[p157]
CHAPTER NINETEEN
She stood there for a moment and stared at the two of them, and he could see from her face that she was not sure which one was her husband. Lors came to his feet and looked at her, not quite sure what to say or do.
“Beth...”
“Don’t explain, Lors,” she told him. Her voice was as calm and as unruffled as though she found men from outer space in the cabin every afternoon.
“I brought him back,” Lors began and felt silly. He wondered vaguely how she had known about him and his being a spaceman.
She came into the room and up to where he stood, her eyes boring into his. “Why did you bring him back? You could have come back by yourself and continued the whole thing.”
The realization of her words dawned upon him slowly and he blinked. “You know about me? How...”
“I’ll tell you later. Why did you bring him back?”
“You want him, don’t you? It couldn’t work out. Any fool can see that.” He reached out and gripped her shoulders firmly. “It wasn’t supposed to happen this way, Beth. It was all supposed to go like clockwork; we never figured on the scout ship being wrecked, and I never figured on falling in love with you...”
“That’s why you brought him back? Because you love me?”