Ember Flowers (30 page)

Jean watched in
silence, her fingernails absently tracing the remote. Seeing the
blonde’s hand tremble as she held the microphone on screen.
”..On a personal note, my thanks go out to Jean..I miss you.
I..love you. Thanks for being there for me..”

Both brows rose
simultaneously, and she was struck with a clarity that spoke clear
and strong. Hazelnut eyes glanced over toward the sleeping figure
on the sofa. Other news scrolled across the screen and switched to
a commercial break.

She shook her
head.
Joanne, Joanne.
Her olive fingertips clicked off the
television at the set and the screen slowly faded into black. The
gardener crossed the room quietly.

Jean knelt down
beside the sleeping woman, the lamplight softening her anguished
features. She brushed her fingertips over Jo’s cheek, smiling
gently as she felt her stir. The blonde woman stretched slowly as
tired eyes fluttered open.

Her voice was
raspy from sleep, grey orbs taking a moment to focus.

“…Jean?..Everything ok? Do you need something?”

The older woman
reached to tuck a gold lock behind her ear, smiling as she watched
the blonde adjust to their sudden closeness.

“Yes. You.”

The pale brows
bunched as her mouth pursed in confusion. Jean’s head tilted as her
fingertips strayed, unable to resist caressing Jo’s temple. They
looked at each other for a moment, not needing to fill the
silence.

Gentle brown
eyes held the tenderness she remembered. “Jo..you would have run
into a burning building for me. I can’t ask for more than
that.”

The policewoman
murmured as she woke fully. “You could’ve been in there. I couldn’t
just..”

Her words were
cut short by a kiss. Jean’s lips pressed firmly against hers,
warmth swelling in her chest. Tanned arms slid around Jo’s ribs,
not wanting to relinquish her.

As they broke
apart dark eyes studied the angular face. A pause before Jean
smiled, she couldn’t help it. “I love you Jo.”

There was no
doubt, no hitch or hesitation, despite the voice quiet in the
night. “I thought I’d never hear you say that again. I love you
too.”

Jean kissed her
again, sensing something had fallen into place. Despite seeing her
possessions in tattered ruin, she suddenly felt as though all
things happened for a reason. Her reason was lying beside her.
There would be time to talk.

“Jean, I’m so
sorry. So sorry, for everything.” Bleary grey eyes had misted
over.

The older
woman’s thumb brushed her knuckles. “Not your fault. None of this,
is your fault.”

The Officer
shook her head and looked away until Jean tipped her chin, their
eyes meeting. “I’d never regret loving you Jo. Don’t punish
yourself.”

It made the
blonde’s breath hitch, but the words seemed to calm her. Jo’s hand
rested on top of her arm, she looked cautiously optimistic, a smile
forming from the sudden affection. “What made you change your
mind?”

The gardener
smiled gently as though letting her in on a secret. “It’s was
just..a house, but with you there it felt like home - always did.
We’ll rebuild, it’ll be yours and mine.”

For a moment
the blonde looked shocked. Perhaps it was a lot to process. “You
want to live with me Jean? Even..after all this?”

“I don’t want
to go another day without you.”

Chapter
45

Chewed
fingernails flipped the coffee stained newspaper pages idly, as the
other hand returned the chaser to his lips. The airport lounge,
dimmed evening lighting, and the low drone of talking passengers
over the wall mounted television.

He saw the
footage again for the second time, though he couldn’t hear her over
the ambient noise. That didn’t matter, the look in her grey eyes
said it all. Pretty lips forming words that pierced his heart. He
snarled, mood instantly darkening. Another nervous check of his
Rolex. The false passport snug in his back pocket with the ticket.
He hadn’t expected to see her there. It made things more
complicated, left him with few options. Harder to deny his
involvement, but couldn’t bring himself to pull the
trigger.

As his eyes
resumed their study of the day’s newspaper, a blue sleeve and hairy
hand rested on the bar cloth within his peripheral vision. A motion
made to order a drink, he gave the body little notice.

“It makes sense
that I’d find you here.”

He knew that
voice. Blue eyes quickly looked up, followed by a glance over his
left shoulder at the door.

“Owen, really?
Do you think I’m here alone? C’mon now.” The fellow Officer sat
down beside him, resting his broad elbows on the bar.

“Captain..I
don’t know what you think happened, but I guarantee you don’t know
shit.”

The older man
shook his head and snorted softly as he regarded him. “Surely. You
know Myers, I’ve never liked you.”

Owen’s lips
grew taut as he pushed his glass away, eyes still sneaking glances
at the door. “Why?”

Pursloe sipped
from the tonic water that had just arrived. “Because I think any
man who puts bruises on his wife isn’t fit to fill a uniform. You
were never Detective material.”

The teeth at
the back of his jaw locked together. “You? You were the one who
kept blocking my promotion?”

The Captain
nodded. “Far as I could tell Joanne was covering for you. Denied it
even to herself, said it was ‘from the job’. But I saw the marks,
you’re not as smooth as you think. Then something changed, didn’t
it? Bet you didn’t see that coming?”

Though he said
nothing, the skin along his stubbled neck grew a ruddy pink.
Pursloe observed the change. “Patterson make you feel like less of
a man? That why you threatened her, burned her place down?..Killed
her pet?”

There was a
long pause as his ego fought for attention. “She took everything
from me.”

“So you
returned the favour? Though, you tried to go one better didn’t you?
Finish things off for good? Lucky she wasn’t home.”

Pursloe wasn’t
sure if he saw anger or relief. After a moment of grinding teeth
Owen’s voice was gruff and short. “Here say, from a bitch who has a
hard-on for making my life hell. Prove it.” There was a sudden
smugness as his tone hardened. Some part of him still believed he
had control. He hadn’t been arrested - yet. So far Pursloe had
nothing but accusations. The pistol was long gone.

The Captain
sighed as he pulled a small red carton from his pocket, tapping it
once on the polished veneer. “Myers, you got a light?”

His hand went
to his bag on autopilot, a ring of untanned skin on his finger.

“Actually..I
don’t think you can smoke in here, can you?” The older man’s eyes
watched him coolly.

“..No. Probably
not.”

Pursloe glanced
down at the pack, then handed them across to Joanne’s ex husband,
dropping them casually on the bar. “You’d better keep these
then..seeing as you misplaced yours.”

The smugness
disappeared and was replaced by piercing crystal shards, the
distinct demeanour of a liar cornered.

The precinct
head continued on. “..Yeah. Windy weather up in those hills. Seems
they must have fallen out of your car at the scene. Your prints
were all over them Myers. Far as I’m concerned, that seems like
evidence, don’t you think? Seems you were too angry to remember the
little things..like this..and policing your brass.”

Owen scowled,
his glare without warmth. His dry mouth took a moment to form
words, and they too were laced with anger. “What’s your interest in
this Captain? You went out of your way to do this personally. My
wife screwing you too?”

Pursloe’s belly
shook slightly as he laughed, amused. “No, Joanne is one of my best
Officers, and besides - I’d be more interested in who does her
hair..”

The look of
shock was written all over Owen’s face, and quickly replaced by
disgust.

They rose at
the same time, the senior Officer bristled at the raw look of
contempt reflected back at him. For a moment he thought Owen might
run, a part of him hoped the bastard would try. Another Constable
joined them, Owen sighted more uniforms from his unit by the door.
Cold glares and hands hovering over weapons.

Thick fingers
rested on his shoulder, Pursloe suppressed the ghost of a smile.
“Let’s go. We have a lot to talk about.”

Chapter 46 -
Epilogue

The four year
old girl pressed her nose against the glass, a ring of condensation
forming. The sales clerk looked at her with a warm smile, waiting
with the key to the pen clasped in her hand.

“That one!” The
girl pointed, looking back over her shoulder with an excited
smile.

“You’re
sure?”

The little
blonde girl tugged on her hand, grinning from ear to ear. “Can we
have two? Then they could be friends.”

The brunette
ruffled her hair. “No sweetheart, you have to pick just one. We
don’t want to give your mother a heart attack.”

Annabelle
smiled up at her. Jean raised a dark tapered brow. She got the
sales girl’s attention, then pointed in the same direction as the
little one beside her. “We’ll take him.”

***

The return trip
to the house was a quiet drive. Jean watched the road as they
slowly left the city and crossed into the countryside.

Snuffles from
the back seat, little paws tapping the floor of the carry box.
Annabelle’s burbling voice as she spoke to the puppy as though it
were a small furry person.

“Looking
forward to Mummy’s birthday honey? Alex will be there.” Annabelle
smiled, Jean could see her in the rear view. The two children got
along famously, along with Scott’s young daughter, now almost
two.

“Yes. When does
Mummy get her present?” The little dog was licking her hand through
the air holes.

Jean smiled to
herself. “You can give him to her tomorrow morning honey, before
her party.” The party wasn’t to be a surprise, Joanne was looking
forward to cooking lunch for everyone, in her recently installed
kitchen. The woman grinned to herself.
She did have plans for
the statuesque Officer. Hopefully it would be the best birthday
yet.

***

One grey eye
cracked open, and then the other. Beside her on the sheet lay a
small posy of blood red roses wrapped in ribbon and paper. She
guessed correctly that they came from the porch outside. Underneath
them a box, beneath that a card in a pretty envelope. She heard
footsteps coming back up the stairs.

Joanne smiled,
running her fingertips over the velvet petals, lifting the flowers
to her nose with a crinkling of the paper wrap.

A grin from the
doorway as her companion leant her sleeveless shoulder against the
recently painted frame. Spring weather, soft cotton pyjama pants
over her legs. Jo smiled back from her warm repose on the bed. A
neat nail running along the tab of the envelope. The brunette
smiled, crossing the room to sit beside her on the mussed sheets,
passing her a mug of tea.

Jo set it down
on the bedside table, opening her arms.

“Happy
birthday.” A nuzzle of her neck.

The blonde
kissed her, it took a while to come up for air. Painted fingertips
brushed against her lover’s tan cheek. She returned her attention
to the envelope, opening it with a mild smile.

“Where did you
go?”

Jean brushed a
lock behind her ear, running her thumb over Jo’s high cheekbone.
“Making you breakfast. Your daughter insisted on helping.” They
shared a knowing smirk. Joanne could probably expect unusual
colours or textures.

The policewoman
pulled the card from the envelope. A simple inscription inside.

Happy
Birthday,

I can’t compare
with the gifts you’ve given me, so I hope this will do.

Loving you

Jean xx

The blonde
smiled. “I love you too.” Jean kissed her soundly.
Baby you have
no idea.

Jo sat up as
she picked up the box, wrapped in embossed paper. She smiled at
Jean, not sure what to expect. The box was flat and slender, once
the wrap came off it became clear it was something expensive.

“Oh
Jean..you’ve been bad.”

The older woman
smiled. Jo clicked open the box, white gold and diamonds.

“For that
beautiful neck of yours.”

The policewoman
shook her head, smiling.
It would have cost a fortune.
Sighing. “Jean.. “

“Try it on.”
She stood, holding out her hand. A short walk to the dressing
table. Joanne lifted her hair up with long fingertips as Jean
unclipped the chain, laying it gently over the blonde’s chest,
doing it up behind her neck. Jo touched the pendant, her silk
camisole seeming all the more under dressed under the glittering
stones.

“Beautiful.”
Jean slid her arms around her waist. Jo smiled at her in the
mirror.
She never could get quite used to being lavished with
attention, affection, honesty.

Clinks and
noises from downstairs as they walked down the hall, Jo’s hand
still holding hers. Passing by photographs and Annabelle's framed
scribbles. Soft padding over the carpet and onto the kitchen tile.
Annabelle ran to hug her mother.

“Happy
Birthday!” A child’s happy squeal.

“Thanks
sweetie. Jean said you made breakfast for me?” Annabelle
nodded.

Jean pulled the
chair out for her, Jo sat down, giving the brunette a chiding look.
In front of her was..
something
. Jean whispered in her ear.
Jo smiled at the little girl, trying to look like the forkful was
enjoyable.

“Annabelle
sweetheart, why don’t you go get Mummy’s present?” Jean winked at
the little blonde, who had already turned and started running at
the mention. Rapid footfalls as she headed up to her room.