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Chapter One

KIRA

Iwalkinto the main corridor, my eyes seeking outDaR.Myheart hits my throat whenIsee him standing in the distance.Turning,Iknow the second he sensesIam near, just asIcan sense him.Istill enjoy the look on his face as he prowls my way.Hismassive arms wrap lovingly around my waist before his lips literally take my breath away.Hegrowls playfully whenIhearEmber’svoice, andIpull away.Mylove for him and his family, who have welcomed me with open arms from the very start, seems all-consuming.Smackingme playfully on the butt, he turns away just asEmberandQwinrush toward me.Thegirls fill my arms, and everyone is talking at once untilIglance up atDaR, and my world comes to a crashing halt.

Thatis, … untilI’mfaced with the manIloved … before.

SomethingI’velearned is that you can never really escape.Nomatter how hard you try to push it all behind you, it’s always there waiting for you when you least expect it … your past.I’vebecome comfortable in this new world and accepted the changes forced upon me.Eventhough it took time,Ifound thatIcouldlove again.Maybenot in the same way, but no less so, as it seems the heart is big enough to love any and all in its own way.

Myheart weeps when a ghost from my past appears out of nowhere, stopping me in my tracks.Now, hereIstand, helpless in the agony of experiencing all these emotions, reliving that heartache once more.It’sas if a bolt of lightning has struck me; my heart stops, and allIcan see isRick… who is currently looking up atDaR, deep in conversation.Theworld around me becomes silent asItry to comprehend who or what is right before me.Rickturns my way just asDaRnotices my distress.

Vaguely,Irecall askingEmberto try to distractDaRfor a moment, but he doesn’t miss much.Hedidn’t inquire about what caused the pain that flared between our link beforeIcould stop it.Instead, he focused on his specialty, sweeping me up in his arms and taking me away from the heartacheI’mprojecting through our bond.OurSymbotstwirl together affectionately as they try to detect the cause of my sudden grief.

I’min a daze asDaRwalks us quickly back to our temporary living quarters onANDI, laying me down gently on one of the loungers.Hegrabs a throw from its back before tucking it all around me.Thenhe sits beside me, staring down at me before leaning forward to kiss me gently on the forehead.Worryis clear on his face as he waits patiently for me to tell him what’s wrong.

SinceIdon’t understand it myself,Ipaste a smile on my face and try my best to reassure him. “I’mfine my love.Seeingso many of my own displaced just hit me hard.Yougo on;Iknow you need to talk to your boys, and you had planned on escorting the volunteers to that moon you andSCOUTfound.”

“Iwill make arrangements for another to take my place.”

“No, you go on.Icould use a few moments alone to sort through my thoughts.”Ican tell he doesn’t believe a wordIjust said, but instead of pushing me further, he allows me the time to work through it.Cuppinghis cheek in my hand,Irun my thumb over his lower lip, amazed by my influence over such a powerful being.

“Wewill talk on this more later,” he growls beforeIhear him sigh in agitation; he absolutely hates it whenI’mupset.Ismile and shake my head, then close my eyes, trying to calm my thoughts.Notlong after,Ihear his large footsteps leave the room.Thisis one of the rare timesI’mgrateful he will be gone for the majority of the day.

Tearswell up in my eyes, andIfight them back.I’vecried enough over my past already, but in all my dreams …Inever saw this coming.Fora moment in time, myRickstood alive in front of me, my heart instantly reaching out for the manIhave and will always love.Onlywhen he turned slightly didIrealize the differences.

Theeyes served as the first clue:Rick’swere sky blue, whileRicky’sare brown.Althoughtheir features appeared similar from a distance, they are uniquely his own; still, there is no missing the resemblance.Wipinga stray tear off my face,Imumble. “ANDI, are you busy?”

“Whenit comes to youKira, never.”

“Flirt, …Doyou have any records on the humans that are coming on board later?”

“Ihave not done a complete sweep, no, butIcan if there is anyone particular you are acquiring about.”

“Ithink someone mentioned his name wasRicky.Hewas talking toDaRearlier.”

“Letme see …Oh,Inow understand your sudden interest.RickyandGingerSummers.Iswear the closer we get to the end of their planet’s lifespan, the rarer my records become.WhatIcan find shows that he was a guard stationed at theScientificCenterthat launched the pods, andGingerworked there as a custodian.Oneof the perks of being an employee at the facility was the option of on-site living quarters.Ifyou stayed on call, they offered it rent-free for your continued services.Itappears that whenRickywas presented with the job, his one request was that he would only accept the position if his wife could come along with him.Shewas hired shortly thereafter.Theonly other real recordsIcan find of him are a birth certificate and a few pictures in a graduation yearbook.Itappears neither of them had a social media account.Andthe only documentIcan find with her name on it is their marriage license and a few work records.Honestly,Ido find that odd, soIwill do a hard search to see ifIcan find out more, but that may take a few rotations for me to complete.”

“ANDI, that’s fine, but he looks just like my husband, …ImeanRickmy former husband.”

“Ahh,Ineed to cross reference something, butIbelieve you already know who he is; you simply want me to confirm it.Yes, here it is.ItappearsRickySummersis your grandson - two, no … three times removed.Yourson,Cody, had a daughter.Hername wasPaisley; she had two boys,RickandRobert.Thatbrings us to the currentRicky, born toRick, andIam assuming they attached the ‘Y’ just to make things easier.Kira,Icannot imagine how thrilled you are knowing you will be able to talk to your grandson.”

Hiswords roll over in my mind.Ishould be excited … he’s right.Instead?I’mjust numb.

“Ihave no idea how to proceed with this,ANDI.Hewas probably lucky to have even heard my name mentioned at any point in his life.Ihave no memory of any of my great-grandparents, soIdon’t expect him to either.Ialso don’t want others to feel like he’s being given any favoritism because of his ties to me.Thisnew world is going to be hard enough to adapt to as it is.However,Iwill secretly try to help him in any wayIcan.Doyou know what he was talking toDaRabout before?”

“HiswifeGingeris missing.Shewas not in the pods that were recovered, even though they were launched at the same time.Rickywanted to be allowed to stay on theDestroyerso he could continue looking for her.Hewas not pleased when theCommandertold him that the search was over and the best thing he could do was try to rebuild his life, just like the other survivors.”

“I’msurenot happyis putting it mildly if his temper is anything like my ownRick’swas.ANDI, do you think there might be more out there that were not located in the original search?”

“Truthfully,Kira, there is no real way of knowing.Ihave heard rumors of others through some rare channels, but they are no more than that.Theodds of her being found alive are not high at this point.Thepods were at the end of their lifespans.Hemight find solace in knowing he is not alone and has actual family here.”

“Takemy word for it,ANDI.Knowingme will not ease anything for him if he has lost his wife somewhere on the way here.I’mtrying to look at it from all points of view, andIthink it would just create questions and accusations thatIdon’t want to relive.Maybein time,I’llreveal whoIam to him, but not right now.Untilthen,I’llsimply do my best to help him without him or the others knowing or suspecting it.Thankyou,ANDI.Onceagain, your information has proven invaluable.”

“Itis my pleasure,Kira.Ifyou will excuse me,Ihave a meeting with theDestroyer.Ido love a female with all her curves.”

EvenwithANDI’splayfulness,I’mstill struggling to pull my mind out of the past.Iwonder ifRick’sghost will forever haunt me.Curlingup on the lounger,Iwill my mind to push that part of my life back into the little boxesI’vecreated to hold those memories.I’llopen them again when my emotions don’t feel so raw.Untilthat moment occurs,I’mexcited to meet all the survivors and to reunite withEmber.Althoughshe looked as if she might deliver at any minute, her pregnancy glow was undeniable.Now,Ifeel like allI’vedone to push myself forward … was for nothing.

Iknow better than anyone that looking back will never lead you forward.So, for my sake,Ineed to handle this issue quickly and process howI’mgoing to move forward.BecauseI’venot come this far to fail now,DaRloves me, andIlove him.He’smy future, andIneed to find a way to unknot the rope of my past that strangles me every timeIforget it’s there.