"Absolutely not."

"Dad, it's not up for discussion. My mind is made up."

"You've only known this man for two months," Keith said, angrily. "And we haven't even met him."

Tess sighed, she knew this would be a difficult phone call. "But you will. I'm bringing him home with me at the end of the month."

"Tess," he said gently. "This was your first time on your own, things are very different. I'm glad you've made friends, but to completely uproot your life and move so far away from home because of some guy you've just met, it's just not a good idea."

"Don't condescend to me, Dad, I am a grown woman, I now know what I want with my life and it is to stay here, with Griff."

"Tess," Allura spoke up. "We just don't think you should rush into anything. Come home, we'll talk."

"I am coming home, with Griff, and I'll pack up my things and come back."

"You are not moving in with some strange man!" Keith snapped.

"No, Dad, I'm not. My friend, Paige, and I are looking for a place to rent. I want to live on my own for a while, until next summer."

"Why next summer?" Allura asked.

Tess took a deep breath and steeled herself. "That's when Griff and I want to get married."

"Excuse me?" Keith asked.

"We're getting married, Dad." Her voice shook a little as she said it out loud.

"Oh, Tess," Allura sighed.

"You don't even get to discuss marriage before we meet him and he talks to me," Keith said.

"It isn't official yet," Tess added. "I told him he needed to meet you all first. But it's going to happen."

There was silence on the Arus end of the phone call.

"Dad?" She asked hesitantly.

"Bring him home," Keith said. "But don't do anything irrational."

"Like elope?" She asked.

Allura gasped.

"No, Mom, we're not going to elope."

"Just…just be careful, Tessy," Allura warned.

"Mom, I added a picture to the photo album," Tess said. "Check it out."

"Okay, I will."

"I have to go, I'm meeting some friends."

"Have fun, sweetie." Allura said.

Keith sighed. "Have fun. Be careful."

"I will. Good bye." Tess hung up. Before she had called, she had added a picture of Flynn's sign to the online photo album she shared with her family. She wanted her mother to see the Love Knot, to see that this wasn't just some flight of fancy, this was meant to be.

With a little help from his father, Declan was able to plan a week away with Brina to celebrate their engagement in New York City. And if they found themselves taking a detour to Houten and seeing Tess, that would make it all the better. This was something he needed to do. He knew Tess was safe and happy. But Declan couldn't stop thinking about her and her new life on Terra, and he wouldn't be happy until he saw it with his own eyes. Part of the reason he knew his father was making this trip happen was because Keith was just as curious and he knew Declan would give him a full report.

He did a lot of planning. They were going to arrive in New York City and drive the two hours to Houten, where he had reservations for a night at a local B&B. Then they were going to return to New York City for three days, he bought tickets to a show and had researched restaurants and museums. He wanted to share as much as he could with Brina.

It was a hot, sticky early August day when they landed in New York. He hadn't told Brina what all he had planned, he wanted the whole thing to be a surprise for her and she was completely in awe of the size and scope of the city.

"I don't even know where to begin," she gasped as they exited the space port.

"We're taking a little side trip before we explore the city."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise."

She laughed and grabbed his hand. "Do you really have anything planned or are you just making it up as you go along and calling everything a surprise?"

He shrugged. "It might be a combination of both."

"You certainly keep my life exciting, Declan."

"And don't you forget it. Come on, we have to go pick up our rental car."

Just over two hours later, Declan pulled to a stop in front of Flynn's.

Brina turned to look at him. "Seriously?"

"What?"

"You used the guise of a romantic getaway to spy on your sister?"

"We're not spying on her."

"Declan."

He grinned at her. "This is our romantic getaway, but I thought that if we were going to be on Terra, and only a couple of hours away, we'd stop in and say Hi."

She unbuckled her seatbelt and glared at him. "You're lucky I love her too and want to see her or else I would be very upset."

He leaned over and stole a quick kiss. "I love you."

"Uh huh. Keep talking, slick."

It was not yet 5:00, too early for the dinner crowd, but the after work drink crowd was starting to trickle in.

The first thing Declan noticed when he walked in was a framed picture hanging on the wall just inside the door. It was a sketch of the outside of the bar and the stores surrounding it. He recognized the style before he even saw the interlocking TAMW, his sister's initials, in the bottom right corner.

Then he saw her.

Tess was standing behind the bar, wearing a polo shirt with the bar's name and logo embroidered over her heart and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was standing in front of the beer taps, pulling down on one and watching, with very intense concentration, as she filled a glass. Behind her stood a dark haired man with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused look on his face. Declan wondered if that was Griff.

Seated at the bar, watching Tess, were half a dozen people.

She pushed the tap back into place and then set the glass on the bar. After a moment, she put the glass back under the spout and pushed the tap handle backwards. She then, very carefully, set the full glass of dark beer on the counter.

The people seated at the bar and the man standing behind her broke out in applause.

Tess let out a triumphant cry. "Look at that! That is a perfect pint!"

A man at the bar reached his hand out to grab the glass and Tess smacked it away. "Not until Griff sees it."

"But the head will settle by then," the customer whined.

"Hold on." Tess reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, framing the shot. "Just let me get a picture."

A door at the far right end of the bar opened and a tall, red-headed man walked out carrying a box filled with bottles that clinked together as he walked.

"Hey, Griff," the man at the bar called out. "Your lady friend just hit me."

Griff set the box on the bar and hooked his arm around Tess's neck. "That's my girl!" He declared before pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "I have no doubt you deserved it, Dave."

Declan narrowed his eyes and studied the man who had his arm around his sister.

"He's cute," Brina whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Look at what I did!" Tess said, excitedly. "A perfect pint!"

"Of course it is, but you can't just stare at it, we need to make money, sell it." Griff said as he started pulling bottles out of the box and setting them on the shelves under the bar.

"Okay, Dave, you can have it." Tess reluctantly slid the glass to him.

"And it only took her three tries," another guy said.

Griff gave her a pitying look. "I don't think working behind the bar is for you, love."

"Ha!" An old man at the bar scoffed. "I'd rather see her pretty face behind the bar than your's or Mike's mugs!"

The other bartender rubbed a hand over his chin, "I thought I was pretty."

"You're so sweet," Tess said leaning over the bar to kiss the old man on the cheek.

Declan watched this whole scene play out before him with a strange feeling in his chest. His sweet, quiet sister had always shunned being the center of attention, but here she was comfortably holding court with half a dozen people at the bar. She was teasing and flirting. She was having fun.

"She's happy," Brina said, as though she was reading his mind.

"Sorry for the wait, table for two?"

Declan turned to see a blonde waitress standing beside them. "Uh, no, thanks, we're here to see Tess, actually."

"Oh, okay. Hey, Tess, visitors!"

Tess looked across the restaurant and did a comedic double take, not believing her eyes at first. Her mouth fell open in surprise, but she quickly recovered, let out cry and ran around the bar to throw herself at her brother.

"Uh oh, looks like your princess has another man," Dave told Griff.

But Griff had seen pictures of Tess's family. After she had told him the whole story, she shared her private pictures with him and he would know her brothers anywhere. "I'm not too worried, Dave. Why would any woman even look at another man when she has this hot piece of pale, Irish tail?"

A woman at the bar snorted. "Because he's tall, dark and handsome?"

"Because that's her brother," Griff said, scowling at her.

"What are you doing here?" Tess asked, hugging her brother tightly before turning to Brina. "I can't believe you're here!"

"I was lured here with the promise of a romantic getaway," Brina told her.

"A romantic getaway? Here?"

"This is a stopover on a very romantically planned trip," Declan explained.

Brina winked at Tess. "So he says."

"Come on, come on, I want you to meet Griff." Tess led them across the bar. "Griff, look who's here! I can't believe they're here! This is my brother Declan and his fiancee, Brina. Dec, Brina, this is Griffin McManus and that's Mike Phillips, one of our bartenders. And these are a few of our regulars, Dave, Josh, Earl, Sophie, Lanni, and Brian."

Declan couldn't help but take notice of her use of the possessive pronoun 'our' as Tess introduced everyone.

The folks at the bar waved and called out greetings while Griff and Mike shook their hands.

"Why don't you guys go get a table and I'll bring some drinks over," Griff said.

"Okay, oh, bring some of your beer, the new IPA is good." Tess turned to her brother, positively giddy. "I still can't believe you're actually here. How long are you staying?"

Declan followed her to a small table. "Just for the night, we got a room at the B&B up the street."

"You're not staying with Aunt Dana? She's going to be so disappointed."

"This whole trip was kind of last minute, I didn't want to put them out."

"I'll call them and have her and Uncle Harry meet us here for dinner."

"Sounds good," Declan leaned back in his seat. "So, you work in a bar now?"

"Yup. I've been doing data entry and keeping on top of the inventory, I've also taken over scheduling and I'll probably take over the payroll eventually. I asked Griff to teach me how to mix drinks, but he thinks I'm too slow."

"It's not that you're slow," Griff said, setting four glasses of beer on the table. "It's that you still have to look up every drink in the book before you make it."

"I'll get it," she muttered.

Griff passed his hand over her ponytail before sitting down. "I know you will, it takes time and practice."

"Oh, Brina! Let me see the ring!" Tess leaned across the table.

Grinning, Brina stretched her arm out across the table.

"It's gorgeous! Did you really design this?" Tess asked her brother.

He nodded. "I'm awesome like that."

Tess rolled her eyes.

"Is that an emerald?" Griff asked, pulling out the chair across from Declan and sitting down.

Brina nodded. "It is. I fly Green Lion in the Votron Force."

"It's a beautiful ring."

"Griff is from the Emerald Isle," Tess said. "He's teaching me about Ireland."

"I can't wait to take her someday." Griff leaned back and stretched his arm across the back of Tess's chair.

"So, Griff, you own this place?" Declan asked.

"I do. I also own the house behind here, we're going to turn it into a brewpub."

"When are you going to do that?"

"Demo just started, I'm hoping to have the brewing started in three to four months and the brewpub open by next fall."

"And what is Tess's role in all this?"

Tess rolled her eyes. "Really, Dec? Skipping the small talk and going straight into the whole 'what are your intentions' speech?"

"It's my job, since Dad isn't here."

"Dad will meet him and grill him in a couple of weeks."

"Tessy, you've only known this guy for two months and you're willing to pick up and move to a whole other planet."

Griff picked up his beer and sat back, watching this exchange with interest.

"I'm an adult, Declan, I don't need you babysitting me."

"I'm not babysitting you, I'm just looking out for you. You're going to be all the way out here, on Terra, alone."

"I'm not alone, I have Griff and I have my friends, not to mention Aunt Dana and Uncle Harry. I think I'll be all right."

"Is this normal?" Griff leaned over and asked Brina.

She nodded. "He's being all stubborn and overprotective and she's just being stubborn."

"So, the stubbornness is part of being a Whitaker?"

"Oh, yes."

"But marrying into this family is still a good idea?"

She grinned at him. "Oh, yes."

"What are you whispering about?" Tess asked.

Brina turned to her. "I'm convincing Griff that the way you guys are behaving is not a good reason for him to run screaming away from this family."

"Ha," Tess scoffed. "He couldn't leave me."

Brina nodded. "And cockiness is another Whitaker trait."

"You made this?" Declan asked, holding up his half empty beer glass.

Griff nodded. "I brewed it."

"It's good."

"It's one of the beers I'll be selling at the brewpub."

"You have a real talent."

"Thanks. From what Tess has told me, you know your beer."

"I like to think I do."

"Too bad you won't be around this weekend, I'll have a stout ready by Sunday."

"Running a bar, brewing, and starting up another place has got to be very time consuming."

Griff shrugged. "It is. But I'm lucky to have Tess helping me and the rest of my crew."

"And Tess is…?"

"My office manager, she'll be a partner."

Declan nodded slowly and took a sip of his beer. "But you're having her pour beers and mix drinks?"

"They're tools of the trade."

"I asked to learn to make drinks," Tess added. "I want to know."

"If you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom," Brina said, pushing back from the table.

"Come on, I'll show you where it is," Tess said, getting up. "I want to go call Aunt Dana and have her and Harry meet us for dinner."

Declan watched while his sister pointed Brina in the right direction before entering a door to the left of the bar. "So, Griff?"

"Yes?"

"You and my sister seem to be moving pretty fast."

"Oh, I don't know about that."

"Moving here is a huge step."

"She wants to, I would never force her."

"Would you consider moving your bar and brewpub to Arus?"

Griff took a sip of his beer, giving himself time to answer. "I'm not going to lie, the thought crossed my mind, but I love it here and my people, I can't just close up and leave them. Tess is happy here, so am I. We want to stay."

"My sister comes with a lot of money."

Griff kept his gaze and tone level as he spoke. "You're insulting both Tess and me when you insinuate that the only reason I am with her is because of her money."

"Tess has led a very sheltered life, this is her first time away from home and I'm looking out for her."

Griff leaned against the table and lowered his voice. "I know you're just looking out for her because she's your sister and it's because I love her that I haven't tossed you out of my bar. Tess is not stupid and I would never take advantage of her."

Declan studied this man as he took another drink. "It's hard for us to know she's going to be so far away and we can't look out for her, like we always have."

"She'll be fine, I promise."

Declan looked up as Tess walked out of the office, her head down as she texted someone on her cell phone. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"All right, Aunt Dana and Uncle Harry will be here in an hour. Paige is going to join us too, she's found a couple of more places for us to check out, one is just a few blocks from here." Tess sat down. "Uh oh, what did you do, Declan?"

"Me?" He asked. "What makes you think I did something?"

"Because Griff's neck is all red like it gets when he's mad. What did you say?"

Griff sat back and smiled at her. "He didn't say anything."

Brina joined them. "This is a really nice place, Griff."

"Thank you, but just wait until you try the food," he told her. "I'm lucky to have the best cook in the world in my kitchen. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get you guys a refill."

Tess waited until Griff had picked up his and Declan's glasses and walked to the bar before turning to her brother. "I know what you're up to and just stop it! Now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Oh come on," Brina snorted. "Even I know you're full of crap."

"Tess, you've only known him for two months and you're talking marriage."

"I have found where I belong, I know that without a shadow of a doubt. This is happening and once you get to know him, you will all love him too. Stop being the overly-protective brother and show me some support. You know I'm happy, you know this is right."

He nodded. "I know. I'm happy for you, Tessy."

She smiled. "Thanks, Dec."

"Was that one of your sketches I saw when I came in?"

"It is," Griff said as he set their glasses down. "Tess is a little too humble about her talent. There is another one behind the bar and one I'll be hanging in the brewpub."

Declan nodded. "She was always shy about showing off her work."

"Did you tell them your idea for the brewpub?" Griff asked Tess.

"I thought we could use it as a place to display local art," she explained excitedly. "I'm going to put out requests to local artists for artwork to hang on the walls and pieces for the shelves and mantle over the fireplace in the study. It will be the perfect place to showcase local talent!"

"That's a fabulous idea!" Brina exclaimed. "You can have your own local art museum."

"She's coming up with a lot of great ideas," Griff said proudly. "She has already made things run much more smoothly here and I know she's going to be a huge help with the brewpub."

Tess checked her watch. "We have time to run over there before Aunt Dana and Uncle Harry get here, want to see it?"

Declan nodded. "Yeah, that would be great."

"Let me get the key out of the office and we'll head over," Griff said.

" Sounds good," Tess told him. "I'm going to reserve a table for us so we'll have one when we come back."

When they were alone, Brina turned to her fiancé. "She's happy and he's a good man. Lay off."

He smiled at her. "I know, but I can't go any easier on him than I did on Tristan."

They spent nearly half an hour touring the stone house. The kitchen was in shambles, the cabinets all torn down and most of the wall between it and the dining room was torn down. In the front room, the carpet was all torn up and some of the wallpaper already torn down. Upstairs, in what would be her office, Tess was taking care of the demolition, tearing down the wallpaper herself.

They returned to the pub just in time to meet up with their aunt and uncle and Paige. The seven of them enjoyed a great meal and wonderful conversation.

"I like this one," Paige said, sliding her tablet computer over to Tess, an ad for a two bedroom apartment on the screen.

"It's bigger than the other place," Tess said.

"And we can get a cat."

"I'm allergic to cats," Griff said.

"You won't be living there," Paige told him.

"No, but I can't be around Tess if she is covered in cat hair. Besides, I like the place on Pell Avenue, it was closer to here."

"I do like the idea of being able to walk to work," Tess said.

"Have you been to look at any of these places?" Brina asked.

"We have an appointment to see one tomorrow and another on Monday evening," Tess told her.

"Are you allergic to dogs?" Paige asked Griff.

He took a sip of his soda and shook his head.

"Then let's find a place that'll let us get a dog. I want a store mascot."

Tess gasped and turned to Griff. "Can we get a bar mascot?"

"Anything other than a fish tank would be frowned upon by the Health Department."

"But don't pubs in England have pub dogs?" Uncle Harry asked.

"We're not in England," Griff reminded him.

"Can't you claim you didn't know the rules, that being from Ireland you thought it was okay?" Tess pleaded.

Griff laughed. "No! When we get a house we can get a dog, but we're not getting a pub dog."

It was nearing nine when Declan announced he and Brina needed to go check in to the B&B.

Tess and Griff walked them to their car. After shaking hands with Declan and accepting a hug from Brina, Griff bid them goodnight and went back in to the pub.

"Well?" Tess asked her brother. "Do you approve?"

Declan rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think you found a good one."

Tess waved to a couple who called out a greeting as they walked by. "I did, I really did. What are you going to tell Dad?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, are you telling me he didn't send you here to spy on me, to see what it's really like here?"

Declan laid his hands on her shoulders. "This is a big thing for them to accept, you moving here. Mom seemed a little better about it when she saw the picture of the sign you sent."

"She knows we're meant to be together."

"I'm really happy for you Tess. I like Griff, I like Paige, and I like this place, I think you're going to do really well here."

She smiled at him, tears pricking at her eyes. "Thanks Dec, that really means a lot to me."

He hugged her tight. "You will be back for my wedding, won't you?"

"Of course."

He released her and stepped back. "We're hitting the road early tomorrow, so I guess we'll see you in a couple weeks."

"You will. And let Dad know not to freak out and that I've made some good choices here."

Brina hugged her. "Oh, Tess, I am so happy for you. This is the perfect place for you, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, thanks, Brina. And when you realize marrying Dec is a huge mistake, feel free to come here to get away."

Brina laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Have fun in New York, you'll have to tell me all about it when I get to Arus."

"I will. Goodnight!" Brina walked around and got into the passenger side.

Declan nodded to his sister. "Goodnight, Tessy."

"Goodnight, Declan." She stood on the sidewalk and watched the car carry them away.