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would?”
    “Because it’s been, what? Eight years?” she said taking a step forward. The dog let out a warning growl and she stopped. “It’s time people heard the whole story. There were so many rumors, so much speculation. You walked away without any explanations and left people assuming the worst about everything. As bad as what you did was, I can’t imagine you were as awful as the media painted you at the time.”
    The rumors had been awful. He was cast as a high-flying jet jockey with women all over the world. Illegitimate children spread from Russia to China to Brazil and beyond. Alcohol, drugs, sex. One article said he used to take cocaine before getting in his F-16 to fly missions over Iraq.
    He grimaced. “I never— Some of those rumors— Well, some of them weren’t true.”
    “I know. Talk to me. Tell me who you were. Let me tell others.”
    “What makes you think anyone would even care? Like you said it’s been ten years since the space station event, eight since my personal life imploded. Other stories have come and gone. The days of my infamy are long over.”
    Gabby nodded as if in complete agreement. But they both knew he was leaving out a very significant reason why people might be interested in Jamison Hunter again.
    “You’ve heard the reports about the trouble they’re having with the Space Station again. I know you have. Even on this island they must have cable.”
    “Satellite. It’s the only way to go,” he muttered. “You think NASA might come and call me out of retirement for one more space walk, huh?”
    “You don’t?”
    He shook his head. “You don’t get it, lady—”
    “Gabby or Gabriella,” she corrected. She wasn’t sure why she offered him her full name. Nobody ever called her by it.
    “Sorry, Gabriella. I’m an old man. A washed-out hero whose day is over. They have younger and more qualified men and women for whatever space mission they are cooking up. Trust me.”
    “You talk like you’re ready for the nursing home. You’re forty-five.”
    “I might as well be eighty-five to NASA.”
    “John Glenn went into space when he was seventy-seven.”
    “I’m no John Glenn.”
    “No, you aren’t,” she admitted. The sad fact of his disgrace would forever separate him from the other astronaut heroes. “But you did what Glen didn’t do. What so many astronauts before you never did. You saved fourteen lives that day. You should be remembered for your achievement.”
    “Isn’t that what the internet is for?”
    Gabby sensed a stalemate approaching. She had to be happy she’d gotten this far. They were talking. Communicating. She’d made her opening pitch. Now it was time to back off.
    “You don’t have to make any decisions today.”
    He chuckled. “I’ve already made my decision.”
    “Look, can’t you take some time to get to know me? You’ll see I’m not all that bad and I’m not out to destroy you or rehash the terrible things said about you. Maybe you’ll come to trust me.”
    “Doubt it,” he said. He considered her for a moment, but she had a hard time interpreting the gleam in his eye. “You want me to get to know you, huh? Are you asking me out on a date?”
    As if. Gabby couldn’t reign in her laughter. A date. With Jamison Hunter. Yeah, right. Pigs could fly and the sky was green. A date. The word was so foreign to her it might as well have been…well, foreign.
    “Uh, no.”
    His face fell a little bit then. “Right. No point in going out with someone you think will cheat on you.”
    That had nothing to do with her reaction, but now he said it she figured it was true, as well. Gabby had been down the betrayal path and had scars to prove it. As a result she’d spent every day since avoiding situations where she might be betrayed again.
    Of course, that hadn’t really worked out, either. Her boss at the station, a woman she considered a friend, had been the one to fire her.
    “Can’t we just talk a bit? I can go with you on your