He picked up their plaything, held it up to the light, and twirled it between his fingers. “She asked me not to leave.”
Mrs. Benton lifted her eyebrows.
“I may have left her five years ago.” He closed his hand around the star. Whether he left or not, she didn’t believe in him, proved it down to the day he walked away after the press conference, he had no choice but to leave.
For the umpteenth time that day his phone rang, and without even looking he swiped up the device and answered. “Dr. Knox.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Dr. Knox.” A woman gave an uneasy giggle into the phone. “I don’t mean to bother you, I work with Dr. Carlsbad at International Space Propulsion.”
At the mention of Wynn, he sat up. “What did Dr. Carlsbad say?” He attempted to keep his voice even.
Mrs. Benton stopped her cleaning.
“She said you were the premier scientist on space and media, an expert.” The woman giggled. “Actually, she sort of yelled it in a meeting and talked about how scientists like you are on the front lines fighting battles, but either way, she said that you are the expert and if I wanted to cite something for our blog, I should contact you. She gave me your number then ran out of the conference room, but honestly I didn’t think you’d answer. I was just going to leave a message.”
“Please hold a moment.” He held the phone tight and gazed up at the ceiling. Wynn referred to him as an expert. She said he was a scientist. Once again, he lifted the phone to his ear. “Why didn’t you think I would answer, and where did Wynn, I mean Dr. Carlsbad go?”
“Doesn’t Personal Space have their launch today? I thought she’d be with you,” the woman said.
“She’s going to the launch?” He hung up the phone and stood. “She kept her promise.”
A smile fought to form on Mrs. Benton’s face. “She is a pistol.”
“I walked away from her. Twice.” He ran his hands through his hair and tried to think of his next move.
“It’s never too late to walk back.” At last Mrs. Benton broke out into a full on grin.
“I can’t always walk away.” He slid the star in his pocket. She believed in him, she went to the launch, did everything. It was his turn to do the same. He could only succeed if she were there, she was his muse, the woman he loved. “Get the plane and yourself ready, she does believe in me and we have a launch to attend.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The desert landscape sped by her as Wynn rushed down the two-lane road toward the Personal Space headquarters.
Way off in the distance, she could make out the scaffolding that held the rocket and Maverick. With the launch less than forty minutes away, she had to get there and keep her commitment. Above all else, she had to talk to Garner. She wasn’t a doctoral student anymore. As a woman in love, she had to face him and not allow him to simply vanish.
Her focus firmly on the building, the probe, her goal, she pressed down on the accelerator.
The only issue was her car didn’t go any faster.
In fact, unless the world suddenly went into slow motion, her vehicle, the brand new car she got for her work with Personal Space, lost all power. No smoke, no fire, no sick sounds. The car simply rolled to a sad stop.
“No!” She pounded her fist on the steering wheel, got out of the car, and with trembling hands managed to open the hood. “No!” If this were her old friend Ethyl, a popsicle stick and a prayer might get her the last mile or two to the launch site. Instead, she was met with an engine that thought it was a computer. How on Earth, or any other planet, did she fix it?
Somehow, someway she needed to get to Personal Space, and she ran back to find her phone. “No cell site.”
Again, she got out of the vehicle, paced around her car, and kicked the tire. She stared out at all the nothing of the desert. The heat of the day made the ground appear as if it rippled. Her only choice was to start walking. Of all days to pick a pair of designer boots with heels. After today, she vowed she was done with cars.
“Miss, do you need help?”
She spun around to find two men on horses coming toward her.
No time to waste, she ran up to them, but jumped back when one of the horses snorted at her. “Please, I have to make it to the launch.” She pointed behind her.
One of the men easily dismounted the horse. “Why don’t we take a look?”
“No, you don’t understand. You can have the car. I need your horse. The man I love is there, and I have to tell him before that rocket takes off.” She glanced between the two men and their massive horses. “Please. My name is Winchester Carlsbad. My father loved westerns. I need your horse. There has to be honor among us.”
“Love?” the man asked.
“I’m begging you.” She went to the horse. It stared her down, but at the moment, the beast could bite her and eat her for dinner. She didn’t care. Ignoring him, she lifted her foot, trying to get it in the stirrup, before realizing she had no idea how to get on a horse without Garner.
“Let’s get you there.” The man moseyed over and basically hoisted her on the animal.
She twisted her hands in the reins and said a silent prayer.
“Chet will take good care of you.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than he slapped the animal on the rear.
As if she were in a movie, the horse whinnied and went into a full gallop.
“Ah!” Her voice bounced with the horse, and it was all she could do to not fall. At first she closed her eyes, but then recognizing that wasn’t the best idea, she forced herself to keep her wits about her and aimed her new form of transportation toward the building.
No engine, no transmission, and no worry about exhaust or other car components, her faithful steed raced toward the finish line. By the time they made it through the parking lot, she spotted not Garner but Dana, her blonde Mohawk in full glory, waving her down.
“Dr. Carlsbad, stop!” Dana jumped into their path.
Panic, not expertise, caused Wynn to pull back on the reins, resulting in good old Chet coming to a full and complete stop mere inches away from the woman, then Wynn basically slid off the side of the horse and landed with a thump on the ground.
“What are you doing? Get up!” Dana yanked her upright.
“I have to talk to Garner.” Wynn caught her breath and petted the horse. “I have to tell him something.”
“And you do it on a horse? Well, I hope someone caught your entrance on tape. It fits you.” Dana pushed her into the back of the building.
“Where’s Garner?” Wynn brushed herself off.
“T minus five minutes.” The female electronic voice blasted over them.
“Not here, but you are, and since you’re the one who ruined this, you’re the one who needs to fix it.” Dana put her hand on her back and prodded Wynn ahead.
“What?” Wynn’s chest constricted. Garner had to be here.
“Thank you.” In a coffee-stained shirt, Jim hurried over to her. “I knew you wouldn’t leave us. You have to talk to the media. Garner quit. We are without a spokesperson, and this is our biggest day.”
“You can make this right, and technically you still work for us.” Dana pointed toward the same podium where she was first reunited with Garner, and where they did their press conference. “You have to go out there.”
Garner quit? Whatever, he had to be watching somewhere. She charged out onto the stage.
The second she reached the podium, the gathered media silenced. Anytime she’d spoken in public, Garner had been there with her. Alone, with all eyes on her, she wanted to go hide. Still, she needed to make sure that he got her message.
“T-minus three minutes,” the countdown continued.
She glanced off to one side to find Dana and Jim watching her then she adjusted the microphone. “Greetings, Earthlings.” Fine, she stole Garner’s introduction.
A few in the crowd chuckled.
“Today, we ar
e going to witness something truly glorious. The long awaited Maverick probe will be launching in just under three minutes, and with that, history will be made.” She nodded. “This is not only a huge step for private-sector space, but all space exploration. It took me a while to see that, but we all need to work together.”
A bit of applause rang out through the room.
“The Maverick probe means a lot of things to a lot of people—beginnings, endings, hope. While I’m not as well versed as my fellow scientist, Dr. Garner Knox, in bringing these events to life, before we witness this glorious takeoff, are there any questions?” She could only pray Garner heard what she tried to say.
Some mumbles rumbled through the audience.
“Dr. Carlsbad.” From the back of the room, the most distinctive low voice called to her.
“Garner?” She stood on her tiptoes and watched the crowd part to let him approach the stage.
“I have a question.” Disheveled, his hair a mess and breathless, he looked up at her. Yes, watching the rocket launch might be amazing but nothing, absolutely nothing, was more magnificent than watching him approach her.
“Before your question, Dr. Knox, may I tell you that I have never respected anyone more as a scientist, and I have an incredible appreciation for what you have accomplished? Always have.” She came around the podium. “May I also tell you that I believe in you and everything you have done?”
“Only if I can tell you I will never walk away from you again.” He climbed up and joined her on stage. “But that’s not my question.”
“T-minus two minutes,” the countdown continued.
“What’s your question?” Tears clouded her eyes and she reached out to make sure he was real.
“Do you know I love you?” Right on the stage, he got down on one knee in front of her. “From the day I met you until now, I only wanted to be worthy of you.”
Cheers rang out through the audience.
“You always were.” She knelt down with him. “I’ve always loved you.”
“T-minus one minute.”
“I have a favor to ask you.” Instead of their token star she expected, he held out his hand revealing the most incredible ring with diamonds in the shape of star. “Do you think we could trade in our old star for this new one?”
Presented with her dream, all she could do was nod.
The crowd continued to clap and cheer.
“T-minus thirty seconds,” the electronic voice announced.
“I told you not go on stage without me.” He slipped the ring on her finger and pulled her into his embrace.
“I’m destined to fire off like a pistol.”
Together, they stood.
“I’ll always be there to keep you in check.” He gathered her into his arms and pointed to the wall of windows overlooking the launch site.
“T-minus ten seconds.”
Everyone turned toward the window.
“Launch initiation started.”
As the white smoke billowed below the rocket, she held Garner tight.
“Here we go,” he whispered into her ear. “I booked our time on Selene, you and I will be researching the moons of Mars and our asteroid together.”
The rocket lifted off the tarmac and into the air.
“We have liftoff,” the voice announced.
“There’s a look into infinity.” She turned to Garner. No matter what stars were above her at night, she found her home with him.
He wrapped his arms around her and bent her back. “At last I’m looking into eternity.”
THE END
Find out more about Kim Carmichael by visiting her website
http://kimcarmichaelnovels.com
About the Author
Kim Carmichael began writing nine years ago when her love of happy endings inspired her to create her own.
A Southern California native, Kim's contemporary romance combines Hollywood magic with pop culture to create quirky characters set against some of most unique and colorful settings in the world.
With a weakness for designer purses, bad boys and techno geeks, Kim married her own computer whiz after he proved he could keep her all her gadgets running and finally admitted handbags were an investment.
A multi-published author, Kim is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America, as well as some small specialty chapters.
When not writing, she can usually be found slathered in sunscreen trolling Los Angeles and helping top doctors build their practices.
Follow Kim on Social Media:
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