Every free minute I had, I swear, all I did was stare up at the sky. I knew you were out there somewhere and no one could convince me otherwise. I truly believed in my heart that I would know if you weren’t. But damn, I had no clue just how far away you were until we were on our way here. Anyhow, I was the one who spotted the ship coming through the atmosphere.
It turned out to be Mam’s long-lost sons. Their reunion was a tear-jerker, and even though I was happy for her and the others, it simply made me more determined to find you. If they could fly from one place to another, there had to be a way for me to do the same. I simply hadn’t worked that part out yet.
Not sure exactly how everything else came into play, but one of the sons accidentally sent a signal out. Destiny showed up with some bad asses, and the rest is history. Here I am.”
Ricky pulls me close, kissing me gently. “I feel like I’m dreaming.”
“If that’s the case, we both are, so let’s just stay right here in Lala land.”
“I have beaten myself up so many times for letting them separate us. They promised we would be in the same pod together. That’s the sole reason I kept working right up until the end. Rationally, I knew things were nuts, and they were literally throwing people in the pods, trying to save as many as possible, but I should have fought harder. Instead, I let them take you next because I simply wanted to make sure you were safe and among the first to launch. I didn’t realize at the time that the first ones had been knocked off course or damaged by all the instability in Earth’s atmosphere. You are one of the few who made it.”
I just lay there looking at him, “How did you get that boo-boo on your cheek?”
“Freak cold snap, well, that’s an understatement. I didn’t know that kinda cold even existed, and honestly, I don’t care if I ever experience it again. They said an asteroid was floating through the area, blocking the heat and all signals in and out. We had no idea that could even happen, and not being prepared was almost a death sentence. It’s normally a nice, balmy seventy-five degrees here most days, so many of us didn’t even have coats, let alone the clothing needed to survive that.
I was on patrol with Owen when it hit. We were a good mile or better away from one of the guard shacks. We stayed out toolong, thinking it was just a fluke, but then the snow started, and the temperature began to plummet. Owen and I were fighting our way back to shelter when a random limb fell out of one of the Timbers. Neither of us saw it coming until it was too late. Owen tried to block it, only for it to break his arm. One of the smaller ones hit my face, leaving this nice, raw place behind. We would have died out there if not for Sasquatch.”
The little smirk on his face has me laughing out loud. “Like the big brown furry kind?”
“No, like the abominable snowman kind. I almost screamed like a girl when he stuck his head in that guard shack, but thankfully I was too cold to make a sound, or I may not have lived that one down. He brought us some emergency heaters, then helped me get Owen to James and Carla’s. She was able to fix him right up and even put a healing patch on my cheek, but it’s still really sore.”
“Here I’ll kiss it and make it all better.”
After I kiss his cheek gently, he pulls me close, and I tuck myself into his warm body, simply absorbing the happiness that only he seems to give me.
“Whose couch are we laying on?”
“Ours.”
“We have a couch?”
“We have a whole bunch of stuff, thanks to the Commander and Kira. I’ll show you around later, but right now I just want to hold you and pretend that none of that other stuff happened.”
“That’s the best thing I’ve heard in a long time. These were the hardest months of my life, Ricky. I knew I leaned on you, butI didn’t realize my world evolved around you until you were no longer there. So many things I took for granted.”
“You weren’t the only one untethered, baby. Do you understand the horror of having to fold my own socks? The trash can overflow because no one was here to tell me to take it out. Thankfully, there’s this magical thing called a replicator. Otherwise, I would have starved for sure because they don’t have ravioli or ramen noodles here. Right now, we’re running on half solar power, but this house even comes with a cleaner. Since she doesn’t play music while doing it, I turned it off. I didn’t think it was possible to clean without Sarah McLachlan on.” His familiar playfulness makes me giggle.
“Everything I went to do simply made me miss you that much more. I remember the day it really hit me that I might never see you again. I had a nightmare and woke up, instantly reaching for you, only for the bed to be cold beside me.
I cried that night until I made myself sick. I felt like such a failure. I should have kept you beside me no matter what, because when the world separated us, I didn’t realize I’d have no way of finding you again. The only reason you are here now is all just chance, and I don’t like those odds.”
“I give you full permission to leash me to you, as I don’t plan on ever being more than a few steps away ever again. I heard the Commander say he would cover your shift. What do they have you doing here?”
“We built a perimeter fence around the settlement, and several of the other guys and I take shifts walking it. There are a few large predators on this moon, but most of them stay away from this area. You’ll meet Kiki soon and she’s an animal called a Suet. I’m sure you’ll want one of your own, because she’s a hoot. Butapparently, the larger versions of her are not so friendly. And apparently, the Commander does not trust the many races in his sector as humans are a commodity they like to collect. Because of that, this entire settlement is a huge secret, so I’m honestly guarding us against unknowns I can’t fathom.”
Both of us get quiet, and I close my eyes, allowing myself to simply be in the moment. I feel like we have a million things to talk about, but at least now we will have time for those conversations.
CHAPTER 7
RICKY
I feel Ginger’s body relax under my own, and I take a deep breath, breathing in a scent that is entirely hers. Just as I had lost all hope, she appeared like a goddess out of thin air. The moment my eyes registered what they were seeing, my legs couldn’t move fast enough.
Others told me that I should consider moving on, but my heart just wouldn’t let go. There was always that small ray of hope in the back of my mind that one day a miracle would happen, and it did when I least expected it. I lay here holding her close, my nose tucked into the top of her head, fighting back tears as I realize what a blessing this really is and all the things that had to happen for me to be right here in this perfect moment.
These last months, I’ve dreamed up every horror I could imagine, but never once did I think she was doing the same thing. When things calm down, I’ll contact ANDI and have him fill me in on where she was, but for now, I’m gonna lie here and enjoy the quiet that was driving me nuts only this morning.
I must have dozed off because a chill has me shooting straight up, yelling. “GINGER?!”
