THERE WAS A NOTE IN THE FLOWERS of Gram’s bicycle basket. I pulled it out and opened it.

Dear Yolande,

I found a tree you will adore.

Be waiting for me at 6pm.

Love Alexander *

I smiled and folded the note and pushed it into my pocket. I couldn’t wait for 6pm.

*~*~*~*~*

I sat on the steps of Flowers for Fleur at 5.55 and waited.

On the dot of six, Xander arrived with perfect timing. He got out of his car and opened the door for me. I stood, and waved my hands about at him while I walked towards his car.

‘I know. But I’m looking after you,’ he said.

Xander stopped at the familiar hall where we used to practise our ballroom dancing. He held my hand and pulled me around to the yard behind the hall. He turned to me with a huge smile on his face as a tree came into view. A very large, old tree, with the best climbing branches I'd ever seen. Mia would have loved it.

Xander stopped before the tree. He gazed into my eyes and ran his fingers down my arm, leaving a trail of fire in its wake, before he squatted down and removed my shoes.

‘You go first. I’m right behind you,’ he said.

I looked up at the branches and climbed, giggling. When I found the perfect branch, I sat on it, swinging my legs.

Xander sat next to me, our thighs touching.

I inhaled his scent—a spicy blend of cedarwood and cocoa-vanilla, that reminded me of slumbering in a hammock on a hot summer day, and watermelon and iced tea. I drew in a calming breath. His presence was making me all gooey la-la.

‘It’s a beautiful tree,’ I said.

‘It depends,’ he said.

‘On what?’ I asked.

He pulled my hand into his, and a heavenly tingle shot up my arm. ‘On whether you’re staying here or going back to the base.’

I lifted my finger to his jaw-line and traced it. My heart thudded as the silence stretched between us. ‘I’ve taken leave ... for a little while ... for Gram.’

Xander breathed deeply. ‘I like that you’ve taken leave,’ he said. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were filled with light.

My breath hitched, and I was suddenly aware I had never felt like this; lit up, made new.

‘I thought you would,’ I whispered. He was turning my insides into all kinds of crazy.

He shifted his gaze from my eyes to my lips, and I was filled with nervous energy. I looked away and ran my fingers over the rough bark of the tree branch. I needed to change our focus before my desire intensified for him. ‘What disease did you decide to study in biomedical science?’ I asked.

‘Meniere’s. I’m going to be the one to find a cure!’

‘Gram will love you then.’ I leaned into him, enjoying the spark arcing between us, making my knees feel weak.

‘I think she already does,’ he said, his eyes connecting to mine.

‘Somehow, I think she does too,’ I said, bathing in the adoration I saw in his eyes. ‘What about your dancing, Prince Siegfried?’

Xander’s eyes sparkled and a captivating smile spread over his beautiful face. ‘I’m not giving it up. I’ll find a balance between dancing and research.’

My heart smiled, and the sunset seemed more spectacular than I had ever seen before. I cast my eyes to where heaven touched the earth, painting the sky with the glorious colours of scarlet, tangerine, dusty pink and violet. It was breathtakingly majestic, and filled with hope.

We sat in the tree in silence, our fingers entwined, then he tucked my hand between both of his, holding on as if I was someone to be adored and protected.

‘The rain is coming. We should go,’ Xander said. He climbed down the tree, branch by branch, and I followed.

As I approached the lower section of the tree trunk, Xander put his hands on my waist like a danseur would. He helped me to a soft landing on the grass and I turned and smiled at him.

He stilled and gazed into my eyes, and I became lost in the intense hypnotic love that swirled there. ‘Will you be mine, now?’ he asked, his voice wavering.

I exhaled a slow breath between my lips, trying to control the exhilarating, and terrifying feeling flashing through me like an electrical storm.

Xander tilted his head to the side a little, his eyes smouldering.

‘I ... I—’

He placed his finger under my chin and lifted my face to his. I felt the pull of his blue eyes, his soul caressing mine. I placed my hand on the side of his face, his skin warm to the touch, and looked at his sensuous lips. I ran my thumb over them, needing him to kiss me.

I closed my eyes as his soft lips touched mine. Once. Twice. Caressing. Lingering. Sending a warmth through every cell of my body, awakening parts of me I now allowed to open. He pulled away slightly, his lips still touching, and I sagged against him, overcome with intoxicating pleasure that seeped into all those broken crevices inside me, healing. 

Our lips parted. ‘Please don’t run from me this time,’ he whispered. His gaze searched mine, as if he was looking for something.

The first drops of rain began to fall as I pressed my hand to his chest, over his heart. His hand covered mine, and the gentleness of it took my breath away. His gaze shifted from my eyes, to my lips, and back to my eyes, with a vulnerability that sent a ripple of pain through my chest.

His eyes softened with tenderness then, and I became completely lost in him, bathing in the love and light he offered me. He frowned. ‘I love you, be mine …’ he said, his voice barely audible.

My breath caught, and tears stung my eyes. I had something to give him—my heart.

‘Yes,’ I whispered, profoundly aware of my beautiful new colour shift, filled with calescent pink like in the centre of a cherry blossom flower, reminding me of a cloudless, warm spring day, sitting under a Kawazuzakura cherry tree beside a peaceful blue lake, breathing in a hint of the floral, bitter sweet aroma.

I gazed into his luminous blue eyes and breathed deeply, inhaling his scent of blended spicy cedarwood and cocoa-vanilla. Warmth rushed through me as his colour shone brightly: indigo-blue, swirling with healing turquoise.

Xander brushed a ringlet of hair from my face, his brows creased with barely controlled emotion, then our eyes locked. I rose up onto my tiptoes, my lips close to his, and felt a sacred energy flowing between us as he moved his mouth to mine, his lips caressing with a tenderness that splintered everything, and changed everything as our souls touched.

I closed my eyes and bathed in the ecstasy of the sensual, unconditional love that bound our hearts, our minds, and our essence, while time stood still.

And in that moment I knew, that I, Yolande Lawrence-Harrison, was no longer the colour of broken ...