“Sounds good to me. Sunday work for you?”

“Hell no!” Diana objected with a ferocity that stunned everyone. “The whole point of having a wedding is so everyone can fuss over you. On that day everything is perfect and it becomes a day the two of you will remember forever. That’s the point of a wedding. It’s the day you stop living two separate lives and start sharing one,” Diana lectured.

“Hey, I have an idea. What do you think of this? We elope to some tropical island, get married by a reggae man with dreadlocks, and then party all night at the local Bikini Bar, sipping exotic cocktails that are filled with fruit and those tiny umbrellas. You can’t say that wouldn’t be memorable,” James tormented. Anna saw the mischief written all over his face. Anna knew that James loved nothing more than winding his mother up and watching her reaction. Shaking his head, James wandered outside and left them to argue over the details.

Three hours later a completely overwhelmed and exhausted Anna emerged from a world of wedding dresses and flower arrangements. James had just finished mowing the lawn. He was all sweaty and covered by a thin layer of dirt. He was bare-chested and wandering aimlessly around the backyard. The sun bounced off his strong, glistening shoulders, making him look like some kind of Australian god. Anna’s mouth watered with want.

“Well, well, well. It’s about bloody time you did some real work.” Anna laughed, hobbling towards him as she balanced on her crutches.

“Listen here, Missy…” James grinned, sauntering towards her. Her mouth was dry. The swagger in his hips had her hypnotised. “I do real work all the time. In fact I, do more real work than you do.” James grinned his panty wetting smile as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulders effortlessly. “Now, you were saying what exactly?”

Wrapping her arms around James tightly, Anna was in her element. Any time she was encased in those arms she was in her happy place. Despite the scent of dirt and sweat and something purely masculine, Anna breathed in a deep breath. For the first time in weeks things felt like they were back to the way they were before, and Anna couldn’t even find the strength or the desire to pretend that she was anything less than ecstatic about it.

“Umm, I forgot. Guess what?” Anna murmured, as her tongue snaked out and licked him behind his ear. Goosebumps covered James’s skin instantly but Anna knew it wasn’t from cold. She could feel the warmth of his skin beneath her hands and she knew he was burning up. “If we ever end up buying a house, I want to have the biggest backyard you’ve ever seen. Acreage even!”

“Acreage? What the hell for?” James asked, confusion in his gravelly voice.

“That way you can mow it all the time and look as damn sexy as you do right now,” Anna whispered, nibbling on his ear lobe.

“Firstly, it’s a matter of when, not if. And I can guarantee it we will have a huge backyard. But you, my darling, you can mow the lawn. With your shirt off,” James mumbled, distracted by the attention Anna was paying his ear. “Well, it is pretty hot out here this afternoon. I think I might just take a dip. Cool off.”

“Okay, just put me down first.”

“Put you down? No problem.” James laughed his evil, maniacal laugh. Anna knew he was up to no good but had no time to react. With a cackle, James tossed her into the pool. Anna landed with a flop. With a wink, James dived in right beside her, causing Anna to swallow a mouthful of salty water. Before long James and Anna were splashing about like carefree children without a care in the world. Things were back to normal. Life was back to normal. And Anna was ecstatic. Dancing on cloud nine was definitely an understated way of describing Anna’s current mood.

Then without warning the moment was shattered. Diana was racing across the backyard screaming to James to come to the phone. Neither Anna nor James had heard her cries. They were too caught up in their own fun. “James! Phone. It’s Susie,” Diana panted breathlessly. With that, James felt his stomach plummet. He sprang out of the pool without missing a beat and ran inside. Diana helped Anna up the stairs and across the backyard before wrapping her in a towel.

Chapter 7

Susie was Darnell’s nurse. Darnell was one James’s biggest fans, but he was so much more. He was James’s inspiration. He was James’s guiding light. He was James’s motivation. He was James’s conscience, but he was also James’s grandfather. A few years ago Darnell had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. After spending months trying and testing various care facilities, the heart breaking decision had been made that it was time for him to go into a nursing home. He’d only been in his new home barely a week when Darnell was struck down with a potentially fatal strain of pneumonia. With his already old and weakened immune system, it had almost killed him. That was two years ago now. But Darnell had always been a fighter. His strength and determination had helped him through the worst of it, even after the doctors had given up. His strength and persistence had faded and he had long ago accepted the inevitable. Death was coming—sooner rather than later. It was no longer a faraway possibility, it had become a reality. But Darnell was no longer scared of dying, but instead he insisted that dying was just a part of life. A part he was ready for when his time was up.

With his death sentence hanging over his head, Darnell became obsessed with making the best out of the time he had left. He’d often sent letters to his grandson begging him to come and visit. James never once considered visiting his grandfather as a chore, but rather relished the opportunity. After only a few short visits, James and Darnell had become inseparable. James would disappear into the hospital for hours. They would play card games, talk, or just sit in silence and stare out the window. Hours would pass while they pondered the normality from which both men had been excluded. James would recount tales of all the exciting people he had met, the spectacular places he’d visited, and the amazing things he’d done. Darnell was always excited to hear news of James’s worldly adventures.

When James made the Australian team to compete in the US, without hesitation he’d arranged for Darnell and Susie to fly over to watch. James was bubbling with unadulterated excitement at the thought of his best friend, an old man, battling a disease which would inevitably claim his memories, and being able to give him the opportunity to sit in the grandstand and be his greatest cheerleader. James had faced a lot in his short, action-packed life, but watching his headstrong grandfather struggle with reality, determined to make the most out of every day, gave him the strength to keep going.

Now Susie was on the phone and she was about to rock James’s stable world in a way he could never have prepared himself for, and in a way he would never recover from.

“Hi, Susie,” James’s voice wavered.

“James…” Susie was sobbing softly. James’s mind was spinning.

Shit! What the hell has happened? he thought.

“James…It’s Darnell.”

“What’s happened, Susie? Just tell me!” James blurted out, sitting down on the edge of the table. Diana saw the raw emotions consuming James’s face. All of a sudden her son, who had barely moments ago been bouncing about in the pool like an innocent child with his fiancée, was now contorted with pain and fear. Diana sunk down next to him, intertwining her fingers with his. If he needed her she would be there, no matter the outcome. If he needed comforting, if he needed support, Diana would be right beside him, waiting patiently.

“He…his body just gave up. He was just so sick and so tired but it’s over now. He just…he couldn’t fight any longer. I’m sorry, James, but Darnell’s gone,” Susie sobbed.