24 November 2018 – Ski Breckenridge Resort, Breckenridge, Colorado

“You shoulda seen it, Mom! It was kinda awesome!”

“Mia, don’t make fun of Sabrina,” Helen chided her youngest while the family ate dinner at their rented house. “I’m guessing this is a pretty big deal for her given the way she’s pushing her food around her plate.”

Sabrina looked up at the comment to see Helen smiling at her with a twinkle in her eye. She looked back down and continued to push her food around while her mind whirled. The truth was that Tommy’s kiss unlocked a lot of feelings for him she didn’t know she had. Those feelings could create many complications for her and him, however.

Sabrina still had a year and a half left at the academy, eighteen very busy months. There would be classes, instructor duties, wing leadership responsibilities, plus hockey – all competing for her limited time. Next year she and her classmates would plan all parts of cadet life for the entire wing – over four thousand cadets. After graduation, she would attend training for whichever job the Air Force selected her for. That would require reporting to another base, as would her follow-on assignments. Sabrina owed the Air Force a minimum of five years’ service following initial training in exchange for attending the academy, and at least ten if selected for pilot training. Her goal of becoming an astronaut would require a commitment of many more years from her beyond that.

“Sabrina?”

Looking up, Sabrina discovered Helen was the only other person left at the table. She hadn’t noticed before that Joe and the girls weren’t there.

“You care for him, don’t you?”

Sabrina nodded. “I’ve known him since before we started preschool. We grew up together, neighbors. Why haven’t I ever noticed these feelings for him inside me, Helen? He’s always been right there as my best friend, but now – BLAM!”

“Sabrina, would people describe you as ‘driven?’”

She looked at her sponsor, an academy graduate herself. “That pretty much describes everyone at the academy, doesn’t it?”

“Right. People like us who are so focused on one particular goal often have what’s known as ‘tunnel vision.’ We tend to block out everything else trying to reach our goals. Your dad’s a paramedic. They can get that way on calls and have to guard against it, too.” Sabrina looked off into the distance, her mind still a jumble. “Mia said your friend’s at one of the hotels nearby. Take the car, go see him, and get the four-one-one. Or whatever it is you kids say these days.”

Sabrina sat in the parking lot of Tommy’s hotel with no memory of the drive over. She shook her head to clear it before texting Tommy. Once inside the lobby, Sabrina settled into a chair that offered a clear view of the elevators. She was in the chair perhaps ten seconds before someone called to her.

“Hey, Sabrina.”

She jumped a mile.

“Where did you come from, Tommy?” she asked, willing her heart rate to slow.

“I took the stairs down once I saw your text. We’re only up on the third floor, and the elevator would have taken too long. I’m sorry I startled you.”

“You’ve startled me in more ways than one, today,” she muttered.

“Yeah, we haven’t even hinted at that, have we?” he asked, meaning their kiss. Sabrina shook her head. “Let’s take this into the lounge so we can talk a little more privately, okay?”

They found a booth at the back of the lounge where they could talk without being overheard. She took a sip of her juice.

“So, what brought all this on, Tommy? The move? That kiss?”

Her friend sighed. “Westfield State seemed a good fit for me, and it was at first. I made friends right away and did well in my classes. As the semester went on though, I couldn’t settle in. I couldn’t figure out why, but something wasn’t clicking. I finished the year near the top of my class anyway and went home to Lancaster for the summer. I got a lower-than-entry-level job in the finance department at Dad’s law firm, just barely above minimum wage. It gave me practical experience in the stuff I learned freshman year.

“When I went back to Westfield for my sophomore year, I hoped everything would finally start going as smoothly as things did for me in high school. It didn’t. Everything still felt off to me. I kept my grades up, and my friends were still there for me, though. I finally figured out what was wrong when I went home last Christmas.

“You stopped by to say hi to my family and me when you came home. Seeing you blew me away. The moment I saw you, I knew what had been missing all along: you, Sabrina. You’re what’s been missing in my life. You not being there is why I was so off-center for those two years. Once I got over the shock, I spent half of the spring semester last year figuring out how to fix that and the second half of it executing that plan. I transferred to Denver in the fall to at least be closer to you. If Fate hadn’t brought us together today, I was going to try and contact you after New Year’s.”

Sabrina’s head spun, trying to process his story.

“Tommy, my life at the academy has gotten busier each year I’ve been there, and it’s going to get even worse before I graduate. After I graduate won’t be any picnic, either. Following graduation is initial training. Once I complete that I owe the Air Force five years. If they select me for pilot training, I’ll owe them ten years from when I get my wings. I’ll want to stay in after that to be selected for astronaut training, but there’s no guarantee I will be selected. It’s still all very uncertain.”

Tommy unlocked his phone and tapped a few times. Music played from the small speakers. A steady rhythm on a piano defined the beat while synthesized notes swirled around them. The song built and built until the start of the last verse when the original, slower tempo returned. The song repeated.

“After I saw you last year, Sabrina, I came across this song. Back then I was looking up everything I could about the Air Force, trying to learn what I might be in for if this crazy idea works out. This was the background music for a video about Air Force para-jumpers. I stumbled across it after following link upon link. It asked the most important question I had to ask myself: was I going to walk away from the feelings I discovered I had for you all these years? That answer was, of course, ‘no.’ The song also expresses how I feel and addresses the point you made about uncertainty.

“Do you hear that line in the second verse? ‘I want pinned down / I want unsettled.’ I’m gonna be the pinned-down one, the stable accountant, the one making people cringe at parties when I tell them what I do for work. You’ll be the unpredictable, exciting one with the crowd around you when people learn you’re a pilot, especially if you’re a fighter pilot. That’s just the way things are. There are a limited number of places the Air Force can station you. As an accountant, I can find work almost anywhere. Sure, if I want to get into forensic accounting that would change things, but not much.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought, Tom.”

“I had to, Sabrina. I know I’m dumping this on you all at once, and I’m sorry about that. I’m trying to take a page from your dad’s book here, however: go big or go home.”

She nodded to her long-time best friend. He had just laid everything on the line by offering her his heart. Now she had to decide if she was going to accept it – or break it.

“I don’t want to give you anything more to think about tonight, Sabrina. I’ve already given you plenty. Archie and I have to be out of the hotel by eleven o’clock tomorrow morning, and I’d like to see you again before we all leave. I’ll understand if that won’t work, though.”

Tommy walked her out to the Gallardos’ SUV. There he gathered her in his arms and kissed her again.

The next time she saw her, Sabrina was going to absolutely kick Erica Thorisson’s ass for not telling her how good a kisser Tommy Jones was. Sabrina put her arms around Tommy’s neck and cupped the back of his head. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She didn’t care how cold it was out. She wished the kiss never had to end. When it did, the breathless Air Force Academy cadet needed a few moments to gather herself before climbing into the driver’s seat. Tommy waved as she drove away.

Sabrina heard Helen and Joe putting the girls to bed upstairs when she arrived back at the rented house. At eleven and nine they didn’t really need the help anymore. Bedtime was family time, however, and that was something the Gallardos tried to grab as much of as they could.

Sabrina opened her laptop and brought up her music software. She connected to the software’s music store and searched for the name of the band. Tommy mentioned the song he played for her was the first four minutes of a sixteen-minute epic. She downloaded that part of the song. Sabrina pressed play and set the song to repeat.

“What are you listening to, Sabrina?”

She looked up to see Joe settling onto the couch across the living room. She turned down the volume a little.

“It’s a song my friend Tommy played for me when I met with him.” She told Joe the title of the song.

“The song is aptly named,” Joe commented after hearing it two or three times.

“What’s that, Joe?”

“The song. I said it’s aptly named, mentioning a lightning storm. The song builds like an approaching storm through the first two verses, peaks at the end of the second, and then the change in tempo the third is the storm receding.”

“Tommy said the lyrics ask a question he needed to answer for himself, and they explained his answer to it, too.”

Joe nodded as Helen rejoined them in the living room. “The song also tells others how he views you, Sabrina.”

“What’s this?” Helen asked as she sat.

“Sabrina’s friend played this song for her when they met up tonight. He said it asked him something important and explained his answer. I pointed out that it also tells everyone how he feels about her.”

Helen cocked her head, listening carefully to the song’s lyrics. The song repeated a couple of times before Helen nodded.

“You’re right, Joe,” she commented. Helen turned back to the young cadet. “Do you hear it, Sabrina? Do you hear how your friend sees you?”

Sabrina heard what she missed now that Helen and Joe pointed out. Did Tommy view her as a shining beacon that would help him avoid a dark existence?

“God, does he really see me that way? Like I’m some sort of guardian angel sent to guide him through life?”

“That’s what Helen is for me, Sabrina.”

“And Joe is that for me, as well,” Helen said. “Isn’t that what a married couple is supposed to be and do for each other? More than the song telling you how he feels about you, it tells you his greatest fear: that memories will be all he has of you now that high school’s over. He also understands that he doesn’t want that ‘distant echo’ to fade, Sabrina. He wants the sound of your storm’s fury right in his ear for as long as he’s alive. He knows things will change during life together, but he wants to be with you every day to see how you change.” Helen leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.

“He gave up his friends, a school he was doing well at, and proximity to his family to come out here and try to be with you. He risked everything in telling you how he feels, Sabrina, risked his heart. He’s risking what he sees as his most valuable friendship because he wants more. You have an especially important decision ahead of you now, young lady.

“Don’t let your future career get in the way of living your life. I was lucky to find Joe at the tail end of my Air Force career, especially since I passed on other chances for a family earlier on. I’m going to be forty-eight next year and was no coed when we had Felicity and Mia. That I was still able to have healthy children at thirty-six and thirty-eight was in no way guaranteed, but we got lucky there. My advice is don’t wait, Sabrina. Reach for that brass ring. There’s no reason you can’t have a family and a career.”

The night ended too quickly. Sabrina spent what felt like half of it thinking about things. She also felt like the girls woke her as soon as she finally closed her eyes. Coffee did little to relieve the fatigue that clung to her all morning. Despite the terrible sleep, she was packed and ready to go before ten.

“Helen, could we swing by Tommy’s hotel on our way out of town?” Sabrina asked as they walked out to the car.

“Of course, Sabrina.”

Sabrina nodded her thanks to the older woman. Her thumbs flew over her phone, sending out a message to her best friend. He sent back a thumbs-up. Sabrina’s stomach was in knots on the drive over.

The Gallardos’ SUV pulled into the hotel lot. Sabrina pointed out Tommy standing by a pickup. Joe steered the vehicle closer and parked a few spots away. Helen smiled and reached back to pat Sabrina’s knee in support. Sabrina took a deep breath and stepped out of the car.

Tommy looked hopeful but guarded as she approached. Sabrina erased the worry in his mind when she walked right up to him and initiated the kiss this time.

“Yes,” she whispered after the kiss ended.

“Yes, to what, Sabrina?” Tommy asked with hope clear in his voice.

“Yes, to all of it, Tommy. I want to see if we can make this work. I have times when I can’t make phone calls easily, so text or email will be the best way for us to communicate until we establish a routine. Communication will absolutely be key for us. We can’t assume we know what the other will think or feel about things. I’m sure you know what my dad says about assuming?”

“I do.” Tommy’s eyes filled with tears of happiness. He hugged her tight and whispered, “Thank you. Text me when you can, Sabrina.” He kissed her tenderly one more time and released her. She gave him a little wave through the window as the SUV pulled away.

“Good news?” Helen asked. Sabrina nodded.

“We still need to talk a lot more and hammer things out but, yes, Tommy and I are going to give things a try.”

“Hello, Sabrina,” she heard the familiar voice answer after she returned to the academy Sunday evening.

“Hi, Mom. How are you? How was your visit to Hawaii?”

“I am well, daughter, thank you. Our visit was quite enjoyable. Allison and Antonio send their love. How are you?”

“Confused, scared, and deliriously happy all at the same time.”

“What do you … Ah, so Thomas called you?”

“Wait, did you and Dad know he was coming out here to try and find me?”

“I believe he already knew where to find you, Sabrina.”

“Mother,” she growled into the phone.

“Sabrina,” her mother laughed in reply. “Yes, your father and I knew of Thomas’s plan. He came to visit before he left for Denver. While he did not ask permission to marry you – that would have been quite premature – he asked if you were happy there and doing well. He then explained why he chose to transfer and what he hoped for in the long term. When did he call?”

“He didn’t call me, Mom. I ran into him on the slopes in Breckenridge while the Gallardos and I were on our ski weekend.”

“Ah, so Fate decided to play an active role. Do you foresee many difficulties in your relationship?”

“More than a few, Mom. I hope he doesn’t get scared off. As busy as things already are, they’re going to get busier from here.”

“You must trust Thomas, and yourself, Sabrina. Be honest and talk about each other’s hopes as well as your fears. Relationships are very much partnerships, and require both partners’ effort.”

“Sabrina, you coming?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, pushing the textbook away the following Friday night. “Friday night, not having to worry about Academic Call to Quarters? Can’t get enough of that, Dina!”

“It feels weird being on the T-zo in civilian clothes,” her roommate said as they walked to Arnold Hall.

“You still say that every time we’re out here! This is our third year here!”

“After our four-dig year, it’s still true every time!”

They found Linda seated in Arnold Hall’s theater where she had reserved two seats next to her.

“Good evening!” The band leader called from the stage. “Thank you for coming tonight. What we have for you tonight is a blend of our talents,” she explained as she swept her hand at the musicians behind her. “Cadet orchestra, chorus, contemporary, a capella – we’ve all come together to offer you our take on the music some of you might have grown up with. We hope you enjoy it.” With that, she turned back to the ensemble.

“It’s kind of like when Metallica played with the London Symphony years ago,” Dina said after the first two songs. “I like it.” Heads bobbed around the arena.

Sabrina smiled when they played ‘Renegades.’ She thought about her high school friends as she listened to the hit song from their senior year.

‘How many renegades are really in this room, though?’ she wondered. ‘I doubt many of us here are all that rebellious … Well, except for me …’

Not all the new arrangements worked, but most did. The blended group was very good. When three grand pianos then began the intro to ‘What if this Storm Ends?’ it was like a punch in the gut.

“Sabrina?” Linda asked, looking at her with concern after her audible gasp. Sabrina shook her head. She hadn’t realized how loud her gasp had been. The song built around her.

‘Tommy …’ Tears welled up.

The song swirled to its crescendo, and the ache in her chest built with it. The kiss she shared with her childhood friend Saturday afternoon unlocked deep feelings for him. Hearing this song amplified them.

‘Shit, how am I going to make it through the next month?’ School and training would keep her occupied until they both flew back to Massachusetts for Christmas. ‘I hope we’ll be able to talk often before then.’

“Sabrina?” She jumped when someone nudged her. She looked up. “You gonna sit there all night, or are you walking back to the dorms with us?” Dina asked.

“No, I’m coming.”

“You all right?” Linda asked during the walk to Vandy.

“No? No, Linda, I don’t think so.”

“My grandfather would be singing Sinatra right now. ‘I’ve got you … under my skin …’”

“Yeah.”

“Text him when you get back to your room. See if he has time to talk – you do.”

Sabrina shook her head. “He’s probably out with Archie.”

“You won’t know until you ask, girl,” Dina pointed out.

“Yeah, fine.”

Dina practically shoved Sabrina’s phone into her hands when they walked into their dorm room.

“Let’s go, Cadet! Chop, chop!”

“If you wanted to cop a feel of my ass you could have just asked, Dina. I do know how to take my phone out of my back pocket.”

“You were taking too long. Let me know if you need me to take a walk.”

“As soon as I find a short pier around here, I will! Trust me!”

“Less talking, more texting!”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. She blinked when Tommy responded right away that he was in his dorm also.

“He’s in his room, huh?”

“What are you, psychic?”

“I’m going to go stretch my legs. You call Lover Boy.” Dina walked out before Sabrina could respond. Sabrina tried to dial the phone three times before her shaking fingers hit all the right keys.

“Hello, Sabrina …” Tommy said when the call connected.

“Tommy …” she gasped.

“You okay?”

“I’m … I’m not sure, Tom.”

“Why aren’t you sure, Sabrina?”

She told him about the concert and her reaction when the group played Snow Patrol’s song.

“Sabrina, what I did to you in Breckenridge wasn’t fair at all. You had your head down as you came across the ice and I blindsided you …” Tommy’s hockey analogy was spot-on. She didn’t see this coming.

“Yeah …” Her voice cracked.

“Sabrina?”

“All week I’ve been trying to figure out my feelings, Tom. The thought of not trying scares me, but the thought of trying and failing at this terrifies me even more!”

“When was the last time you failed at anything, Sabrina?”

“How about failing to recognize my feelings for you?”

“And, again, when have we even hinted at having this kind of relationship in the past?”

“Tommy, you’re speaking to a female! Don’t try using logic!”

“I think I recognized the fact you’re female a long time ago, Sabrina …” he laughed. “Sabrina, I want this. You know that. It won’t be easy, especially between now and graduation; but I think if we both acknowledge that fact, we stand a good chance at this working out.”

“God, I want it to work, too …”

“Can you make it until Christmas break?”

“I have to, don’t I?” She took a deep breath. “You better call me to help keep me sane. Listen, Tom, I usually charter a jet home. Do you want to fly home with me? I could fly up and meet you in Denver, or you could come here?”

“Whatever works, Sabrina. My last final is the day before yours. I can take a shuttle bus down to Colorado Springs and get a hotel room near the airport so we can fly home from there together, or you can have the plane stop here and pick me up, or whatever. As long as we fly home together. The dorms here are open until the 20th, so there’s no urgency for me to leave.”

It was hockey practice the next morning which helped Sabrina regain a bit of her balance. USAFA would play across town at Colorado College the following day, Sunday, hence the weekend practice.

The flow of the action up and down the ice and the reactions of the teams were familiar, comforting. The women’s game doesn’t officially condone checking, but there was plenty of jostling for position and competing for the puck. The physical and mental effort required during the competition kept her mind off her relationship concerns. Sabrina lost herself in the moment.

The demeanor of the other players from last year had started to thaw. Sabrina heard snippets of old jokes, heard the start of friendly banter again, and felt the cohesiveness return. The relaxed atmosphere helped the four-digs on the team integrate much faster than last year’s. Not having to navigate angry teammates’ personalities made that easier.

Sabrina curled around the back of the net, cycling the puck on a simulated power play. The opposing goalie slid right-to-left to keep her short side protected. Sabrina spotted a teammate crashing the net and snapped a pass across the ice toward the opposite slot. The goalie hadn’t even started to shift her weight to cover the open net when the puck whistled by her. Sabrina swooped around the other players and grabbed her defenseman in celebration. The lanky four-dig had been in the right place at the right time.

The same play worked to perfection during the next day’s game. That power play put the Lady Falcons up one-to-nothing midway through the first period. It was a lead they would never relinquish. Sabrina notched two goals and two assists in the win.

Sabrina shuffled across the parking lot toward the USAFA van after the game. The familiar weight of her equipment bag was slung across her back.

“Hey, little lady,” she heard after tossing her bag in the van, “you come here often?”

“Tommy! Where did you come from?”

“Which answer do you want, Sabrina? ‘Denver’ or ‘Lancaster?’”

“Geez, I need to stop lobbing you softballs like that.” Whistles, hoots, and inappropriate comments rained down from her teammates as she kissed Tommy. “You bitches are just jealous! I gots me a MAN!”

“Well, I’m more jealous of him, Sabrina!” four-dig Mara Wayne admitted. “You know which team I really play for!”

“You should be jealous!” Tommy called back. “She’s hot and her kisses drive me crazy!” Tommy soon learned how hard Sabrina could punch.

“Don’t encourage the children, Thomas!” Sabrina snapped while Tommy rubbed and rotated his shoulder to lessen the pain.

“Yes, dear. Are you ladies going straight back to the academy or having dinner first?”

“Let’s see … eating off-campus or eating the same stuff we’ve had a hundred times before? I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.”

Sabrina jumped in Tommy’s truck for the ride to the Mexican restaurant the team picked out.

“You didn’t have to drive down here, Tom …”

“Sure, I did. I haven’t seen you play in years. It was only an hour’s drive down. Your only other game before finals is in Grand Junction.” Which was a four-hour drive from Denver. Sabrina took his hand and interlaced her fingers with his.

“Thanks, Tommy.”

“Seeing you smile at me like that is worth the drive all by itself. I’ll count the hug and kiss as a bonus.”

Tommy sat next to Sabrina at the restaurant. He didn’t add much to the conversation. He used the time to hold Sabrina’s hand, nuzzle her ear, and associate names with faces for when Sabrina would bring them up later. The unexpected ninety-minute visit ended too quickly.

“I wish I could ride back to the academy with you, Tom,” Sabrina whispered during their goodbye hug.

“I know, Sabrina, but I don’t know if they’ll let me through the gates. I haven’t researched that yet.”

“Yeah, me either. Hey, do you want to meet the rest of my sponsor family before we fly home?”

“Sure, if the timing works out. Are they going anywhere for Christmas?”

“They’re visiting Helen’s folks in Florida this year, but I don’t remember when they’re leaving. I’ll find out and see if it’ll work.”

The hoots and catcalls during their kiss changed to laughter when Tommy flipped off Sabrina’s teammates.

“They’re scrubbing any and all flights today, Sabrina,” Katrina Tenerowicz said. “Glider and powered.”

Sabrina looked out the window as they walked through the Fairchild Labs lobby.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised. I’m not looking forward to walking back to Sijan or Lunch Formation, either.”

The gusty wind whipped bare trees on the Air Gardens around as she watched. The bright sun wouldn’t do much to keep them warm, especially when standing in ranks. High, thin clouds streaming in from the west foreshadowed the storm which would hit them tomorrow.

“How much snow are we supposed to get?”

“Another foot, I think.” Now-frozen drifts from previous storms still covered the Cadet Area’s grass.

“You worried about finals at all?”

“I’m always worried about finals, Kat, but only about misreading some of the questions. I go too fast for my own good sometimes. I’ve been successful in slowing myself down on tests here, but there’s always the potential.”

“Yeah, well, there’s possible and probable, Sabrina. You’ll get your Sup’s pin back, I’m sure.”

“I haven’t done anything to piss admin off so far this year, so it’s a possibility at least. One might even say it’s probable.”

“Okay, now you’re just straight-up bragging.”

“Why does it seem they always schedule a Silver Weekend right before finals?” Dina asked as she cleaned their room’s vanity.

“Because they always do, Dina,” Sabrina laughed. “Would you rather they schedule one during finals? We can be slobs during finals if we want and won’t have to worry about keeping the room inspection-ready. I’m sure it’s a form of social engineering or something.”

Sabrina dusted all the nooks and crannies the inspecting officers would check. After five semesters at the academy, Sabrina knew the tricks to passing a SAMI.

“When are you flying home?”

“The 13th. My last final is Wednesday, but I’m bringing Tommy over to meet my sponsors that night. We’ll fly out the next morning.”

“And when will I get to meet the mysterious – and reportedly hunky – ‘Tommy?’”

“Um, when you stop sounding like a predator trying to poach my man! I found him, he’s mine!”

“Bitch, please …” Dina snorted. “You didn’t ‘find him!’ You didn’t even see him coming!” The two roommates laughed at the truth in Dina’s statement. “Seriously though, he’s coming down from Denver on Wednesday?”

“Yeah. I’ll bring him through the public areas that afternoon for a quick tour of the academy before we head over to my sponsor’s place. They offered us a place to stay that night instead of us having to rent a room near the airport. We’ll spend the night at the Gallardos’ and they’ll drive us to COS the next morning.”

“Isn’t your sponsor’s place south of here, like half an hour away? From there to COS will be close to forty-five minutes …”

“I know, but I’d really like for Tommy to get to know them as soon as possible. If they can’t stand each other that’s going to be a pretty big obstacle in my relationships with both Tommy and the Gallardos.”

“I’m sure they’ll get along just fine.”

“Sabrina, why do you look so nervous?”

“Huh? I’m not nervous …”

“Uh huh. You’re chewing your lip and twirling your hair with your finger. Therefore, nervous. I didn’t see it that much growing up, but I saw it enough that I can still recognize the signs.”

“I guess I’m just really hoping things go okay today.”

“You think they’re not going to? I did okay with Mia.”

“You met her for all of ten minutes, Tommy! We’re going to be at their house for hours!”

“Oh, ye of little faith …”

Sabrina needn’t have worried. Helen wrapped Tommy in a hug when introduced. Joe handed him a beer. Tommy knelt to give Mia a hug of her own, and Felicity offered a very reserved handshake. Tommy bonded with the girls the same way Sabrina had, by playing video games. Unfortunately for him, he played video games like Joe.

“God, you still suck!”

“I still suck at these driving games,” Tommy clarified, “which are the ones you and your brothers always challenged me to. If I remember correctly, I held my own in FPS games when I could convince you guys to play them.”

“It’s a good thing your actual driving is way better than your video game driving!”

“It’s a good thing your flying isn’t like my video game driving!”

“No, but her boarding is …”

“MIA!”

Mia and Tommy shared a high-five while Felicity rolled around the couch laughing.

“Nice one, Mia! Sick burn!” Felicity giggled.

“Traitor …”

“Oh, suck it up, Sabrina. Suffering is good for the soul.”

Joe and Helen smiled as they watched the byplay.

“You’re going to spoil me, Sabrina,” Tommy sighed as he sank into the plush leather. “I’m never going to want to fly commercial again!”

“There’s a reason my family doesn’t fly commercial, Tommy.”

“Because you’re filthy, stinking rich?”

“No,” she growled.

“Wait, you’re not filthy, stinking rich? Look, I have a certain lifestyle I’d like to become accustomed to …”

“How about we step outside and discuss that? You head out there and save me a seat. I’ll be right behind you.”

“Yeah, sure. Lemmie guess? I should watch that first step?”

“That and the five-hundred-knot slipstream.”

Tommy started snickering, Sabrina cracked a smile, and then both dissolved in laughter with Sabrina winding up in Tommy’s arms.

“Still scared?” he asked as he held her.

“A little. This is kinda important, but we’ll just have to do the best we can. Are you going to stay at your parents’ place?”

“I probably should. It’s still early for us, and sleeping in the same bed might be premature.”

“Yeah …”

“Let me make something clear right now, though: I love you, Sabrina – as in I’m in love with you. I think I have been for a long time, and the thought of you not being in my life makes my chest ache. That’s what brought me to Denver.”

“Tom, you know I love you, too. We’ve been a part of each other’s life for too long for me not to. I’m still trying to sort out how I feel beyond that, but I think that’s there also. These two weeks at home together should help me figure things out some more.”

His kiss to the top of her head filled her with warmth as she pressed herself deeper into his embrace.

At Sabrina’s request, her parents took the long way home from Hanscom. They diverted through Lancaster center and down to South Lancaster so Sabrina could see the older homes decorated for the holidays. Tommy insisted they stop at her house first before he headed home to see his family. He carried Sabrina’s duffle for her as they walked in from the garage.

“Aunt Allison? Uncle Tony?”

“Hey, kiddo!” the blonde astrophysicist chirped as she rose from the couch. Her husband Tony Rosado stood smiling behind her as she hugged Sabrina. Tommy greeted the visitors, too.

“What are you guys doing here? Aren’t you risking frostbite by being back in Massachusetts over Christmas?”

“Well, maybe Tony is, but I grew up here, remember?”

“You’ve lived in Hawaii since I was a baby, Aunt Allison. I’m sure your blood’s thinned out or something.”

“I spend half my time above the clouds out there, Sabrina. Not exactly sunbathing weather up there, you know? Anyway, your parents invited us out.”

“How come?”

“Hey, Bina!” Sabrina heard Alex exclaim.

She turned to see her brother enter the room – holding Adriana Rosado’s hand.

“Anna!” Sabrina called out in surprise, using Adriana’s nickname.

“Hi, Sabrina!”

Sabrina turned to her Uncle Tony.

“You actually let my brother near your youngest?”

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s worse than that, Sabrina,” Tony laughed. He nodded toward Alex and Adriana.

Sabrina turned back to the couple as Anna held up her left hand to display an engagement ring.