The breeze filtered though the trees, the day surprisingly warm. But that was Melbourne for you, four seasons in one day. Dress in layers to strip or snuggle up, and always bring an umbrella just in case. Spring did like to play tricks.
Sipping from the plastic cup of iced coffee, Ryan listened as the three people at the picnic table chatted and laughed, but his gaze lingered longer on Ella.
Seven months since the case broke, seven long months to wait before she could see Rose again. Only once the people in the underage sex ring were behind bars were Ella and Rose finally able to talk and meet again. Too risky, everything hanging on testimonies, leaving nothing to chance. But now it was safe.
Rose was pretty, a bright-eyed young woman in a wheelchair who obviously refused to allow it to hold her back. According to Carlson, the fed who had become friends with her and now sat beside her putting in his two cents worth and making her laugh, he had a hard time not screaming at some of the things she did.
Would it come to more than friendship between the pair? Ryan thought it possible. But then again, at this stage they were just good friends. Good friendships, as he well knew, could blossom into love.
He’d experienced that first hand.
It was good friends Rose needed during this time. It wasn’t easy for her, heartbreaking in fact to have to bear witness to what she’d found out about her father and others. At times he glimpsed the shadows in her eyes but she’d talked things out with Ella, with Carlson, with a psychologist. She was dealing with it. And with help of friends, she was coming through that dark tunnel and drawing closer to the light at the other end.
Ryan studied her. It would take awhile, but she was learning to live with it. Her laughter was back, her love of life returning. She’d enrolled in university and was studying, of all things, law. Her intention was to work for prosecutions, her aim to help fight crime the best way she could. Woman couldn’t stand, run or walk, so she couldn’t join the police, but she had a good brain and was determined to use it for good.
Right now she and Ella were moaning about homework biting into their fun time.
He was proud of his Ella, fully supporting her decision to be a paramedic, and just like all the way through school she moaned about the homework. He gave her encouragement, shook his head when she gave some lame excuse for trying to watch TV for just one more hour when she knew full well she should be studying, and firmly guided her when she pouted and tried to put off an assignment until the last minute. True to form, right at the last second she pounded out an assignment, sitting up all night if needed, and passed with flying colours much to the chagrin of her classmates.
The woman hadn’t changed in that regard. He could remember her doing the exact same thing in high school.
A lot of other things had changed though. Over the years she’d been his friend, girlfriend, lover, fiancée, the missing piece of his life, not exactly an enemy but not friendly either, then his lover once more and now…now Ella was his wife.
Taking a mouthful of iced coffee, enjoying the silky taste of the cream on his tongue, he inhaled deeply. His life was so complete now. His Ella by his side, his ring on her finger, her ring on his. Their cat shedding hairs on his uniform. He never said a word as he brushed the hair off his trousers before putting them on, but he and Boof exchanged looks - his steady, Boof a one-eyed glare of triumph.
Small price to pay for Ella’s happiness, and face it, he was fond of the tough hairy fart. Right now grumpy-bum was at the boarding cattery back in Perth for the few days they were here in Melbourne. He knew Boof well enough by now to know that only prime beef would soothe his injured feelings when they got him back home. Ryan never thought he’d see the day he’d be buying prime steak for a one-eyed, one-eared, grumpy cat. But there you had it, life was full of pleasant surprises.
Rose and Carlson were making moves to leave. Ella hugged her friend, promised to see her again. Now that the no-contact order was removed, they spoke regularly on the phone and Skyped. Theirs was a bond that would stand the test of time.
Standing, Ryan rounded the table to smile slightly down at Rose. “Good to see you again, Rose.”
“Nice of you to come.” Her eyes laughed up at him. “Even though you’ve hardly said a word.”
“Nothing new there,” Carlson observed cheerfully.
“He’s all right.” Wrapping an arm around Ryan’s waist, Ella leaned into him. “Deep underneath he’s a barrel of laughs.” At the sceptical expressions on Rose and Carlson’s faces, she amended, “Okay. Maybe a tin of laughs. A small tin. Like the baked beans kind.”
His hand was resting on her waist, it was a small move only to slide it down to one plump buttock and give it a pinch.
She squawked and jumped. “Holy crap!”
Rose and Carlson laughed.
“Maybe I’ll just go home and leave you here.” Ella rubbed her bum while mock-glaring.
Like he’d ever allow that to happen. He patted her bum soothingly, and a little firmly.
Ella shot him a dry look, which he returned mildly.
“As entertaining as this is, we better make tracks.” Rose allowed Carlson to back the wheelchair from the table. “I have class at three and you have a plane to catch this afternoon.”
“Yeah, lucky me. School doesn’t start until Monday. Two more days off.” Ella sighed in satisfaction.
“Don’t crow.”
“You haven’t heard me start yet.”
“Oh wow. You mean it gets worse? How is that even possible?”
Laughing, bidding each other goodbye, they parted company.
Resting her head against his shoulder, Ella and Ryan watched Rose and Carlson head back to the car park where Rose had her car, one especially adapted so she could drive it. Carlson got in the passenger seat while Rose got in the driver’s seat, the device attached to the roof of the car lifting her chair and securing it neatly atop the roof. Waving goodbye, they pulled out and drove off into the lunchtime traffic.
Turning, Ella looped her arms around his neck. “Guess we better get back to the hotel and pack.”
“Hmm.” He pretended to consider it. “How about we stay?”
“Stay?”
“I have a confession.”
“Oh, this should be good.” Her eyes sparkled.
“I changed our flight home to tomorrow lunchtime and booked us in for an extra night at the hotel.”
“Why, Ryan Hargreaves, I think that is a most excellent idea.” Ella beamed up at him. “Now we have time to sight-see and do tourist things.”
“And have sex.”
“Check out old mansions retaining their colonial past.”
“Lots of sex.”
“Go shopping.”
“Lots and lots of sex.”
“Check out old stomping grounds.”
“Did I mention the sex?”
“I get the feeling you have different plans to me.”
He grinned slightly. “We’ll do some of your things, then we’ll do mine.”
Her hand at his nape tugged his head down lower. Obliging happily, he rested his forehead against hers.
“I have to admit, I like your plan,” she said a little huskily.
“Glad to hear it.”
“I have to ask. Did it cross your mind that maybe I wouldn’t?”
“I’m always certain of my objective.”
“Huh.” Leaning into him, she brushed her lips across his. “So confident.”
He kissed her deeply, feeling that stirring of heat her presence always brought to him. Heat, fulfilment, contentment, love. Happiness.
Only with Ella had he ever known such happiness and contentment.
Lifting his head to meet her eyes and the answering love that kindled within the grey depths, Ryan said softly, “My objective is your happiness, Ella mine.”
Her eyes softened, a smile curving those sweet, lush lips. “Ditto.”
Uncaring who saw them, Ryan kissed her again, cradled her close as the breeze ruffled her hair, several silken, golden strands tickling his nose.
Echoes, he thought as he breathed in her faint, flowery scent. Yesterday was an echo. Today is our present. Our future? It’s us, together, forever.
“Me and you, Ella mine,” he whispered against her hair.
“Me and you,” she agreed. “Plus, you know, Boof.”
He laughed quietly, a sound that was more familiar in her presence. She brought such joy to his world, colour to the darkness, and softness to his hardness. A perfect fit. The one person in his world who understood him, as he understood her.
His Ella was back in his arms and everything was right in his world.
**
Sheltered in his strong arms, Ella wondered if Ryan would ever realise what he meant to her. She’d told him, but she doubted he understood how deeply, how much. She loved him with all her heart. He brought her stability, laughter, colour to her world that had been so grim, contentment when she’d been adrift on a sea of loss and revenge. He’d come back and filled her life with love and happiness once more.
And this time, she knew he wouldn’t leave. The one person in the world who understood her, as she understood him.
Her Ryan was back in her arms and everything was right in her world.
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