Ripley’s face came into view. “Are you sure you’re all right?” He helped her to the cafeteria bench, facing away from the anxious onlookers. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have been teasing you.”
Shelly swallowed hard, taking in the fact that her worst enemy had just become her savior.
Loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, “Fine. I take it back. You’ll never hear me complain about you being lightning fast ever again.”
Chapter 3
Shelly kept a low profile for the remainder of the training session that day. Now Linc wasn’t just a national hero; he was her personal hero. And that left her in an awkward position, given all the tension between them.
Plus, any reminder of spitting her turkey sandwich across the lunch table made her physically cringe.
Despite her personal humiliation, the incident had broken the tension between the Alpha and Beta teams. After her little quip about Lightning’s reflexes, everyone at the table had shared a round of laughter.
During the afternoon training exercises, the air of competition dissipated, and the teams were rooting each other on rather than trading gibes.
Colonel Murphy certainly noted the change in atmosphere and credited it to his idea that socializing during lunch equals team bonding. He’d been right. But not for the reasons he’d expected. Lucky for Shelly’s pride, no one told the colonel about the real event that had helped the team to bond.
Although the day ended without further incident, Shelly was exhausted when she finally got home that evening.
The brand-new single-level, two-bedroom house she’d bought was the brightest spot in her move to Houston. Spacious beyond her needs, it was her refuge, decorated in warm creams and tans, with accents of rich auburn and chocolate brown. Back home, all she’d been able to afford in the city was a cute but small condo.
Her living room and kitchen were completely set up, with new furniture, appliances and a few pictures to remind her of her family. But many of her personal things, like her dressy clothes and knickknacks, remained in boxes.
Shelly was just deciding between a frozen dinner or a call to Pizza Shack when her phone rang. “Hello?”
“Hey, Shelly. What’s new in the world of space?” her sister Cheryl asked. Shelly’s so-so mood immediately lightened at the sound of a familiar voice.
“Absolutely nothing. Unless you count my near-death experience,” she said, with deliberate melodrama.
“Excuse me?”
Shelly recounted her choking incident, leaving out as many of the preceding events as possible. “Finally, someone performed the Heimlich maneuver on me, and I could breathe again.”
She heard her sister gasp. “Whew! Are you okay?”
“I’m talking to you, aren’t I?”
“You sound cranky about it, though. Who saved you?”
Heat crept up Shelly’s neck. “No one special.”
Cheryl snorted. “I know that tone. It must have been someone you don’t like.”
“Don’t like? Why would you say that? I get along with most people,” she said, stalling.
Cheryl’s tone was firm. “Stop beating around the bush, and answer the question.”
Shelly hated that her older sister knew her so well. But it was also what she missed most about her. It was lonely in Houston on her own.
“Fine.” Shelly relented, knowing Cheryl would get to the truth eventually. “Lincoln Ripley saved me.”
“Am I supposed to know who that is?”
“He’s the astronaut who was featured on the cover of People magazine almost two years ago. It was the issue on America’s most eligible bachelors, and the caption read Mr. Right Stuff, remember? You had every woman in your beauty salon drooling over him.”
“Oh my God.” Cheryl’s voice became breathy. “You know him? He’s so hot. And he’s the one who saved you? You lucky girl!”
“Not really.” Shelly sighed into the phone. “We don’t get along.”
“How can you not get along with a hottie like that?”
Sheepish, Shelly studied her nails. “Maybe the fact that I tried to get him kicked off the mission has something to do with it.”
Cheryl was speechless for a moment. “Why on earth would you do a thing like that?”
Shelly tried to explain her run-ins with Linc over the past several days. But as she told her side of the story, she realized she wasn’t coming off well.
“Wow,” Cheryl said. “You’re lucky he was willing to save you. His life would be so much easier if he’d let you choke.”
“Traitor,” Shelly grumbled. “I can’t explain it. He just brings out the worst in me—with his smug grin and those wicked eyes, implying he can have anything he wants. He doesn’t show up for meetings, and when he does, everything’s a game or a joke. If I were in his position, I would appreciate—”
“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
Shelly frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Have you ever heard yourself talk about going into space? You sound like a commercial for vacations among the stars.”
Shelly didn’t know what her sister was driving at, but just thinking about going into space made her giddy. “It’s a sacred experience, Cheryl. Weightlessness, floating without wings. Can you imagine seeing our planet Earth with your own eyes? Space travel is something only an elite few get to share.”
“There you go again.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with Lincoln Ripley?”
“You resent the fact that he’s got everything you want. He’s floated without wings and viewed the earth with his naked eyes.”
Shelly curled her lip, immediately dismissing that idea. “I’ve met dozens of astronauts. Are you trying to tell me I resent all of them?”
“No, just Lincoln Ripley. He’s the only one you’ve charged with taking this ‘sacred experience’ for granted.”
Shelly blinked. She opened her mouth but couldn’t find anything to say.
“Look, I know how much it hurts to miss out on the astronaut program again,” Cheryl continued. “But there’s always next time. I know you won’t give up. But your dream to go into space shouldn’t have anything to do with Lincoln.”
“I don’t think I’ve—”
“From what you’ve said, he’s a hero. You can’t fake that. Maybe you just
