Dreams in Moonlight

Part 33

It was three hours later when Mallory hobbled toward him, having finally decided to check on her ride home, most of the people she knew had been leaving over the last half hour, but none had approached her to offer her a ride home. She wondered if he'd forgotten to organise it.

"Excuse me." She tapped his shoulder, waited for him to look at her, "I, er wondered if you'd forgotten to organise my ride home." 

"No, it's sorted." He said with a smile. 

"Oh, right." She sounded sheepish when she said, "And er, do you know when they'll be leaving?"

"Later. They'll be the last to leave." True but not accurate. He opted for a diversion. "How is the ankle doing?"

"Er, fine. Thanks." She glanced around. "Perhaps I can hitch with someone else?"

"Not sure that anyone is keen to leave like you!" He teased.

She was hardly in a position to make demands. She was relying on someone's good will. "Who did you..."

"Excuse me a second, " He interrupted, "Amanda, like you, is leaving early, and seems to be heading off right now. And before you ask me,  you know she lives in the opposite direction, otherwise I would ask her. Should you be on your feet?" Greg summoned a guest. "Tony, can you help Mallory to the sofa?"

Then he was gone. 

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Tony, I am fine." If she was quick she thought she could ask Amanda to drop her off, albeit a bit of a detour.  But she knew she would not reach the door before Amanda and her new friend, Alan, leaves the party.

"No problem" He grinned. "I wanted to talk to you, about my daughter. She loves dancing at your studio. Shall we return to the sofa?"

So both Tony and Mallory returned to the sofa.

Mallory glanced at her watch, nearly eleven. Quite a few had left. She wondered what counted as the last to leave. Mallory didn't know the other people there. So she wasn't sure who would be heading in her direction.

It was just gone midnight when Greg headed for Mallory. "Right then, ready to go?"

She nodded and got unsteadily to her feet. He gave her a helping hand, steadying her, by holding onto her elbow.

There was one other couple still present and Mallory expected Greg to walk her toward them, but instead he steered her toward the door. It was then that Mallory's slow brain began to process information.

She narrowed her eyes, and asked, "Are you taking me home?"

He nodded.

"You didn't have to do that. Surely there were people in my area..."

"Mallory...."

"I am sure your guests would drop me off. Actually any of your remaining guests, might drop me off..."

"Mark and his wife are heading for his sister's place just out of Waikanae. He's just waiting for dad to give him an envelope for his brother, Paul."

"Oh right." That meant they could take her if they made a slight detour. Alternatively she could make her own way. "Fine. In any case, I told you, I can drive."

"And I told you, you can't!  I'll need your keys."

"My keys?"

"Yes, mum or dad will bring your car down tomorrow, on their way back home."

"Oh."

"They are staying over night."

"Ok."

He chuckled. "Relax!"

"I think you're making too much of this."

"Keys." He replied.

" I can drive."

"Mallory, you can either stay the night or I drive you home. Which is it to be?"

Mutinously she reached into her bag and retrieved her keys. As she gave him the keys she said, "This is ridiculous."

"You're just being stubborn." He put the keys on the hall way table. "Right, let's get going." But this time instead of letting her walk, he swung her into his arms.

"I told you, I can walk." She protested and attempted to wiggle out of his arms.

"Stop squirming." He held on tighter. One arm around her back the other under her legs. It surprised him to find that she was still as light as she had been as a young girl. She had always been slender, willow slim, all limbs. He remembered the way those long legs felt wrapped around his waist. That was a mistake. His body hardened instantly. A big mistake. Remembering how they had been together. Not a good idea. He shifted her and his fingers accidentally brushed against her breast. And he realised that she had a bit more flesh to her, a few more curves, but she hadn't appeared to have put on any weight. He took a deep breath, trying to hold onto his composure.

"Put me down." She demanded.

"Settle down." He replied as he shouldered his way out, through the doorway and onto the deck. He didn't understand why he was enjoying carrying her. And she still felt perfect in his arms. He walked slowly to his car, unconsciously prolonging her time in his arms. With her still in his arms he used the remote to unlock the ute, and then shifted her so that he could open the door.

"This would be so much easier if you let me get on with it."

"For whom?" He lowered her, so that she slid onto the high seat. And after he helped her settle in, he closed the door and then headed for his side.

They were half way down the gorge when he said quietly, "We need to talk." He glanced over at her. She said nothing. "And given you aren't replying to my messages, we are going to talk now."

"What messages?" 

He glanced across at her, checking to see whether the surprise was feigned. "I've left you messages on your answer phone."

"I haven't got any..."

"I ..."

"Was it a male voice, the default voice on the answer phone?" She interrupted to ask him.

"Yeah, I think so, why?"

"Cause that means we lost power when I was away."

"Yeah, we had a couple of minor quakes, what's that got to do with it?" He'd phoned her soon after the first quake, wondered if she was back, and wanted to know that she was ok. He'd then phoned Tina and found out that Mallory was still away. So he'd left another message on her phone, got the default voice. That was before the second quake a day or so later.

"The battery cover on my phone is jammed, so I can't replace the battery, and so when power fails the phone wipes the calls. I meant to replace the phone but keep forgetting."

Well that explained why she hadn't returned his calls, or it meant she had a good excuse to use if she needed to pretend.