"I could take you on my Venus run," the pilot said. He, too, was embarrassed. "But I'm afraid I'll have a full ship after that. Unless you can buy the weight and space. I'd be glad to take you free. But the company...."
Annie's eyes were full but she wasn't going to let them spill.
Sally brought Ben by, already looking self-consciously married.
"I'm sorry, honey," she said. "Look, Annie, if you want to come stay with us until another shipment of pioneers come to break ground, you're welcome. Maybe you'd—er—find one of them you liked."
It was a gesture of kindness, of course, but it made Annie's eyes spill. She turned her head away, toward the red hills. Red and the cultivated ones green. Christmas colors.
"Sure," Ben said. "Swell. Any friend of Sally's is a friend of mine."
And the way they looked at each other made Annie's heart lurch.
"Thanks, kids," she said. "But I don't believe I'll try it. And don't worry. This isn't the first time I've been stood up."
"Are you coming?" the pilot shouted across the field. "Hate to rush you, but I've got a schedule to meet."
Was she coming? What else could she do?