“You getting ready for the big trip?” he asked. Tom was just over six feet, with brown eyes that invariably showed where his mind was. Except probably, she suspected, when he was in uniform. He looked sometimes like a guy who would brook no nonsense and, at other times, who understood that the world was strictly for laughs.

“I’m trying to decide which shoes to take.”

He looked at her uncertainly. “You know, when you’re gone, which seems to be most of the time, I can’t resist driving by your house and thinking how empty it looks.”

“It’s good to know the police are watching the place.”

The waitress showed up, brought coffee for Tom, and took their orders.

“Hutch, you think maybe we could get out tonight? Have dinner and go to a show?”

“I’d like to, Tom. But I’m doing a speaking engagement at the Patriot Club. I’m free Saturday night.”

Dismay clouded his eyes. “That won’t work. I’m starting a shift Saturday.”

“Evenings?”

“Yes. Unfortunately.” He put his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together, and set his chin on them. “Well, it was nice having you around for a while. Long enough to have a couple of lunches.”

“Come on, Tom, I’ve been back for a few months.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Don’t know how we could beat that. Maybe next week?”

“Things might get crowded by then. Let’s play it by ear.”

“Okay. You ever going to retire?”

“Eventually, I guess. The way things are going, I may not have much choice.” Actually, she’d been thinking about it. Her life wasn’t going the way she’d wanted. The passion for star flight was still there, still consumed her, but it had been largely a series of disappointments, empty worlds, occasionally planets with beaches whose only sounds emerged from incoming tides. The highlights of her career had been, with only a couple of exceptions, clusters of crumbling buildings from long-dead civilizations.

She’d missed a lot of time with her kids. Her mom had filled in, but Maureen and Charlie had spent as much time in Cherry Hill as in Virginia. Now they were getting ready to move on, and if she continued along this road, she’d miss the next round too.

So yes, maybe she should settle down. But she didn’t want to tell Tom that. Didn’t want to say anything that would encourage him. She doubted they had a future together. She liked him, but the chemistry simply wasn’t there. “I can’t imagine life without the interstellars,” she said. The remark wasn’t complete before she knew how dumb it sounded. But he just looked at her, nodded patiently, and smiled as if that was precisely what he expected and he was prepared to live with it.