“Did you tell her to do that?” David caught Catherine by surprise, appearing at her elbow. “I half expected her to run off to a corner with her friends.”
Catherine glanced at him and smiled. “No, it didn’t even occur to me, to be honest.”
“We may have a natural politician on our hands.”
“Good God, where did she get that from? Not from either of us, that’s for sure.”
“I bet I know.” David nodded toward Maggie, who was talking to Paul Lindholm and watching Aimee with the same pride on her face that Catherine felt.
“Remind me to thank her,” Catherine said, and meant it.
Aimee moved back to her friends and settled in with them, digging into a plate of food.
Paul Lindholm came over, his usual broad smile in place. “Colonel Wells, David, congratulations.”
Catherine smiled, but internally winced at the difference in address between her and David. Thankfully, David didn’t seem bothered by it and took Lindholm’s offered hand.
“Thank you, sir,” David said, “but Aimee gets the congratulations. She did all the hard work here.”
Lindholm drank from his half-empty glass, and to judge from the flush on his cheeks, this wasn’t his first. “Nonsense. My wife and I raised three boys; I know how much work went into this day.”
“David did a great job,” Catherine said, for once without a twinge of guilt.
“You get some of the credit, too, young lady.” Lindholm extended a finger to point at her. “You may have been on a mission, but it’s clear how much influence you’ve had in her life. Did I hear that she’s going to MIT this fall?”
“She is.” David puffed up a little bit. “She’s still trying to decide what branch of engineering interests her the most.”
“Ahh, so she takes after her father.” Lindholm gave Catherine’s shoulder a friendly pat. “Hope you’re not too disappointed,” he teased.
“Not at all.” She gave him a smile in return. This all felt so easy, like a glimpse of what her life might have been if she’d never gone into space, if she’d stayed home with David and helped raise Aimee. “You’d better watch out for her, though. She’s already said she wants to work for NASA after she graduates.”
“Well, if she’s anything like her parents, we’d be thrilled to have her.” Lindholm drained his glass. “I need to head out, but congrats again. Aimee’s a great kid.”
“Thank you,” Catherine said. “And thank you for stopping by.”
Once he was gone, Catherine and David exchanged a glance and David shook his head with a rueful smile. “I’m always going to be Mr. Catherine Wells where NASA is concerned, aren’t I?” So he hadn’t missed that after all.
“Sorry.” Catherine wrinkled her nose and slipped her arm through his. “Although, if it makes you feel better, you make a great trophy husband.”
“Cath.” Julie caught up to them. “Can I get your hand in the kitchen for a minute?”
“Oh, sure.” Catherine kissed David on the cheek. “Stay right here and look pretty, trophy husband.”
“Sure, I might even smile a few times,” David deadpanned before waving them off.
The kitchen was quieter than the rest of the house, and Catherine didn’t realize how much she could use those few minutes of quiet.
“How’s it going out there?” Julie arranged some chopped vegetables on a tray.
Catherine came to help, the two of them still working together in a habit born of a lifetime of family holiday dinners. “It’s good. Aimee is a natural at this.”
“And you’re doing okay?”
“Yeah. I really am.” Catherine couldn’t keep a note of surprise from her voice, but it was true. She was connecting with the Sagittarius II team at work, and she, Aimee, and David had settled into a rhythm at home. She couldn’t quite describe it all as normal, but they were getting there. And there had been no more lost time.
“You look more like yourself than you did on our last Skype call.” Julie reached into a cupboard and pulled down a pair of wineglasses. “Here, I tucked this bottle away because I know it’s your favorite.” She took a bottle of pinot noir from the sideboard and poured them each a glass. When Catherine picked up hers, Julie clinked it with her own. “To Aimee, who is going to do great things, just like her mom.”
Catherine chuckled. “Hopefully greater things.” She drank, and the taste of the wine brought back the vivid sense memory of standing in the ship’s galley, the taste of the same wine in her mouth along with the unexpected and unfamiliar feel of Tom’s mouth against hers.
How long would that memory still ambush her? Thankfully, it hadn’t happened when she and David were making love, but she was afraid it was just a matter of time. It was maddening that the clearest memory she had was the one she didn’t want.
“Hey. You in there?”
Catherine pulled on a smile. “Yeah, sorry. It’s been a crazy week.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet it’s been.” Julie leaned against the counter. “So… Cath… I know this is probably a bad time to bring this up, but with getting ready for the party I didn’t get to talk to you last night, really, and I’m leaving tonight, so…”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I’ve been talking to Mom’s doctors, and… they think she might be able to handle seeing you.”
Catherine had given up on the possibility of seeing her mother alive again a long time ago. Hearing Julie say that, she had a sudden inkling of how David and Aimee must have felt, hearing that she was coming home. “Really? Are you sure? Are they sure?”
Julie made a small, amused sound, looking down at her wineglass. “No. But given where she’s at right now, we can’t be sure about anything. And it’s not as if there’s a lot of published literature about how to reintroduce an Alzheimer’s patient to a presumed-dead family member.”
“I don’t want to make things worse, though.” Oh, but the thought of being able to see her mother again, even just once…
Julie looked up at her solemnly. “Cath, I don’t know that it’s possible to make things much worse. We’re probably looking at months now, not years. And—and when that does happen, I don’t want either of us to have any regrets. Or, at least, not this particular regret.”
Catherine wrapped her arms around Julie tight, and Julie returned the embrace. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with this all alone.”
“I knew what I was signing on for, and Mom would’ve kicked my ass if you’d tried to stay home to take care of her.” Julie kissed her on the cheek and stepped back. “So when I get back home, we’ll start talking dates, all right? Sooner rather than later, I think.”
“Yes. I’ll talk to David and Aimee… The launch is soon, but I should be able to get away for this.” Catherine met Julie’s eyes and tried to smile. “Thank you. So much. For everything.”
“That’s what big sisters are for.” Julie took her by the shoulders, turning her toward the living room. “All right. Break time’s over, kiddo. Time to go play hostess again.”
“Ugh. Okay, but you come, too. Don’t stay in here fussing with things.”
Julie handed her a huge tray of sandwiches. “All right, I’ll be out soon. Take this with you.”
Catherine carried the tray out and set it down in time to see Aimee stand up and climb onto the fireplace hearth in the living room.
“Excuse me,” she said, her clear voice ringing out, “if I can get your attention for a moment.”