Going Home

Part 59

Reaching the privacy of their room, as soon as the door was shut Grace wrapped her arms around Josh’s waist and held him tight. She was so proud of the way he’d handled that situation with his mother. He’d come a long way from when they’d arrived.

He held her just as tight.

Moving her head back so she could look up at him Grace smiled “you did good, you know. Margaret looked devastated.”

Looking down at her, his expression serious, he said “I know.”

Then watching him she asked “are you okay about it?”

“Yeah, but being able to talk about him is going to take some getting used to.”

Grace nodded “for all of you.”

Then moving out of his arms Grace turned and crossed the room to get out some clean clothes, intending to go and have a shower.

Going Home

Part 58

The ride back to the house seemed to take forever to Grace. She was tired after the events of the day and would dearly love a shower. Not to mention some food, lunch seemed along time ago now. Looking over at Josh she couldn’t believe it was only that morning that he’d faced his past, the day seemed to have gone on for a month.

Josh was tired too. So much had happened that day and he needed time to think about it. But not then. He was done with thinking about it for today. All he wanted to do was shower and eat and then get Grace some place by her self.

Minutes later as they finally pulled up next to the house, Margaret walked down the steps to meet them. Smiling she gave them some good news “I just called the hospital and Maddie’s going to be fine she was very lucky.”

Looking at his mother Josh said, “I’ll say, you should have seen how far she fell. I can’t believe she hasn’t got serious injuries.”

Margaret smiled “kids are tough and they’ve flexible, I remember you and Gavin…” and stopping mid sentence Margaret was horrified at what she had just said. Hurriedly she apologized, “oh Josh I’m sorry.” Then closing her eyes for a minute she held her breath and waited for a reaction. She hoped she hadn’t just undone everything they’d managed to achieve towards repairing their relationship.

Grace watched Josh, she had no idea how he would take this. She knew he’d resolved some things but it was all still new and old habits may be hard to break.

Josh however was stunned and just looked at his mother without speaking. It was a shock to hear her mention Gavin so casually, they had all avoided talking about him since Josh and Grace had been at the farm. But it wasn’t the devastating blow he had expected, so putting a hand on her arm he broke the tense silence “don’t worry about it” he said. Then stepping around her he walked up the stairs and into the house.

As Josh walked away Margaret released her breath in a soft sigh and looked at Grace, her relief obvious.

Grace gave her a sympathetic smile and giving her arm a reassuring pat, she followed Josh inside.

Day 14

A smart car that you see all over Italy.

© A Product of Silence

Today we say good bye to Italy. We left our hotel for Rome airport at 8.30am ready for a 12.30 flight. As we travelled on the coach we were all silence, our eyes trained out the window, getting our last look. When we arrived at the airport we found out our flight had been delayed by an hour and we also had an unscheduled stopover in Milan. This meant getting off the plane one more time and taking all our carry on luggage with us. 

We were in Milan for a couple of hours, where some of did some last minute shopping, and then we reboarded the plane and continued our trip home. We had another stop at Dubai and again at Singapore, both times just involved getting off at one gate and getting on at another, but each time you have to go back through security. I lost count of how many bottles of water I had to throw out during this process. Finally we touched down in Melbourne at 2.00 am and after clearing customs I walked out to meet my family at three in the morning. It was wonderful to see everyone, I had missed them more than I thought posssible. And as good as Italy was, I was glad to be home. It was the end of a fantastic trip.

Going Home

Part 57

Walking over to the ute Robert drove, Josh put his gear in the back.

As he straightened up, a pair of arms snaked their way around his waist. Smiling Josh turned in Grace’s embrace and pulling her close for a quick kiss he said “you okay?”

Smiling up at him she said “yes but a bath sounds good about now, it’s been a long day.”

Josh grinned and raised an eyebrow “a bath hey?”

But Grace shook her head, “oh no not here Josh, that one will have to wait until we are home.”

Giving her a wicked grin, Josh said “think so?”

“No, I know so” she said with vehemence.

Laughing Josh relented “alright I’ll let you off on one condition.”

Frowning, wary suddenly, grace said “what condition?”

His look intent, Josh said “that you make the wait worth my while when we get home.”

Smiling Grace moved closer and whispered “okay Josh I promise to make sure you’re not sorry you had to wait.”

Closing his eyes as his body responded to her close proximity Josh groaned, “Grace don’t do that, you know what it does to me.” Then looking pointedly at the people around them and back into her eyes he added “and at the moment that could be very dangerous.”

Grace smiled, well aware of the effect she was having on him.

Seeing her smile Josh couldn’t resist leaning down and kissing her. It was a quick caress filled with intent. Then releasing her with reluctance he watched as she headed over to her bike. And as he studied her butt in her tight fitting jeans Josh found that the kiss was not nearly enough. As soon as it was dark he was going to do something about it. She may have got her way about the bath but there was no way they weren’t going down to that shed tonight. He was going to make sure of it, even if he had to carry her there. But that thought was almost more than he could bear and stopping it immediately he sighed in frustration and strode over to his bike.

Going Home

Part 56

Josh watched as Glen made his way over to Grace, presumably to thank her as well. And turning his attention back to the rope Josh didn’t notice his father approaching.

Moving over to Josh Robert watched him packing up his gear. He needed to say something but he wasn’t sure if Josh was going to want to hear it so he was worried about his reaction. Reaching him Robert put his hand on Josh’s shoulder and watched as his head snapped around, his expression wary. Sighing, lamenting the fact that his son was so unaccustomed to familial contact that his automatic response was uncertainty he began slowly, “great work Josh, I’m glad you were here. I’m not sure the outcome would have been as good if you hadn’t been.

“No problem.” Josh said in a gruff voice, as far as he was concerned he just did what needed to be done.

But Robert wasn’t finished, and looking at his son he steeled himself to say what he’d been feeling ever since Josh arrived “I’m proud of you,son.”

Surprised Josh didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t heard those words all his adult life, didn’t even think he needed to. But unaccountably he was affected by them. So looking away and feeling awkward he said “thanks”

Watching him and feeling a little agitated, Robert rubbed his neck. This was harder than he thought and looking away he exclaimed “god I could use a beer.”

Looking at his profile Josh smiled as he realised this was no easier for his dad to say than it was for him to hear. He said, “oh yeah.”

And turning his head to look at him Robert laughed “well let’s get home then.”

Picking up his gear Josh said “sounds good.”

Going Home

Part 55

As soon as Maddie was up, the rope was lowered again and looking at Grace Josh said “okay your turn.”

Smiling Grace got back into the harness with some help from Josh then began the ascent back up the cliff. Slower than the downward journey, Grace still made good time back up to the top and finally it was Josh’s turn. Getting into the harness Josh thought back over the last couple of days. So much had happened since they had arrived. Some of it hadn’t really sunk in yet but one thing he was sure of is he was glad he’d come. Climbing back to the top Josh wondered what his relationship with his parents would be like in the future. At least now if someone asked about them he’d have an answer. Up until then he’d avoided questions about his family.

Robert thoughts, as he watched Josh climb back up the cliff, were also on recent events and what the future will hold for all of them. Grace was once again in charge of the ropes and Robert was happy just to watch as Josh made his way back up.

As he reaches the top Josh was surprised at the number of people present, the ambulance had left but there must have been ten people gathered together. Looking a question at Grace, she shrugged and smiled. Then folding the blanket they used for Maddie she headed over to the farm vehicle.  

Standing off to the side retrieving his ropes Josh glanced at those that had gathered and watched as a man broke away from the group and walked in his direction.

Putting out his hand the man introduced himself “I’m Glen, Maddie’s father.

Shaking his hand Josh repeated the introduction “Josh.”

“Yes I know Robert told me” Glen said. “My wife has gone in the ambulance but I wanted to wait to thank you for finding Maddie and helping her. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been here visiting.”

Never good at taking compliments Josh looked back at the rope he was coiling and played down his role, “no worries” he said “someone would have found her.”

But Maddie’s father wasn’t convinced and shaking his head he said “I don’t think so, so thanks for what you did, we’ll always be grateful.”

Looking up again Josh said “no problem, I hope she’ll be okay.”