Catherine moved over to David’s side. “What’s she doing?”
“No idea.” He slipped his arm around her waist.
The party quieted down, a few people filtering in from outside to see what was happening. Aimee, bright-eyed and smiling, had a fluted glass of the sparkling cider set aside for the kids. One of her friends, sitting on the hearth, muttered something and she kicked him lightly, laughing. “Shut up.”
Then she looked up at the guests and smiled again. “I just wanted to say thank you all for coming today. You all know it’s been kind of an… interesting year for me, for my family, but I am so happy that my mom is home and able to be here, and I know my dad is, too.”
Catherine’s eyes stung and she looked up at David, whose eyes were also overbright.
“I wouldn’t be where I am right now without both of my parents.” Aimee lifted her glass, her cheeks turning pink. “So, here’s to my mom and dad. My dad stayed here with me to make sure I kept my feet on the ground, but my mom taught me that it’s possible to fly, and it’s important to, even when it’s scary and you don’t know when or how you’re going to land.”
Glasses rose around the room, and Catherine let the tears fall down her face unabashedly. She met Aimee’s eyes and mouthed I love you, and Aimee smiled. Still, there was a sense of incompleteness, and honestly, there was an elephant in the room that needed to be addressed.
Catherine cleared her throat and spoke up: “I’d like to mention someone else who has been an important part of Aimee’s life, too, and deserves plenty of credit for helping her reach her goals.”
Maggie was standing on the edge of the room looking at Aimee with a soft smile. “While I was gone,” Catherine said, “Maggie was able to be there for Aimee when I couldn’t, and I am so grateful for that.” Maggie looked over at her, surprised, and started to shake her head, but smiled when some of the crowd’s appreciation turned to her as well.
David kissed Catherine’s temple and murmured, “Nicely done.”
“I knew Aimee wouldn’t mention her for fear of making me feel bad.” She leaned against David and gingerly wiped away her tears.
After Aimee’s toast, the crowd started to thin out a little, work friends leaving first, with Catherine showing them to the door as it began to get dark.
She followed Leah Morrison out to her car and waved as she drove away. As she turned to go back up the front walk, a twig snapped. There was an audible murmur, and then silence. A peculiar sensation prickled at the back of Catherine’s neck. It wasn’t terribly dark yet, but there were shadows everywhere, plenty of places to hide. She stood by the garage, frozen in place, straining her ears for the slightest sound. Her breathing was loud in her ears so she held it, still listening. She couldn’t shake the undeniable, overwhelming feeling that she was being watched. She glanced around, half expecting to see a man with a knife or a gun standing in the yard looking at her.
Nothing.
Except—
A shadow disappeared around the side of the house, an unmistakably human-shaped shadow.
Catherine sprinted around to the back of the house, trying to catch whoever it was, but she was too late. There was no one there, and no sound of rustling branches or anyone running away. Nothing at all.
She stood with her hands on her hips, trying to still her racing heart. Had she imagined it? The feeling had been so real, she could still feel the gooseflesh broken out on her back. No use standing out here fretting about it. Catherine headed back inside. But she wasn’t going to see anyone out farther than the front door for the rest of the night.
“I can’t get over how grown up Aimee’s acting all of a sudden,” David called from the master bathroom over the sound of running water. “That toast was about the last thing that I expected.”
Catherine had changed from her party clothes into her favorite pair of old sweatpants and an ancient Air Force T-shirt and was sitting up in the bed, feeling a content sort of tired after a long but good day. “I know. She’s just one surprise after another.”
David appeared in the doorway, shirtless and drying his face off with a towel. “I think it’s time for us to face it. We managed to create a whole person with all of her own ideas and plans that don’t have anything to do with us.”
“Isn’t it great?”
“Well, yeah.” David hung up the towel and came to bed, crawling in next to her. “But admit it: Don’t you miss the days when she was more dependent on us? I think I kinda miss being the center of her universe.”
“Well, you’re just going to have to settle for being the center of mine,” Catherine said, leaning over to kiss him.
“I love you, but it’s not the same,” David said with a grin. “I mean, we’re both still young; there’s no reason we couldn’t—”
“Stop right there, mister.” Catherine raised her fingers to his lips and pressed them closed. “If you’re about to say ‘there’s no reason we couldn’t have another baby,’ I’ve got about forty-three of them.”
“Forty-three isn’t that old,” David cajoled, slipping his arms around Catherine’s waist. “Just think about it, all those cuddles and silly songs and giggles…”
“And all those diapers and two a.m. feedings and teething… uh-uh. No way.” Catherine gestured at her midsection. “This baby factory is closed for business. Besides, what if I came back with some sort of genetic issue they haven’t figured out yet. Do you really want to take that chance?”
“No… I know. You’re probably right,” David said, sighing.
Catherine pressed a kiss to his forehead. “If you want something little in the house again, we can talk about getting a dog or a cat or something, but you gotta let go of having a little girl, Dad. She grew up on you.”
“That she did.” David sounded so proud Catherine couldn’t help but smile, the smile interrupted by a yawn.
“Okay, proud papa, this mama needs to get some sleep.” She settled down on her side, reaching up to turn out the light. David curled loosely behind her, his hand on her hip. Today had been everything she’d fought to get home for. Catherine closed her eyes, feeling as if her real life had finally begun.
10
CAL DUCKED DOWN in the front seat of his car, trying to catch his breath after his mad dash out of the Wellses’ yard. Sweat trickled down his forehead from his hairline as he waited to see if Catherine had spotted him, fully expecting to hear her pounding on his window demanding to know what he was doing in her yard.
What the hell was he doing here?
At first, spending the afternoon and evening watching Catherine’s house seemed like a good idea. All of his instincts were screaming that something was wrong. He’d spent hours poring over her personnel files, the transcripts and recordings of her debriefs, and nothing. Nothing! Nate had tried to pick the brains of the medical team to find out more information about Catherine, but they had nothing useful to offer yet. Cal did manage to get a copy of her medical records and the telemetry from Sagittarius, and after going over both, he felt that the answer was right there in front of him. He could almost see it. Something wasn’t adding up, but he couldn’t figure out what.
He kept coming back to the rote way she described her last memory of the mission. And the guilty look on her face when he’d found her down in the archives. The whole thing felt wrong. And yet, all of Dr. Darzi’s reports to the administration cleared Catherine of any form of instability and any problems that would keep her from working. If her therapist didn’t see anything wrong with her, how could Cal be so sure?