Chapter 32-2

"I'm sure he has quick fingers." She elbowed him saucily. "Besides, you have to admit - I have a great track record." "Considering your greatest couple achievement is about to tie the knot this weekend, I'd say your record is superb." "Speaking of which, my love, we'd better get on the road if we want to make Bateman's Bay by sunset." As Ali walked back into the boardroom to tidy up, Thomas followed her, helping to collect coffee mugs. "Are you still catching up with your mum and Melinda next week?" "Yup. Also, we're baby-sitting for Mel on Thursday, so we'll have to leave a little early." "No problem - you know I love your niece and nephew." Thomas was brilliant with the kids, and had even helped Ali win over her stubborn sister, the two women finally finding common ground after a lifetime of arguing. It helped that Ali no longer worried about being an unwanted child. Perhaps her life hadn't been created in love, but it was certainly saturated in it now. Thomas picked up a discarded budgeting sheet, and Ali recognised it as Chloe's. "So, how was class?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the word, 'stupid' scribbled across the page. "Challenging. Good. Some of them aren't ready to take the information on board yet, but that's okay. They're hearing it, and at some stage, it'll start to impact them. I wish I'd known everything I'm teaching them back then. Maybe I wouldn't have made so many mistakes." Ali shook her head at the memory of who she used to be. Thomas reminded her gently, "But then you wouldn't be the perfect person to help these girls right now. You might not even be here in this room as the woman you are, and that would be a tragedy for everyone concerned." Looking across the table at the man she loved, Ali couldn't help but agree. "True. I know I'm exactly where I'm meant to be." *** The sky was cloaked in a light cloud cover. The bride was freaking out, as brides were traditionally obligated to do. "Oh god! It's going to rain, isn't it? It'll rain, and we're going to have to stuff everyone inside the lounge room of Haven, and the cats are going to try and climb my dress, and the roof will probably leak and my mum is going to be like, 'What's that funny smell?' and then-" "Meg, take a breath, please." Ali adjusted the bow on the back of Meg's dress, noting how the slim, cream-coloured gown suited the bride's slight figure and dark hair. "It's not going to rain, the cloud cover means your photos will look amazing because no one will be squinting, and even if there's a shower or two, we've organised the undercover area beneath the sails down at the pub. It's going to be okay." The two women were dressing in Ali's master suite in the beach house where Thomas had stayed on his first trip to Bateman's Bay. They'd ended up purchasing the house after they quickly realised that they'd be splitting their lives between the beach and the city, but Ali hated having it sit around empty during the week, so they'd invited Kimble and Meg to move into the downstairs rooms. The arrangement worked well for both couples, especially since Meg and Kimble spent most of their weekends running the raw food café, EatPrayRaw, which Ali and Thomas owned in the centre of town. The empty rooms at Haven hadn't stayed empty for long; the house was still a true sanctuary for people in need. Ali continued to oversee the Haven tenants, offering rooms in the yellow brick house whenever she meet someone who needed a safe place or a new start. The gardens had grown and expanded, and the organic produce was in great demand from the North Sydney customers who loved the fresh ingredients served at Time Break. Meg's eyes were round and alarmed. "Spa- Ali, I'm getting married today. I'm getting married to my total opposite - a pot-smoking Maori who doesn't like poetry or documentaries and wants to name our first child after his favourite rugby player." "Are you weirded out because you guys are so different?" "No. That's the thing." Meg smiled, and the expression filled her face with pure joy. "I'm weirded out because I couldn't be more excited to start our lives together." The two women hugged, and Ali said, "I'm so happy for you guys. You look so beautiful, I think Kimble is going fall down right there on the beach." "Thank you. You look great too!" Ali glanced at the mirror in the corner. Her reflection stared back at her, a girl with giant chocolate eyes, and glossy, light brown hair that spilled down her back. Her dress hugged her curves in a gorgeous grey silk, the exact colour of a certain pair of wind-swept eyes she were certain would be looking for her soon. She gave a silent thanks to the universe that had finally allowed her to find the forgiveness she needed to be able to look at her own reflection again without feeling shame. "Thanks, my friend. Are you ready?" Meg nodded, her body wound tight. "Yes." But all of that tension drained away as she stepped onto the sand half an hour later and caught sight of Kimble waiting for her beneath an arch of wild flowers from the Haven garden. Hot tears filled Ali's eyes as she watched the bride walk confidently towards her soon-to-be husband, as if an invisible elastic stretched between the pair, drawing them inexorably together.