Ruby Red 3 - A Romance for All Time (Complete)

Chapter 43

Ali took the offered hand, warm and solid, and stepped out of the limo onto the red carpet. Cameras clicked, flashes flickered, and journalists jostled for comments. Dressed in a deep red gown, she marveled at the difference a year makes.

Twelve months ago, she dreaded attending the Liberty For All Ball. Lonely and depressed, the event represented everything she hated about her hollow life. Her dress had been stark white, a reflection of the lack of anything to colour her world. On the outside, she was the envy of many, their assumption her life was perfect. Her walls kept her safe, but inside fear festered, her broken heart bleeding internally.

"Ali, Ali, over here," shouted a faceless voice in the crowd of paparazzi.

Fingers settled on the small of her back as Sam leaned in and whispered, "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

His presence, here, now and always stood as a beacon to remind Ali, she was no longer alone. A chance encounter, a flirtatious exchange, a spectacular kiss were all it took to shift her world from black and white to every colour under the sun. That and a few dollops of drama, a lot of hard work and a commitment to communication.

She'd spent most of her life locking up her emotions, never talking about them. Undoing that training took time. Time and effort. Ali Stinson wasn't perfect anymore. She made mistakes, she faltered, she failed. But with Sam Freemont Harrington, she knew she would always have someone to talk to, to support her dreams and to love. And man, did she love him.

"Well, you chose the dress, my love."

"But you make it come alive." Such a way with words, this man. From the beginning he'd shown her with words and actions that he loved her as well.

What a difference a year made indeed. Ali walked down the carpet, free of walls, her heart whole, beating with the flush of love in every pulse.

"Who are you wearing?"

Giving a twirl for the reporter and his photographers, the flowy material swirled around her like a thousand flames coming to life in a dark night. "Now Harry, you know I prefer to wear Jonathon Sparks custom designs."

Up ahead, Jonathon guided her mother past the catcalls from reporters. Inside, The Beetons were probably already seated at her table. She couldn't wait to see the pair of octogenarians, catch up on their lives. 

Emily and Finn had flown in for the week. The couple were staying with Ali at her mother's place. Finn had rented a boat yesterday and whisked Emily out onto the ocean for a romantic getaway. Then the two couples had spent the evening before together, talking and laughing into the wee hours of the night.

Leif and Charlie made the trip out to L. A. together with a stop on the way in Las Vegas. Ali didn't want to know what trouble the boys did or did not get themselves into. Knowing Leif, the trip would have been quiet–maybe golf and a show, but Charlie had a knack for getting himself and anyone in his nearby vicinity into all sorts of messy situations. There had been no call in the middle of the night to bail them out of jail–this time.

The boys were flying back tomorrow with Sam's parent's Christopher and Evelyn, who insisted on supporting Ali in her charity endeavours on the west coast. Sam's mother promised Ali it wasn't an imposition, and his father backed his wife up. Ali couldn't have asked for better in-laws.

Sometime tonight, Brenda and her husband would join the group. Brenda adhering to her always late for the ball tradition. A year ago Ali had trouble asking her friend for a ride and now the two were in business together, set to bring Stinson Studio designs to the world.