Heartbeats in Moonlight

Chapter 96

Two weeks later she moved into a rented place in Waikanae.

Three days after she moved into the house she had a visitor. Ella was tempted to ignore her visitor.

When Seth knocked on the door and stepped in he was expecting to see the woman he'd seen around for two years. But the jean clad woman wearing a man's shirt as she cleaned the worktable was not the Ella he was used to seeing. The sophisticated, business, icy, woman had metamorphed into a natural, sexy, relaxed woman.

"Sorry, if I'm calling at a bad time." He came in, noticed that she seemed to go into ice mode.

"Yes, you are."

He ignored her remark. "Still unpacking." He looked around, taking note of the boxes, the crates, still stacked. Some open. He knew she had moved in, because he had a conversation with David earlier.

"What you do what?" She put the box down and glared at him. "Why are you here?"

Ok, now that was the Ella he knew. Icy.

"To apologise." He jammed both hands into his pockets.

"Apology accepted." She said bluntly.

He didn't pretend or moderated his tone, "What happened between you and Evie before Amelia's wedding was my fault." She said nothing, just waited and watched. "It got out of hand." He lighten his tone. "Again, my fault." He came further into the room. "I'm sorry Gabriella."

She shrugged. "As I said, apology accepted. Thank you for stopping by." She nodded at the door. "You can leave." She turned her back and carried on scrubbing at the work surface.

"I am not done!" Seth kept his hands in his pockets, because he was tempted to shake her!

"Too bad!" Ella threw over her shoulder.

"You know, I really do not understand what David sees in you!"

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!" She said in a melodic tone.

Seth gritted. He took a moment. The silence had Ella turning around.

Seth met her gaze head on. He said firmly, "Talk to Evie." Then tacked, "Please."

"I will. We will meet at social events, so of course we would talk." Ella replied.

Time to take another tack, Seth thought. "She misses you. And I know you miss her too!"

"How would you know that? According to you, you don't understand what David sees in me!"

He looked at the ceiling. Another faux pas. "Sorry. Yes. You are right. I don't know you. I don't know what David sees in you, because I don't know you. All I know is that you, and Evie, and Amelia are good friends. Really good friends. So my assumptions, and seeing the impact of this cold front, on Evie, I know, Evie misses you. And by the same presumptions I know you miss Evie."

"She made her choice." Ella snapped.

"Why does she have to choose?" He came and stood in front of her, effectively stopping her from carrying on with her job while he spoke to her. "Why can't we both be in her life?"

She stepped past him, "If you don't mind, as you can see, I have a lot still to do."

"Ella." Seth sighed. She did her best to ignore him. "You're a lot like her you know." He refused to leave. "Same stubborn streak for starters."

"Then you'll understand that I've made up my mind."

"I know you care about her. She cares about you. This is a stupid misunderstanding. My fault I know. Think about it, ok!"

"You're wasting your time. One of my worst characteristics is that I'm poor at forgiving and forgetting. What you said to me, I've forgotten it, because it was said in ignorance. You didn't know me. But what Evie said, was not said in ignorance. She knew me. She knew that would hurt. But she said it anyway." She told him with finality. Seth realised he was going to have to find another way to fix this. "I'm sorry you've had a wasted journey."

"I'm not giving up on this." He told her. "I want you to know that." He remained where he was, "And Gabriella, I spoke to David."

"So?" Her eye brow quirked.

He gritted his teeth. "I realised in my conversation with David that he loves you, really loves you. And reviewing my conversation with you, it is obvious that you love David."

"Fine. I love David and he loves me. But it has nothing to do with you!"

Seth snorted. "Great to hear that you love him, but it has everything to do with David!" She narrowed her eye and Seth poked his tongue into his cheek, then said, "You have not told him, and that he has not told you about the other incident." He folded his arms. "Is it about time that you both tell the truth? "

"What other incident?"

"Remember the surf club fire. One year ago."

"Yes, I know about that!"

Seth waited a second then said, "He was the one that went in. For you." Ella blinked in surprise. Seth continued, "I told David that his strategy to avoid you is very odd, given he rescued his intended girlfriend!"

Ella was still in shock. "He, what?"

"You didn't know?" Seth watched her reactions. "You didn't know about your rescue?"

She shook her head.

"I was talking to David about the surf club refurbishment. The club will reopen tomorrow. But there were heaps inside today, mainly surf club's administrators, lifesavers, and they were talking about your amazing design and your relationship with David. The refurbishment is, apparently, stunning. But, according to the local grapevine you only did the club and David's place, because you were going to move in with him! Seth folded his arms, and quirked an eyebrow, seeking confirmation.

She said nothing. She was unconscious, all she knew was she was taken to the local hospital, was in for two days, because she was knocked out by the blast but had no other injuries. She thanked the paramedics and the police, and the club, but nobody told her David rescued her. She did the refurbishment for free. Now she just scowled.

So Seth continued with the main topic, "David was in the club, shielded you with his body, when the second and third explosion went off in the club."

Ella scowled, "He went in after me." But she didn't know David rescued her. "He stayed." She mumbled. "He could have died." She looked directly at Seth, "He must be an idiot! Wait till I see him. What is the matter with the men in this town? What happened to their self-preservations genes?"