She sat upright, alarm on her face. “Wait. Like an identical twin situation, or have you been lying?”
He didn’t answer.
She covered her breasts with her arms. “Oh my God, you’ve been lying. How could you lie to us? To my dad?”
Tate ground his teeth together in shame. In sorrow. “I’m sorry,” he said again, though he knew the words would now sound empty.
Maisie bolted off his lap to yank her nightgown on. “I can’t believe you. Screw your sorry, Tate.” She stalked out into the dark night.
Triple fuck. Putain de merde.
Tate didn’t sleep at all. He showered as soon as dawn broke and made his way over to the Case home with his hair still wet. He sat on the back porch until he heard movement inside. He walked in without knocking, fingering a creased business card he’d found in the bottom of his carry-on.
Jennifer was making coffee. Maze had her laptop open at the breakfast bar. She was getting her psychology degree, he remembered.
“Morn—”
Tate cut Jennifer off. “My real name is Tate Geier. I run a space tourism company called OrbitAll. Matt is my brother’s name, and I really don’t know why I gave it as my own all those years ago. Escapism, I guess. I regret lying. I regret keeping secrets from you, keeping myself from you.” He set the business card on the counter closest to him. Jennifer’s mouth was rounded in a perfect circle. Maisie still looked livid. “If you ever need me, any of you, please let me know. I owe you many times over. Telling you I’m sorry about lying, and about Donovan, doesn’t even begin to make up for what I’ve done.”
He walked back out propelled by shame without waiting for a response.
* * *
Later that night, Tate nursed a sparkling water on his deck. His chest felt heavy, his brain busy replaying the past week. A lifetime of emotions had been crowded into just a few days. The stars helped. They always did. Nothing lasted forever. Not this grief. Not this shame. Not life. Not love. The thought should have dragged him down deeper, but knowing every emotion was finite actually relieved some of the pain.
“Tate Geier, huh? French-American billionaire? Is that what I just read?”
Jennifer had arrived silently in the dark. She took a seat in the Adirondack chair next to him. Tate turned his head her way and nodded.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Tate.”
“Likewise,” he answered. “Again, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We know all about escaping, honey. We left the city behind. The people we knew, the values that didn’t align. Is that what’s going on here?”
Tate considered. “Not exactly. I love my company. I love the people and what I do for them. But I needed a place just for me.”
She nodded. “I’m glad we could be part of that. Donovan, too. He’d have approved of this place as your means of escape. Of filling up.”
“Would he?” Tate’s throat had tightened. He needed her absolution.
“He was a man who worked, gave, and loved hard. Just like you. Yes, he would. You don’t need to worry about us, Tate.” Gratitude rushed through him and he couldn’t look at her. “Well, except for those boys. They are ready to give you some shit.”
9
“I can’t believe we get to see a spaceship in action today. You know people in some high places.”
Rosie yawned in response. Her dad had picked her up at three a.m. Three. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world for a wake-up like that. Stratos’ launch sequence was set to begin just after six, and her dad didn’t want to miss a second.
Neither did Rosie. And she wanted a few minutes with Tate if she could get them. She hadn’t seen him since the day they’d found out about George. The day he had kissed her. She’d sent him an email afterward that had gone unanswered. Nearly two weeks had gone by, and in that time her heart had flip-flopped between holy hell and what the hell more times than she could count.
Selah had been elated that Rosie had experienced any kind of positive response to a man—especially one she hardly knew. That she trusted someone before they gave her a reason to was proof of healing, according to her counselor. But Rosie did know Tate, or at least felt like she did.
She played with her fishtail braid and tried to pay attention to the Neil deGrasse Tyson podcast her dad had chosen, but she dozed more often than not on the three-hour drive. But when they pulled up at OrbitAll, she was bouncing in her seat.
“My feelings exactly,” her dad said.
No, not exactly.
The runway was crowded with people moving about in the dark. Looking around, Rosie concluded that the real stars were not the winking points in the sky, but Stratos and Mothership. Both were parked on the runway, engines roaring as loads of people scurried around them.
As soon as she spotted Chen, she dragged her dad over. “Dad, meet Chen Lew. I know you don’t need more of an introduction than that.”
“Wilson Flynn.” Her dad gave Chen a hearty handshake. “A real pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Colonel.”
They chatted for a few minutes as Rosie scanned the crowd for Elle. And Tate. Quinn was running around, tablet in hand, tapping furiously. A photographer and a videographer trailed behind her. A fiery sliver of sun was starting to appear over the desert hills on the horizon.
“Good luck today,” she heard her dad say.
Rosie brought her gaze to Chen. She didn’t want to dampen the mood, but they’d been reminded the other day of the test flight’s risks. “Be careful.”
He grinned in response, seemingly unconcerned. Tate glided up as Chen walked away, sending Rosie’s pulse into a racing, stuttering non-rhythm. He smiled at them both and offered his hand to her dad. “Professor Flynn, I’m Tate Geier.”
“OrbitAll’s Chief Operating Officer,” Rosie supplied. She met Tate’s aqua gaze. “Welcome back.”
He smiled and dragged his eyes back to her father.
“Wilson, please. Thanks for letting us be part of this occasion.”
“Any time.” He gestured to a nearby woman with a headscarf and a clipboard. “Let me introduce you to Adira, one of our lead engineers. She can answer any questions you have about the spaceplane or the test flight itself.”
Delight all over his face, her dad followed Tate while Rosie stayed behind. Where was Elle? But then Tate was back at her side and all else was forgotten as she drowned in those eyes.
“Introducing him to Adira was a not-so-subtle way of securing some alone time with you. I hope your dad doesn’t mind.”
Rosie laughed. “He’s a kid in a candy store right now. Seriously, thank you for letting us—” Crap, she’d almost said crash. “Come.” She blushed. That response was not much better. “How was the trip to Florida? I imagine the funeral was pretty hard.”
Tate pressed his lips together and looked away. “Being with George’s family was painful. Then I got to my—” He paused and gave a small head shake. He brought his gaze back to her. “Sorry, I’ve never told anyone about this.”
Rosie raised an eyebrow. She recalled Quinn snapping at him about a disappearing act. If Quinn didn’t know this secret of his, why share with Rosie, of all people?