs. She thought she wouldn’t stop running until...until what? If she left now she’d never have Hemi in her life.
She’d spend the rest of it watching him from afar and still loving him and missing him.
Manu stopped in front of the door and handed her the key.
“Have a good evening,” he said before walking away.
She hesitated, then raised her hand and knocked.
“Come in,” Hemi called.
She opened the door and walked into the candlelit room. He’d scattered rose petals on the ground, and she stopped and took off the high-heeled sandals she wore. She put her purse on the table by the door and walked slowly down the rose path toward Hemi, who stood in the middle of the room.
There were lights all around him and he looked like he was standing in the middle of the cosmos. She wasn’t sure how he’d done it but she felt as though she was floating.
He reached his hand out to her and she took a step forward. Their fingers brushed and something electric passed between them.
“Jessie.”
* * *
SHE WORE A cranberry satin dress that hugged her curves and ended just above the knee. Her hair was up with only a few strands framing her face, similar to the style she’d worn on the night they met. He’d dressed in the same tuxedo he’d worn that night. Her eyes... They sparkled as she took in the room but her focus never really left him.
He had so many things he wanted to say. Words he’d practiced over and over again in his head escaped him now that he was looking at her.
All he’d been able to muster was her name. When she’d taken his hand, it had been all he could do not to draw her close, wrap himself around her and never let her go.
He knew he was never going to be the same after this night.
That was as it should be.
A man should only propose to a woman who changed him fundamentally, made him realize that life was better with a partner than lived solo.
“Hemi. You look so sexy in a tux,” she said.
Then she dropped his hand and closed the distance between them. Wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. Her breath was hot against his skin, and when she spoke he had to strain to hear her.
“I missed you so damned much,” she said, a catch in her voice. She stepped back and wiped at a tear in the corner of her eye.
“I’m sorry for the way I left. I needed time to think and I didn’t know if I could do that with you so close to me,” she admitted.
“It’s okay. I abandoned you first. I should have stayed that morning and talked to you like an adult, but I was afraid. For the first time, Jessie, I was afraid of my job. We never talk about fire at NASA, not really. We have fire safety protocols and everything on any of our spacecraft is fire retardant. But then, all of a sudden, there it was. In my face and more real than I wanted it to be,” he said. “I was trying to figure my own way around it and didn’t know how to deal with your fear...”
He took a step closer to her. She smelled of summertime and flowers, and he closed his eyes. “I was afraid that if you had asked me to quit, I would have. And I know that it would have been a promise I can’t keep.”
She put her fingers to her mouth and shook her head. He didn’t like that she was taking so much of this on herself. It was his fear that had driven him away from her, and it was love that was bringing them back together.
His parents had always said that love was the strongest power in the world and for the first time he actually got it. He got how much braver he felt knowing that Jessie was back in his life and by his side.
“I would have asked. I wanted so badly to get rid of the fear that was gnawing through my soul at the thought of you trapped in a rocket like that. But now...after having been away from you for so long, I know I can’t. I can’t ask you to give up your dream and I can’t walk away from you,” she said.
“I wouldn’t ask you to walk away. If you tried, I think I would follow you,” he said. “Our lives are meant to be together. I need you in ways I never thought I’d need anyone.”
“Me, too,” she admitted. “I thought about what you said and about how I wouldn’t back down from an expedition just because there was danger involved. That wasn’t fair of me to think you should.”
“It was fair. Love makes us want to keep each other safe and I do get that,” he said.
“But you can’t give up who you are. Any more than I can. I accept that, Hemi. Just as I’ve come to understand that the love I have for you will not be denied. Nothing could make me feel safer than being by your side.”
“Jessie—”
“No, let me do this,” she said, rubbing her hands down her sides and then taking a step closer to him and going down on one knee. “I know, I’m not perfect, but—”
He dropped to his knee in front of her and put his finger over her lips. “Don’t you dare do that. I love you too much to let you ever say you’re not perfect. You are the only woman for me. The only one I want.”
“It’s the same for me,” she admitted. “I was planning to ask you to marry me.”
“Well, too bad,” he said.
“What do you mean, too bad?” she said.
“I’m asking,” he insisted, pulling the ring out of his pocket and holding it up. “It was my grandmother’s ring.”
He looked down at the simple band of gold that was set with aquamarines. It reminded him of both Jessie’s eyes and the oceans as they looked when he observed them from space.
“I will marry you,” Hemi said, and then he winked at her. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes!”
He put the ring on her finger and then put his hands on her face, tracing her cheekbones before leaning in to kiss her. The kiss was long and deep, and Hemi tried to tell her with his kiss that he’d never leave her even when he was away on a mission and he’d always love her.
“Did they make the announcement on who is going to be second-in-command on the first mission?” she asked.
He shook his head. “It’s going to be on Monday.”
“So, do we have this weekend here or are you needed back at the facility?”
“I’m all yours,” he said.
“Exactly what I wanted to hear.”